Russian Officers Volkonsky Detail

Overview

A small detail of three Russian Imperial Guard officers attached to Count Nikolai Volkonsky’s personal circle within the Russian delegation at the Congress of Vienna. They first appeared in canon at the Grand Masquerade on the evening of 8 August 1814 — drinking with Volkonsky beside the refreshment tables, topping up champagne with vodka from a pewter flask, and laughing too loudly in three languages. When Volkonsky turned cold at the news of Anton Adler’s identity, they followed him without hesitation. Within minutes one of them was dead.

These three exist as the human cost of the Wächter deployment. They are also the men Nikolai Volkonsky brought into a fight on Georgiana’s word — a bond he will not forget.

The Three

Vladimir

Status: Alive, traumatised, ineffective.

A solid, square-shouldered guardsman in his late twenties. The first to react when Volkonsky moved against Adler. During the Wächter attack he tried to beat the creature with his bare fists, accomplished nothing, and watched the Wächter kill Mikhail at point-blank range. The shock dropped him to his knees, retching violently. As of the close of Round 2 (Session 8 cliffhanger) he is on the ballroom floor near the tables, doubled over, with Freddy tugging at him ineffectually.

Vladimir is not a coward — he charged a creature he did not understand and made an honest, doomed effort to save his friend. But the immediate aftermath has broken something in him. Whether he recovers in Round 3+ or remains a passenger for the rest of the night is a Keeper question for Session 9.

Sasha

Status: Alive, mid-pursuit.

The youngest and quickest of the three. Eagerly joined the plan against Adler when Volkonsky outlined it. During the chaos of the Wächter attack he stayed in motion — last seen pursuing Adler along the side of the refreshment tables, weaving through panicking guests, knife already drawn. His position relative to Adler at the start of Round 3 is established by the Session 8 Plan but his exact distance is a Keeper call.

Sasha is the most likely of the three to bring Adler down personally. He is also the one most likely to die trying.

Mikhail

Status: Dead. Killed in the first wave of the Wächter attack — tongue lash to the throat, then jaw closure on his head. The body is on the dance floor. It is headless.

Mikhail was the third of Volkonsky’s circle, the quietest, the one who topped up the others’ glasses. He died in a way no Russian officer expects to die: not on a battlefield, not in a duel, not even at an assassin’s hand, but with his head crushed inside the maw of a creature that should not exist, in the middle of a ballroom, in front of European aristocracy.

Mikhail’s death is the first true loss the party has caused (or witnessed) among their potential allies in Vienna. It is also the loss that has soldered Nikolai Volkonsky to the investigation as an active enemy of the Brotherhood.

Connections

• Nikolai Volkonsky — Their commander and friend
• Anton Adler — Their target, last seen fleeing
• Harmonische Wachter — Their killer
• Andrei Volkonsky — Distant cousin to Nikolai; a more senior Russian intelligence figure who may be drawn in once word reaches him
• Palais Lobkowitz — The site of Mikhail’s death

Session 9 Update — The Pursuit and the Safehouse (Night of 8 August into Dawn of 9 August 1814)

Sasha — Brought Adler Down with Georgiana

Sasha caught Adler at the refreshment tables at the same instant Georgiana did. His knife was already drawn. When Georgiana delivered the hamstring strike and Nikolai intervened to honour the bond, Sasha stepped back without complaint and yielded Adler and the command fork to Georgiana. This was a significant act — the Russian officer standing down from a personal grievance he had earned to respect a promise made between his colonel and an English gentlewoman. The bond between the parties is now sealed in front of witnesses.

• Status: Alive, uninjured, lightly dishevelled. Currently at Thaliastraße 12 with Nikolai.

Vladimir — Wounded, Recovering

Vladimir did not recover from the shock fast enough to re-engage effectively. In the confused melee as Adler was taken he caught a knife cut (not one of Adler’s — probably a Brotherhood asset not yet identified) across the upper arm. Georgiana field-dressed the wound in the carriage.

• Status: Alive, wounded, stable. At Thaliastraße 12. Not combat-effective for the next day at minimum. Will need the cut re-dressed within 24 hours.

Mikhail — Still Dead

Mikhail’s body remains with the Austrian authorities. The Russian delegation has demanded the body. Repatriation will be arranged within days. The headless condition of the corpse is not something that can be cleaned up before the Russians see him.