Victor Reeves
Rosa Leyi and Hugo Reeves grew up in the Shingles. The childhood sweethearts married as soon as they came of age but only after five years of waiting and praying did Rosa become pregnant. She gave birth to a boy and they named him Robert. Two years after Robert Rosa gave birth to a boy again, Victor.
The family lived with Rosa´s demented mother in a tiny house. They were very poor but they were happy together. However, times grew tougher and food became harder to come by. There was barely work for Hugo, a construction worker, as most of the city was rather shrinking than growing, and his income was low and irregular. Rosa did not dare to leave her mother and children alone for long, so she only occasionally earned money as a washer woman.
The nobles of the city would hand out food to the poor and watch the rabble fight over it (they were charitable but also valued their amusement). At one such time a riot erupted and in the ensuing panic both Hugo and Rosa got trampled. Victor was only nine years old by then.
After their deaths, Robert took it upon himself to raise his little brother and take care of his grandmother. While their parents had always warned them against a life of crime, the brothers soon discovered a trick here and there or the occasional picked pocket provided them with food for several days and their moral objections were overruled by grumbling stomachs.
Mortimer was Victors best friend. They were of the same age and Mort lived around the corner with his mother, a failed actress who found comfort in the bottle. Sometimes she was sober enough to mother over both boys and she put their minds on a career in the arts, as they displayed above average talent for it. Robert recognized the advantages immediately and the three of them put an act together which provided for all of them, including their grandmother and Mortimers mother.
When Victor was thirteen, Robert decided his baby brother had become old enough to fend for himself. In the meantime their grandmother had passed away so he said goodbye and boarded a trade vessel, following his life long dream of becoming a sailor. (Becoming a pirate wasn’t on his mind then.) ((Yet.))
Victor, who liked the taste of fame -be it only in a couple of blocks-, laid out a plan for his and Morts future as artists and actors and for a few years they worked hard on realizing their ambitions. As their fame grew, Mort fell in with the wrong crowd. He lacked Victors resolve and became addicted to shiver, a vicious drug.
Mortimer tried to hide it at first, but eventually Victor found out anyway, when he discovered Mort had depleted their savings ad spent it all on drugs. Victor forced Mort to quit cold turkey. for a while after that things were alright again and their career began to lift off. Until one day Victor came home and discovered Mortimers dead body. His best friend had died from an overdose of shiver, his one time but fatal relapse.
Crushed, Victor buried Mortimer in the Potter’s Ward and vowed to track and destroy the one responsible for his death.
His talent for finding things out soon led him to Gaedren Lamm, a petty crime lord. And his desire for vengeance brought him together with a colourful bunch of people, who had all set their minds on bringing Gaedren down. Circumstances and a persuasive Harrow Deck led him unexpectedly to take up a role as Protector of Korvosa.
Current events
Proud of his role as Protector of Korvosa, Victor eagerly pursued the quarries the Guard threw at their band. He loved basking in the feeling of glory and he also enjoyed the companionship of the people fate had thrown him in with.
Soon, these feelings were put to the test when the Guard asked them to bring in a possible assassin. The beautiful young woman Trinia instantly stole his heart and he knew for certain she was innocent of all charges. He turned against his new companions and his boss to help her get out of the city, but she was nonetheless caught and tried. The trial took place under suspicious cirumstances and she was found guilty of regicide. This left Victor with a serious dilemma.
Was he willing to serve as a protector of Korvosa and more than that, was Korvosa worthy of his protection? The people were all too eager to put an innocent to death for the sake of peace.
Trinia was saved by Black Jack, the mysterious hero of the innocent of Korvosa. Victor realized that the normal people, without power or money, were as much victims of the whims of nobility as Trinia had been. The idea of a hero in the shadows appealed to him. He began to wonder if, by carefully crafting his future within the current political environment, he would be able to gain enough influence to eventually shape it.
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