Ulric Fane has a broad, squared jaw that makes his whole face seem chiseled from a single block. When he eats, he breaks hard bread with blunt, flat teeth and chews with the patient rhythm of a hand saw; when amused, he laughs in one abrupt snort that shows a surprisingly broad gap between his front teeth. He walks with short, deliberate steps, favoring his left side when the ground slopes, and can stand so still that people mistake him for part of the scaffold. His hands are chalked white at the creases, his nails permanently dark with grit, and he studies a room by looking first at its ceiling. The unexpected detail: he keeps a tiny, brightly painted wooden bird tucked into his collar, a toy he carved for his late sister when he was a boy.

Ulric is strict about procedure but not cold toward people: he will halt an expedition for a loose brace, then quietly give his own gloves to a shivering recruit. He distrusts charm and improvisation, yet envies people who can act without rehearsing every possible failure. Around strangers he is formal and guarded; among workers he becomes dryly funny; after a near miss he turns sharp and controlling, then later apologizes by fixing whatever failed.

Ulric Fane was raised among quarry crews and learned to read stone before he learned to read letters. In his twenties, he helped shore up a half-collapsed bridge during a flood, following his foreman's order to hold a brace while trapped workers were pulled free. The brace shifted, crushed his mentor's leg, and left Ulric with a lasting conviction that good intentions are no substitute for a recorded safety plan. He later joined the High Council of Masons, where he became known for refusing to authorize work until the site, crew, and risks were documented. His sister, Dema, died years ago after a hurried excavation triggered a collapse; he keeps her painted bird as a private memorial. These days he is assigned to the scree site in 'Knocks Beneath the Scree.' He suspects the strange knocks are not random settling, but Council superiors want a quick survey and a clean claim before rival prospectors arrive. He is caught between the Council's authority, the crew's impatience, and the fear that delay may cost lives.