Iriq is tall and long-limbed, with a chipped front tooth that flashes whenever his guarded expression breaks into a grin. His skin is sun-browned and faintly roughened by sawdust; his dark hair is tied back with a strip of bark, and a green cord circles one wrist. He walks with a careful, rolling step, as if feeling the firmness of every patch of earth before trusting it. When unsettled, he draws a small breath through his nose, pauses, then clears his throat twice before speaking. The sound is so distinctive that regulars at the settlement can recognize him around a corner. For a forest guide, his unexpected signature is that he carries a pocketful of tiny carved animals and gives them away to nervous children.

Iriq is generous with practical help but wary of promises, and he can be both patient with frightened people and impatient with those who ignore a clear warning. Around children he becomes inventive and warm; around officials he grows terse, fearing that polished words will bury a real danger. He wants others to trust their own judgment, yet his guilt makes him interfere when someone he cares about takes a risk.

Iriq learned carpentry from his human mother, who repaired carts and roof frames in Candosville, and forest paths from his elven father, a seasonal hunter who rarely stayed through winter. At twenty, he guided a timber crew into a ravine after a storm. The crew's foreman ignored Iriq's warning about a saturated slope; the slide killed two workers, including Iriq's closest friend, Dargan. Iriq had marked a safer trail, but fear of seeming timid kept him from insisting the crew use it. Since then, he has been stubborn about listening to the land and gentle with anyone frightened enough to need reassurance. He now builds bridges, sheds, and sturdy toys, and guides travelers through the woodland surrounding Candosville. His partner, Sava, runs a small bakehouse and thinks he takes too many risks on other people's behalf. His apprentice, Bruk, wants to leave town and join a survey expedition, while Iriq keeps finding reasons to delay that departure. Recently, fresh cut marks have appeared on trees along an old animal path, and Iriq suspects someone is opening a route toward a spring-fed hollow the settlement depends on.