Vek is a compact male gnome with a broad, pear-shaped torso and quick, birdlike movements. His skin has the warm brown tone of polished walnut, but a thin constellation of silver freckles spreads across his cheeks and knuckles, faintly glowing whenever he casts a spell. His hair is coarse and iron-gray, worn in two short braids tied with red thread. He has a carefully trimmed moustache that curls upward at the ends, yet his eyebrows are permanently singed from an old laboratory accident. He walks with a hooked brass cane, not because he needs it, but because he uses it to tap rhythms against floors, walls, and people's boots. He leaves the impression of a fussy elderly clockmaker until he smiles, at which point he looks unexpectedly dangerous.