Mikhail "Mishka" Haeth

Mishka is a high-elf sorcerer played by Coyote (DM).

Manipulative, selfish, and charismatic. Mishka was once a pirate captain— famed for his raw magic firepower, his charm, and his mind control abilities.

Mishka met Hansel, convinced him to become a pirate, slept with him, married him, fell wildly in love with him... then robbed Hansel and the rest of the pirate crew blind, stole the ship, disappeared, and used the money to retire early.

In Mishka: Unmasked it was revealed that he's not as pretty as he appears to be -- he owns an ivory-and-gold mask that allows him to disguise himself. Mishka‘s “real” appearance is pretty, but plain.

In the second Mishka and Hansel text roleplay, it was revealed that Mishka is bound by a cursed magical slave-cuff that forces him to obey the commands of the Tyrant-King Rexarius, the black dragon of the desert, he who rules Calimport and Calisham. Mishka attempted to rob the dragon when he was younger. Rexarius caught Mishka and bound him with the cursed slave-cuff as a joke. Rexarius then forced Mishka to murder his lover and companion, a fellow high elf named Aleksei— then later Mishka’s older sister Asenka.

Rexarius largely ignores Mishka, but calls him back once every ten years and commands Mishka to murder his closest loved one as a sacrifice.

So far, Mishka has not found any way to remove it. His arm (and a large portion of his shoulder and torso) are invulnerable and cannot be cut, a fact he keeps hidden. So far the cuff has not responded to magical intervention, either.

## The Longest Backstory

BIRTH

Mishka is the bastard son of the lowest-ranked noble family in Alabaster.

His mother, Zoya Haeth, was initially married to an older man, and she gave birth to Asenka. Then her husband died. Later-- as a lonely widow-- she had an affair with an unnamed commoner and became pregnant with Mishka. Scorned and shunned for her affair, Zoya took her resentment out on Mishka and became cold and distant towards him.

As a result, Mishka was largely raised by his older half-sister, Asenka.

CHILDHOOD

Mishka unexpectedly began developing sorcerous magic around age ten. His mother, Zoya, failed to buy him a tutor. As a result, Mishka struggled to control or understand his developing magic. He frequently lost control of his abilities and burned other children during stressful moments, who then began avoiding him. Even as an adult, Mishka fears he will hurt people, assumes people are afraid of him and don’t want him around, and assumes his presence is a burden on others. Mishka still struggles-- even now-- with controlling his magic, a skill most sorcerers learn during childhood.

Around age twenty, Aleksei Abernathy-- a prince from the high-ranked Abernathy clan-- noticed Mishka and began paying attention to him. Aleksei-- an awkward and narcissistic loner disliked for his temper-- felt isolated as well, and recognized that Mishka (a prince from the lowest-ranked family) could not reject his affection.

Aleksei quickly realized that he could behave in an abusive, controlling manner towards Mishka, and Mishka-- who was fairly weak-willed, and who was unable to refuse his advances-- would tolerate his behavior. Mishka, who was deeply inexperienced with relationships, saw Aleksei as flawed but loving and well-intentioned, and blamed himself for the difficulties in their relationship. Aleksei quickly became infatuated with Mishka.

Mishka’s mother, Zoya, noticed Aleksei’s attention and encouraged it.

LEAVING ALABASTER

At some point, Mishka’s older sister, Asenka, began encouraging Mishka to run away from Alabaster. Although Mishka initially intended to leave alone, Aleksei used memory modification magic to make Mishka believe that he had invited Aleksei to run away with him.

Mishka and Aleksei fled Alabaster together.

Mishka-- fearing that people from Alabaster would blame him for Aleksei’s disappearance-- avoided any contact from Alabaster. In reality, Aleksei’s family was grateful Aleksei had run away. Asenka, meanwhile, worried about Mishka and searched for him. Mishka inadvertently avoided his own rescue.

Due to his sheltered upbringing, Mishka initially struggled to deal with the outside world. Aleksei encouraged his isolation and encouraged Mishka to depend on him.

ALEKSEI’S UNEXPECTED DEATH

This abuse would have continued indefinitely, if not for their fateful run-in with Rexarius. Mishka attempted to steal a fancy bracelet from Rexarius’s hoard, and-- as a joke-- Rexarius “gave” it to Mishka. The cuff compels Mishka to obey Rexarius’s commands. Rexarius compelled Mishka to kill Aleksei as a sacrifice to him.

Grief-stricken and alone, Mishka learned how to deal with the world as an outcast. Mishka-- who was clever, thoughtful, and sensitive, but also deeply stunted by abuse and isolation-- began traveling and doing mindlessly fun things to distract himself.

Ten years later, Mishka was forced to kill his sister, Asenka, in her sleep. Mishka is an outlaw in Alabaster and faces the death penalty there.

Mishka-- struggling to right his past mistakes-- stole Asenka’s remains and attempted to raise her using a True Resurrection spell. However, the spell failed and-- unbeknownst to Mishka-- Asenka became a vengeful ghost.

DESCENT INTO PIRACY

At some point, Mishka met Tricksy Smirnova and her sister, Jonesy. Tricksy became Mishka’s first real friend. Tricksy-- a strong tiefling sorceress-- ask for Mishka’s assistance becoming a lich. Mishka, a well-traveled adventurer, acquired the last book she needed, then killed ritualistically killed her with a knife. After her transformation into a lich, Tricksy’s personality changed, and she became cool and distant. Jonesy-- enraged by her sister’s “death”-- developed a grudge against Mishka.

Mishka-- struggling with regret-- began running from his problems.

He began acquiring various members of his pirate crew. He adopted Corven, Elitash, Hunter, and Serena, as well as various others. Mishka was a canny captain as well as a powerful sorcerer; he quickly became known for his deadly fire magic, as well as his horrifying ability to magically dominate sailors. Mishka mindlessly indulged himself with finery, alcohol, and evil schemes.

Jonesy chased him relentlessly. Mishka-- projecting his guilt and self-hatred onto Jonesy-- despised her.

HUSBAND

At this point in time, Mishka recruited Hansel Granger onto his crew.

Tough and tenacious, yet oddly sensitive and vulnerable, Hansel quickly caught Mishka’s eye. Mishka recognized Hansel’s self-hatred and quickly became sweet on him. Mishka-- unable to express his genuine affection for Hansel, and having no idea how to handle it-- began flirting with Hansel, backing off, flirting with Hansel, and backing off.

Painstakingly, over the course of years, Hansel and Mishka slowly gained each other’s trust, fell in love, and married.

Eventually, Mishka-- realizing that soon Rexarius might call him back and demand another sacrifice-- became spooked. Roughly 7-8 months after they married, Mishka decided to make himself a villain in Hansel’s life, reasoning that he could abandon Hansel, and then Hansel would start a new life with a new family, and Mishka could move on and continue his friendless existence.

Mishka stole the Red Blade and all the cargo inside, abandoning his entire crew in one fell swoop.

ROCK BOTTOM

Roughly a year and a half later, however, Mishka found out that Hansel was-- supposedly-- dead, the victim of a shipwreck. Grief-stricken, Mishka fell into alcoholism and began passively trying to kill himself by behaving in deliberately self-destructive ways.

A few weeks later, Mishka learned Hansel was alive. Shocked but relieved, Mishka immediately began courting him again. Mishka reasoned, at this point, that when the time came to face Rexarius, Mishka would simply kill himself, or they would die together. Hansel appeared completely broken by the shipwreck, and Mishka-- desperate to take care of him again-- tried to convince Hansel to come back to him and allow Mishka to take care of him.

Hansel, meanwhile, fearing that Mishka had abandoned him because he’d hurt Mishka somehow, or fearing Mishka only pitied him and he would be a burden on Mishka-- refused to speak to Mishka.

At this point, Mishka encountered Kheman, who told Mishka the story of the shipwreck and explained that Hansel had gone mad and killed the entire crew, then eaten them. After reading Kheman’s mind and confirming this was true, Mishka became enraged. Mishka-- projecting his guilt and self-hatred onto Hansel-- began sending Hansel passive-aggressive notes, which Hansel then ignored. Interpreting Hansel’s silence as proof Hansel had become a monster, Mishka steadily became more cruel.

CAMPAIGN

Eventually, Mishka-- hoping to provoke Hansel into a response-- poisoned Hansel’s son, Jonn, and told Goro-- Hansel’s new teammate-- that Hansel was a cannibal who had eaten his previous crew.

Eventually, Hansel confronted Mishka at the gates of his estate and told Mishka, “It would be easier if you just killed me.”

Mishka-- in a moment of clarity-- realized that not only did Hansel have feelings and not only was Hansel upset, he had nearly driven Hansel tosuicide. Mishka broke down and confessed the real reason he had left Hansel behind.

To his shock, Hansel-- in a moment of remarkable kindness-- embraced Mishka and promised to help him get free from the dragon.

Mishka-- deeply moved--  immediately became completely infatuated with his husband again, and the two reconciled. Mishka is now completely devoted to Hansel and will do anything to help him or protect him.

## Current Day

* After all the shit he’s been through, Mishka has given up. He just wants to do the right thing.
* Mishka feels intensely protective of the people is attached to. When he senses they are threatened, he will try to eliminate the threat as quickly and efficiently as possible.
* Mishka struggles with self-hatred and low self-esteem, which he masks with high charisma. When pushed away, he leaves.
* Mishka is very weak to soft and patient affection, and thus is easily manipulated by people pretending to be kind.
* Mishka has a hidden soft spot for people in need. Mishka Must Help.
* Mishka is working on being blunt and honest about his feelings.
* Canny yet reckless. Trusting yet paranoia. Soft yet vicious.

## Notes

Sometimes Mishka likes to leave Hansel adorable and sweet little love notes. Under his pillow, inside his books, between his playing cards ...

A note sent to Goro.A note sent to Jonn.