The governor of Slow Tide Harbor is a lean, almost bone-thin man in late middle age, past the normal age of retirement but holding on to power because he has no heirs. He is not a particularly refined man—in that regard being little different from lower-ranking Tortoise—and he indulges regularly in opium. He prefers not to be troubled by the work of governance; so long as the taxes (and bribes) come in and there is no fighting in the streets, he is content.