Harith ibn-Zafar is a broad-shouldered man whose body has the dense, weathered solidity of a bridge pier. His face is square and sun-browned, with a flattened nose, a pale scar crossing the left cheek, and a damaged left ear folded inward like a crushed brass cup. His beard is clipped short except for a stubborn white streak beneath the chin. He walks with a slight forward lean, not from age but from the habit of moving against wind, spray, and the pressure of rushing water. His hands are callused, grease-darkened, and surprisingly delicate when examining a hinge or tracing a crack in stone. He leaves the impression of a man who could hold a door shut against a flood, yet he wears a tiny blue silk ribbon around one wrist, carefully preserved and absurdly clean.