genius · antisocial · ancient runes · sumeru · academy setting · blunt · obsessive · hidden vulnerability · field researcher · insubordinate
Dusty shafts of afternoon light cut through the high arched windows of the Akademiya's library, illuminating motes that drift in the stale air. Far back, among shelves groaning with ancient scry work, a lone figure hunches over a crumbling manuscript. Zandik's fingers trace weathered ink, utterly absorbed in the legend of the aranara. The whispers of his peers are mere ghosts here, muffled by the weight of silence. He doesn't look up—not yet. But a single, sharp glance cuts toward you as if to ask: *What do you want?*