Post by Basil on Nov 14, 2015 12:23:20 GMT -6
Character Name: Ludmila Petrova Ilyukhin.
Age: 675.
Gender: Female.
Birthplace: Somewhere in Russia.
Race: Rusalka.
Physical Appearance : Ludmila looks like an usually pale and thin human woman, with short very blonde hair and big grey eyes with a gaze as hard as steel. She has a somewhat angular face made even more severe by scars and age. Her hair is always gathered into a small bun, held together by a white comb.
This however is just a disguise she uses to hide her true form. When she removes her comb, her appearance undergoes a dramatic change, as her eyes become bigger and lose their pupils and irises, leaving just two ghostly pools of white. Her body will also become a lot more pale, and her skinny form will become almost emaciated. She is of average height, approximately 1 m 70.
Good, Evil, or Neutral: Neutral.
Strengths:
-Experience: Ludmila's background and life span means she has acquired a lot of field experience as well as knowledge on the paranormal. This extensive know-how when it comes to things that go bump in the dark comes in very handy when she's facing the world's spooks and demons.
Weaknesses:
-Ludmila performs badly in arid areas and is generally averse to high temperatures. Should she be trapped in a hot and dry place, she will become dehydrated and eventually die. Afghanistan was particularly hard for her due to its arid climate.
-Her comb is more than a disguise as it also helps keeping her alive. If she lost her comb, Ludmila would be forced to immerse herself in water every week or dry out and die.
-Her health has gone downhill due to age, alcohol abuse and smoking.
Weapon Of Choice: Firearm or blunt object.
Abilities :
-Extreme resistance to cold temperatures: rusalki being native to some of the coldest areas in Russia they have an "immunity" to cold. Ludmila is no exception, and could comfortably walk around Antarctica naked. She simply does not feel cold. Interestingly enough, she can also survive being frozen in ice.
-Supernatural affinity with water: being a creature whose origins lie in water, Ludmila is a very fast and agile swimmer. She can also remain submerged for as long as she wishes.
-Dream-walking: unbeknownst to Ludmila, she possesses a form of astral projection that enables her, once asleep, to drift into the world between worlds. During the time she spent entombed underground, her mind wandered into those far away dream realms, and she saw and learned many things that have troubled her ever since. Unfortunately this ability tends to manifest randomly, and despite her Soviet (and later Russian) handlers' best efforts, she was never able to call on it at will.
Personality: Ludmila’s present state of mind can be summed up thusly: “Seen too much and done too much.” The former Soviet agent is washed up and lost, unsure of her future and unsure of her own identity. Her past haunts her constantly and the rusalka is often consumed by regret and longing for what she considers her “golden age”. Once fiercely loyal to authority and community, Ludmila’s recent breakdowns have made her more skeptical and suspicious of those around her as well as less willing to help. This altogether recent attitude has been worsened by depression and an inferiority complex, as she sees herself as a useless Cold War relic with no future.
Although many see her as a "cold bitch", for lack of a better term, Ludmila has a much nicer and softer side hidden beneath the icy surface. Those who manage to get beyond her cold façade will find a loyal and generous friend always willing to share a drink or her last loaf of bread. When she isn’t drunk or depressed, she is calm, practical and professional (this is rather rare nowadays for obvious reasons). Tact is also something that the rusalka lacks, and she tends to be brutally honest about most things. If someone bores her, she will most definitely tell him/her to leave her alone.
While she may seem cold and unshakeable, Ludmila can fly into terrible rages when provoked, or sink into the deepest depths of despair. These outbursts are thankfully rare, but are a terrible thing to witness when they do happen. When it comes to love and relationships, Ludmila avoids them like the plague. Her traumatic experience with “her” knight has left her rather skeptical of love and attraction and she sees the whole thing as a weakness.
Oddly enough, Ludmila loves children no matter their species. Their innocence and boundless energy always draws a smile from her, and she loves telling them stories, whether they are fairy tales or tales from her own past.
History: Ludmila was “born” on a cold night of the year 1355 when a young woman, abandoned by her lover, threw herself into the waters of the river Niva. Her early life was uneventful, as she was nothing but a creature that some would describe as a “drone” with no will or mind of her own. It wasn’t until the year 1587 that her life took a turn for the unexpected. One evening, as Ludmila and her rusalki sisters were swimming in the reeds, she saw an armoured man trot past the river on a horse. Intrigued she followed him, swimming quietly out of his sight.
For a whole week she followed him and every time he made camp and went to sleep she would leave the river and watch him. The man was young and handsome and was unlike the peasants and travelers she’d seen before, for he was a vityaz, a knight trained in the art of warfare. As his travels extended into their second week, the Rusalka grew more obsessed with him. For the first time in centuries she began to feel her own emotions and her mind began to conceive its own thoughts; unbeknownst to herself she was breaking away from her former state and entering a new one, setting a terrible chain of events in motion.
Ludmila fell deeply in love with the young vityaz, but it soon became apparent that his journey was coming to an end and that he would leave the banks of her river. As her love for him grew stronger so did her pain. On the knight’s final night on the banks of the Niva, Ludmila left its waters and travelled deep into the woods, calling for one of Russia’s oldest and most powerful beings: the Baba Yaga. The ancient witch appeared before the rusalka, her withered face split by a knowing grin. The witch knew all about the rusalka’s sorrow and said she could help her, but Ludmila must think carefully before choosing. As she spoke, the Baba Yaga drew an ivory white comb from her rags and presented it to the rusalka.
“This comb”, said Baba Yaga, “will hide your true nature from the eyes of man, but you must wear it at all times and never leave the door open for suspicion. Men are clever and hateful beings who can see through any disguise if given the chance. But dear child, you must also know that should you take this comb your life will be nothing but misery, for I can do nothing for your kind’s lifespan. You will live, child. Live to see the world change like it never has before, live to experience betrayal and abandonment, live to see death and commit murder. You will live to see the end of all things, child. Is this your wish?”
The warning was clear enough, but alas, Ludmila’s mind was clouded by her love for the knight. Without further ado, she took the comb from the Baba Yaga’s hand.
“Yes”, she said. The Baba Yaga smiled and shook her head.
“Sometimes ignorance is happiness, child. Think of that when you go to your knight.”
And so Ludmila turned her back on her old life. As she left the forest she was confronted by the spirit of the river, mother of all rusalki. Mother Niva could see the terrible seed that had been planted in her daughter’s mind, and her anger and sadness were great. She tried to reason with her daughter, begging her not to see the knight, but Ludmila grew angry and ran off, her heart awash with a storm of emotions she could barely control.
Later that night she made herself known to the vityaz, emerging from the bushes as a beautiful and pure maiden dressed in filthy rags. The knight was immediately taken by her beauty, and believed her when she told him she was a poor peasant girl who had got lost in the woods. He offered to take her to a nearby village the next day and Ludmila accepted, not knowing the consequences of such a decision.
The pair rode away from the river the next morning, and after a few hours arrived at a small village. The villagers crowded around them, amazed at Ludmila’s beauty. Unfortunately, the knight already had a woman in that very village, and upon seeing him with Ludmila, she went mad with jealous rage. A fight ensued, the village woman hurling accusations of infidelity at the knight. Ludmila panicked, not knowing why things were going so badly, and in doing so she took hold of the knight’s hand. This gesture enraged the village woman even more and she lashed out, trying to pull Ludmila off the horse by her hair. As the woman grabbed hold of Ludmila’s golden hair, she ripped her comb out and the illusion was broken. Horror and shock descended upon the villagers as they saw what Ludmila was really like: emaciated, deathly pale, eyes nothing but milky white orbs.
The rusalka pleaded with the knight, but it was too late. He threw her off his horse and into the mud, where the villagers descended on her as one. They dragged her to the church and with the priest began to build a pyre. The knight, however, suddenly felt pity for the weeping rusalka and ordered the priest to imprison her instead. Reluctantly the priest agreed. A hole was dug in the cemetery and a carved stone placed over it. Ludmila was chained up, an iron cross was placed around her neck and then she was placed in a wooden coffin. As the villagers lowered her into her prison, she looked up at the knight and said: “I’m sorry.”
In her prison Ludmila slept, her mind and body pushed into a strange catatonic state. The stone marking her resting place became a local attraction and legends grew around her. As she slumbered the world changed. Napoleon marched on Moscow, cannons roared and thundered and men and women died; yet still Ludmila slept. In her sleep she wandered the lands beyond that of Man, lands of dreams where past, present and future mingled. As she wandered she met other dreamers: humans dabbling in the occult, beings from the past and the future and elves. She met two elven dream-walkers. One laughed at her and told her she deserved what had happened to her. After all she had gone beyond her kind’s place in the world and defied creation.
The second one simply listened to her story and took it in stride. The two of them travelled together through the dreamlands, and he tried to show her the world’s forgotten history. Ludmila saw many things: the rise and fall of Hyperborea, Atlantis, the war between the Fae and Man. The elf also showed her things to come in the world of Man, and Ludmila saw terrible things which she couldn’t understand. The elf finally showed her a horned red creature with a hand of stone. In this hand lay the key to the world’s destruction, and Ludmila remembered what the Baba Yaga had told her.
But before the elf could go on, Ludmila was torn from the dreamlands and cast back into the world of Man. The harsh sound of spades breaking her free of her prison of earth and rotting wood reached her ears, and eventually a hole appeared. She was lifted out of her prison, her body frozen by time. The sun’s rays warmed her and gave her strength, and she opened her eyes, much to the horror and amazement of the shabby workers that had dug her up.
The year was 1868, and the village had grown into a town. The old cemetery was being destroyed to make room for a new church. The old legends surrounding the stone had been mostly forgotten, and Ludmila was quickly seen as a mysterious feat of nature and magic. A letter was sent to the Czar, who took an interest in the strange event. Eventually Ludmila was taken to Saint-Petersburg and kept in Czar Alexander III’s secret “menagerie” beneath the Winter Palace. There she was treated like an animal, locked in a gilded fish tank and shown to important court visitors. Scientists came to study her and concluded she was a rare kind of subhuman.
The years went by and Ludmila stayed locked in her tank. Little did she know that the Russian Empire was on its last legs and that soon the Czars would be cast down. In 1917, the menagerie was sealed and abandoned, leaving Ludmila in the dark for months. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a group of men destroyed the door to the palace basement and entered carrying torches and guns. These men were Bolsheviks headed by a Communist university professor named Piotr Ilyukhin. As they explored the dark basement, they found nothing but strange and dead creatures and weird artefacts. Nothing stirred or made a sound. They then came upon a large water tank, and as they shone their torches into its murky depths, Ludmila appeared.
After overcoming their initial surprise, the Bolsheviks started clearing out the basement. Many artefacts and creatures were destroyed, and Ludmila would have met the same fate had Piotr not taken an interest in her. After all, she could talk and displayed the same behaviour a sentient being would have. Piotr was allowed to take Ludmila in, and he took her to a small scientific institute outside Moscow in order to study her. He soon discovered that she was fully sentient and sapient, and he began to treat her like a human being. He gave her proper clothes, a room of her own and even named her “Ludmila” in memory of his daughter, who had died during the revolution.
As the years went by, Piotr began to refer to Ludmila as his “daughter” even moving her out of the institute and into his own home. At around the same time, the GPU expressed interest in forming a group specialized in occult and paranormal threats, even considering the recruitment and training of “non-human agents”. Piotr Ilyukhin helped convince the Soviet government of the necessity of such a group, and eventually the idea was approved. A few months later, Ludmila was recruited and taken into training.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s Ludmila was taught how to use firearms and other weapons. She was also taught the Marxist world view, and she soon became an ardent Communist. After her training, Ludmila was drawn into a covert struggle with a new and terrible enemy: the Third Reich. The Soviets knew that Germany was preparing for war, but Stalin was intent on avoiding hostilities, thus Ludmila and the Special Sciences Service conducted espionage in Nazi Germany. When war finally reached the USSR in 1941, Ludmila was transferred to the S.S.S.’s military branch and was pulled head first into the chaos of World War 2.
In the years that followed, Ludmila witnessed the worst of mankind. Millions of soldiers were killed and devastation reigned everywhere. World War 2 also saw Ludmila join the killing as she fought German soldiers and otherworldly monstrosities alike. In 1944 she and other members of the S.S.S. thwarted a ceremony conducted outside Leningrad by the Germans, thus saving the city from annihilation. For this covert effort she was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of the Red Banner.
In 1945 she took part in the battle for Berlin, battling the S.S. and Gestapo behind the scenes.
After the war Ludmila worked on Nazi Germany’s “doomsday projects”, spending many days sifting through fragmented documents and visiting ruined sites in Eastern Europe. Later in the 1950s Ludmila witnessed the end of Stalinism. Her activity and background were investigated under Khrushchev, who was intent on purging Soviet administration of Stalinists.
In the 1960s she was re-assigned to the military branch of the S.S.S. and was sent to Vietnam. In the 1970s she participated in the extermination of a vampire coven somewhere in Siberia, and the 1980s she took part in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse. Ludmila’s faith in Communism had been sorely tested by her involvement in Afghanistan, and she was still recovering from the horrible experiences she’d undergone in that country. The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 came as a complete shock to her. Her alcoholism, already present since World War 2, became even worse and she started to smoke heavily. All around her the world she’d grown to love was being eroded by the new Russian government. On some years she wasn’t even paid. The government also restructured the S.S.S. and Ludmila lost her State-paid accommodation, forcing her to go live with her adoptive father Piotr.
In 1994, however, Piotr Ilyukhin passed away. Devastated, and with no ties left to Russia, Ludmila gathered her meager savings and wandered the world for almost a decade. From Russia she moved to Western Europe, then travelled to central Africa. Deep down she was seeking answers to questions that had haunted her for centuries. What was she ? A mistake ? A freak ? What place did she have in the world ?
In 2003 she went to Asia, bought an old bicycle and cycled through India and Tibet, finally ending her journey in Singapore. Still driven by relentless wanderlust, Ludmila moved on to Australia and New Zealand, until finally, she flew across the ocean and ended up at the very end of the world : Antarctica. There she lived in almost total isolation for several years, hunting penguins and seals for meat.
The situation changed one day when Ludmila received a phone call at the American research station of McMurdo. The caller, who did not give his name, simply told her of a small town in the United States. A town named Chasm, and beneath which a secret lay buried. The caller made the following offer : go to Chasm, find a way into the vault. He also offered to pay Ludmila large amounts of money to do so, but what drove Ludmila to Chasm wasn't the promise of material gain. The caller also told her she might find answers beneath Chasm.
And so Ludmila flew to the USA. At the airport she received another call, and was given the location of a car, along with a key taped to the bottom of it. Once in the car, she found an envelope in the glove box containing a map with directions to Chasm, pictures of significant areas of the town and a large amount of cash. Beside the envelope was a pistol and several magazines with ammunition.
Ludmila then set off for Chasm, unsure of what she would find there...
Age: 675.
Gender: Female.
Birthplace: Somewhere in Russia.
Race: Rusalka.
Physical Appearance : Ludmila looks like an usually pale and thin human woman, with short very blonde hair and big grey eyes with a gaze as hard as steel. She has a somewhat angular face made even more severe by scars and age. Her hair is always gathered into a small bun, held together by a white comb.
This however is just a disguise she uses to hide her true form. When she removes her comb, her appearance undergoes a dramatic change, as her eyes become bigger and lose their pupils and irises, leaving just two ghostly pools of white. Her body will also become a lot more pale, and her skinny form will become almost emaciated. She is of average height, approximately 1 m 70.
Good, Evil, or Neutral: Neutral.
Strengths:
-Experience: Ludmila's background and life span means she has acquired a lot of field experience as well as knowledge on the paranormal. This extensive know-how when it comes to things that go bump in the dark comes in very handy when she's facing the world's spooks and demons.
Weaknesses:
-Ludmila performs badly in arid areas and is generally averse to high temperatures. Should she be trapped in a hot and dry place, she will become dehydrated and eventually die. Afghanistan was particularly hard for her due to its arid climate.
-Her comb is more than a disguise as it also helps keeping her alive. If she lost her comb, Ludmila would be forced to immerse herself in water every week or dry out and die.
-Her health has gone downhill due to age, alcohol abuse and smoking.
Weapon Of Choice: Firearm or blunt object.
Abilities :
-Extreme resistance to cold temperatures: rusalki being native to some of the coldest areas in Russia they have an "immunity" to cold. Ludmila is no exception, and could comfortably walk around Antarctica naked. She simply does not feel cold. Interestingly enough, she can also survive being frozen in ice.
-Supernatural affinity with water: being a creature whose origins lie in water, Ludmila is a very fast and agile swimmer. She can also remain submerged for as long as she wishes.
-Dream-walking: unbeknownst to Ludmila, she possesses a form of astral projection that enables her, once asleep, to drift into the world between worlds. During the time she spent entombed underground, her mind wandered into those far away dream realms, and she saw and learned many things that have troubled her ever since. Unfortunately this ability tends to manifest randomly, and despite her Soviet (and later Russian) handlers' best efforts, she was never able to call on it at will.
Personality: Ludmila’s present state of mind can be summed up thusly: “Seen too much and done too much.” The former Soviet agent is washed up and lost, unsure of her future and unsure of her own identity. Her past haunts her constantly and the rusalka is often consumed by regret and longing for what she considers her “golden age”. Once fiercely loyal to authority and community, Ludmila’s recent breakdowns have made her more skeptical and suspicious of those around her as well as less willing to help. This altogether recent attitude has been worsened by depression and an inferiority complex, as she sees herself as a useless Cold War relic with no future.
Although many see her as a "cold bitch", for lack of a better term, Ludmila has a much nicer and softer side hidden beneath the icy surface. Those who manage to get beyond her cold façade will find a loyal and generous friend always willing to share a drink or her last loaf of bread. When she isn’t drunk or depressed, she is calm, practical and professional (this is rather rare nowadays for obvious reasons). Tact is also something that the rusalka lacks, and she tends to be brutally honest about most things. If someone bores her, she will most definitely tell him/her to leave her alone.
While she may seem cold and unshakeable, Ludmila can fly into terrible rages when provoked, or sink into the deepest depths of despair. These outbursts are thankfully rare, but are a terrible thing to witness when they do happen. When it comes to love and relationships, Ludmila avoids them like the plague. Her traumatic experience with “her” knight has left her rather skeptical of love and attraction and she sees the whole thing as a weakness.
Oddly enough, Ludmila loves children no matter their species. Their innocence and boundless energy always draws a smile from her, and she loves telling them stories, whether they are fairy tales or tales from her own past.
History: Ludmila was “born” on a cold night of the year 1355 when a young woman, abandoned by her lover, threw herself into the waters of the river Niva. Her early life was uneventful, as she was nothing but a creature that some would describe as a “drone” with no will or mind of her own. It wasn’t until the year 1587 that her life took a turn for the unexpected. One evening, as Ludmila and her rusalki sisters were swimming in the reeds, she saw an armoured man trot past the river on a horse. Intrigued she followed him, swimming quietly out of his sight.
For a whole week she followed him and every time he made camp and went to sleep she would leave the river and watch him. The man was young and handsome and was unlike the peasants and travelers she’d seen before, for he was a vityaz, a knight trained in the art of warfare. As his travels extended into their second week, the Rusalka grew more obsessed with him. For the first time in centuries she began to feel her own emotions and her mind began to conceive its own thoughts; unbeknownst to herself she was breaking away from her former state and entering a new one, setting a terrible chain of events in motion.
Ludmila fell deeply in love with the young vityaz, but it soon became apparent that his journey was coming to an end and that he would leave the banks of her river. As her love for him grew stronger so did her pain. On the knight’s final night on the banks of the Niva, Ludmila left its waters and travelled deep into the woods, calling for one of Russia’s oldest and most powerful beings: the Baba Yaga. The ancient witch appeared before the rusalka, her withered face split by a knowing grin. The witch knew all about the rusalka’s sorrow and said she could help her, but Ludmila must think carefully before choosing. As she spoke, the Baba Yaga drew an ivory white comb from her rags and presented it to the rusalka.
“This comb”, said Baba Yaga, “will hide your true nature from the eyes of man, but you must wear it at all times and never leave the door open for suspicion. Men are clever and hateful beings who can see through any disguise if given the chance. But dear child, you must also know that should you take this comb your life will be nothing but misery, for I can do nothing for your kind’s lifespan. You will live, child. Live to see the world change like it never has before, live to experience betrayal and abandonment, live to see death and commit murder. You will live to see the end of all things, child. Is this your wish?”
The warning was clear enough, but alas, Ludmila’s mind was clouded by her love for the knight. Without further ado, she took the comb from the Baba Yaga’s hand.
“Yes”, she said. The Baba Yaga smiled and shook her head.
“Sometimes ignorance is happiness, child. Think of that when you go to your knight.”
And so Ludmila turned her back on her old life. As she left the forest she was confronted by the spirit of the river, mother of all rusalki. Mother Niva could see the terrible seed that had been planted in her daughter’s mind, and her anger and sadness were great. She tried to reason with her daughter, begging her not to see the knight, but Ludmila grew angry and ran off, her heart awash with a storm of emotions she could barely control.
Later that night she made herself known to the vityaz, emerging from the bushes as a beautiful and pure maiden dressed in filthy rags. The knight was immediately taken by her beauty, and believed her when she told him she was a poor peasant girl who had got lost in the woods. He offered to take her to a nearby village the next day and Ludmila accepted, not knowing the consequences of such a decision.
The pair rode away from the river the next morning, and after a few hours arrived at a small village. The villagers crowded around them, amazed at Ludmila’s beauty. Unfortunately, the knight already had a woman in that very village, and upon seeing him with Ludmila, she went mad with jealous rage. A fight ensued, the village woman hurling accusations of infidelity at the knight. Ludmila panicked, not knowing why things were going so badly, and in doing so she took hold of the knight’s hand. This gesture enraged the village woman even more and she lashed out, trying to pull Ludmila off the horse by her hair. As the woman grabbed hold of Ludmila’s golden hair, she ripped her comb out and the illusion was broken. Horror and shock descended upon the villagers as they saw what Ludmila was really like: emaciated, deathly pale, eyes nothing but milky white orbs.
The rusalka pleaded with the knight, but it was too late. He threw her off his horse and into the mud, where the villagers descended on her as one. They dragged her to the church and with the priest began to build a pyre. The knight, however, suddenly felt pity for the weeping rusalka and ordered the priest to imprison her instead. Reluctantly the priest agreed. A hole was dug in the cemetery and a carved stone placed over it. Ludmila was chained up, an iron cross was placed around her neck and then she was placed in a wooden coffin. As the villagers lowered her into her prison, she looked up at the knight and said: “I’m sorry.”
In her prison Ludmila slept, her mind and body pushed into a strange catatonic state. The stone marking her resting place became a local attraction and legends grew around her. As she slumbered the world changed. Napoleon marched on Moscow, cannons roared and thundered and men and women died; yet still Ludmila slept. In her sleep she wandered the lands beyond that of Man, lands of dreams where past, present and future mingled. As she wandered she met other dreamers: humans dabbling in the occult, beings from the past and the future and elves. She met two elven dream-walkers. One laughed at her and told her she deserved what had happened to her. After all she had gone beyond her kind’s place in the world and defied creation.
The second one simply listened to her story and took it in stride. The two of them travelled together through the dreamlands, and he tried to show her the world’s forgotten history. Ludmila saw many things: the rise and fall of Hyperborea, Atlantis, the war between the Fae and Man. The elf also showed her things to come in the world of Man, and Ludmila saw terrible things which she couldn’t understand. The elf finally showed her a horned red creature with a hand of stone. In this hand lay the key to the world’s destruction, and Ludmila remembered what the Baba Yaga had told her.
But before the elf could go on, Ludmila was torn from the dreamlands and cast back into the world of Man. The harsh sound of spades breaking her free of her prison of earth and rotting wood reached her ears, and eventually a hole appeared. She was lifted out of her prison, her body frozen by time. The sun’s rays warmed her and gave her strength, and she opened her eyes, much to the horror and amazement of the shabby workers that had dug her up.
The year was 1868, and the village had grown into a town. The old cemetery was being destroyed to make room for a new church. The old legends surrounding the stone had been mostly forgotten, and Ludmila was quickly seen as a mysterious feat of nature and magic. A letter was sent to the Czar, who took an interest in the strange event. Eventually Ludmila was taken to Saint-Petersburg and kept in Czar Alexander III’s secret “menagerie” beneath the Winter Palace. There she was treated like an animal, locked in a gilded fish tank and shown to important court visitors. Scientists came to study her and concluded she was a rare kind of subhuman.
The years went by and Ludmila stayed locked in her tank. Little did she know that the Russian Empire was on its last legs and that soon the Czars would be cast down. In 1917, the menagerie was sealed and abandoned, leaving Ludmila in the dark for months. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a group of men destroyed the door to the palace basement and entered carrying torches and guns. These men were Bolsheviks headed by a Communist university professor named Piotr Ilyukhin. As they explored the dark basement, they found nothing but strange and dead creatures and weird artefacts. Nothing stirred or made a sound. They then came upon a large water tank, and as they shone their torches into its murky depths, Ludmila appeared.
After overcoming their initial surprise, the Bolsheviks started clearing out the basement. Many artefacts and creatures were destroyed, and Ludmila would have met the same fate had Piotr not taken an interest in her. After all, she could talk and displayed the same behaviour a sentient being would have. Piotr was allowed to take Ludmila in, and he took her to a small scientific institute outside Moscow in order to study her. He soon discovered that she was fully sentient and sapient, and he began to treat her like a human being. He gave her proper clothes, a room of her own and even named her “Ludmila” in memory of his daughter, who had died during the revolution.
As the years went by, Piotr began to refer to Ludmila as his “daughter” even moving her out of the institute and into his own home. At around the same time, the GPU expressed interest in forming a group specialized in occult and paranormal threats, even considering the recruitment and training of “non-human agents”. Piotr Ilyukhin helped convince the Soviet government of the necessity of such a group, and eventually the idea was approved. A few months later, Ludmila was recruited and taken into training.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s Ludmila was taught how to use firearms and other weapons. She was also taught the Marxist world view, and she soon became an ardent Communist. After her training, Ludmila was drawn into a covert struggle with a new and terrible enemy: the Third Reich. The Soviets knew that Germany was preparing for war, but Stalin was intent on avoiding hostilities, thus Ludmila and the Special Sciences Service conducted espionage in Nazi Germany. When war finally reached the USSR in 1941, Ludmila was transferred to the S.S.S.’s military branch and was pulled head first into the chaos of World War 2.
In the years that followed, Ludmila witnessed the worst of mankind. Millions of soldiers were killed and devastation reigned everywhere. World War 2 also saw Ludmila join the killing as she fought German soldiers and otherworldly monstrosities alike. In 1944 she and other members of the S.S.S. thwarted a ceremony conducted outside Leningrad by the Germans, thus saving the city from annihilation. For this covert effort she was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of the Red Banner.
In 1945 she took part in the battle for Berlin, battling the S.S. and Gestapo behind the scenes.
After the war Ludmila worked on Nazi Germany’s “doomsday projects”, spending many days sifting through fragmented documents and visiting ruined sites in Eastern Europe. Later in the 1950s Ludmila witnessed the end of Stalinism. Her activity and background were investigated under Khrushchev, who was intent on purging Soviet administration of Stalinists.
In the 1960s she was re-assigned to the military branch of the S.S.S. and was sent to Vietnam. In the 1970s she participated in the extermination of a vampire coven somewhere in Siberia, and the 1980s she took part in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse. Ludmila’s faith in Communism had been sorely tested by her involvement in Afghanistan, and she was still recovering from the horrible experiences she’d undergone in that country. The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 came as a complete shock to her. Her alcoholism, already present since World War 2, became even worse and she started to smoke heavily. All around her the world she’d grown to love was being eroded by the new Russian government. On some years she wasn’t even paid. The government also restructured the S.S.S. and Ludmila lost her State-paid accommodation, forcing her to go live with her adoptive father Piotr.
In 1994, however, Piotr Ilyukhin passed away. Devastated, and with no ties left to Russia, Ludmila gathered her meager savings and wandered the world for almost a decade. From Russia she moved to Western Europe, then travelled to central Africa. Deep down she was seeking answers to questions that had haunted her for centuries. What was she ? A mistake ? A freak ? What place did she have in the world ?
In 2003 she went to Asia, bought an old bicycle and cycled through India and Tibet, finally ending her journey in Singapore. Still driven by relentless wanderlust, Ludmila moved on to Australia and New Zealand, until finally, she flew across the ocean and ended up at the very end of the world : Antarctica. There she lived in almost total isolation for several years, hunting penguins and seals for meat.
The situation changed one day when Ludmila received a phone call at the American research station of McMurdo. The caller, who did not give his name, simply told her of a small town in the United States. A town named Chasm, and beneath which a secret lay buried. The caller made the following offer : go to Chasm, find a way into the vault. He also offered to pay Ludmila large amounts of money to do so, but what drove Ludmila to Chasm wasn't the promise of material gain. The caller also told her she might find answers beneath Chasm.
And so Ludmila flew to the USA. At the airport she received another call, and was given the location of a car, along with a key taped to the bottom of it. Once in the car, she found an envelope in the glove box containing a map with directions to Chasm, pictures of significant areas of the town and a large amount of cash. Beside the envelope was a pistol and several magazines with ammunition.
Ludmila then set off for Chasm, unsure of what she would find there...