Volodymyr

**Volodymyr Savych Serbsky** (Serbian: *Vladimir Savić*, German: *Waldemar der Serbe*) was a former general in service to the Black Empire under the rulership of Dyrantis The Greek. Originating from a small farming community in the area of Serbia, Volodymyr was part of an armed resistance to Vampire dominion over the Balkans. While initially serving as little more than a conscript, the skill with which the young soldier fought was enough to attract the attention of the military. Volodymyr participated in the Vampires' conquest of the Kievan Rus, only to break with the Empire to form the Khanate of Vladimir.

Following the near loss of all territorial gains in the Khanate in 1080 AD, following the migration of the Turkmens into Europe, Volodymyr came into contact with the revived Heilong Yu, who he enlisted to eradicate the Turks so that he could retake his lands, and in turn, support her retaking of the Imperial Throne. Volodymyr, however, had no intention to support her, and intended to turn his armies against her following the expulsion of the nomads. This plan failed upon the realization that Yu had rallied the Turkmens to her cause, and turned them against the Hetman's armies. In their confrontation, Yu maimed Volodymyr and turned the Turkmens free on his remaining territories to pillage as they saw fit. Volodymyr managed to escape the collapse of his kingdom and flee to Persia, where he would remain until his death in 1607 AD. Volodymyr's descendants, the House of Sevich, would later become one of the major vampire houses in the 21st century following the arrival of Élysabeth d'Athènes as the appointed successor to Heilong Yu.

## History

### Early Life

Volodymyr was born in a small peasant village in Serbia in 654 AD. The original name of the future Hetman is unknown but was presumably not the same that he would hold in his adulthood. All early references to the child of Sava reflect that the man was the father of a 'queer daughter, who took to the mannerisms of boys'. Later references to a child of Sava report a man named Vladimir who was in self-imposed exile from his home village. Volodymyr arrived in Singidunum/Belgrad as part of a call to arms to fight against the invading Black Army, which was staging the Conquest of the Sclavi and Antes.

### War Against the Black Empire

Volodymyr was present in the final major conflict between the Southern Slavs and the Black Empire, the Conquest of Belgrad by Ferodontis. Volodymyr's actions in the battle earned him recognition from the vampire general, who had him captured rather than killed. Ferodontis had the young man presented to Dyrantis, who, while initially uninterested in him, took his general's word and had him placed under his direct mentorship.

### Mentorship under Ferodontis, Invasion of Kievan Rus', and becoming a Vampire

Volodymyr spent the next 12 years under the supervision of Ferodontis, training with him as an officer in the military of the Black Empire. One of the gifts that the general bestowed upon Volodymyr was a specialized weapon, an archaic sword supposedly dating back to the Heilong Empire. The blade would become a favorite of the young sergeant. When Ferodontis was tasked with the conquest an pacification of the Kievan Rus in 976, Volodymyr was brought along as an officer in the invasion.

Volodymyr's Slavic heritage proved to be a valuable asset to the invasion party, as his knowledge of the South Slavic languages allowed him to quickly pick up the ability to communicate with the Rus'. Volodymyr was able to enlist the help of local Rus', providing invaluable allies in the battle for Kiev that would transpire only a short few months later.

However, in the battle for Kiev, Ferodontis met his end, leaving the victory in Kiev a pyrrhic one, and ultimately the Empire was unable to hold onto the city itself, with only a small march being established in the south of the Rus' territory. Volodymyr was recognized for his value to the mission and granted control over land in the Kievan March, as well as being upgraded to the title of *Hauptmann,* or *Hetman* in the Slavic lingua franca of the Empire. The Hetman was also granted the privilege of becoming a vampire and being granted a personal reward for his service, which was granted in the form of reshaping his body into an ideal state.

### Revolt and Establishment of the Khanate of Vladimir

While in control of the administration of the territories around Kiev, Volodymyr found strong control over the local Slavic tribes, who while initially apprehensive or even outright hostile towards him, gradually came to accept his presence, and prefered his tolerance of their local culture, as opposed to the usual protocol of the Imperial administrators to stamp out the locals.

Dyrantis, who while appreciating the value of Volodymyr's security and strong maintenance of the border with the Rus', desired to further assert his authority by mandating the uniformity of administration and the relinquishment of monthly payments of tribute to himself. Volodymyr protested the move, declaring that all resources were necessary for maintaining the security of the borders with the Rus', due to strong raiding activity both by Russian and Scandinavians traveling down the Dneister. Refusing to pay the tributes, Dyrantis threatened the revocation of Volodymyr's titles and lands, which prompted the Hetman to secede from the Empire.

Dyrantis' position as the local warlord caused him to rally the local Rus' tribes in support for himself, and using his own knowledge of Imperial tactics and their weaknesses against the terrain of the Rus' lands, was able to defeat the Empire, and secure the independence of his new Khanate. While the Rus' were quick to declare Volodymyr to be their new Khan, the Hetman refused to ever use the title, prefering to refer to himself by his appointed imperial military rank, as he found the Russian title to be barbaric.

### Comming of the Turkmens

While the Khanate was initially a quite powerful state, with Volodymyr having little competition due to the disorganized competition of the other Russian warlords, none of whom could compare to his own amount of support by local tribes, the unrivaled power would not last forever. The rise of the Neo-Heilong Empire in the Far East a couple centuries ago had prompted some powerful steppe nomads to migrate westward into Europe, the last of these groups were only just starting to arrive. One of these late coming peoples were the Turkmens, a Turkic speaking pastoralist people who found the steppe lands within the Khanate to be particularly alluring and began to settle en mass into the lands under Volodymyr's control.

The Hetman found the arrival of not an army, but an entire population of nomadic peoples to be more than he could handle, and within a decade, the lands of the Khanate were no longer in Volodymyr's control