Alistair possesses a deceptive fragility, standing with a scholar's stoop that masks a twitchy, predatory alertness. His skin is the color of bleached parchment, stretched thin over sharp cheekbones and a narrow chin. His most jarring feature is his left eye, which is a surgically implanted dragon's eye with a vertical slit pupil that burns with a low, internal orange heat. His right eye remains human, a watery and tired blue. His hands are stained a permanent deep indigo from chemical exposure and are covered in fine, transparent scales that he has unsuccessfully tried to graft onto himself. He moves with a series of quick, bird-like jerks, often smelling of ozone, formaldehyde, and expensive cinnamon incense.