Ricky Rofal

Ricky Rofal is a member of Rofal Family.

## Personality

Ricky seems to value internet access very highly.

## Relationships

Besides Dunstan Rofal, Ricky initially was dismissive and insulting of other Rofal family members, but is currently getting along with them a lot better due to Damian’s bonding exercises.

### Dunstan Rofal

He’s presumably scared of him like the rest of his family.

## Appearance

Ricky is a teenage boy with Rofal family’s dark hair and thick, arched eyebrows. He has a fitting size Rofal Family jacket, with (presumably) “R. Rofal” emblazoned on the front, and an elaborate design on the back - silvery wings burning with red-and-black flames, all placed in front of two giant, menacing eyes, which also carried flames in their pupils.

## Powers and Abilities

Ricky has an aberration ring made from Geoffrey Rofal. It’s currently unclear how the ring’s shadow and Domination ability compare to alive Geoffrey. He was trained in using the shadow, but seemingly not in using Domination.

## History

When Damian decided to gather all his family members with the purpose of building a fourth servant empire, Ricky was kidnapped along with the rest of the family and declared dead, with around forty percent of his family assets liquidated. After the kidnapping he was brought to a mansion-sized cabin in Omarest Mountain Range of Dante, surrounded by an unusual high-level soul net which worked not only on reapers but also on people, preventing everyone from leaving.

There, Ricky was informed of the existence of servants, reapers, as well as the Servant Emperors and their different factions. He also was informed of recruitment plans and aberration harvesting to reach the strength necessary for Damian’s goal. Finally, Ricky got a number of gifts - snow globe, pistol, coloring book, matching jacket and an aberration ring made from Geoffrey. After that Damian started training Ricky in various subjects, including shooting a pistol, making a fire, combat and using aberration shadow.

When second great Eloan war had begun, Damian gifted Ricky an tablet and warned him against abusing the privilege of reconnecting with the world. Along with that, he informed him of the war and announced that Rofal Family soon will have their first true family outing. That outing turned to be bringing everyone to front lines of the continental war, specifically in Melmoore, though with comparatively minimal fighting required on their part.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "You have all been making wonderful progress," said Damian. "And as such, I think the time will soon come when we have our first, true family outing!"

A chorus of uncertain mumbles ran through the audience, and Cisco and Dunstan exchanged looks.

They didn't need words. They both understood the implications. Any chance at freedom was a chance to escape the old man's clutches. Ideas were already forming in Cisco's head about how they might be able to accomplish it, and he had no doubt Dunstan was the same.

Unfortunately, ideas of how *impossible* it might be were also forming. Dunstan hadn't tried to conceal his dislike for their current circumstances. Damian had to know that Dunstan would want to escape.

"And in celebration of this magnificent step forward--" The old man raised his left hand somewhat, and the front door of the cabin swung open. "--I've decided that it's time to give you all more presents!"

A line of various electronics came floating into the cabin, all bobbing up and down in air as if in tune with some silent music.

"I know how much you young folk hate being 'off the grid,' as they say," said Damian. "So I figured that it was about time I let you reconnect with the world a little. But only a little! Okay?! Don't abuse this privilege, or Grandpa will have to punish you!" And he smiled wide.

A flat screen television hovered right into Cisco's hands.

One of the younger Rofals, a teenage boy named Ricky, looked ecstatic as a tablet floated toward him. "Wow, Grandpa! Thanks!"

"You're welcome, my boy!"

Ricky's apparent enthusiasm turned to curiosity. "But do we even have an ISP way out here in the mountains?"

Damian blinked at him. "Hmm? An ISP? Wazzat?"

And from there, it became quickly apparent that the old man didn't actually know much about modern electronics.

On the one hand, Cisco was surprised by his ignorance, but on the other, he wasn't at all.

Hmm. Maybe that could prove useful in making their escape, Cisco thought. There was a pretty good chance that Feromas, Damian's reaper, wouldn't know much about electronics, either. It seemed like most reapers weren't terribly knowledgeable about modern technologies.

"In any event," Damian continued, "before I let you all play with your new toys, I should tell you that. Well. There've been some pretty big developments in the world. So try not to freak out too much if and when you turn on the news."

"What are you talking about?" said Dunstan.

Grandpa Rofal's eyes snapped to Dunstan, who was standing right next to him. His smile broadened, and he patted the young man on the head, which Dunstan batted away. "Well, y'see, sonny, the second great Eloan war has begun." - Excerpt from pages 2576 and 2577
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Maybe that was absurd, though. Damian Rofal still kept bringing them plenty of food, and made sure that everyone knew how to build a fire. It had a been a few years since Cisco had received instruction on that matter, and he thought it best to play along as if he didn't know anything.

The old man was a surprisingly patient teacher. Cisco watched him work with each and every one of the other Rofals, even Dunstan, who clearly did not wish to be here even more passionately than Cisco did.

But it was precisely because of the biting cold that Dunstan couldn't just ignore the rest of his family as he had tried to do in the early portion of their stay here. Everyone had to huddle together for warmth, especially at night.

Ridiculously enough, however, the old man's plan actually seemed to be working. As far as Cisco could tell, the Rofals were getting along a lot better than they were at the beginning. Where before they had been dismissive or insulting of one another, now they were talking more and even laughing.

Cisco and Dunstan were still the odd ones out, though.

Dunstan's hatred for his family was *not* going to go away anytime soon, Cisco felt. There was something very deep there.

Rezamaar, Dunstan's rather loudmouthed reaper, was more conciliatory in her disposition towards them, but seeing as they were all normal humans who couldn't see or interact with her, that didn't accomplish much. If anything, it just seemed to annoy Dunstan even more.

And since Cisco was Dunstan's "friend," he ended up being lumped in with him.

All in all, it was strange state of affairs, being trapped in this place with little more to do than observe a bunch of purported criminals who were mostly just trying to ignore him--probably because they were afraid of Dunstan now. - Excerpt from page 2572
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 If it wasn't clear enough to him before, it was certainly clear to him now. Damian was no normal servant. That old man had *real* strength. More than Cisco had ever personally seen. The noticeable field density of the man's soul already made that point obvious, but the occasional sparring sessions that he held with everyone had really nailed that point home.

Damian had been training everyone in the usage of these rings that he'd gifted them. The red shadows that could be summoned out of them were incredibly malleable, and Cisco could see incremental improvement from everyone across the board. They could make the shadows move faster and create more sophisticated shapes. And Damian promised to take them to still further heights.

Perhaps that was another reason why the old man's "bonding" strategy seemed to be working. These Rofals clearly enjoyed what the shadows allowed them to do. And the prospect that they might become yet more powerful? Music to their ears, no doubt. - Excerpt from page 2573
4. ↑ And they all had the same dark hair and thick, arched eyebrows. - Excerpt from page 1471
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 “Oh, and I also got some coloring books,” said Damian. “I remember how a lot of you guys liked those.”

“When we were six, maybe,” someone said.

Damian glanced over his audience again. “Okay, maybe I got those for me. I’m just saying--feel free to take advantage of them, if you want. I won’t be upset.”

Cisco heard Feromas sighing.

“Ooh! And here’s the best part!” Damian rummaged through the last few bags and pulled out two armfuls of red leather with black stripes. “Matching jackets! Now we can be like a proper gang! Or a team! Yeah! Team Rofal!”

Cisco had to set his other gifts down in order to receive this one. The back had an elaborate and admittedly impressive design on it--silvery wings burning with red-and-black flames, all placed in front of two giant, menacing eyes, which also carried flames in their pupils.

It also had “C. Ellis” emblazoned on the front. It was even the right size.

And as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Cisco actually kind of liked it.

The other Rofals gave various--though not necessarily unreceptive--grumbles as they examined their own jackets.

After that, Damian sat everyone down to explain a few things. Namely, he told them about the existence of reapers and servants. He informed them of the existence of the Vanguard and Abolish, as well as Sai-hee.

Cisco knew all of this already, of course, as did Dunstan, but most of the audience looked like they didn’t believe him at all. Until he ripped off his own hand and grew it back right in front of them. Dunstan even spoke up at one point to say that Damian was, in fact, not just being his usual crazy self.

Once the pieces finally started to fall into place for everyone, perhaps realizing previous mysteries in their own lives were suddenly being solved, they began asking questions, chief among them coming from the eldest woman of the group, Damian’s wife, a woman that Cisco had yet to get an actual name for, as everyone had just been calling her “Mother” or “Grandma.”

“Why in the world have you waited so long to tell us all of this?!” she said, sounding equal parts furious and confused.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” said Damian. “I didn’t want you guys spreading all this information around and causing a stir. The whole reason I wanted to start this family was to lay low for a while, not draw attention. And let me tell you, it would’ve been very bad if either the King of the Fairies or the King of the Demons found out about us!” - Excerpt from page 1474
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 And abruptly, a broad grin split the reaper’s face. *‘Now that is more like it.’* He eyed Samuel Goffe’s body. *‘Don’t forget to scrap Geoffrey for parts, too.’*

“Right.” Damian turned to the coroner. “I need a body bag for this one.”

The man blinked at him. “E-excuse me?”

“I’m taking--what was it, Mr. Goffe? I’m taking him with me.” - Excerpt from page 297
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 ‘*That’s a lovely sentiment*,’ said Rezamaar, ‘*but we don’t really have quality, either. Aside from yourself, our strongest fighter is my sweet baby Dunstan here. And he still needs time to grow.*’

‘*Don’t worry*,’ said Feromas. ‘*We’ve got recruitment plans in the works. And we’re also going to do a bit of aberration harvesting. Which reminds me. Damian, why don’t you give everyone their final gift?*’

“Right!” said Damian, rummaging through his pockets. He retrieved a fistful of pearly white rings--identical to one he was already wearing, Cisco noticed. “Now, these are only rings, so they’re not as strong as they might otherwise be, but they’ll help keep you safe. And choose your finger wisely, because once you put it on, it’s not coming off unless the finger comes with it. Everybody take one. Come on. Don’t be shy now. I made sure there were enough for all of you.”

When Cisco received his, he examined it more closely. It had a polished sheen to it on the outside rim, but the inside was much plainer. *‘Is that... bone?’* thought Cisco.

*‘I believe so,’* said Dennex privately. *‘This ring is the remains of an aberration. I can sense its sinister power.’*

Cisco watched as everyone else was putting theirs on. ‘*Should I really wear this?*’

‘*I don’t think you have much choice, right now.*’

‘*Ugh...*’ Cisco frowned as he stared at it. He’d wanted to become an aberration hunter, but was this the end result of that? Or was it just some twisted approximation? Would the Vanguard have made him wear this thing, too?

Maybe so. The Vanguard had certainly demonstrated that it wasn’t nearly so noble as he’d hoped it was.

‘*You can cut your finger off later, if you really hate it that much*,’ said Dennex.

Cisco took a slow breath and put it on, choosing his middle finger on his right hand. It felt like any other ring would, at first. Then a sharp pain bit into his finger, and he could feel it go all the way to his bone, like it was attaching itself to him.

But there was no blood. And it didn’t look like his skin had actually been broken. It just *felt* like he’d been cut into. But that, too, was fleeting. After a few more moments of agony, the pain was entirely gone.

The others were already manifesting shadows around themselves. A deep and dark red, each one was, which suggested to Cisco that all of these bone rings had come from the same aberration. Though, perhaps not. Surely, there were repeated colors among aberrations. Perhaps they’d all just come from the same *type* of aberration, assuming there were such classifications. - Excerpt from page 1476
8. ↑ ”Well, anyway,” said Dunstan, “isn’t it about time you explained why the hell you’ve gone so far out of your way to gather us all together like this?”

“It’s a team building exercise!” said Damian. “I thought that would be obvious by now, given the jackets!”

Dunstan eyed his own again. “Yeah, but *to what end*? Why do you want us to be a team so badly? Hell, I still don’t know how you were even able to find me the way you did.”

“Heh, I have my ways,” said Damian.

‘*And by “ways,” he means “associates who can handle all the hard stuff for him,”*’ said Feromas.

“Hey, don’t give away my ways!”

Feromas ignored him. ‘*Dunstan, the goal here is simple. We’re building a fourth servant empire.*’ - Excerpt from page 1475
9. ↑ “Some of us do have lives of our own, you know,” said Lucia.

“Oh, yeah, about that.” Damian gave her a toothy smile. “You actually don’t, anymore.”

Everyone just looked at him.

Lucia was the one to ask, “What does that mean?”

“I’ve had you all declared dead!”

Cisco heard a few groans.

“Plane crash is the official story,” said Damian. “So don’t worry. Your friends and associates won’t miss you. Well, okay, poor choice of words. They won’t be wondering where you are, is what I meant.”

“What about the family business?!”

“It’s alright,” said Damian. “I liquidated all of your assets. Almost all, anyway. A good forty percent or so.” - Excerpt from page 1477
10. ↑ Francisco Elroy had to admit, the view from his room was stunning. The Omarest Mountain Range of Dante was known for its skiing even as far away as Sair, and now he could see why. The snow outside his window was unlike anything he’d seen in Aguarey.

Under different circumstances, he might have been able to enjoy visiting this luxurious, mansion-sized cabin in the middle of nowhere.

The question of why the hell he was here in the first place had still not been answered to his satisfaction. He understood that the crazy old guy named Damian Rofal was responsible, but beyond that, not much was clear.

The last thing he remembered before waking up here was fighting a group of Vanguardian jackasses in his school. And now he’d come to find that one of those very jackasses was here with him, not much more aware of what was going on than he was, apparently.

His reaper, Dennex, had advised him not to ask too many questions, however, and Cisco could see the wisdom in that, especially after what Dunstan Rofal, the Vanguardian jackass in question, had told him.

“My family is a bunch of criminals,” he’d said. “I suggest you not trust any of them. And my grandfather in particular is... well, he’s a lot more *dangerous* than I ever realized, it would seem.”

They’d been here for a couple weeks now, so naturally, Cisco had been trying to find a means of escape--with Dunstan’s help, surprisingly. But this place was much more of a prison than it looked. The building’s three floors may have had an open-air layout to them, and the furniture may have been as ritzy as Cisco had ever seen, and the food may have even been pretty damn good, but there was some sort of high-level soul net preventing not just the reapers from leaving, but people, too.

From what Cisco had thus far gathered, it had something to do with the tall, rocky spires that stood all around the structure. They looked normal enough at a glance and as of now, were half-buried in snow, but when he’d touched them a few days ago, he could feel them *humming* in a way that was most certainly unnatural. - Excerpt from page 1469
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 By the time Damian started pulling presents out, the Rofals had all gathered in the main room, even Dunstan and Rezamaar.

“Now, first, we of course have our snow globes,” said Damian. He held out one in each hand, shaking them both to make the white flakes in the water begin floating. “When I saw these, I obviously had to buy all of them, so don’t be shy now! I have enough for everyone! Go on, everybody take one!”

Despite saying that, Cisco somehow ended up with three globes in his hands. One was of a snowman and a candlestick-man punching each other. Another was of a dragon burning down a snowy village. And the third was of a lion roaring on a snow-capped mountain.

Cisco had no idea where he was supposed to put these.

Then Damian started pulling out firearms. He handed them out like they were candy.

“I was only able to get pistols, but that should be fine for now,” said Damian. “They’re not loaded, of course, but I’ll show you all how to use them later.” - Excerpt from page 1473
12. ↑ Now that Damian had taken him and rest of the Rofals away from that damn cabin in the mountains, things were quite different. He'd brought them out to Melmoore.

To the front lines of the continental war.

It had barely been a week since they'd arrived, and he'd already witnessed more real combat than in the rest of his life combined.

Witnessed, but not exactly participated in. The amount of actual fighting he'd done was still comparatively minimal. Why Damian had bothered to bring them to a war zone if he didn't intend to make them fight, Cisco had no idea. - Excerpt from page 2936