A man who looks as if he has spent equal parts life over a mortar and with a scholar's nose in a book. His hands are stained faintly green and gold from pigments and reagents. His face is weathered with fine networked lines from squinting into jars and bright lamps. He wears a knee-length patchwork robe of muted indigo and seaweed green, each patch labeled in tiny, meticulous handwriting. A leather belt holds glass vials, a small pestle, and a folding hand mirror. He moves with the careful deliberation of someone who weighs the consequence of every gesture. Unexpectedly, he has an almost childlike spring in his step when he hums an old tavern tune, a contradiction to his otherwise deliberate gait.