Mother Feodosia
Feodosia is the Mother Superior of the Convent of Holy Dormition, located inside the Ladeisk citadel. She quickly befriended Agapia, who was housed at the convent after the Serpent Slayers' return from Udyn, and told her the story of the miracle hen of Sitnitsa, who had recently laid a golden egg. Yuri's betrothed Svetlana was housed at the convent as well, as she was yet unmarried.
Mother Feodosia soon became the spiritual advisor of several of the Serpent Slayers during their sojourn in town. She quickly detected the presence of evil energy around Agapia after she returned from Sitnitsa, having swallowed the egg along the road (though she told Augusta de Urbino, with whom she had several theological conversations, that the miraculous events surrounding the laying of the egg would still help instill hope among the poor). After hearing Agapia's confession, she told the girl that despite any past wrongdoing, she was an innocent, and only gave her several formulaic prayers to recite as penance. She did recommend that the party seek out the Archbishop Nikifor to aid the girl, as she herself lacked the power to do so. She also heard Yuri's confession, after the cossack had effectively accused Prince Trofim Andreevich of seizing the golden eggshell from the peasants who owned the hen during a public trial. Feodosia told Yuri that although he did the right thing in God's eyes, he must realize that the prince is a man upon whom lie the heavy burdens of rulership, and that he must be given time to do the right thing. She also told him that he must himself accept the responsibility of being a hero, and control his companions (as Lokan had stolen the egg while Yuri was sleeping off a night's drinking fest.
Though the Mother Superior is primarily a spiritual advisor, she is also capable of comporting herself decisively in the face of danger. After hearing Agapia's confession, an upyr' and some navii broke into the convent, she raised the cross, and drove them off the premises. She also noticed that Aberion attempted to reanimate the corpses, uttered a prayer to hold him fast in place, and then, reported his behavior to the prince, who had Aberion thrown in a pit.
Mother Feodosia met with Agapia after the Serpent Slayers returned from their trek to the Cave of the Sleeping Bogatyrs. She told the nun that she learned her lesson about swallowing strange magical eggs, and donated the gold and silver dippers used to ladle the Water of Life and Water of Death to bring back fallen companions and two petrified bogatyrs. Feodosia thanked her for the gift, and promised that she would search for ways to reactivate the dippers' wondrous powers.
Feodosia is a diminutive woman in her late 40s or early 50s. She is known to have born a child, Zalyn, prior to taking her vows. She is currently at the convent.
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