Rolof

Minor reference. Tyndal reports mind-to-mind: "When Lady Pentandra taught me the thinking spell, I got in contact with Master Rolof. He's staying with the Bovali, since they are being quartered at his uncle's estate. They are mostly well." Rolof is sheltering the Bovali refugees on his uncle's estate in the Coastlands. Cast list: "Rolof (Not participating in the war at this time)." One of the first warmagi Pentandra recruited westward; Boval siege veteran and the first person to escape with the rest after the fall.

Retired High Mage turned Anghysbel hermit — the guide for Minalan's expedition to Szal the Yith. Backstory recap: "He'd been a warmage in the coastal counties when he'd run across Pentandra, on her way west to rescue her friend Minalan. Lured by the promise of irionite and a handsome signing bonus in silver, he'd faithfully crossed the duchies at break-neck pace with her, picking up further warmagi along the way. He'd served valiantly and cunningly at the Siege of Boval Castle, he'd sworn his oath and gotten his witchstone, he'd stood with me against the Dead God, and he'd escaped with the rest of us. It had been his family's estate that we'd regrouped at, after the siege. Rolof had missed all of that. For years, no one had seen him. Because, apparently, he'd gone into exile in Anghysbel for no good reason anyone could tell."

"Rolof was not the same man I briefly knew, but neither was I. He had sought obscurity while I sought power." Wears a blue cloak. Calm, eerie — "Rolof strode through it like he was inspecting his garden. If he was paranoid, he was the most relaxed paranoid I'd ever met."

Meeting:

Captain, Minalan. You, I remember. These others? I have not met them.

On Tyndal says:

A head taller, now. A beard changes a man, even a little one, like yours. Captain Minalan and others. Way out here. I cannot think that this meeting was happenstance.

Lives in a rustic croft on a ridge with squash vines in a meadow. "If you are seeking warmagi, I have retired." Declines to hunt dragons:

Why would you want to slay a dragon? Have you ever considered things from the dragon's point of view? Some dragons are quite nice, once you get to know them.

Minalan suspects madness from a Szal the Yith encounter.

Discovers the "null zone" where the two jevolars' fields cancel, allowing minor magic even in Anghysbel. Demonstrates with a small magelight. Has consulted Szal the Yith and can guide Minalan there through the Leshwood. Davachan's message:

Consult if you will the wizard Rolof, for he knows the way and the terms.

Knows the dragon's lake, the local geography, and the lizard men.