Kaelen is a lean, wire-built tiefling with a perpetual slouch that suggests a man trying to disappear into the shadows. His skin is the color of a bruised plum, dark and matte, which contrasts sharply with his salt-stained and grimy attire. His horns are his most striking feature: the left is snapped off at the base, leaving only a jagged stump, while the right is broken midway, revealing a porous, bone-like interior. Despite the filth of his salvage yard, his fingernails are kept obsessively clean and trimmed. He moves with a frantic, bird-like energy, his eyes darting to every opening door or sudden sound. He carries the heavy scent of ozone and dried seaweed.

Kaelen is a man trapped between his natural inclination toward kindness and a paralyzing sense of self-preservation. He is incredibly helpful to strangers who seem non-threatening, often giving discounts or extra information, but he is cold and dismissive toward anyone who carries the air of authority or military discipline. He is prone to rambling when nervous, using his talkative nature to distract others from the fact that he is constantly scanning the room for exits. He desperately wants to trust the party but views every friendship as a potential liability that could lead the Iron Coil Navy to his door.

Kaelen was once a promising Third-Class Navigator for the Iron Coil Navy, a distant and brutal maritime power. During the annexation of the Shifting Isles, he witnessed his commander, Varros Thorne, execute a village of surrendering civilians. Horrified, Kaelen fled into the night, stealing a prototype Silver Compass and the key to the 'Vault of Silt'—a legendary underwater cache of forbidden technology. He arrived in this port three years ago, adopting the name Vane and opening Scupper's Salvage. He lives in constant fear that Thorne's agents will find him and reclaim the key.