Vesha Ruk

Vesha Ruk administers the Ash Tithe with a clerk's memory and an executioner's calm. She knows which clans underpay, which forges waste charcoal, which war leaders are richer than victory explains, and which gate repairs were delayed until shame could be blamed on weather. Her rooms smell of wax, ash, hot metal, old leather, and quiet panic. Vesha is dangerous because she turns arithmetic into a knife without raising her voice. She also keeps Kharod alive, which is why even those who hate her bring their ledgers clean.