Kiril Volkov

Name: Kiril Volkov
Age: 35
Race: Human
Homeland: Krev Tsardom
Appearance: Kiril is a broad-shouldered man standing at six feet tall. Years of training his body for his trade provided him with overabundance of functional strength and flexibility. He dresses plainly as to not attract attention, but has no lack of pockets to ensure that his attire is functional. His hair is dark-brown and his eyes are dark-green, but aside from a rather prominent jaw, the most distinguishing feature of his face is the scar running across his right eye.



Personality: Kiril is able to adapt to any situation, his outward personality can shift and stir to align with whatever role he has to play at the time to accomplish his mission. Behind the facade however lies a cold and calculating mind of a strategist. Kiril is goal-oriented, and rarely allows emotions or morality to get in the way of getting the job done. With that there is a more humane side to him that he doesn't acknowledge, yet it on occasion crawls its way out of the deepest recesses of his being all the same. The few people who truly know him, would describe him as nothing other than a cynical bastard.

Biography: The Tsardom's capital city was truly a grande spectacle to behold. From the golden towers, to the marble columns, to the well-cleaned red-brick Broadways of the city-center, to its granite channels and greenery in form of white birches. Kiril's story starts in a place much less illustrious, namely the city slums, in a little piece of hell that was the local orphanage. Abandoned shortly after birth, life from its very outset became one big struggle to survive.

Many children didn't survive the cold winters, the hunger and the beatings, Kiril was one of the unlucky few that did. He quickly learned that nothing in this world is given, and staying alive is an active process that requires strength, cunning and enormous desire to live. Just like most of his peers, he began his career as a pickpocket, then as his body grew and strength filled his muscles he graduated to more direct and violent ways of getting what he needed. At the age of twelve he joined his first real gang, which was ultimately undone by betrayal from within...so he moved on to the next, and it was undone in the same way. His experience witnessing things unravel taught him the value of loyalty, as he saw the culprit in both cases, motivated only by greed and self-interest, end up at the bottom of one of the city's many channels, just as their plans came to fruition. In a criminal world ruled by chaos, professionalism became Kiril's primary virtue.

Kiril's virtue served him well, as he saw himself quickly rise through the ranks of the next gang he joined. By his late teens he was strong and skilled enough to advance from being essentially a courier who sometimes roughs up some shop keepers for protection money, to a full fledged soldier. As per tradition, before achieving this rank, he had to take a life and he did so without hesitation...in fact he did it with enough ruthless efficiency to impress the organization's higher ups. Seeing the young man's potential as a capable killer, he was called upon more and more to resolve situations of increasing complexity. Kiril's success brought about success for his gang, as the organization rose in the street hierarchy due in no small part to the hits he accomplished. The more jobs he pulled, the more experienced he became, the more fear his name inspired...at the age of twenty one he found himself as the Boss's right hand man. He certainly appreciated his position, and rather enjoyed the wealth and security it provided.

Nothing is forever, and there is no honor among thieves, as Kiril was forced to discover first-hand. At first glance the job appeared nothing out of the ordinary, ambush a weapons trade deal between two rival gangs, and kill everyone on site. Kiril recruited a solid crew, planned for all the possible contingencies and eliminated his mark on schedule. Later it was discovered that one of the men Kiril dispatched was a corrupt son of a similarly corrupt high ranking government official. The Boss made a mistake, then with no other options other than going to all out war with the authorities he took the path of least resistance and paid the price for return to the previous status quo. Unfortunately for Kiril and his men, in addition to a rather large monetary sum, that price also included their lives. Once the blood stopped spilling non of Kiril's men were alive, nor their attackers, only Kiril stood tall in front of twenty dead bodies, his saber firmly jammed into his would-be killer's chest cavity. More would come, it was inevitable, whatever plans for revenge Kiril conjured up, he knew he would have to put them on hold for a long time, first priority was survival, and that meant getting out of the city and possibly out of Krev itself.

He traveled the continent for many years since that fateful day, plying his trade everywhere he went, as thankfully there was never a shortage of need for a skilled assassin. His clientele expanded somewhat, no longer resigned to picking up contracts from criminals he also sometimes found himself under the employ of wealthy merchants and even nobles. One job however he failed to complete, then an attempted hit on a certain legendary swordsman found Kiril beaten and on the ground. In an ironic twist of fate, Kiril's skills impressed his opponent enough that not only was his life spared but for a short time he became the swordman's apprentice. After they parted ways, Kiril continued to travel alone, not sticking around in one place for too long, as trusting people was seldom a luxury he could afford. He is still out there now, making his way from one place to another, never picking sides, but always ready to do business with whoever offers.

Equipment: Sabre, Dagger
Class: Assassin

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