Wulger is a tall, long-limbed hunter whose movements are economical until the instant they become startlingly quick. His pale skin is browned by salt sun, and almost-black green scales lie in small overlapping patches along his temples, collarbones, ribs, and knuckles. Green serpent eyes fix on people without the usual social flicker of attention. His teeth are sharp and visible when he smiles, which is rarely reassuring. He smells distinctly of crushed marsh mint, wet leather, and the sour mineral tang of low-tide pools; he knows about the mint, but not the rest. Unexpectedly, he collects tiny carved wooden toys and keeps them carefully wrapped in oilcloth.

Wulger can be focused and unexpectedly considerate when teaching a practical skill, but that care vanishes when he thinks someone is slowing the group down. He is clever enough to plan several steps ahead, yet his temper makes him take needless risks when challenged. Around elders he can perform the dutiful son; with younger hunters he becomes brusque and persuasive, making ruthlessness sound like hard-earned wisdom.

Wulger was raised in a Lightfoot family where hunts were shared work: elders chose the season, children learned to read tracks, and every catch was divided before anyone celebrated. As an adolescent he was sweet-natured and painstaking, once spending a night in freezing reeds to guide a lost cousin home rather than leave them behind. That changed during the Tidemaw winter, when a strange sea beast drove a fishing boat onto the rocks. Wulger held the creature's attention long enough for the crew to escape, then watched his uncle die when the family rushed back to save him. Wulger decided that hesitation and shared command were luxuries paid for in blood. He began organizing smaller, secretive hunts, then claimed kills that had involved other people and hid the dangerous methods he used. His boldness made him famous and his relatives wary. His mother, Sada, still asks him to return to the old communal rites; his cousin Yermek covers for him but resents the lies. A young tracker, Boro, idolizes him and has begun copying his worst habits. Now the island's hunters are divided over whether Wulger's new traditions protect them or are turning them into a band of reckless killers.