vasilissa ranskahova (spoiler free version)
vasilisa ranskahova was born to a fjerdan runaway, anette estrem, and her companion, micha ranskahov, a ravkan first army soldier who helped her escape persecution for being grisha in a small fjerdan villiage. according to her mother’s stories, vasilisa was born in reyvost, where she grew up. however, it is more than likely anette gave birth to her daughter on the journey from fjerda to reyvost.
in reyvost, vasilisa was raised along the river. she helped her mom keep house as well as fish and play in the river. her mother adjusted well to ravkan customs, however struggled with learning the language. there was some prejudice towards her as a fjerdan, but she did her best to assimilate into her new life and the ravkens anette encountered generally grew to accept her. she taught her daughter fjerdan and they spoke it almost exclusively at home unless micha was there. if vasilisa’s father was home he insisted they speak ravkan ‘to better adjust.’
like most ravkans, vasilisa was tested when she was young and, when it was revealed she was a grisha like her mother, she was swept off to the little palace to be trained.
she was a tidemaker, able to manipulate and control water. this explained her kinship with the river. she spent the majority of her youth at the little palace, training to join the second army. she often was ridiculed for being fjerdan despite the fact that she had been born and raised in ravka. eventually most people would tire of commenting on this though, especially after vasilisa began drenching anyone who brought it up. she proved herself a worthy opponent and a good friend to those who allowed her into their circles.
when she was thirteen, vasilissa had a growth spurt. she was tall for age growing up, but grew even taller during puberty. she was just as tall as most of the boys her age. this didn't help the teasing, but it did make vasilissa an imposing silhouette. she kept growing until she was eighteen, her height still even with that of her male peers. having stuck out in some way all her life, this wasn't new to her, but it did put eyes on her. she learned when to stand out and when to blend in. it wasn't easy, but could be done.
she took her amplifier when she was eighteen years old, under the darkling's tutelage. he advised her to take it, told her that it would only make her stronger. the only catch, the beast she was to kill was a wolf. a large, beautiful grey wolf on the outskirts of the permafrost. vasilissa was hesitant, the fjerdan part of her upbringing screaming at her not to kill it. not to kill it because the wolf was sacred would be to put ravka in the back of her mind. everything the little palace had done for her, she couldn't refuse. she might never get another chance. she killed it as quickly and mercifully as she could and held it's head in her lap as it died. she took one of it's teeth as her amplifier. the tooth was implanted in a fabrikator made leather cuff worn on her left hand.
she grew older and graduated from her training at the little palace, vasilissa became a spy for the ravkan crown. her true loyalties lay with the darkling. she was always reporting back to him, even when she was reporting back to the king's soldiers as well. she worked alone for the most part, although she did occasionally work with the first army as well. her time with both the first and second armies was somewhat tumultuous as she proved herself to be one of the crown's best spies. being good at what she did made people distrust her. knowing she had the darkling's ear made grisha jealous, and otkazat'sya generally wary of her.
when alina starkova came to the little palace, vasilisa was hesitant to believe it was true until she saw her sun summoning abilities for herself. she saw her for the first time at the winter fete along with the other grisha. they didn't meet, vasilissa was careful of that they didn't meet. vasilissa was never a fan of the winter fete. she didn't preform at the demonstrations and she only stayed as long as she needed to.
soon it became clear that a war was inevitable, and when it became time to choose sides, vasilisa chose the one that she believed would win. she sided with the darkling, continuing her work as a spy for him.
vasilissa took up a position on sturmhond's ship under the name lara tarasova. she was aboard the ship for some time before the darkling officially hired sturmhond to track down the sea whip. she was sent to scope out whether she believed the privateer would fulfill his end of the bargin and examine the crew. as lara, she made herself a place amongst the crew. lara was soft spoken, but more outgoing than vasilissa was in her daily life. she made friends, wore callouses into her hands where there hadn't been many before. aboard the volkvolny and the whaler the darkling chartered, vasilissa was free and she liked it. still, she kept her duty to the darkling and to ravka in mind. aboard the whaler, once the sea whip was caught, there was a fight. sturmhond and his crew turned against the darkling in a mutiny. the darkling was shot, and vasilissa's duplicity was revealed. she could only assume sturmhond and his crew felt her betrayal personally.
she remained with the darkling and his forces, forming their plan to retake ravka. they knew they couldn't simply return, the nichevo'ya took a lot of strength for him to summon and they couldn't just cross the fold. when they did cross into ravka through fjerda, they had a plan. they came to os alta during the prince's birthday dinner, turning it into a blood bath. grisha and otkazat'sya alike slaughtered in order to get to alina. the darkling nearly died that day, by the hands of the very summoner they sought. he was severely weakened and alina escaped, but the darkling's forces took over the ravkan throne.
she made a comfortable place for herself in the grand palace, staying at the darkling's side even as she wanted to be back on her own, tracking down alina and her cult. she was his as long as he wanted her at his side. vasilissa was present for the massacre at keremzin, drowning one of the grisha instructors who'd trained her. she hated it, every second at the orphanage, vasilissa felt nauseous, but chalked it up to the price of war to keep it from weighing to heavily on her conscience. she'd done a lot for the darkling, and had learned to live with her actions, but participating in a massacre of children was something else entirely.
vasilisa fought in the battle in the fold, and when it was over she fled ravka. she was left with a giant wound across her face for her troubles, a last present from the volcra.
she fled to ketterdam, finding lodgings in little fjerda. she leaned into her fjerdan heritage when she arrived in ketterdam in order not to draw suspicion. she primarily spoke kerch and fjerdan in ketterdam, however, her ability to speak ravkan came in handy. she found work as a mercenary, primarily working out of the barrel. the sign of her work was her victims appearing to have been drowned however not having the customary wet appearance of a drowning victim. this was because she (usually) drowned her marks from the inside, filling their lungs up with water. when she’s hired she doesn’t reveal that she’s grisha, however her efficiency made up for most suspicions.
andulkaphoto
gummygunk
dededos
janainaart
turnnoffyourmind