Reef

Reef (d. 9 September 1267) was a fair-haired Nilfgaardian and one of the members of the Rats.^[2]

Biography[]

Early life[]

He served in the Imperial Army until 1265 at age sixteen, when he was injured and abandoned by his mates after a two-day siege in a castle in Ebbing, during a punitive expedition to suppress a rebellion organized by Emhyr var Emreis, the emperor of Nilfgaard. In the castle he found Kayleigh, a survivor of the same age from the massacre, and instead of finishing him off, helped and healed his injuries. The two then started a new life after killing a tax collector and sharing the loot: robbing rich men and enjoying their money.^[3]

Around 1266,^[4] they met Giselher, Mistle, Asse and Iskra during the holiday of Lammas in a village in Geso and formed a gang. Originally the law ignored the Rats, believing the group would soon fall victim to the usual methods that wiped out other gangs: be killed by a mob of peasants or fight each other over loot. However, the Rats were different in that they didn't kill for the goods, they killed for entertainment and thus handed out the goods to the poor citizens in the area, which also made it harder for troops to track them, as the citizens would give false information on the Rats' whereabouts and even shelter them on occasion. The Nilfgaardian prefects then tried to offer generous rewards on the Rats, but any informers had their cottage set on fire and were summarily killed by the gang when they tried to escape the burning building. Trying another route, the prefects tried to plant moles, but the group despised outsiders and refused to accept anyone else.^[3]

Meeting Ciri[]

This changed however, in July 1267; Ciri, who'd just survived her own ordeal crossing the Korath desert, was summarily captured on the edges of it by a group of slavers, called the Trappers, looking to turn her in for a large reward (not realizing she was the lost princess of Cintra). Meanwhile, Kayleigh had been captured by another gang, the Nissir, to be turned in for a reward and which would undoubtedly lead to his execution. When both groups met in Glyswen, the other Rats attacked the inn and both gangs inside. Impressed with Ciri's sword skills and as she helped Kayleigh, the Rats let her escape with them back to one of their hideouts and let her stay for the night.

After a lot of back and forth amongst the members, where Mistle stood up for Ciri while others, like Iskra, only saw Ciri as a mere child, the group decided to welcome Ciri into their fold and lavished her with gifts and asked for her name, who hadn't revealed it yet. Ciri decided on the elder word "Gvalcha'ca", meaning "falcon" and thus the group called her "Falka" (another variation of the word).^[3]

Death[]

On September 9th, he, along with the rest of the original gang, went to Jealousy to confront Leo Bonhart, a legendary bounty hunter that'd been asked to deal with the Rats. However, their overconfidence led to the gang's downfall and all of them were subsequently killed and beheaded by Bonhart, save for Ciri as Bonhart had a separate, special contract on her. Reef's decapitated body was then buried in Jealousy with the rest.^[2]

Appearance and personality[]

He was young, wore an embroidered sheepskin jacket, spoke with a distinct Nilfgaardian accent^[3] and had a naked woman tattooed on his forearm. He often took fisstech.^{[citation needed]}

References[]