THE SCHOLAR OF WATER. THE GRYPHON. You are a good judge of character and perceptive. I believe you could learn to read the tusks, if you’d care to study with the Sisters of Skura. I see another path open to you, as well, another kind of magic, and a great battle with fire. Oh, and you’ll be tempted by some spiced mutton next week. Skip it.

 — Faron the Seer, Servant of Skura

Like all Mahksi, Kowara is tall in stature, though still a couple inches shy of 6 feet. She tends to hunch a little — her aunt is constantly telling her not to. Neither skinny nor stout, she’s often called “sturdy” by her peers. Kowara wears her wide flat kelp-like locks twisted into an updo, a lot like most of the popular hairstyles. She dresses in the popular style of Moru Kel, often in a loose cotton tunic and short pants. She wears fine, comfortable-looking leather moccasins on her large feet, and the leather messenger bag she carries is well-worn but also clearly of high quality, with fine tooling and well-worked bronze fittings.

Kowara’s family is well-off, and she came to the surface around the age of 13 — shortly after her lungs developed fully. She lives with her aunt and uncle, who helped tutor her to catch up with her language and writing skills and secure entrance to the Campus of Semoz.

The summer prior to entering the Campus, she attended the Symposium of Wonders and met the White Gryphons; during their outing to Glow, she overindulged in alcohol for the first time and was quite ill during their confrontation with the would-be assassin. She’s always regretted this, and has practiced moderation in her drinking (though less so her consumption of dusk moss) since.

While at the Campus, she’s been an excellent student and ranks near the top of her class, where she is studying both magic and medicine. She was the subject of an attack by the shadow hounds upon their return in 530 K.S., and was rescued by her friends.

Kowara is a fastidious note-taker, and sometimes gives applicable notes from her studies to the group.