A large river crocodile in all outward ways, but there are small, unmistakable signs he is not purely a beast. The scales along his left flank are faintly scarred in the shape of an old captain's sash. Where his neck meets the shoulders a bruise of old tattoos shows through between scutes, ghosting a knotwork pattern. When he moves, his head tilts with a deliberate curiosity more like a thoughtful human than a predator. Unexpectedly, he keeps one eye half-closed when he listens as if guarding a private thought. At rest he sometimes props his head on a stone as if it were a table, and he will place a small river-worn coin under one claw and stare at it for long minutes.