Sheshan is a small goblin boy with long, jointed limbs and a narrow face that seems too alert for his age. His olive-green skin is roughened by dust storms, with pale scars crossing his knuckles like tiny stitches. His ears are oversized and ragged at the edges, each pierced with bent copper wire. He moves in sudden, sideways starts, as though every shadow might contain a falling building. His smile is startlingly gentle, almost priestly, while his hands are always prepared to steal, stab, or run. The contradictory impression is unmistakable: he looks like a starving stray, but carries himself like the last courteous host in a ruined world.