Rea Sashal

Nochka Sashal's mother. She has "jet black hair and dark brown eyes, and the stature and dress of an average housewife"^[1]. Zorian describes her as a bit scary because "her movements were all fluid and precise, she never stuttered or wavered when she spoke, her gaze was frighteningly intense, and she gave off an air of absolute confidence and composure"^[1].  She is a cat shifter^[2][3].

Zorian told her about cranium rats when they first met. When he later tried to read her mind, he found little more than what she said aloud^[4] (presumably meaning she has unstructured mental defenses). He, however, noted that "Rea had ridiculously good hearing" (foreshadowing the later reveal that she is a cat shifter)^[4]. Her claim of moving to Cyoria "to get away from their rather unpleasant neighbors who were spreading nasty rumors about her whenever they could get away with it" foreshadows the reveal that she was a criminal before meeting Sauh, her husband^[3] (presumably the "nasty rumors" were at least partially true).

Outside the time loop, Zorian tried to convince Sashal family to leave the city. Rea noticed that Zorian's "scent is present on almost everyone that has come to talk to me about getting Nochka and the rest of us out of the city" and (correctly) guessed that Zorian "definitely knows more than he lets on" and, regarding Raynie's kidnapped brother, that "In another life, that could have been my little Nochka in his place".^[5]