Nadezhda Lapteva

**Nadezhda Lapteva** (pronounced: *Nah-DEZH-da Lap-TAY-vah)*, also known as **Nadya** (pronounced: *Nah-dya*), is the first cleric in Kalyazin in thirty years. She has the rare ability to commune with the entire pantheon, but was chosen by the goddess Marzenya.

## Biography

### Early Life

Nadya was born on the steps of a Kalyazin monastery after her mother had learned that Nadya was touched by the gods, only staying long enough to give birth before leaving. From a young age, she has trained to become a powerful cleric, and is believed to be the solution to the Kalyazi-Tranavian war. Nadya best friend is Konstantin Ruslanovich. Nadya is supposed to remain a secret until she is eighteen. Until then she is supposed to be training with the priests of the monastery. While they don't have magic, they understand the fundamentals of divinity.

### Wicked Saints

Nadya is in the kitchen of the monastery peeling potatoes with Kostya as punishment for an earlier prank when they hear cannons alerting everyone that the Tranavians are nearby. Nadya insists on fighting instead of hiding in the shadows. After Kostya sacrifices himself, Nadya runs away with the help of the priestess Anna. On the way to Komyazalov, they encounter Malachiasz, Parijahan, and Rashid. Together, the five of them stay in an abandoned temple. They are attacked by Vultures and Nadya gives Malachiasz her blood in order to run away using blood magic. They return to the temple later and concoct a plan to kill the Tranavian king. Anna leaves the group to travel to Komyazalov and let the *tsar* know what their plan is. The rest of the group travels to Tranavia. On their way to the Tranavian capital, Malachiasz and Nadya start to form a bond as Malachiasz teaches Nadya how to speak Tranavian more fluently.

### Blessed Monsters

Nadya learns that she is not just a cleric, but that she has her own magic and power as well. The same darkness that is in the old gods is in Nadya.

Nadya ends up in Tranavia with Malachiasz, helping him understand the new forms and types of magic that have been released in the world, and in Tranavia in particular.

## Physical Description

Nadya is short with white-blond hair, black eyes, and pale skin.

## Personality

Nadya’s worldview is colored by her life growing up in a monastery where the people around her protected her but also kept her away from the real world. She is curious and tends to be empathetic and king in a world where those things are used as weapons. She sacrifices everything, and now finds herself in a prison of her own making. She’s trusted the wrong people, been lied to repeatedly, and hurt several times, but she remains hopeful. She is narrow-minded due to her upbringing. She has been told all her life that she is the only hope for Kalyazin. Her beliefs are at first unwavering, but the more she is tested and the more her worldview starts to shake she slowly but steadily comes into her own and realizes that things are not as they appear. Nadya is stubborn and dedicated. Since she lived a very sheltered life at the monastery, she gets very overwhelmed when she is anywhere other than a village.

## Trivia

* Her preferred weapon is a *voryen*, a thin-bladed dagger.
* Her most treasured possession is her prayer necklace made of smooth, rigid, wooden beads. Each bead is carved with a symbol representing a god or goddess.

## Relationships

### Kostya Ruslanovich

Nadya and Kostya grew up together at the monastery. They are extremely close, and whenever Kostya gets in trouble for his pranks, Nadya is be punished as well. After Nadya rescues Kostya from the Salt Mines, they argue. He declares that she has been brainwashed and is tainted. She realizes that Kostya loves the cleric part of her, and not the real her. As they travel back to Kalyazin, the two remain on shaky terms. Kostya never bothers to hide his disgust towards Malachiasz and her relationship with him. Shortly after they reconcile, Kostya is killed by a Vulture and dies in her arms. His last words are a warning to Nadya, telling her that she is dangerous, feared, and there was a lot she did not understand. Kostya's death impacts Nadya greatly and she is filled with grief at the loss of her first and closest friend.

### Serefin Meleski

Nadya met Serefin for the first time in the monastery when the Kalyazi had been attacked. She felt really intimidated by him as he was said to be a powerful blood mage. After she managed to escape him, he cast a linking spell between them to track her. Since the link was broken, he left for Tranavia. They met once again in Grazyk for the Rawalyk and Nadya was disguised as Jozefina, he was immediatey aware of her after she won the duel against Felicja. After Nadya was captured by the Vultures in the library, he went to check up on her in Pelageya's room and learnt that she meant to murder his father. Together, they worked alongside Malachiasz and concocted a plan. When Nadya believes that Malachiasz had murdered Serefin, she mourns him and is delighted when he is resurrected. After Malachiasz disappears and Serefin learns about her true identity, they are still willing to befriend each other.

### Malachiasz Czechowicz

Nadya met Malachiasz when running away from Tranavian soldiers. They concoct a plan to kill the king of Tranavia and end the war, but are soon tracked down by the Vultures. They are forced to run away from this action it is revealed that Malachiasz used to be a Vulture. Nadya still agrees to go along with Malachiasz plan even with the new information and as they travel on their way from Kalyazi to Tranavia they form a bond through Malachiasz teaching Nadya. When they reach the capital there is little to no communication between Malachiasz and Nadya, as Malachiasz being seen would put his life in jeopardy because he ran away from the Vultures. Malachiasz does communicate with Nadya more when she settles in, showing his clear displeasure at her being so close to Serefin. Later on Malachiasz and Nadya kiss despite Marzenya's constant plea with Nadya to kill him. Before they can encounter each other again, Nadya learns that Malachiasz is not only a Vulture but the Black Vulture, the leader of the whole cult. This causes her to be angry at him for lying and she avoids him for a time before they finally make up and kiss again.

## Gallery

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