Played Character Feodor Ivanovich Navarinov

[MonMarty]

Character Information

• Full Name: Feodor Ivanovich Navarinov
• Heritage / Culture: Oltaran Ailor
• Age: 35
• Gender / Pronouns: He/Him
• Occult: Mundane

Core Concept
A silent and stoic sailor cossack hetman in the service of House Croy.

Appearance Information

Hobbies and Talents (Optional)
Anything to do with Horses, Body Grooming, Rich Fabrics, Fornoss Faith, and Russian Pastries and Baked Goods.

Proficiencies
None. I don't like CRP, and I will not select Proficiencies.

Languages

• Feodor speaks broken Common. The intention is to have his Common improve over time.
• Feodor speaks fluent Oltaran, but the dialect is not mutually intelligible with Krainivayan. He can be understood by a Krainivayan, but he cannot understand a Krainivayan in turn.

Life Story / Plot Hooks
The Life Story will cover an extensive review of the family's history and the context to House Navarinov's existence. Some of it will be framed in relation to House Croy, because this Character was designed as part of their retinue, and thus has to properly integrate into it. Plot Hooks exist within the subtext of what is written, whether that for example involves the social court parties of Byron Croy, military service in the Songaskian and Elven Wars, or in the description of the Navarin Quarter of Adeane, where Feodor spent most of his time and players can reasonably slide their character in as a visitor. Before deciding on shared backstory, please send me a proposal in forum dm's or discord dm's if I have you added, but please do not friend request me to discuss this.

Part One: Prelude
The history of House Navarinov spans several centuries before what is self-described as their "Flight from Navarin", however, this historical review will only cover their interactions with Regalia. House Navarinov was a common family from the small islet of Navarin, part of the larger Respublika Slavnogo Sveta, more commonly known as the Oltaran Republic in Regalia. House Navarin did not come from noble stock, though the family held the respect of the other Houses living on the island of Navarin, Houses Rurikov, Orlov, Dmitriev, and Vorontsov. House Navarinov was commonly seen as the leading family, providing the village elders for the hamlet, which owed its allegiance to a larger boyar who resided on the mainland. For some undetermined reason, House Navarinov succeeded in convincing the other families to flee south to Regalia, to follow the trail of the Krainivaya people who had done so many centuries before. This occurred in 287 AC, during which Feodor (the POV Character) was 10 years old.

Part Two: Under Carson Croy
The families sailed far south and arrived in Regalia sometime around 289 AC, but failed to find footing for a variety of reasons. Still speaking a very strong Oltaran dialect, there was inherent mistrust towards them from the Krainvaya people, and while Regalia was still in the throws of conservatism, foreigners were not given much space to establish themselves. They roamed the waterways on their ships doing simple merchant shipping to acquire basic sustenance, but could not find their footing to thrive. Their luck changed when the austere rule of Count Carson Croy lured him to accept the families from Navarin into his service. Being skilled sailors and fighters, they presented a cheap if somewhat assumedly unreliable mercenary force that could supplement House Croy's military levies for the Chrysant War, and so the 5 families of Navarin joined House Croy on their military service. Over the years of service in the war, Count Carson Croy came to experience that the Navarin families were hard-working and faithfully loyal despite being paid a pittance of a wage, disproving much of the bigotry that they had faced in the years before from other Noble Houses who paid for more presumably reliable mercenaries in their service.

When the war was over, Count Carson Croy was able to bargain for a more permanent arrangement with the Navarin families. The Navarin warriors would remain in House Croy's service, while their extended families and they were given old grass land territory in Adeane, to establish the Navarin Quarter in the city where they would live. Being surrounded by a strong Heartland majority, the Navarin Quarter in Adeana became a bit of a curiosity to show guests and outsiders, they nominally lived in something no better than a slum, but over the years their construction improved and permanent buildings were established in Oltaran architecture. After the passing of Count Carson Croy, Count Lyman Croy continued the arrangement and had an amicable rapport with the Navarin families. Count Lyman Croy inaugurated the Temple of the Navarin Quarter called "Khram Ustoychivykh Obechaniy" in their native language, which would serve the religious needs of the Fornoss variant worshiping Navarin families, but was more commonly called the Pagan House by the locals.

Part Three: The Navarin Quarter in Detail
The Navarin families were very content to self-isolate in the Navarin Quarter. There was very little movement back and forth between this section of the Adaene and the other districts. The Navarin families had their pub, temple, gathering house, village green, local school, and bakery that was reserved for them only. While some citizens of Adaene would occasionally venture into the quarter to purchase Pirozhki, Blini, or Sushki from the bakery, they generally avoided the locals who also did not speak Common. Due to the language barrier, the Navarin families tried to live as self-sufficiently as possible, with wages and manual labor paying for grain and other raw resources that they used to eke out a micro-society curtailed inside the walled quarter. For context, it is worth noting that the quarter houses about 1,300 people. While there were only five families, each family was more akin to a clan and held numerous households with many children. Feodor himself for example is the oldest of the children of the village elder, his father, Ivan Romanovich Navarinov (who made the deals with Count Carson and Lyman), but also has 7 younger siblings.

There was amicable back and forth between House Croy and the Navarin families, with the Count participating in the yearly procession to commemorate the creation of the Navarin quarter that would give the families a permanent future, while the Navarin families also presented gifts of baked goods, wood carvings, and other trinkets for the various birthdays and holidays celebrated by House Croy. Due to the lack of overt conflict (save for the Songaskian Wars and Elven Wars), the Navarin families mostly contributed to the local economy and acted either as trade ship guards or operated their ships. Their Oltaran vessels had become part of the Croy merchant fleet, with the Navarinov family supplying the captains. Infrequently, the youths of House Croy would venture into the Navarin Quarter either to ogle at the strange local customs or to show genuine interest in the ongoings and activities there which were very foreign to a largely homogenous Ailor Heartlander society. In there, some of the children might have even occasionally played, insofar as the courtiers permitted the children of peerage to interact with the common people in what was still not the most fashionably clean district of Adeane.

Part Four: Feodor's Early Service
Feodor was always designated by his father Ivan to become the next representative of the Navarin families in Croy lands, though along with all other Oltaran children, he was terrible at Common and did not learn to speak it until his late teenage years when service duties in the County caused a necessity for communication. As the future Count Byron Croy aged into his formative teenage years, it became necessary for Feodor to engage with the future heir to foster future relations and secure the stability of the arrangement set out by Count Carson Croy. Feodor spoke terrible Common but was a competent horse rider, mounted archer, and spotter, and a dutiful if silent worker when required to carry luggage or ready the horses for a hunt. At around this time, Feodor was in his early adolescence, and did not directly participate in any of the courtly activities befitting of the court favorites, but was generally on the peripheries either as an attendant of some kind, or security for courtiers within his age bracket.

In these riding, tennis, or hunting trips, the courtiers occasionally clashed with Feodor, expecting him to operate as a footman, but finding that his self-image did not permit him to serve as a lowly servant. His high degree of self-respect caused numerous frictious moments and cold stares, in defiance of a dismissive order for him to fetch towels or ready the hunting horns. This lasted until the courtiers learned to understand that Feodor often just liked doing his own thing, and was helpful and attendant, but could not be commanded to serve. He fulfilled all functions of the attendance which was required of him, but did them by himself without being asked to do them, and knew the right time to perform them. Rather than be dismissed for being a terrible servant or attendant, he was kept around specifically because of the exotic nature of his pagan-ness, his comically broken Common speech, and his peculiar Oltaran mannerisms.

Part Five: Military Duties
Feodor served as a levy under House Croy's feudal obligations in both the Elven and Songaskian Wars, though he did not participate in the Ruttgher War, or the Sendrassian War. Feodor was initially induced with the Drixon Lancers under the wider Calemberger legions, as his horsemanship was more suitable to the Drixon formations than in the Heartlander armies which mostly featured skirmishers and heavy infantry. Feodor later however transitioned away from the cavalry regiment because of chafing discipline issues under Calemberg officers, a language barrier, and because of his discomfort towards the use of flanking cavalry manuevers which would often lead to a high casualty among horses despite their useful impact on the battlefield. After this, Feodor transitioned into the role of being a naval marine but saw little to no action as both the Sendrassian and Ruttgher Wars featured little to no naval engagements or coastal landings with any military use.

It is in these years of Feodor being absent from Adeane during military service and repeat deployments from foreign fleets that necessitated his physical transformation to what he has become today. While Feodor was formerly spindly in appearance and clean-shaven, during his military service he packed on a decent amount of weight and started wearing himself in the traditional Navarin and south Oltaran style. Feodor does not like talking about his military service, not because of some created trauma, but because he never enjoyed military deployment away from the Navarin Quarter. While he still had fellow Oltarans with him, it isolated him from much of his family and newfound homeland. In between deployments, Feodor would occasionally return to Eaton County, but it took some years into Count Byron Croy's inheritance of the title that he would return for good.

Part Six: Service to Byron Croy
Feodor and the future Count Byron had more direct interactions when Byron was more actively engaged in the runnings of the Croy Estates. It seemed logical for Feodor to be assigned as his guard, from one heir to another, though Feodor deeply resented the court dress that he was made to wear when on Manorial grounds until Lyman and Byron eventually relented and let him wear his traditional Oltaran garb. While the future Count and Feodor had many face-value interactions, communication between them was still incredibly stale due to Feodor's lack of progress in learning common, or perhaps sometimes pretending not to know it to disregard a request or suggestion from Byron Croy. Feodor was 5 years older than Byron Croy, which meant he was always just out of reach to be socially in the same age bracket as the future Count and his favorites.

Whether out of force of nostalgia for continuity, or because Byron Croy saw purpose and benefit in the arrangement, he too confirmed the deal that had been made by Carson Croy and affirmed by his father Lyman Croy when he succeeded his father in 306 AC, thus re-affirming that the Navarin families could keep their Quarter for another generation. Feodor continued to be a silent and unknowable familiar at the Croy Court, everyone knew of him and was able to recognize him, but few ever recalled having a conversation with him. Count Byron Croy spoke the most with Feodor, but the two of them never exchanged beyond niceties or general fair-weather conversation. Feodor did not seem interested or deem it appropriate to get closer to the Count that his family and those he would soon look after depended on, and Byron was too occupied with the financial state to show interest in what amounted to little more than a common retainer.

Part Seven: Present Day
In the present day, Count Byron Croy traveled to Regalia to entertain the capital and its high-stakes politics, and inevitably took Feodor with him either as guard or just as captain for the family ship that had long since established a tradition of being captained by a Navarinov. Shortly after arriving in Regalia, Feodor's father Ivan died in Adeane, forcing him to return and leave Count Byron Croy alone to arrange for the funeral services by Fornoss beliefs back home. When Feodor returned to Regalia, he had taken the role of Hetman for the Navarin families and thus had fully succeeded as their representative at the Croy Court like his father had before him.

He was now 35 years old and had never shown interest in marriage or siring offspring, leading some to conclude in the family that the role of Hetman would likely pass to his younger brother Dmitriy at some point. As such, Feodor's representative status was somewhat loose. While the families did respect his title as Hetman, Feodor was in the capital of Regalia and could not immediately answer the needs of the other families, leading to them relying on Dmitriy instead. Feodor and Dimitriy had a good relationship, and as such, Feodor gladly handed direct communication to his proxy, as his silence to the courtiers of House Croy also extended to the Navarin families, he just did not like speaking much. Feodor now remains with House Croy in Regalia, having found lodgings in the attic of the Croy Estate to minimize his impact on the Estate grounds, but still be close enough in case the Count needed his service.

 

[MonMarty]

This lore is pertinent to anyone who has visited the Navarin Quarter of Adeane, as it lays out where all the buildings are and what there is to see, and how one would experience the place.

Navarin Quarter of Adeane

​

The above is a map of the Navarin Quarter of Adaene, with a rough population of 1300 inhabitants. The terms used on the map are as the Heartlander inhabitants of the wider city would know the areas inside the quarter, not necessarily the locals who may use more extensive names.

Pyat Bratyev Gate: Roughly translated to Five Brothers Gate, this is the largest northern gate through which the Count of Eaton traditionally rides on horseback to begin the procession of thanksgiving day. During the procession, the Count resumes the role of Count Carson Croy, re-enacting the victory parade of the Chrysant War, and marches along the two main avenues to the Pagan House, where wreaths are laid in remembrance to the soldiers who died in the war. Afterwards, a large feast is held in the Sobor.

Torgovy Zal: The Torgovy Zal is the only place where wider Eaton merchants and citizens may ply their trade. The locals of the district prefer to keep the market plazas for their people, and so foreign or local merchants go to the Torgovy Zal, which is just a large covered market hall to stall out their goods for locals to buy. Sometimes the Torgovy Zal is the locale of black market trade because while the locals pay in Regals just fine, the inhabitants of the district don't always look kindly on the Tenpenny Tax.

Gostevoy Dom: The Gostevoy Dom is a large complex of interconnected houses with the largest on the corner functioning as a pub, and the others as rental rooms. The locals do not permit outsiders to reside inside houses after dark, meaning that all Eaton County residents and foreign merchants who want to reside in the district, must return to the guest house for the night after the clock strikes 9 at night.

Vrata Strarykh: The Vrata Strarykh which loosely translates to the Gate of the Old Ones, is a Gatehouse mostly built in memory of Count Carson Croy, but it mostly doubles as a self-regulating prison. The crime rate in this district of Adeane is exceedingly low, but the families punish their own for crimes committed outside the district or crimes committed by foreigners inside the district. The locals have a particular hatred for Vampires, who tend to disappear into the tallest of the gatehouse towers, and never come out.

Pagan House: The Pagan House is a local name for the Fornoss Temple that serves the religious needs of the locals. Unlike the Krainivaya, the Oltaran locals are Fornoss worshipers, not Unionists. The Pagan House is however unrecognizable for most Fornoss worshipers, not only do the deities resemble very different visual representations of familiar entities, but the locals have additional gods not present in traditional Fornoss religion, and the building itself is incredibly ornate and built out of brick and stone, devoid of any Velheim-inspired symbolism and much more austere. The Pagan House also doubles as a local school, where the curriculum is entirely in the native language of the Oltarans. Occasionally lessons in common will be provided by outsiders, but only ever visiting Fornoss believers, as the locals do not permit Unionist teachers into the Temple.

Market Plazas: The Market Plazas are three interlocking plazas in which the locals trade among themselves. The Regal is formally banned on this plaza for trade, meaning that any trade purely occurs through barter. Sometimes outsiders from the district come to this market also, because it is a great place for second-hand purchases and odd curios that the general population would not sell to a merchant without knowing where it ends up.

The Furnace: The Furnace sounds a lot more ominous than it is, rather than an industrial area, The Furnace is just a selection of Oltaran bakeries that specialize in Oltaran goods. Since the district has no produce farms save for some cabbage patches and herb gardens, there is also a grain silo that covers the import of goods for the bakeries to function. This area in general provides all the food for the district, and because of communal management of finances, the food is actually free for the locals, but rather expensive for outsiders. The locals have long since learned that the unique pastries and bread styles of Respublika Slavnogo Sveta are popular among the Heartland locals, and have marked up prices to profit from aristocrat parties that wish to serve something other than Ithanian macarons.

The Kurgan: The Kurgan is a duo complex, both featuring a ring of houses, but within a shared garden featuring multiple burial mounds. Unlike the Velheim Fornoss worshipers, the locals do not use a Helbolwen, but produce several large burial mounds against which stone coffins are laid, forming a ring around the hill, until more dirt is piled on top and the hill is made larger. Each family has their own hill, and among locals, it has become a sport to try and make their hill as small as possible, thus indicating more fortune and long good lives for its members.

Dom Zdorov'ya: Because of the no-nonsense attitude of the locals to health issues and refusal to seek medical assistance, the Dom Zdorov'ya is just a single-room building with a doctor who arrives from the outside. The locals are notoriously difficult when offered medical assistance, and the doctor more often than not just deals with tooth decay and other basic hygiene issues. While this building formally acts as a healing house, very little healing occurs inside.

The Sobor: The Sobor is the second most important building after the Pagan House, as it functions as the assembly hall for the Hetman to perform their duties. Within the Sobor, locals come to either hear the Hetman's work or plans laid out before them or to complain about their issues to the Hetman, who is supposed to take their issues up with the count. While Feodor is not in Eaton County, his younger brother Dmitriy acts as a proxy in the Sobor to hear the issues of the locals. When the locals go to war, the soldiers all pass through the Sobor where the community wishes them good fortune and goodbyes, as the Sobor is built directly onto a set of piers from which military ships can depart.

Yevgeny's Square: Yevgeny's Square is the only thing of true beauty in this district that isn't built in some austere or unfamiliar way. It is a large square used for communal feasts and festivities, but aside from that it is a massive mosaic featuring multiple scenes of the Fornoss beliefs of the locals. One can only truly see the entirety of Yevgeny's Square (named after the builder) from the nearby wall tower, allowing a high enough vantage point from which to truly appreciate the life-like gestures and spiritual narration of the scenes from higher up.

Wider Harbor Area: The Wider Harbor Area just covers general mooring for the ships owned by the locals. Unlike the other trade areas of Adeane, it does not function as an actual mooring place, traders are not permitted to dock there, and no ship is allowed to stay for longer than an hour without express permission from the Hetman. As such, the harbor has occasionally been used for smuggling much to the chagrin of the Counts of Eaton, due to the lack of oversight in the area which is ostensibly meant to be used as a military mothballing area.

 

[MonMarty]

This lore is relevant to the people who have visited the Pagan House, where they would learn about the Oltaran variants of Fornoss Gods. The Fornoss faith in Oltaran is called Nashyevero.

Oltaran Eili, called Videni Bogove, or just Viden

• Zerkalomira, a variant of Bev, is the cauldron crone who guards the gate to the afterlife in her cauldron liquid's shimmery surface. Zerkalomira often disguises as old crones in the world, luring disobedient children who offend the faith into the cauldron to become lost spirits.
• Ljubolit, a variant of Leif, is a sun and peace god. He has two heads, one female, one male, and sees in the worlds of both genders, one always looking to the moon, and the other always to the sun, alternating each sunrise and sunset.
• Svetomir, a variant of Njal, is a dedication and loyalty god. Njal to the Oltaran is about complete devotion to a lover, and the peace and light in one soul that comes from complete surrender to the will and whims of another person.
• Runolit, replaces Dauw, as the Oltaran pantheon does not know any Dwarves, is the god of rune crafting and metallurgy. Runolit is believed to be the lava lakes in caves itself, and is particularly strong in so-called Kamenogor forges where he supposedly makes artifacts.
• Markozor, a variant of Halfvel, is the god of body and soul. He represents the perfection of creation, and the gift of the body, punishing those who abuse their body, and rewarding those who treat their own body as a temple and work of art.
• Remyojud, a variant of bard, is the ancient god of time and judgement. He is the arbitrator of divine justice and judgement among the gods, and also the agent of time who controls the time flows and makes it so that time passes and old things die.
• Belonos, a variant of Elkonur, is not an Urlan but an actual giant elk. Belonos is the guardian god of all animals, and the master of the forest who controls the spirits of the wild in the plants and the trees and the critters that reside in the wilds.
• Predvodna, a variant of Nidr, is the Goddess of woven fates. She resides at the loom of souls, where she weaves the fates of lives yet to live, and uses shears made out of the finger-bones of the dead to cut the strings when their lives come to an end.

Oltaran Vola, called Chuteni Bogove, or just Chutni

• Medvedar, a variant of Rand, is the God of the Rune-Ursa, and power and domination. Medvedar promises his followers that if they consume the heart of the Rune-Ursa, his greatest spirits, that they will join the communion of the Wyrm, and transform into Dragons.
• Svetskozh, a variant of Thirun, but he is not humanoid but a massive hound surrounded in chains. He if the thief of power and possessions, a god of those who steal and take what they want, and avoid capture. His chains are covered in stolen artifacts and magical power.
• Chernoyant, a variant of Svol, is the god of thunder and lightning, he represents the weather and freak natural accidents like volcano eruptions, tsunamis, and earthquakes. In many ways, he is the source of all elemental magic, and thus seen as a teacher of the first fire.
• Slobodnitsa, who replaces Hrymrök as there are no Elves in Oltaran Fornoss, is the Goddess of calamity and chaos. She is the opposite of a God of peace, when stability and peace has reigned for too long, she will run astride chariots of war and doom to bring the people back to struggle in which they will be reborn strong.
• Radonos, who replaces Eikki, is the god of friendship and joy. He brews the liquor of the gods which when drank, test the true value of a person. Strong willed and pure, they will resist its lure and enjoy its delicious nectar, but weak and indolent, they will fall into a stupor from which they will never wake.
• Mordrúna, who replaces Blodrúna, is the goddess of crows and ill omens. She acts in some ways as Predvodna messenger, delivering omens of fated doom and warning of times to come (as well as Slobodnitsa's arrival), ergo the Oltarans fear crows, who in turn herald her arrival.
• Bliskoruk, who replaces Odal, is a giant snake that lives in the sea, as he is the master of the sea and claims it as his domain. There is very strong reason to believe that this is in fact Xeradon, though it remains unclear how an unrelated God would be integrated with a variant of Fornoss.
• Ognemlot, who replaces Stalhjart, is the builder God who both creates the mountains and inspires the building of cities with his hammers of fire. It it said that he has constructed many spires and portals across the world, but also closed the ones in Respublika Slavnogo Sveta to keep the people pure.