Fedor
Fedor is a person-at-arms in the service of the Archbishop of Ladeisk. He was part of the Archbishop's militia, and traveled with his lord from Ladeisk to his summer estate in Malinka every year. Fedor's parents are dead, as is his wife. His two children are being raised in the family of an aunt.
Fedor is a man in his mid 30s, he has blond hair, braided in the side, a mustache and fair skin with some wrinkle showing in his face. He is a tall, well-built man who typically wears a tegiliai, wrap-around cloak, and conical hat. He is armed with an axe, and carries a small, round shield on his back. He is a trained rider, and has a favorite horse from the archbishop's stables (though he does not own it). He is loyal and law-abiding to a fault. He can get tedious with cautionary tales, and relating his various military exploits.
Fedor joined the adventuring party after Yuri Barolov rode to Malinka at the behest of his brothers to ask for aid as his village of Vladykino came under attack. Along with a dozen other riders, Fedor returned with Yuri to a burned-out village. He went with the company to the nearby mill, where he was forced to slay a vasilisk in a barn, and then was mysteriously put to sleep in a field outside the mill compound. When they awoke, they found sacks of villager body parts nearby.
As the raiders had already left, and the mill was intact, Fedor followed the troop leader Sen'ka Radomirovich back to Malinka. Though Yuri rode off by himself to pursue the raiders, the archbishop's mission was completed. Fedor had sustained a wound in the battle against the vasilisk, and now it had become infected, so he hoped the priests on the estate would intervene. After returning, Father Oleg ministered to him. On the archbishop's behalf, he voiced concern about the miller, who appears to be at large. He encouraged Fedor (the book maker Kesha, who returns with him) to recruit helpers to go back and find the miller, because the archbishop was not willing to order his people into danger. Along with Kesha, another person-at-arms named Alden Gravenitch, and a wanderer named Zoya, Fedor returned to Vladykino. At the mill, Zbigniev Dragutinovich ensorcelled two of his companions and left Fedor face-to-face with the miller, before forcing him down on the ground with arcane energy. When Fedor awakened, he founds htat Kesha has somehow subdued the miller, but also that his leg had been injured. The miller subsequently admitted that he was grinding bones into coins, though he denied having killed anyone. Fedor took a share of Zbigniev's ill-gotten wealth from the mill.
The next day, Fedor returned to Malinka with the captive Zbigniev, and the rest of the companions. He spoke to his companion Kesha, who grew up among the chudy, in his native tongue, and asks him about his life in under the Svora Mountains. At one point, Zbigniev breathed fire out his mouth onto his bonds, and attempted to kill his captors, and escape. Kesha again subdued Zbigniev. Fedor recommended that the monster be killed, but Kesha insisted on getting him to Malinka in one piece. Shortly before getting back, Yuri rejoined the companions, having decided not to engage all the Kochmaki.
At Malinka, Fedor spied on the archbishop's conversation with Zbigniev, who accused the companions of attacking him without provocation. Fedor felt annoyed that Zbigniev remains unpunished, while the archbishop refused to treat his leg free of charge, and to send people after the Kochmaki.
While Yuri sought more recruits for his mission, Fedor bonded with Alden, and looks for wrongs to right in Malinka. The two were solicited by Misha the Brewer to drive Yulian the Stablemaster out of town, but after suduing Yulian, they were magically assaulted by a mysterious force. Fedor reported this to Father Oleg, but was once again disappointed, as the priests would do nothing.
Finally, Fedor left Malinka with Alden to try to catch up with other companions that have already departed on Yuri's mission. They found them camped out in burned-out Vladykino. Then, they hit the road in pursuit of the raiders. The road through the woods was tough, and after following the raiders through the rain, the companions become lost, and run out of food. After sending Alden to bring down some game, the rest of the group was shocked to discover he has brought back a cow and murdered its owner in cold blood. The man's rusalka wife attacked the group at night, and it took all of Lokan's and Yuri's efforts to drive her off. From then on, Fedor's job was to watch his murderous friend, who the rest refused to allow to enter settlements with them.
At long last, the companions arrived in Udyn, which was the raiders' destination. As it is an infidel city, as Alden had lost his friend's trust, and as Fedor felt he has done for Yuri what he could, he decided to return to Malinka, as he was still in the archbishop's service. Alden found Agapia to forecast for Fedor a glorious future, and convinced his friend to let him send him off with a night out on the town. The night might last several days, but Fedor is now gone.
He was last seen by Alden as the two were carousing in Udyn, and by the rest of the companions at the Holy Veil monastery in the Nart Quarter. He is now presumably on the road, making his way back to Malinka.
Fedor appears in Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7.
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