Nikolai Wyn Vladanovai

A neatly kept man, with a clean shaven face, and short brown hair that is swept back, Nikolai puts effort into his appearance. He dresses plainly. Not considered fashionable or unfashionable and usually a decade behind unless he really likes the new style; he is someone who mainly sticks to rather traditional attire, ignoring fads. Nikolai wears all black with only bit of white and greys since that is what is culturally expected of doctors. When it becomes more acceptable to wear colour in the late 1800s, he occasionally wears dark green.

He has round dark eyes that turn down slightly, a relatively straight nose, striking eyebrows, and a tooth gap, but otherwise straight teeth. While young, he is tall compared to most other men at 5' 10", albeit he gets closer to average height towards then end of the 1800s. Due to his heavy investigation into necromancy, Nikolai stayed looking in his early 30s until the last quarter of his unusually long life. Though, people did note that his health seemed rather temperamental his entire life, especially as he grew older. To the outside observer, he seems prone to injury and reoccurring illness (especially respiratory infections), sometimes to the extent of being bedbound for weeks.

He is sometimes represented as a stag or with an antler. Since necromancy was illegal during his lifetime, symbols became deeply important to communicating information to other necromancers. Years later, following his death, the vein of necromancy Nikolai largely pioneered became visually represented with a book, a candle, and a knife.

The end shall always justify the means. Nikolai holds the firm belief that his actions, good or evil, are justified for his accomplishments outweigh any sin he commits. More than willing to manipulate, hurt, and even kill others who get his way, Nikolai is almost exclusively self-interested and cares more about the concept of others and what they represent or remind him of, and the sense of community than actual individuals. He puts forth the effort to be publicly seen as a very good and kind person to keep his work and by extent himself safe. A model citizen. A true saint. Nikolai has woven himself so thoroughly into the structure of the town that it wouldn't be thought of, or dared, to remove him.

Nikolai feels vastly superior to other people he meets, believing himself the only person capable of doing necromancy at the level he is able - not to mention all the while juggling a public persona of being a kind doctor. Extremely secretive, even amongst other necromancers, Nikolai takes great care to keep his private life under wraps as he knows that it doesn't take a mastermind to ruin a life, a single slip and his life's work is over; a fool can fell a king if given a weapon against him.

Nikolai has a violent temper that largely surfaces is in the form of long held grudges, and any lapses in self control are spun to make him the victim. He is also a firm traditionalists in most aspects, albeit a wild hypocrite who bends societal rules for himself and condemns others for doing the same. Despite the harm he causes, Nikolai does feel a level of remorse for his actions. Not enough to stop him, but still make him feel like he has to balance out the evil with occasional acts of good. The ends may be justified, but mercy can still be given where one is able.

• Cream, especially when added to coffee or teas
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• Music, plays, and most works of fiction
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TL;DR: An orphaned farm boy with latent potential to be a great necromancer is taken in by a doctor/necromancer and raised as his son. Nikolai is a great kid up until he goes to a university and hazing into a secret society goes wrong. The near death experience sparks a fascination with the thought of cheating death. This results in a slow moral slide into murder and manipulation as Nikolai tries to amass both the power and resources necessary to unravel the mystery of death and the universe.

Alternate TL;DR: The type of historical figure that people only talk about the broad strokes of their life and accomplishments, leaving out the absolutely vile things they did in order to achieve said things.

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• Post-death, Nikolai becomes known as the father of modern necromancy. He is most famous for a book on necromancy called "Cream for Coffee, Milk for Tea". The book is actually by his colleague, Curtis Roberts IV, who decrypted four of Nikolai's notebooks and complied them into a book that would be understandable to someone who didn't personally know Nikolai.

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