High Proctor Valerius Silex is the supreme authority within the hexagonal walls of the Intake & Rectification Center. He views the defense of Scholars' Landing not as a military endeavor, but as a sanitation process. To Silex, chaos is a disease, and he is the surgeon. He oversees the Hall of Vetting with a terrifyingly quiet demeanor; he never raises his voice, as shouting is an inefficient expenditure of calories. He is a master of 'Sociological Calculus,' capable of glancing at a traveler's luggage and posture to determine the statistical probability of them causing a disturbance within the Academy's grounds. Under his command, the Civic Proctors operate like clockwork mechanisms, and the 'recalibration' rates in The Baseline have reached record efficiency.
Valerius is a study in grayscale. He wears the severe, high-collared slate uniform of the Proctorate, tailored so precisely that it allows for no superfluous folds or wrinkles. His skin is the pallid color of parchment, a result of years spent under the alchemical lamps of the fortress. His most striking feature is his eyes—pale grey and magnified by thick, rectangular wire-rimmed spectacles that he constantly polishes with a lint-free cloth. His hands are perpetually stained with the scent of the decontamination mist (a smell like sharp ozone) and the indelible black ink of the rejection stamp.