Valka is a compact, sharp-eyed dwarf with the dense, grounded build of someone who has spent a lifetime hauling ledgers, crates, and occasionally unwilling smugglers. Her traveling leathers are dark umber, waxed against rain, and patched with neat copper stitches that resemble tiny lines of accounting. A heavy belt of coin pouches circles her waist, each pouch filled with a different denomination, metal, or deliberately misleading weight. They jingle in a precise rhythm as she walks, like a private abacus keeping time. A brass-rimmed magnifying monocle clips over her brow and drops before one eye when she inspects a seal or weapon. Her beard is braided into four short, practical forks, each capped with a different trade token. She moves with surprising silence until she wants to be noticed. Then she plants both boots, lets the coin belt ring once, and becomes impossible to ignore. The unexpected contradiction is that her hands are exquisitely delicate and ink-stained, more suited to restoring illuminated manuscripts than gutting a bandit.