[RPG • 100] Greenstone, 1633 | Rollentopic - Rollentopics

Whilst the Hunter is known as Misha around town, as that is the name he introduces himself with, is it only his nickname. In his family it is very common to call everyone by their nickname, which Misha has adopted and brought over to America as his given name. Officially his name is Mikhail Sergei Nikolaev syn Andrei Vasilyev, named after the patronymics of his father and being one of the more modern families to also have a surname. Though he usually skips the patronymics as those complicate the whole matter unnecessarily. His family often calls him Serezhko, a nickname based on his birth name Sergei instead of his baptised name Mikhail, but that is a name Misha has not heard after moving to Greenstone.

Misha is one of a grand total of five Russian Hunters that currently reside in Greenstone and the only Vasilyev among the group of allied families. This makes him by proxy the leader of the Russian delegation, though they are under jurisdiction of the Ackerman family as this is their land. Since his group is still very small, Misha doesn't hold a large leading position and most decisions are made as a collective. It does mean that he bears responsibility over the others and is the first point of contact when a Russian delegation is needed for something. He is part of the Community.

fc: Mike Pishek
The first thing that one can notice about Misha is his almost perpetual scowl he wears on his face. The Hunter almost never seems to smile, regardless of the topic he is engaging in. This is accentuated by the heavy brow line and his inset, smaller eyes, giving his eyes a natural shadow. His irises are a light green color with a dark rim around them. His hair is a lighter brown color, though it is starting to grey near his temples and is usually kept at a easily manageable length that wouldn't get in his eyes. Just like his beard he tries to keep his hair well kept. This almost angry-face is paired with a fairly large and heavy set body and his skin has a natural tan. His muscles are well defined due to years and years of diligent training as well as hard physical labor in the forge. Misha's hands are large and rough, holding hard callouses and scarred by various burn marks. His clothing style is practical, but neat. He takes great care of both his personal belongings as well as his appearance, using luxury items when available to make everything last as long as possible. When he is not wearing thick layers or clothes at all, a stick-n-poke tattoo can be seen on his left shoulder blade, vaguely visible underneath a thin white tunic. Though Mikhail doesn't often show it of and it is mostly covered so not many will know he has one at all. It shows his family crest and the text "Единство" which means unity. Misha's voice matches his scowl, harsh with a thick Russian accent.

Mikhail is decidedly not an easy person to talk to, especially not when you're seen as a stranger to him. This is mostly due to his own poor understanding of the common language, though his general attitude can be quite off putting if you're not used to it. His thick Russian accent makes that his sentences often sound weird and short, as Misha is not comfortable with long dialogues, and he can use badly translated idioms and expressions, not knowing the right way to say something. This makes him often come across as inexpressive and paired with his generally angry facial expression and large body does he not look or act like the teddybear-hug-type.

Besides his poor language skills, is his lack of outward emotions due to his stoic nature. The Hunter does not engage with chaos often and as he does, he will be the calm, collected one who uses rationality to come with the best solution for the largest collective. Even in the face of danger or anguish does he stay calm, not relying on emotions or feelings, but on his years of practice. He will make difficult decisions with what looks like ease, acting resolute on the best possible answer without hesitation, knowing his first decision was made with diligence.

This diligence is seen throughout all of Misha's life. From his normal routines to his blacksmith work. He takes great care and pride in his work and makes sure he and his belongings are kept in peak condition. His training is thorough and you will see him up at the same time every day to complete it before starting work. This discipline is rooted in deep traditions, instilled into him since birth as is expected from the Vasilyev family. In his job he is a perfectionist, only settling for the best he can make and never cutting corners. Even on a tight production schedule, Misha will work overtime to finish it to his standards. Even his idea-generation for new weapons or techniques is based on time spend purposefully thinking about it and trying instead of more free-spirited approaches.

His generally distant demeanor shifts when he is around family, or anyone he considers family. From a young age the idea that family is everything has been drilled into Mikhail's head. This makes him extremely loyal to those he considers as such. Misha only opens up around those close to him, speaking more openly and even trying to make jokes, even though they often land flat due to the language barrier. Those that not know Misha very well can be put off when they see him actually smile if they catch him off guard, though he quickly restrains himself when an outsider joins and he is not in the sole company of his family anymore.

Misha is more of a craftsman than a fighter, it is not that he doesn't know how to fight or that he doesn't like it. On the contrary, he is a good fighter, well versed in a variety of weapons with the discipline of daily training to back it up. It is just that he likes being a craftsman more, or at least that is what he tells everyone who asks.

As a Vasilyev there was no doupht that he woul be a hunter, causing him to be thrown into some form of training from the moment he could properly walk and start his official hunter training at six. His hunter training was supplemented from an early age with crafting in various forms, having both a tradition and a family-reputation to uphold. It became clear very quickly that Misha had a knack for the family business, resulting in more focus on that aspect during the years of his schooling. Though his hunter training was not neglected, his daily training just increased. This made Misha well versed in a variety of weapons as well as multiple crafting materials.

When he was twelve he got paired with his younger brother, Ilya, both interested in crafting though Mikhail did generally more of the big physical work whilst Ilya focused more on the drawings and the details. They were a great team during training which continued into the field. Crafting weapons and learning better and more advanced weapon secrets as a day-job and go hunting to help out the family when needed.

This partnership lasted three years after graduation, ending in a hunting accident that left Mikhail alone at the age of twenty-two. This shifted his priorities drastically. Misha stopped hunting all together, though he never stopped training for it, and focused all his time on his work. Besides the large scale weapon manufacturing such as smithing and woodworking, he started to get into drawing and detail work, expanding his skill-set to that of a well-rounded weapon manufacturer instead of part of a team. This is also the time he learned how to build guns, getting into all the intricate details and spending all his time on getting everything perfectly. Whilst it produced beautiful weapons once he got the hang of it, it may not have been the best coping mechanism for everything going on.

After a winter of crafting, his father came with a proposal to the family. Vasilyev needed to expand their territory to the new land the Ackermans had started colonizing. Misha volunteered immediately, currently flying solo with a vast knowledge of weapons and their manufacturing processes, he was the easiest to ship to a new continent. Accompanied by two partner couples from allied families, Misha packed up his life and made the trek to the port where he set off to the New World when the weather had cleared up in the Spring.

10 Weeks they had sailed, in which Misha had tried to learn enough English to get by, though it became clear very quickly that his talents for crafting and hunting did not expand to languages whatsoever. Barely understanding basic sentences and having just enough vocabulary to express what he wanted, the Rus came to land and was immediately lead to the leader of the Hunters in Greenstone. Delivering the letter his father had entrusted him with to the Ackermans, after which he was free to recover from the journey.

His first couple of days Misha used to recover from the journey and getting used to the new time and routines. That was until he got summoned by the head of the Ackerman family. Apparently it had been decided that he needed a new partner, he didn't understand why, but he was not going to question the head of his new family. After the short conversation, he was lead to the training-grounds to meet Reed. Misha's first impression of his new partner was that of a loud and disrespectful boy around his age and he didn't even need to understand a word Reed said to get this impression. Though a short hand-to-hand fight engaged by Misha revealed Reed to at least be a competent fighter.

Misha quickly got settled and back to training and working as he got established both within the group of craftsmen that were already working in Greenstone as well as the leader of the Russian delegation as he held the highest rank within the Russian families. His new partner turned out the be the handful Misha expected him to be, but he had experience reigning in a younger brother so it was nothing the Rus couldn't handle. Though it was a bit of a surprise to learn that Reed was in fact slightly older than himself.

The years that followed were definitely some slower years for Misha. He focused a lot on his work as a weaponsmith, both building and designing and quickly became an integral part of the workshop on Ackerman's land in Hillside. After talking with the other crafters, Misha improved the efficiency in the workshop by making it resemble the Vasilyev workshop back home and bringing new and improved designs to Greenstone.

Over the years he has become one of the hunters that is seen as a calming presence for the rest. Having dealt with angry-Reed on many an occasion, gave him a bit of a reputation as a problem-solver when it came to hunter squabbles that this skill of his will be asked for regarding other temperamental hunters. Misha is always fine with helping to break up a fight as he can carry most hunters if physical separation is needed and his calm and collected nature can offer a voice of reason when necessary.

Even though the Rus is one of the most structured hunters in Greenstone, barely straying from his normal work or training as even his birthday is seen as just a normal day. There are two days in the year Misha is not or barely functioning. The first of which, he will stay inside his room most of the day, only coming out after the sun has set to sit on the beach drinking. During that day, Misha will barely talk if he says anything at all and his face holds so much rage that it is clear that people should not disturb him. He only allows Reed to stay with him at night, but even that was precarious in the beginning. The first year people tried to get him out of his room when he did not show up at work but after asking a couple times at the door, Misha opened the entrance with so much force it was barley functioning afterwards. His face showing an amount of emotions nobody had ever seen from the Rus as a storm was clearly brewing behind his eyes. Bellowing to the people on the other side to leave him alone before slamming the wooden door in their face. The day after he repaired the door as if nothing happened without any mention of the day prior. These days, only stupid people go ask him something when he is not at work.
The second of which, Misha will come out of his room and actually do work, but his face is clearly showing people to not talk to him. His focus is clearly somewhere else and he tends to get angry at himself quickly, making mistakes more often. This day he will not go hunting unless forced out of absolute necessity, only focusing on work and training.

Misha's main weapon is a one handed hammer-axe. Based in his years and years of smithing practice, he is very precise with the blunt weapon, using the force behind the blunt weapon to stun his opponent before using the sharp side to cleave the opponent. Since the weapon is very top heavy, Misha's fighting style is to keep the weapon in motion at all times during a fight, allowing him to quickly change direction and strike the opponent with a lot of force. The dual sides also give him a versatility that is not easily found in swords, or normal axes or hammers. The weapon can be seen hanging in a ring on his belt most of the time. The sides are reinforced with metal guards and the wooden handle has Cyrillic text carved into it.

As a ranged option, Misha mostly uses a flintlock, either a pistol or a musket though seeing him with a crossbow is not a strange appearance. All have detailed designs with quite a bit of traditional Russian patterns carved into them. Sometimes the ranged weapons he uses are experimental weapons that he is working on and need field testing. Though he has kept his field testing in Greenstone to a minimum and only does it when he is certain it will work, never giving experimental weapons to someone else during actual hunts. Misha tends to have is flintlock pistol with him most of the time, partly because it's good never leave house with a weapon in a monster-infested town and partly to show of the designs and craftsmanship.

Lastly, Misha takes a sword and a dagger with him when he has time to prepare for a hunt, but those are more for backup than to use as a main weapon.

Misha is clearly trained to fight with all weapons, though he does have preferences. Each weapon he uses is made by himself and therefor bears his own maker's mark somewhere on the weapon. Besides weapons, Misha tends to fight with a heavy small-ish shield strapped to his lower arm for extra protection when he has the time to prepare for a hunt.

Even more than a hunter, Misha is a craftsman, specifically a weaponsmith. Where he first specialized in blacksmithing and woodworking for handles, is he now more a universalist that knows something about every aspect of weapon making. From swords to guns, Misha has a Vasilyev manufacturing training on it and has Russian books with all the theory as a back-up. He can build you about anything you want with the details you so desire, though Misha does have an opinion about everyone based on their weapon choices and requests and is not afraid to tell you those when you ask for something specific. In his free time he is experimenting with new weapon types such as more advanced gun mechanisms and ammunition types. He is currently trying to improve the firing mechanism of the flintlock pistols.

Maker's mark
On every item Misha creates, he puts his makers-mark to show he made it. First there is the Vasilyev trademark which is a simplified stamp or engraving of the Vasilyev family crest to indicate it comes from their workshop. Second there is his personal mark to show he is the maker of the particular item which is a М and an И on top of each other divided by a horizontal line, and since Misha is part of the main family, he gets to put it inside the Vasilyev crest instead of underneath.

Languages
Misha speaks Russian and English, but the last one only because he had to. His languages skills for foreign languages are atrocious and learning English was already difficult enough. This also means he still has trouble with his second language even after three years living with it. His personal notes are always in Russian and his spelling in English is even worse than his heavy accented speaking.

Traditions
Mikhail is extremely concerned with the original Vasilyev traditions and continues them as much as possible in Greenstone. This also makes his views on society very conservative. He views all werewolves and vampires as inherently monstrous and threatening to the existence of both hunter and human.

Room
When someone has the privilege of entering his personal room, they can see his passion for weapons across every wall. From the outdated arquebus he had with him to Greenstone to a variety of broken weapons each with Cyrillic notes besides it pointing to various parts of the weapons and multiple sheets of drawings and notes. Though it is very rare to see as Misha is very private and will let almost nobody in his room.

Religion
Misha is devout Christian, specifically Russian Orthodox and is baptised at age 10. He will go to St. Adrian's Cathedral due to lack of Orthodox service since a different service is better than no service. Though he has some fundamental differences with the religious teachings in Greenstone, but does not address those openly. Misha can often be seen saying prayers in silence before or after certain tasks such as eating, work or hunting.

Likes
Snow, winter, the woods, the forge, drawing; especially weapons, building weapons, training, traditions

Dislikes
Hot weather, monsters, English new people, not understanding people, being perceived dumb due to his lack of language skills.

Reed Ackerman
After arriving in Greenstone, Misha got paired with Reed as a new Hunter-partner and over the years they have grown to be best friends besides partners. They naturally established various habits such as Misha physically carrying Reed away from fights to the forest to let out steam or their yearly stupid-drunk night at the beach after Misha has been cooped up in his room all day.

Finn Ackerman
That Misha's relation with Finn is not as good as with Reed might be an understatement. Whilst the Rus has no problem with Finn and sees her as family, Finn clearly has a problem with him. Though he is not surprised as he is now paired with her brother whilst she is not allowed to hunt. Since Finn is inside a lot of the time, they haven't interacted much yet in the month she has been back.