Fedor I. Ryibkin

**Fedor Ivanovich Ryibkin** is a character mentioned in both *Schastye* and *Who's Lila?*. He is a colleague of Father Lawrence and has an interest in all things strange and esoteric.

## Appearance

Although Ryibkin never appears in either game he is mentioned in, he is described by Ivan Yatuow as being a "puny bald man".

## In *Schastye*

Ryibkin is one of the main characters of *Schastye*. Ivan first met him after losing his job and moving back into his mother's apartment, where he would frequently sit outside and make small talk with passers by. Ivan described Ryibkin as standing out from the rest, being someone very charismatic and inspirational despite his appearance, that others wanted to follow and listen to. In the winter of 2003, Ivan, Ryibkin, and their other friends were wandering around the streets of Nizhnevartovsk one evening. Two of them were being loud, having their "usual fun", with Ryibkin following closely behind them. Ivan was hit by a sudden wave of melancholy and sat on a tire sticking out of the ground. From here, he fell asleep and began to have a dream, in which he wandered around the Forest.

While Ivan was asleep, Ryibkin took him to his apartment and left him in a spare room, which is where the main events of *Schastye* take place. He then went to cook some eggs in the kitchen, while listening to Beatles music on the radio and waiting for Ivan to wake up. Once Ivan did wake up, he found Ryibkin and asked where the restroom was; Ryibkin pointed to it without a word. As Ivan used the toilet, he wondered to himself why Ryibkin had taken him there, despite Ivan having his keys on his person; his thoughts drifted towards some sort of romantic implications. He dismissed these thoughts and returned to the kitchen.

Ryibkin and Ivan talked, with the former telling about his job and his past divorce. He then showed Ivan his library, which contained numerous strange and eclectic books. Most of it, however, was dedicated to the volumes written by Marcel Griaule about his study of the Dogon people and their mythology. Ryibkin explained Griaule's research to Ivan, describing the Nameless God and its connections to Teth Mushrooms. This topic seemed to interest Ivan, and he asked again about the statuette. Instead of answering him, Ryibkin took him back to the room he awoke in and took out some Teth mushrooms from a drawer and offered Ivan to take one.

### Rituals with Ivan

After this point, Ivan began spending an extensive amount of time at Ryibkin's apartment in order to conduct so-called experiments with the Teth mushrooms and meditation. The pair read the extensive notes Marcel Griaule kept about the Dogon rituals to use Teth mushrooms in order to communicate with the Emperor. Ivan was motivated by some sort of existential drive, wanting to meet the Emperor so he could commune with a being that was not made of the same sort of material that his dreary universe was composed of. Ryibkin on the other hand, was motivated by scientific interest.

Preparations for this meeting included intense meditation sessions and taking four grams of mushrooms, then constructing a vehicle in their minds so that they could travel to the Forest. The men decided to construct a GAZ-24-02 "Volga" car, since it was something they were both familiar with. If either of them messed up during the process of constructing the car, it would entirely dissipate and they would have to start from the beginning. Eventually they succeeded, and they entered the car and began driving away, with Ryibkin in the driver's seat. The living room they were once in broke down as they drove, and soon they encountered a vast landscape composed of colorful fractal shapes and shifted constantly.

Eventually, they arrived in the Forest and exited the car. The Emperor was waiting for them in the center of the Forest, and Ivan described him as appearing much more terrifying than the statuette could depict. Ryibkin moved to kneel before the Emperor, but Ivan was unable to do so, as he lacked a body. Then, something strange began happening to Ryibkin as his face "looked just like the sound of a blue car horn" and his body contorted into a long, spindle like shape with the focus of the Emperor causing a halo of golden light to form around Ryibkin's head. The light then intensified into an infinitely bright point, after which there was a loud snap and Ryibkin disappeared.

Afterwards, Ivan and the Emperor shared a conversation, but not in the literal sense of it; rather, they both existed only as the World's essence, on a ribbon that comprised existence and simultaneously did not exist itself. The only thing keeping Ivan from being completely eroded by this was an overwhelming wish for everyone to share the "godly blessedness" that he was experiencing in that moment. The Emperor replied back to Ivan with Ryibkin's voice, telling him about the Prophecy. The Prophecy was a set of words which, when read by any person regardless of background, will enlighten them in the way that Ivan had been, by activating the right neuron pathways in the right order. This would eventually cause them to vanish, and Ivan would also vanish as soon as he finished writing down this set of words. He memorized the words of the Prophecy that the Emperor dictated to him and became determined to spread it to anyone he could.

Ivan then came to his senses, finding himself in Ryibkin's living room. Ryibkin was unconscious on the floor, with his nose bleeding. Ivan was overcome with an intense headache, but ignored the pain and quickly re-entered the room where he had first woken up. He left to go back to his room so he could begin writing the Prophecy on the computer. Ryibkin's fate is not stated in *Schastye*, but given his presence in *Who's Lila?* and knowledge of recent events in that game, it is almost certain that he survived the experience. Meanwhile, Ivan vanished after finishing the Prophecy, while Ryibkin was still unconscious.

## In *Who's Lila?*

Several years before the events of *Who's Lila?*, Ryibkin became acquainted with W.A Lawrence, a fellow professor who had become fascinated with the subject of UIW-AMs, and wished to create them in order to supposedly change the world for the better. Ryibkin collaborated with Lawrence to make a research paper on the subject, which outlined their plan to create an artificial noosphere dweller and use it to power their UIW-AMs.

At an unknown point in time, Ryibkin created a website which he used to explain all his beliefs concerning consciousness, the Prince, and the power of UIW-AMs. The writing style of the website is very erratic, possibly demonstrating an unwell mental state, a lack of fluency in English, or both.

Also at an unknown point in time, likely a few months before the game took place, Ryibkin texted Tanya Kennedy, warning her that she was in danger. He also sent her a link to his website, but it had been blocked. Tanya never replied to his message, likely dismissing it as spam.

Ryibkin's status and whereabouts during the events of the game are unknown. His website is stated as being hosted in Russia, and he still has a Russian phone number, implying he was still living in the same apartment that he lived in during the events of *Schastye*. His empty apartment can be visited in *Who's Lila?*, but this appears to be more of an easter egg than a literal event, since it is impossible to take a bus from Detroit to Russia.

## Trivia

* Most of *Schastye* describes Ryibkin's middle name as being Stepanovich rather than Ivanovich. However, since I. is the initial that is used in *Who's Lila?*, Ivanovich is the name that is regarded as canon and being used in this wiki.