Mikhail Zakharov

Triggerfinger (by Elsa)

Unnamed older sister

Irina Zakharov (Younger sister)

Михаил Андреевич Заха́ров (Mikhail Andreyevich Zakharov) is a monster hunter based in the Canadian town of Port Dawson. He is originally from Russia.

Mikhail is a player character in the Monster of the Week campaign An Iceberg Outside Port Dawson, where he is played by Oorlog.

## Description

### Appearance

Mikhail is a 29-year-old white man, described as rugged in his appearance. He is 185 cm tall and has a relatively strong, though no longer as fit, build. His physical appearance largely reflects his cold personality, with icy blue eyes and a constantly present frown. His hair is light blonde. He keeps a short beard, mostly because he can't be bothered to shave regularly. Mikhail is usually seen wearing combat boots, hiking pants and a flannel shirt. Mikhail owns a surprising amount of clothes, though with little variation in terms of content and with large parts of it currently "borrowed" by Naja.

Mikhail carries several scars from the Amaroq attack, most evidently a claw-shaped scar running over the right side of his face, and several more on his chest and legs.

Despite having lived in Canada for close to 7 years, Mikhail still speaks with a slight Russian accent that becomes more prevalent when he is angry or stressed. He has admitted that he sometimes plays it up when needing to come across as threatening.

### Personality

Mikhail is a rather gruff person and comes across as cold and distant to most people. Despite being known to be a grump and a bit of a pessimist, Mikhail is a sweet person at heart. He is shown to be very loyal and compassionate towards his friends, and often puts others' wellbeing over his own.

He struggles with showing emotions and is rather awkward in social contexts. Elsa describes him as a "surprisingly affectionate" person, though one that shows it in less obvious ways. She highlights how he struggles with letting people in, and only shows his gentler side to a very select few.

## Biography

Mikhail was born in Samara, Russia. His father, Andrey Zakharov, had recently established himself business mogul and held a lot of influence as a Russian oligarch in the 90's. While Mikhail and his two sisters had a strict upbringing, Mikhail was blatantly favored by his father due to being the sole son.

Mikhail was a talented child and excelled both in school and in the musical training. He was very passionate about his piano playing and wanted to go to a music college, but was pushed by his father to pursue a business education instead. This led him to a rebellious phase during his late teens and was largely what caused him to fall out with his parents.

Together with his friend Aleksandr, Mikhail left Russia in his early 20's to work as a fisherman, first in Alaska and later along the Canadian coast. It was during this time he met Caspian Fray.

Mikhail's first meeting with Port Dawson was just by happenstance and was by all means not intended to be nothing more than a stop on the road. That was until a summer night in 2012, when Mikhail and Aleksandr were attacked by an abnormally large wolf during a walk home from the harbour. Powerless to stop Aleksandr from getting mauled, Mikhail barely managed to escape with his life. Although no body was found, it was presumed Aleksandr died following the attack.

## Relationships

### Naja Qinnuayuak

Naja and Mikhail are close friends and have an almost sibling-like relationship. They were both brought into hunting by Caspian at the same time and were both young when they started their training. To this day, the pair spend a majority of their time together and often accompany each other when hunting.

In Act 1, Naja is upset with Mikhail as he decided not to tell her that Elsa was returning to Port Dawson. Mikhail explains that he did so only to protect her feelings, and the two eventually make up. Mikhail also shows concern for Naja's obsession with finding her dad.

### Elsa Ragnarsdóttir

> *"We're alike, you know, me and Misha. /../ I think we've both lost enough friends to know you hold on damn tight to the ones you have left. "*
> - Elsa Ragnarsdóttir
>
>

*Elsa is one of Mikhail's closest friends. The two get along well and are shown to be very comfortable around each other. Mikhail is one of the few people from Port Dawson Elsa kept in contact with after leaving Port Dawson to work on Operation Yggdrasil, and was the first person she contacted upon returning. He was understanding of Elsa's reasons for leaving and supported her despite that it broke up the Dawson Trio.*

In Act 1, Mikhail and Elsa work together to secure Magnus. They share a hug following their reunion and are both happy to see the other. When discussing her return with Caspian, Elsa talks about her relationship with Mikhail. She says that she and Mikhail are more similar than one might think, as they- despite their obvious differences- share a similar outlook on friendship.

### Sesi Qinnuayuak

Prior to the campaign, Mikhail and Sesi have a strained relationship as both are rather wary of each other. This is thought to have stemmed from an accident a few years back, where Sesi had ended up in the middle of one of Mikhail's hunts and been deeply scared of his callous and almost frenzied killing. She ended up accidentally peering into his mind- causing them both to panic. Since then, the two have avoided each other.

In Act 1, Sesi and Mikhail's are initially shown to still be on edge around the other, sharing only a few, awkward interactions. Their first real conversation doesn't happen until the investigation of the corpse at the harbor, following a fight between Naja and Mikhail. Mikhail apologizes for their public fight, and for keeping the truth from her and Sesi. Sesi is understanding and the two of them share a brief moment.

> *Maybe for the first time ever, the two of you lock eyes and share what isn't more than an inkling of a smile. It doesn't have to be more than that. Because while it isn't much, maybe even nothing, for you two it's momentous. Small step giant leap, and all that.*
>
>

Sesi tends to Mikhail's wounds following a fight.

### Cora Langford

Cora and Mikhail are former lovers, having had a somewhat on-and-off relationship sometime in 2014-2015. It seems that no deep romantic feelings were involved and Cora referred to it as a "situationship".

### Family

Mikhail remains in contact with his younger sister, Irina.

## Moves

**I Know My Pray**

You get +1 ongoing when knowingly investigating, pursuing or fighting the breed of monster that caused your loss. (Amaroks specifically, but this extends to any kind of wolf-like creature).

**Fervor**

When you manipulate someone, roll +Tough instead of +Charm.

**Never Again**

In combat, you may choose to protect someone without rolling, as if you had rolled a 10+, but you may not choose to “suffer little harm.”

## Gear

**Hunter's Vest** (1-armor)

**Fighting Knife** (2-harm hand quiet)

**Hunting Rifle** (2-harm far loud)

**9mm** (2-harm close loud)

**Plain Pickup**

## Trivia

* Mikhail has cynophobia- a fear of dogs.
* Mikhail is a talented pianist. His younger sister Irina is a famous violinist.