lauraarts - Tumblr blog

[lauraarts]

◇ Oleg Schäfer, the Grand Duke's royal knight ◇

"Oleg is an upstanding and brave man, of good breeding, who believes that putting the needs of the people first is the only right thing to do."

•••

In German folklore, a Nachzehrer is a type of vampire. They happend to exist most commonly after suicide, and sometimes from an accidental death. According to German lore, a person does not become a nachzehrer from being bitten or scratched; the transformation happens after death and is not communicable. Nachzehrers are also related to sickness and disease; if a large group of people died of the plague, the first person to have died is believed to be a nachzehrer.

•••

Finding nachzehrer is not a difficult task; it is known of a nachzehrer to lie in their grave with their thumb in their opposite hand, and their left eye open. Additionally, nachzehrer are easily found while eating their burial shroud due to the noise they produce doing so.

•••

It is said that these monsters can be killed by placing a coin in their mouth, and then chopping off their head. It can be discerned from this that a mere coin in the mouth may result in paralysis, just as some myths say that a stake through a vampire's heart does.

[lauraarts]

Boguslav is a mysterious and cunning merchant who serves as both Jogaila's ally and salesman. He is described as a well-educated, stoic, passionate and pious man who was for many years a merchant in the local villages and capitals, making great profits from his business dealings. His cart is littered with supplies and trinkets. Boguslav's motives are often purely profit-seeking, as he is willing to do business with anyone. With witty and sharp jokes, he is quite charismatic and can attract interest with his offers easly.

[lauraarts]

"By all means, a unicorn avoids contact with humans, preferring to remain unseen. Unfortunely for our Jogaila, the unicorn must've been used before, pure creature stained with other's touch. Angered, the beast viciously attacked an innocent man, about to stab it's victim."

•••

"Fortunely for one, but not the other, the unicorn's horn impales a tree's trunk. Unable to get it out, the unicorn snaps it in half and runs to cover. Perhaps a certain merchant will find use out of that horn which was left in the tree...back then, people used to make hanaps to protect against poison out of the horn."

[lauraarts]

"Mary Barreau is a handmaiden and a main tailor to the Grand Duke of vampires. Much like most of the beasts in the castle, she stays in the lower floors and sleeps in the dungeons. Her chamber is especially stylized after her preferences, but is always messy and covered with spider webs.

She is polite, hard-working and most concerned with lady Ozuna's ( Duke's niece ) well-being.

•••

With many who may come she speaks very little of herself, but acts as an intermediary, and possibly an instigator of clandestine meetings between some young men and Ozuna."

[lauraarts]

Jogaila is the folk hero, raised from nothing. He is described as a hard-working and mostly unlucky man, often engaging in struggle with all kinds of monsters and creatures.

•••

Born in a poor village household, now with a young face ruined by hard life and work over the years, Jogaila always wanted more in life. When drowning your sorrows in alcohol and complaining about small coin doesn't help, the simple man takes a common steel and a common mare on a journey. He wanted to serve the nobles since his youth and roam the city's streets often, so to start somewhere he took the position of a hunter, to see where that would take him.

[lauraarts]

>>>{ THE FOLK HERO }<<<

Jogaila guides through his own story - How did he, a peasant from a small village took simple steel and an old mare, left to face unpredictable challenges on his way...

Jogaila starts from nothing, with only his experience and knowledge from his ordinary life. However, he always follows one lesson: Do anything to survive. After all, it's in any living creature's nature...Given the oppertunity to be a bounty hunter at first once he begins his journey, through the various encounters and tasks { be it to retrieve an item or fight a monster } time goes on as he learns new ways and finds opportunities to show his intelligence and creativity, connecting with logical sense. Keep sanity still - you might reach something in the end...

Everything is set in grim, dark Eastern European, Baltic/Slavic medieval fantasy setting. An unique world based on fairy tales and legends, plenty of characters with their own motives, secrets and goals, events with unexpected plot twists. Characters from myths and tales live side by side with ordinary people. Earnestness and kindness rub shoulders with betrayal and devilry. Sorrow and happiness, wealth and poverty, good and evil — everything is bound so tightly, that those bonds can’t be broken. There is no specific "hero" or "villain", only tough moral choices with unpredictable consequenses. Will you overcome all the twists of fate or end up with a knife in your back? Who's to say...seek the anwsers, even if the knowledge comes with a price. 

[lauraarts]

Olivia Wynn

•••

Olivia Wynn - an extremely flirtious, ruthless and sadistic woman, is one of the members in her own twin brother's court. She plays no important role in the court other than being related to the grand duke, neither does she care for it - she has her personal tasks to achieve.

•••

She often argues and goes against her brother's opinions, but comes to be very obedient to him. She hunts down on her own and for herself only, but still brings victims to either show off or give to her brother if he requests her so.

•••

Although Olivia is an airhead ( much to Ernest's frustration ) and often says or does stupid things, she is a rather skilled and clever woman in combat, one would not easly fool her. Sometimes the maids joke, saying "Why does the duke own any hellhounds, when he's got his sister to dirty her hands?" And yet she minds it not, for she finds hunting down the prey...entertaining.

•••

Olivia was much calmer in her youth and always were by herself, but since even earlier days she never made any serious ties to the noble life or it's priorities. She always had the free will and grew up much more careless of any important matters.

[lauraarts]

"The Grand Duchess of vampires"

•••

The duke's beloved wife from a foreign land whose deadly deeds and bureaucratic triumphs led her to positive reputation amongst her people. She's a cruel and jelous mistress, often ordering young maidens to be brutually rid of.

The Duchess and her maids.

•••

Left without a mother since the days of early youth and raised by a single father whom retired of his duties to raise his daughter and take care of his poor health, she didn't knew how to write or read as her father's illness worsen. Only when meeting her husband, who arrived at their village uninvited, taught her both of these values, so she left her land while educated enough and contiuned her studies untill her husband was officialy crowned for the duke.

She's the perfect balance between a simple, traditional, hard working life and the educated, noble lifestyle.

With their marriage she brought in a lot of cultural aspects of her homeland.

The Duchess in her youth/pre-vampirism and after vampirism, years later.

•••

Vampirism given by her husband for a wedding gift had effects on her body, such as the sudden height and weight increase.

The Duchess and a strzyga.

[lauraarts]

"The Grand Duke of vampires."

•••

The Duke, a wise, terrifying giant man with vampirism is highly respected, rightful, fair ruler to his people. However, he's a very stern man and his enticing appearance can become a harbinger of ruthless wrath. He tests men's morality at any chance given and punishments are incredibly cruel - from torture chambers to becoming a inexplicable monster yourself to roam the dungeons of his castle.

•••

He loves his wife dearly and ensures her comfort and satisfaction by any means. Even the gardens, dedicated just for her, should not have a single rose plucked out.

His immortality is far beyond just avoiding death from age and sickness - Sun does not pierce through his skin as effectively and bullets are mere means to an end. Due to these unique traits he is not only considered the strongest vampire to be written about, but as well as given the nickname "The Deathless". However, He has weakness he keeps hidden from sight...hint? His heart is anywhere but his own chest. It is said if the heart will be found and stabbed, it'll bleed in gold, and the duke will be no more.

•••

No research specified his similarities to vampires such as Upyr - thus, given the name of "Ancient vampire" for the breed type is a guess that vampires of his features were like this before all seperated to their own land. Or that he could be a mixed breed of some sort.

•••

Natural born vampires stops aging up physically and can no longer change physical appearence from certain age, just like every other vampire who gets turned from human. There is no other difference - just a different method ( as their body chooses the grown up/developed age when the whole progress stops ) with identical consequenses in the end. The only bonus is that natural born vampires do control their thirst better, eyeballs are black and has no bite marking.

•••

There's no undead or bloodsucker who wouldn't be excited for his hosted feasts and festivals. Mead or blood, tons of food, drink well and celebrate!