Ilyana Ravidovich

Sofia-Grad

Appearance: Ilyana is dark complexioned and could be preety if she wasn't so obviously introverted and conservative. Her long black hair is usually tied in a bun, and her choice of dress lacks any presumption of style. She denies it, but she probably has some Afghani ancestry. Her gaze is withering, and though her body scarcely moves, she uses absolutely no hand gestures when speaking. Her eyes are like hummingbirds, they dart back and forth, never focusing anywhere for long.

Background: Ilyana's childhood in Belgrade was dominated by chess play and tournaments. Her father was a frustrated amateur, and through he often spoke of his wish for a son instead of the daughter he received, he was eventually delighted to discover Ilyana's tremendous aptitude for the game. As with many child prodigies, though, Ilyana became bored with her excellence and, after failing to receive parental permission to leave the game, she rebelled and eventually fell in with Gavrilo Princip in the days prior to the Great War.

Although she failed to understand the implications of the high school student's ambitions, she acted as a co-conspirator of Princip's in Sarajevo when the young man killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the shot that set off World War I. Thereafter, still naive of worldly ways after so many sheltered years, Ilyana was swept into the ranks who supported the Russian Revolution, and after the end of the revolt in 1920, she accepted Soviet citizenship. Finally settling down after years of turmoil, Ilyana returned to her chess, and once her prodigious skill was discovered, she was recruited to teach the game to young Soviets.

This appointment began the series of events that brought her to the attention of an ambitious Ventrue in Moscow. Her production of junior chess champions led to her appointment with a code-breaking department of the Soviet military, which led to her Embrace. Her Ventrue sire had copies of communications between a rival and members of the Brujah Council that she hoped were incriminating, but they were so obscurely coded as to prove unbreakable.

Only a ghoul for the several weeks the code required of her, Ilyana so delighted her domitor that the vampire decided to Embrace her. Since that time, Ilyana has served Clan Ventrue well, and her apparent reward was her promotion to archon. She accepted the position because she fights positional battles very well, and she believes she can do her job and survive to reap even more rewards.

A pall descended on Ilyana's service as archon, however, when she discovered the gravity of the Baba Yaga situation. What she had once thought was merely (!) and elder vampire with vast influence instead turned out to be a veritable god, and Ilyana's trained eyes soon saw the marks of the Hag's passage everywhere. This realization, combined with a curious assembly of Eastern European castles along obscure magical ley lines revealed much to Ilyana. These activities were no petty, chesslike game of move and counter-move. Rather, they bespoke Jyhad on a global scale. Ilyana discovered the geomantic web had been laid by an ancient Nosferatu named Zelios, presumably with the intent of trapping Baba Yaga. The final piece of the puzzle , a geomantic glyph inscribed in 1998, led to a crumbling Bulgarian castle that had been reconstructed to house a Soviet missile silo in 1975. Since the end of Soviet Communism, Eastern Europe had balkanized, and no government agency retained any record of the silo or its deadly contents. To this night, Ilyana keeps a watchful eye on the missile and remains ever mindful of those who would use it and their role in Baba Yaga's Jyhad.

Personality: Ilyana is always in control of herself, which is the single defining feature of her personality. She knows the same cannot be said about anything or anyone else around her, but she steadfastly refuses to be coerced or connived. She makes up her mind in her own good time; fortunately, it usually doesn't take her long to see through anyone or anything. Her mind is very sharp and very fast, and she has the ability to carry on several conversations at once. She trusts her first instincts, but she isn't stubborn; if new data is presented, she can change her strategy and tactics. The people who interact with her, feel as if she can see right through them; often she does. Underneath her veneer, however, she is truly scared, not only for herself, but for the world as well, for the Hag does not sleep.

In late 2009, she was assigned to replace Lithrac, Justicar Cockrobin's Samedi archon, as watchdog of Sofia against another Sabbat invasion. Her previous posting in Moscow has made it easy for her work with many of the former Bolshevik Kindred who have made the city their new home. Over the last four years she has become close with those formerly associated with Communism and the Soviet Brujah Council. This latest scare, that of a possible Assamite invasion has placed her in the difficult position of acting as the primary defensive strategist for the city of Sofia, while limiting her time and resources in the accomplishment of her real assignment. Yet, where some would crack under the pressure, that is the very catalyst that ignites her true genius.

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