Ropac

Ropac ( Circa, 1260s )

**Ropac** was a witcher of the School of the Viper, infamous for his crimes across the continent but also an expert on the Wild Hunt. He had recently been exiled a few days prior when the school came under attack, leaving him as one of the survivors, ironically. Ropac was also the first member of the Kingslayers to attempt to assassinate King Foltest, though he was ultimately unsuccessful.

At the time of the attempt, Geralt was in the castle to receive his reward for destroying Salamandra and eliminating Jacques de Aldersberg, when Ropac made his move. An intense sword fight ensued between the two witchers, narrowly resulting in the death of the would-be assassin.

## Biography

### Early life

Ropac was born on the island of Basilia around the year 1130, the son of a family of sailors from the island who decided to emigrate to Ebbing around 1134. They settled in one of the coastal settlements of the then-independent kingdom. The reasons for their departure are unknown, as Ropac, due to his youth, never managed to remember them.

At some point in that same year, the Viper Witcher Kolgrim traversed the area where Ropac resided, summoned to put an end to a nest of nixas. Seizing an opportunity, Kolgrim took custody of the young boy after Ropac's father had previously ventured ahead to confront the issue, ultimately meeting his demise in the task. This tragic event left Ropac's mother deeply scarred, rendering her incapable of caring for her son. In the aftermath, she made the difficult decision to give Ropac to the Viper Witcher as gratitude, along with his coin, for resolving the monster problem.

After that, Ropac was taken to Gorthur Gvaed, where he underwent training and was subjected to the Trials. These trials mutated him into a being with nearly superhuman speed, strength, and various other abilities. During his training, he formed friendships with other trainees, including Auckes, Serrit, and Letho.

### The vigilante (1150s - 1250s)

Once he graduated as a Witcher and embarked on The Path, Ropac became known not only for dispatching the designated monster for which he had been contracted but also for taking matters into his own hands to solve people's problems. This often led him to become a fugitive and an outlaw in many places, always defending the most vulnerable. Whether resorting to theft on behalf of the poor or using necessary acts of violence, Ropac's methods were characterized by brutal pragmatism.

His unorthodox approach earned him great infamy among authorities in the Northern Realms and partially in Nilfgaard, making him a sought-after figure and indirectly causing issues for his fellow Viper Witchers, as well as other schools within the guild. However, among the poor and defenseless, including non-humans, Ropac would be remembered fondly. as he proactively intervened in various conflicts, becoming a symbol for those without a voice.

By the 1250s, after intense deliberation, Ropac was expelled from the school, exiled without knowing that, ironically, this decision would ultimately save him. Since a few days after his expulsion, the school would be destroyed by the Nilfgaardian Army.

### Joining Geralt of Rivia (25 of July, 1269)

After the fall of the school, Ropac reunited with his friends, and together, they set out on a journey with the aim of seeking other survivors. But one day, on the 25th of July 1269, in the forests of Angren, Letho, who was doing a contract to obtain money for the group, found himself near death after being struck by a slyzard's tail. However, Geralt, a Witcher from the School of the Wolf, discovered and saved him while in pursuit of the Wild Hunt to rescue Yennefer. In gratitude for saving his life, Letho informed Geralt about the whereabouts of the Wild Hunt. Alongside Ropac and the other Viper Witchers, they traveled together, first seeking additional assistance in the form of the mage Istredd and then pursuing the spectral riders.

### Recruiting Istredd (September 1269)

In September 1269, under Ropac's leadership, the group headed to Vengerberg to recruit the mage Istredd, despite Geralt's reluctance due to Istredd being a former love interest of Yennefer and the rivalry that had existed between them since the events in Aedd Gynvael. Ropac was familiar with Istredd because he had been hired by him on one occasion to protect him from possible subterranean monsters during an excavation. Ropac was aware that, for the past couple of months, after the supposed death of Yennefer, Istredd had moved to Vengerberg, specifically to the house of his former lover, to take care of her belongings, as Yennefer had no one else.

The recruitment of Istredd by Ropac was driven by the witcher's understanding that the four of them alone would not be sufficient to face the Wild Hunt. They needed the assistance of a mage if they wanted to survive and rescue Yennefer. In Vengerberg, they located the mage at Yennefer's house, and despite the challenging circumstances, as Istredd was in a deplorable, depressive state deeply affected by the presumed death of his beloved, to the extent that, upon seeing Geralt again, Istredd attacked the witcher with rage using his magic, almost injuring him. If it were not for the intervention of the other witchers, who managed to immobilize the mage and subsequently reason with him, after that, his recruitment was successfully accomplished.

The tension between Geralt and Istredd was palpable, fueled by their shared history and the complex emotions tied to Yennefer. However, with the common goal of facing the Wild Hunt and rescuing the sorceress, they set aside their personal differences for the time being.

### Tracking The Wild Hunt ( winter of 1269 )

Alongside Geralt, the four Viper witchers and the mage fought against the Wild Hunt, but despite their skill, the witchers and the mage couldn't defeat all the warriors and a stalemate ensued until Geralt exchanged himself for Yennefer. Out of respect for their departed comrade and the mage, the Vipers took care of Yennefer, who, suffering from amnesia, began to cause trouble for the group. Eventually, all of them were captured by the Nilfgaardian secret service. In custody, they were approached by Imperator Emhyr var Emreis, who offered to rebuild their school if they sowed chaos in for him in the Northern Kingdoms by killing its kings. Soon after, the Viper Witchers would encounter Baem again, who would join the Kingslayers, although he would quickly leave after his failed attempt to assassinate the king of Kovir. On his part, Ropac was convinced by Letho to join the group in exchange for being accepted back into the future reconstructed school. However, he would not live to tell the tale.

### Attempt to kill Foltest ( September of 1270 )

In September 1270, Ropac managed to enter the Temerian Royal Palace in Vizima just when Geralt, who lost his memory shortly after their last meeting, was in the process of receiving his reward for destroying Salamandra and killing the Grandmaster of the Order of the Flaming Rose, Jacques de Aldersberg.

The renegade witcher snuck past all the guards, killing two of them in the process and almost killed King Foltest. Before anything else could happen, Geralt rushed to the king's aid; a hard-fought battle broke out in which the dual-wielding assassin got the upper hand, so Geralt threw his recently-acquired coin pouch at his former comrade to stun him, before cutting off his arm and killing him with a slash across the back. The dead assassin was not recognized by Geralt due to the latter's amnesia, however, and his corpse underwent an autopsy to find out who he was.

## Legacy

Immediately after his death, he was searched over by royal medics in the palace until they passed his body to Triss Merigold. She did the autopsy and couldn't identify his age, but did learn that he could see in the dark, indicating to her that he might have been a witcher. The assassin also wore no medallion.

By the end of the 1280s decade, the Redanian Secret Service had recovered equipment pieces used by Ropac. These were then employed in 1288 by one of their assassins, Jolanta Dinmarb, with the intention of convincing the aristocracy that the Kingslayers had returned and were after them. The goal was to keep them weakened, frightened, and distracted, preventing the kingdom of Temeria from overcoming its fragile state. However, an error occurred when the assassin used Redanian daggers to kill some of her targets, leading to the plans never being executed and revealing that Redania was behind the scheme.

Some of the investigations on the Wild Hunt carried out by Ropac, which were documented in thirty books, were recovered by the School of the Fox. This provided a foundation for studying future phenomena that might be similar. However, due to the attack on the Viper fortress, a significant portion of his work was lost, with only five out of the thirty written works surviving in good conditions.

## Trivia

* The name Ropac derives from the Polish *Rozpacz (despair)*.

## Notes

* Most of the article is a transcription of the story thought up by VoraciousCake with a few tweaks here and there plus the canon information about the Mysterious assasin.
* Although it may not share the same look as its Witcher 1 counterpart, given that by the time this article was completed, a remake of The Witcher 1 is being developed, Ropac would be a "remake" / expansion of the character known as Mysterious Assasin in The Witcher 1 hence, the different facial structure.
* Istredd has been included for the simple reason that, knowing his love for Yennefer to the point that he wanted to marry her, and despite her being with Geralt, and considering everything Istredd and she experienced together before the witcher's arrival, it is impossible to believe he would have remained idle upon learning that Yennefer was still alive and, moreover, kidnapped. Even if it meant forming an alliance with his hated rival, Geralt. This is something that should be taken into account in the remake.
* Feel free to expand the article if you want respecting the previously posted and adding yourself in the writer tag.