Nereth Vaelora is a compact, broad-shouldered woman with the dense strength of someone raised hauling wet stone rather than lifting weights. She moves with a slight forward lean, placing each foot silently on the outer edge before rolling inward, as if every floor might give way. Her dark copper hair is cut to her jaw and usually slicked behind one ear with fish oil, though loose strands curl around her temples in the damp. Her hands are unusually delicate for a sword thug, with carefully trimmed nails and ink stains around the cuticles. She gives the impression of a patient dockworker until she smiles, at which point her stillness becomes predatory. The unexpected contradiction is her immaculate white linen collar, washed every night and worn beneath armor stained with sewer silt.