Raf is a brave, inventive and cunning member of the Northman tribe who seeks to journey to Troll Mountain in order to save his sister's life.
He is the main protagonist of Troll Mountain.
History[]
Early History[]
Raf and his younger sister, Kira, grew up in the Northmen tribe, born to a farmer and his wife. As a child, Raf used to play with Bader, the third son of the tribe chief's, but as they grew older, Bader began to act imperiously towards Raf.
Even as a boy, Raf displayed a keen eye for design, and started crafting many kinds of weapons, farming implements and other utensils. His mother encouraged Raf's inventiveness, often asking him questions that would have Raf running off to make adjustments for improvement, and made Raf happy by always using his tools.
Despite his youth, Raf decided to try to offer help to the chief by offering to make weapons for the tribe’s warriors, showing off a double-bladed axe he had made as an example. Unfortunately, the chief merely laughed at Raf's design, claiming to have no need for weapons with more than one blade, and told him to leave the fighting to his family. With the entire head family, even Bader, mocking him, Raf left feeling humiliated.
When Raf was 12, he was in the village when a warning that a rogue troll was nearby went out. Since his mother had not yet returned from picking berries, Raf left Kira with a neighbour and followed the tribe's warriors to corner the troll. Raf was horrified to see that the troll hand his lifeless mother's body in its hand, and witnessed his father attempt to retrieve her end with his own, brutal demise before the troll fled.
Because the attack cost them both of their parents, Raf and Kira found themselves orphans, and so had to care for each other and farm the small plot of land beside their hovel. Whenever he was not busy with his work and hunting for food, Raf would spend a much of his time continuing to invent implements and weapons, and began practicing his fighting skills with the weapons he created.
Having noted that the tribe's warriors hadn't moved very quickly in response to the warning of the troll's attack, Raf began to question their methods and motives regarding things like food allotment, becoming more outspoken and unafraid of criticising the tribal chief and his decisions. This caused Kira much unease, and she often tried to warn Raf that this was how things went for people in their position and that he risked being banished, though Raf was unconcerned and stated that he actually wanted things to improve.
As Raf became increasingly defiant towards the head family, one year, during the annual harvest games that were held to show off the head family's strength, he publicly requested a chance to participate in a wrestling match. Though the chief laughed at him, Raf remained certain, and so the chief had Bader take up his challenge to a wrestling match. As soon as the match began, however, one of Bader's brothers tripped Raf up, leaving him vulnerable to a thorough beating from Bader which was meant to humiliate Raf and crush his spirit.
As a result, Raf became more of an outsider within the Northman tribe, being mocked by the head family at every opportunity. Though Raf was angry, he tried not let this bother him as he continued to work his farm and practice his crafting and fighting skills on the edge of the Badlands.
Troll Mountain (Episode I)[]
One day, Kira was taken ill with the mysterious disease that had been afflicting the tribes of the River Valley. Raf went to the head family's hut to request aid, only to find a crowd had already gathered around Bader and two other warriors. Inquiring to Timbuk, Raf learned that the chief's daughter Lilibala had also caught the disease, and so the chief was sending a war party led by Bader to acquire the mysterious elixir that the trolls had somehow developed to cure it. Dismissing Timbuk's reverence to the head family's plan, Raf questioned how the they planned to bypass the troll's price - laying down their own life in exchange for the elixir - only for the Chief to publicly declare that the would not bargain with the trolls and instead demand the elixir from them.
Raf tended for the sickly Kira, to her amusement since she usually doted on him. But after several days had passed with no sign of Bader's party returning, and with Kira's condition continuing to worsen, Raf decided to got to Troll Mountain himself. Kira protested since she did not want him to sacrifice his life, only for him to inform her that he had no intention of doing so, having decided that he would steal the elixir. Sneaking out of the village that night, Raf began his journey towards the Black Mountains.
On his first night traversing the Badlands, Raf was attacked by a pair of lowland wolves; though he managed to dispatch one by chance, the second was dispatched by an old hermit named Ko. Learning that Ko knew who he was, as he had often been seen practising with his weapons, Raf was surprised to hear that Ko praise his inventiveness. After inquiring about Bader's group, Raf revealed his intent to procure the elixir. Hearing this, Ko advised Raf to be certain that he knew what an elixir was, to the boy's confusion. Hearing the howls of more wolves, Raf accepted Ko's offer to stay at his hut for the night.
At Ko's hut, Raf conversed with the old hermit about his tribe and asked if he knew how the trolls developed the elixir. While Ko didn't know, he did impart unto Raf three pieces of knowledge; that trolls have a weak spot under their chins and arms, that he possessed firepowder, and that a four legged animal should have two legs injured in order to be brought down.
The next morning, Ko offered to guide Raf part of the way to the Black Mountains, and after another day of travel, the pair made camp before the Broken Bridge. During the night, Raf was woken by a nearby commotion, leading him and Ko to witness a troll being pursued and bullied by larger trolls, and who became stuck in the gripping mud beneath the bridge's remains. After the other trolls left, Raf - against Ko's warning - approached the troll and listened to his plea for aid. Seeing the fear of dying in his eyes, Raf agreed and helped pull the troll to safety.
Düm thanked Raf and Ko and told them his story before offering to repay Raf for saving his life. Explaining his plan to steal the elixir, Raf was warned by Düm of the increased number of guards to Troll Mountain following a previous attempt at theft, but the troll did mention another possible way in through the apparently abandoned cave system in the hobgoblin's former kingdom within Forbidden Mountain. Seeing no other way, Raf decided to traverse Forbidden Mountain, and told Düm that his debt would be repaid if he helped him get there.
As they journeyed towards Forbidden Mountain, Düm revealed that an old field troll named Vilnar created the elixir. Upon arriving at the entrance to the hobgoblin kingdom, Raf affirmed his determination to proceed to Ko, who opted to continue accompanying Raf, and so they and Düm entered the mountain's passage.
Troll Mountain (Episode II)[]
As Raf, Ko and Düm traversed the cave system, they became wary as they spied several mutilated troll bodies along the way. Upon reaching a thermal underground lake, the trio came under attack from hobgoblins, and Raf did his best to defend himself. Raf ran on to a drawbridge to lower it while the others held other their attackers, and though a pack of mountain wolves occupied it, Raf managed to lower the bridge. As his group traversed it, Raf ordered Düm to destroy the supports, which kept them safe from further pursuit.
Upon exiting Forbidden Mountain, Raf and the others found themselves looking directly at Troll Mountain. Amazed at its appearance, Raf questioned how the trolls built it, though Düm and Ko informed him that they didn't, and that the ancient civilisation who built the Forbidden Mountain mine also constructed Troll Mountain. Thanking Düm for his help, Raf asked one last favour of the troll; to tell him where the elixir was kept. Once Düm pointed out the Supreme Watchtower, Ko asked Raf how he intended to get in undetected, to which Raf stated that he planned to use the trolls' own bridge.
Later that night, Raf crossed the bridge by swinging underneath using the slats, arriving on the lowest part of the Mountain. As Raf began making his way up, he noticed the corpse of one of the Northmen elders who had travelled to Troll Mountain when the disease first hit the village. Upon reaching the Winter Throne Hall, Raf viewed all of the sights around him, and saw that the lands to the north of the Black Mountains were in fact habitable, contradicting the stories the elders would tell.
Raf then infiltrated the Supreme Watchtower, coming across the sleeping Vilnar. Despite his attempt to stay quiet as he reached for the bottles of elixir, Raf inadvertently woke Vilnar, who informed Raf that he had already set off an alarm mechanism upon infiltrating the room. With the guards approaching, Raf offered to take Vilnar with him as he escaped; though the field troll was grateful, he knew it was too late for that, and so Vilnar revealed to Raf that the disease was in fact the result of lack of certain nutrients found in citrus fruits, and that his elixir is merely juice made from those fruits.
As Raf processed this and made his move to flee, he instead found himself confronted by the guards, who took him into custody. As he was being lowered into a prisoner's pit on the mountainside, Raf spied Bader in another cell. Despite his despair at his capture, Raf called out to Bader, who told Raf that the trolls had imprisoned his group for their demands, and that he was the only one left, since human prisoners are taken on occasion for food or sport, to Raf's dread as he tried to get some sleep.
The next morning, Raf was brought before the Troll King, and attempted to plead his case by pointing out that his tribe was dying and that the trolls made them suffer by cutting off their water. The Troll King cut Raf off, furious, and cruelly revealed that Bader had offered the porters in his group for only a small bottle of the elixir, making Raf realise that Bader had never intended to save the entire tribe at all. The Troll King conceded that Raf was something of a hero, and since it happened to be the wedding day of his son Turv and Düm's friend Graia, he decided that Raf would be his gift to the couple.
Imprisoned in a cage in the Winter Throne Hall, Raf was forced to watch as the trolls prepared for the ceremony, all the while being heckled by the trolls and the hobgoblin jesters. Several hours later, Raf was shocked to see Düm enter the hall with Ko as his prisoner. claiming to have captured the hermit to recompense his earlier objection to Turv and Graia's marriage. Seeing that Düm had also brought Ko's firepowde, Raf realised that his companions had a plan. As Ko addressed the Troll King himself, Raf was able to pick out a message too subtle for the trolls to uncover, deducing that the hermit wanted him to challenge the Troll King on the Fighting Platform.
Though skeptical that he had got the message right, Raf watched as Düm placed the firepowder barrels around the Great Hall and did something by the Fighting Platform, feeling sorry for the troll as he overheard Turv discuss killing Düm later. As the ceremony commenced, Raf interupted and and challenges the King to a match on the Fighting Platform. Though furious at Raf's mocking, the Troll King revealed that he could have his champion take his place, and so halted the wedding so that the trolls could first watch Raf fight Grondo on the Fighting Platform.
Troll Mountain (Episode III)[]
As Raf took his place on the Fighting Platform, he requested his own axe for the battle, using the time for it to be retrieved to try to figure out Ko's plan and fearing he had misunderstood the hermit. As the battle commenced, Raf used his smaller size and speed to avoid Grondo's furious hammer swings, and managed to slice some cuts on the large troll's armpits. After throwing himself over the side of the Platform, barely managing to edge, Raf spotted Ko's crossbow, left by Düm. Climbing back onto the Platform, Raf stabbed Grondo through the throat with his axe's hidden knife, killing the troll.
While the rest of the trolls were stunned, Raf took Ko's crossbow and fired it, along with a rope, at the mountain's summit, using it to swing off the platform and back onto the mountain. With the trolls trapped in the Throne Hall thanks to Düm blocking the door, Raf raced back to Vilnar's room and again asked the field troll to escape with him as he takes the "elixir". Concealing themselves within barrels and rolling past the approaching guards, the pair proceeded to jump out of the Winter Throne Hall, but not before Raf set off one of Ko's firepowder barrels, destroying and collapsing a large portion of Troll Mountain's summit.
The pair then meet up with Düm and Graia, and together the group sets about freeing Ko, with Raf briefly questioning if the hermit had really expected him to beat the Troll King's champion. Realsing that he couldn't leave the other prisoners to die, Raf decided to save them as well, during which he informed Bader that he had acquired the elixir and could thus save their people. But after releasing the last group of Southmen, as Raf and his allies began fleeing downwards, he noticed his pouch containing the elixir had been stolen by Bader, who had fled ahead of them.
As they passed the Great Hall, Raf used flaming arrows to ignite two more firepowder barrels, causing Troll Mountain to collapse even further. While his friends ran ahead of the destruction, Raf was confronted by the Troll King, who tried to crush him with a sliding stone sled. Luckily Raf managed to jump onto it, and once they had slid down the slope far enough, Raf leapt off, leaving the King to plunge into the ravine below as the collapsing mountain crushed the remaining trolls. Meeting his friends at the rope bridge, they found it has been cut by Bader so as to trap them on the mountain. Having not intended to escape over the bridge anyway, Raf used the last of the firepowder barrels to destroy the dam that starved the River Valley of water, and had everyone create rafts to take them back home on the river.
Upon arriving back in the Badlands near Ko's shack, Raf thanked Ko and Düm for their help in his quest. As Ko gifted his crossbow to Rad, he informed the boy that he had one more lesson for him, one that he would have to face himself. As he returned home, Raf gathered some lemons, soon feeding their juices to Kira, who seems to improve almost immediately. Raf then set off to confront Bader during the middle of a celebration in his honour, ordering the chief silence as he called out Bader on his lies and revealed that he could actually create more of the elixir.
Though Bader attempted to have Raf removed, the troll prince Turv suddenly burst into the village, enraged by the destruction of his future kingdom. Turv inadvertently corroborated Raf's story and exposed Bader's lies and cowardice before attacking Raf, though Raf managed to snatch the maddened troll's own sword and stab him in the eye with it. With the village having witnessed his bravery and realised Bader was indeed a useless coward, Raf announced to his people that he was leaving to start a new village in the northern lands and asked offered them a chance to join him, adding that he knew the cause and cure for the disease.
The next morning, Raf set with almost the entire tribe - save for the head family - for the north, gathering as many of the necessary fruits as possible and giving their juices to the sick. Along the way, Raf stopped by at Ko's shack to leave the hermit a note, in which he thanked Ko for all his wisdom and affirming that he had determined what a true elixir was: knowledge.
Soon, Raf and his village settled down in the northern plains and began to flourish in their new home. As the years passed, Raf encouraged the young ones to seek out new knowledge and question traditions, and every year during their harvest festival he would tell the story of his adventure at Troll Mountain.
Personality[]
Raf stands out from the other members of his tribe, as he is keen to question tradition, and has a sharp mind and a courageous heart. Since his youth, Raf has expressed curiosity about the world and questioned the traditions and knowledge possessed by the Northmen, eventually coming to prefer to discover and confirm things for himself. He was more than willing to listen to Ko's advice, eventually coming to realise what the old man was trying to teach him in his own time.
Since his parents' deaths, Raf has been openly defiant towards the head family, questioning their bravery and lack of intellect openly, not caring about the risks speaking out against them brings. Even after being humiliated by Bader, Raf refused to let his anger and embarrassment consume him, and while he preferred to avoid them thereafter, he never gave up his belief that things in the tribe should be changed.
In spite of his small stature, Raf was brave enough to decide to venture out on his own to retrieve the elixir, and was bold enough to decide to steal the exlixir from the trolls. Thanks to Ko's warnings and teachings, Raf became more caustic about his approach as he journeyed to Troll Mountain, and remained determined to see his goal through in order to save Kira's life.
Raf is also very empathetic, being unwilling to simply watch another creature die, which led him to help save Düm's life even in spite of Ko's warning him of the risks. Furthermore, his desire to obtain the elixir was not solely for his sister's sake, as he hoped to obtain enough of it to save his people, and after being taught the truth about how to cure the disease was more than happy to share the knowledge with the people of the Southmen tribe.
Skills[]
- Gifted Intellect: Raf is a remarkably clever young man, possessing a more keen intellect than any other person in the Northman tribe. Since his youth, Raf has expressed curiosity about the world and questioned the traditions and knowledge possessed by the Northmen, eventually coming to prefer to discover and confirm things for himself.
- Skilled Craftsman: Thanks to his ingenuity, Raf is a talented craftsman, able to design and build a variety of household tools and weapons. Whenever he would receive feedback from his mother, Raf would go back to refine his inventions for improvement. During most of his teenage years, he was able to craft a double-bladed axe and continually refine the design to make it smaller and light, and even crafted a hidden knife to store within the axe's handle. His crafting skills also extends to weaving, as Raf was able to weave together a strong rope capable of supporting even a troll's weight.
- Skilled Combatant: While not formally trained in any form of fighting, Raf has spent years teaching himself how to fight and handle the weapons he designed. In part due to his size and frame (small and thin with gangly limbs), Raf is not strong like the warriors of his tribe, but he is nimble and fast, which makes him well suited for quick, darting strikes against larger enemies like the troll Grondo.
- Skilled Marksman: Despite apparently having little opportunity to practice, Raf was proficient enough with Ko's crossbow to confidently use it to aim at and target the arrows he launched with it, notably when he rapidly took aim at and fired upon Ko's firepowder barrel.
- Skilled Hunter: Raf has honed his skills over the years in order to hunt down small game for food.
- Skilled Climber: Raf is a fantastic climber, and can scamper up a cliff or tree quickly to avoid attack. He was able to traverse the underside of a bridge to reach Troll Mountain unnoticed, and scaled the roughest parts of the mountain all the way to the peak with minor difficulty.
Equipment[]
- Double-Bladed Axe: An axe of Raf's own design, which features a blade on both sides. Over some years, Raf refined the design for his axe so that it became smaller and lighter. The axe's blade was strong and sharp enough to easily cut into the softest part of a troll's body, the armpit.
- Flint Knife: Another one of Raf's inventions, a long, thin blade made of flint, which stores within the handle of Raf's axe for concealment and easy access. Despite its small size, it was sharp enough to pierce through the underside of Grondo's chin, all the way up to the troll's brain.
- Rope: A strong and sturdy rope which Raf weaved together himself.
- Crossbow: A ranged weapon belonging to Ko. Thanks to Ko and Düm's forward planning, Raf was able to retrieve it from the underside of the fighting platform and use it to escape the platform. Later, Raf used it to fire a flammable arrow at a barrel of Ko's firepowder in order to detonate it.
- Bone Sword: A blade made from a sharpened human leg, which Raf took from Turv's weapons belt during their final confrontation and used to stab the troll prince fatally through the eye.
Trivia[]
- Unlike most of the other leading characters of Reilly's novels, Raf lacks a defining physical feature.
- Raf is seventeen, but boyish in appearance, and his hair is sandy-coloured.
- Also, he is the first leading character to not have his last name known.