Wavespire:Characters:Sergei:Backstory

Latest revision as of 14:16, 18 September 2011

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[edit] Sergei's History

Sergei Dragovich is grandson and heir of a lost kingdom, the realm of his grandfather, Lord Drago of the Southern Carpathians. His grandfather was a powerful warlord and heir to an ancient Dacian bloodline, with a large mountain kingdom, and many enemies. He died of a sudden fever in the year 886, leaving his son to face the oncoming armies of his land-hungry neighbors.

His son, Lord Dragovich, was an intelligent yet bitter man, given to foul moods and bouts of melancholy. Inheriting a kingdom under siege, he fought valiantly to turn the tide, but failed. His armies were crushed, his kingdom in ruins. Finally, in 891, his mountain fortress was attacked, and the Lord was cut down in his own halls.

That, however, was not the end. Lord Dragovich was the sole remaining heir to an ancient bloodline of Dacian kings. The bond between the king and the land is strong, especially in the old parts of the world. The land, infuriated by the intruders, responded with vengeance.

Lord Dragovich awoke from his shallow grave a changed being, a strigoi, an immortal vampire. His bloodthirst was strong, and his need for vengeance even stronger. He quickly became a plague up on the heart of his old kingdom, devastating the intruding armies during the night, slaying men and women, unleashing plagues of beasts, and enslaving the weak of will.

However, he could not contest the growing power of the church. He retreated into the deep mountains where the knights of the church dared not to venture, to the heart of his old kingdom in that most ancient of lands. There, he solidified his hold over the sparse villages of the region, and began his infamous reign over his dark kingdom.

Two-and-a-half centuries passed.

In the year 1150, a junior magus of House Tremere entered the ancient haunted mountains of Dragovich’s kingdom. Overconfident in the power of the Parma, and disregarding the legends, he entered the haunted and cursed region seeking vis. He was no match for the might of the ancient vampire lord, and was taken and turned.

House Tremere could not allow this challenge to their power. A group of experienced monster-hunters was sent to destroy the lord of the dark kingdom. Again, they underestimated the ancient power of Lord Dragovich, and were destroyed.

Finally, the Exarch of Transylvania Archmagus Goran went himself to confront the vampire lord. The ensuing battle destroyed much of Dragovich’s castle, and left the Exarch with lasting injuries, but the ancient evil was destroyed.

Sifting through the rubble for spoils, Goran made an unexpected find in the remains of Dragovich’s study. A crib containing a small boy, merely a few months old.

The archmagus sifted through the remnants of the vampire’s personal journals, and discovered the boy was named Sergei, Dragovich’s own son, begotten on a captured and enslaved female dhampir vampire hunter. The mother had died in childbirth, and the vampire had intended to raise the boy as his personal assassin for use against his churchly enemies. He reasoned that a mortal servant with such a strong vampiric heritage would be a being of power, yet without the restrictions normally given to the strigoi.

Agreeing with the vampire’s conclusions, though not his goals, the archmagus decided to bring the boy back to Coeris, to be raised in service to House Tremere, in recompense for those lost in the battles against Lord Dragovich.

Sergei grew up in Coeris, as the personal dhampir servant of Exarch Goran. He was not the only dhampir in the service of the house, but his legacy earned him a measure of wariness few others had to endure. He was given the best of educations, and instructed in the ways of book, sword, and speech.

Yet, he was a troubled child, and later an even more troubled young man. He knew his legacy. Information on his heritage was not held from him, and few would let him forget it, even in the ranks of the Tremere.

Things became more complicated in his 27th year, when his heritage truly started to awaken. Perhaps it was his rare blood as the son of a vampire and a dhampir, maybe it was a consequence of his father’s immense power, or even the result of long exposure to the strong aura of Coeris. Likely, it was a combination of all three.

He began to manifest abilities unknown to most dhampir. It started with understanding the bestial language of the covenant wolves, and later being able to take their shape. It became evident his aging wasn’t slowing, as normal, but instead coming to a halt. He even began to manifest the ability to take the form of an eerie mist. Most distressing, however, was the rise of his bloodthirst.

Distressed, he turned to his master and mentor, Archmagus Goran, who had become Primus of House Tremere. Goran was greatly distressed, as he had come to greatly value the loyal service of Sergei, and had developed some personal affection for the young steward. After some examination and experimentation, he could only come to one conclusion. Sergei’s human side was fading, and he was slowly but steadily becoming a full strigoi like his father.

Goran at first intended to, however reluctantly, destroy Sergei to prevent a repeat of his father’s actions. Sergei pled for a chance to find a solution. He was given one year to take control of his heritage. Failure would result in his destruction. Sergei found this acceptable, and departed immediately.

It took Sergei almost the entire year to find his salvation. It came in the form of a pair of ancient, nearly forgotten, slavic gods: Perun and Veles. Old beings of magic, rather than faerie, they had little true use for worship. However, they greatly valued the powerful ancient places of the mountains...places that were now threatened by the encroachment of the modern world, and the power of the Dominion.

Sergei was able to strike a bargain with them. In exchange for the secrets of controlling his blood, Sergei would protect these places in the mountains...ancient sites, full of magic, part of his family’s old kingdom and his father’s realm. Sergei agreed.

Perun and Veles taught him the old sacred rites of the ancient priest-kings, now mostly forgotten, and showed him how those practices contained more than peasant superstition. Quite simply, they allowed those of royal blood to tap into their bond with the land, strengthening their reign, and keeping the land bountiful.

And the magic stabilized him. It bound him to the land, infused his spirit, and tied him to his human heritage. His bloodlust abated, and his transformation stopped.

To fulfill his side of the bargain, Sergei entrusted his bloodline’s ancient home to his true family: House Tremere. The ancient sites were quite magical, and thus quite valuable and worth protecting (and harnessing). Thus, Sergei completed his quest, fulfilled his side of the bargain, and brought a significant measure of magical resources and sites into the Tremere fold.

Since then, he has advanced within the house to the highest rank any mortal can achieve. He is a special agent under the direct command of the council of Exarchs, specializing in clandestine operations, espionage, and mortal relations. Surprisingly for a mortal, he has achieved a significant measure of renown in the house. While not granted the status and voice of a magus, Tremere still take due notice of his presence, since the designs of the Exarchs and the Primus usually lie behind his actions.

On a personal level, he greatly misses his mentor, Archmagus Goran, who entered final twilight decades ago. While he is still a loyal servant of the house, he has come to serve it more impersonally, as the weight of his years have begun to distance him from others. Finally, he finally overcome the personal shame of his heritage, and has accepted his father’s name of Dragovich as his own, with all the fame and infamy it brings among those who remember.

[edit] Highlights

• Grandfather, Lord Drago, was a Carpathian king who died in 886 of a fever.

• Father, Lord Dragovich, was killed by neighboring warlords in 891. He arose as a vampire of ancient royal blood, and turned his old mountain territory into a cursed and haunted kingdom. In 1151, he was slain by Archmagus Goran, the Transylvania Exarch, after he killed several agents and magi of House Tremere.

• Sergei was the son of Dragovich and a captured dhampir vampire hunter. After his father’s slaying, he was discovered and taken as a servant by Archmagus Goran. He was raised in Coeris as a retainer of the house.

• At age 27, he began turning into a full vampire. He was tasked by Goran (now primus) to find a solution or die. He eventually made a bargain with the old magical Slavic gods of the mountains and valleys, Perun and Veles.

• He was taught the ancient rites of kingship that bind his blood to his ancestral homeland, stabilizing his nature. He must visit there at least one a decade to renew them, and sustain them with lesser (not geographically restricted) rites.

• In return, he agreed to protect the ancient magical Carpathian sites. He turned them over to the house for keeping, thus preserving them and upholding his end of the bargain.

• He is now a direct agent of the council of Exarchs. He has earned significant fame and infamy in the house (for a mortal). Basically, he’s their #1 mortal spy/secret agent.