Ariom Quartzspark is a compact gnome with the sharp, polished look of a man who has spent years hunched over hot glass and finer problems. His beard is neatly split into two braids threaded with mica beads, but the ends are singed black as if they have survived more than one careless explosion. His skin has the warm tint of rain-wet stone, and his movements are quick, precise, and oddly silent, like a clockwork toy that learned to breathe. He wears brass-rimmed goggles pushed up into a mop of coppery hair, yet his finest coat is a soot-stained funeral black, tailored with embroidered silver stars. The contradiction is striking, as if a grieving scholar decided to dress like a celebrant.