Galadrin
Vassal
Here is the backstory for the coach of my latest Blood Bowl Team, the Marienburg Organ Grinders (an Undead team). Enjoy!
Excerpt from Yuri Pushkin's "Biographies of Kislev Notables"
The strange legend of the Grigorovich family can be traced back over six centuries to the land of Kislev. Born in 1845, Prince Aleksandr Grigorovich was a wealthy, landed noble, whose rural estate covered a rough expanse in the forests south of Praag. While the Prince was young, handsome and well liked in court, he was struck with a cruelty that would bring down even the most powerful aristocrat—Aleksandr’s wife, the young and fair Annushka, was unable to bear children. Devoted to each other and seeing their whole lives ahead of them, the young couple put out a call to all magicians and medicine men to cure fair Annushka’s condition. Each doctor came and left with little success, until the arrival of a mysterious healer, claiming to be from “lands far to the south.” Desperate for any solution, the couple welcomed the healer into their home. Yet, while the strange healer’s techniques seemed promising, the Grigorovich’s were soon beset by another problem—a deadly plague had broken out among the serfs on the estate, and after only a few weeks, hundreds had fallen ill and died. Even the Grigorovich family was not immune, and after some months even Aleksandr showed signs of the “Purple Death.” Despite his ailing condition, the dying Aleksandr was overjoyed to see that his love Annushka had successfully conceived a child, thanks to the miraculous methods of the mysterious healer. The young noble even held on to life, fighting all odds, long enough to see the birth of his son in 1869, whom he named Pieter, the first of his name in the Grigorovich line. Nevertheless, Aleksandr died shortly thereafter, followed quickly by Annushka. Following the deaths of the ruling couple, the local serfs, in their ignorance and superstition, quickly turned on the Grigorovich estate and the strange shaman whose arrival had presaged the deadly plague. As the legend goes, the shaman quietly rode away with young Pieter as the estate burned in the cold darkness of the Kislevite night. The two were never to be seen again.
The next instance of a Grigorovich in Kislevi history is Pyotr Grigorovich in 2118, although he is certainly unrelated to the Grigorovich family nearly 250 years earlier. The background of Pyotr Grigorovich is shrouded in mystery, although it is known that he showed up at the court of the Tzarina one night and immediately caught the ruler’s attention. Despite the concerns of the Tzarina’s closest aides, Pyotr quickly became a close consort and “special friend” of the Tzarina. The accounts of this relationship are seemingly contradictory. Some reports claim that the Tzarina and Pyotr spent long nights of debauchery and partying in the palace, inviting doxies from the poor quarters and murderers from the prisons to engage in lewd and lascivious acts and drug-induced bacchanals. Other accounts seem to indicate that Pyotr was an esoteric cult leader, who mesmerized the Tzarina with profane teachings and heretical mysticisms. In any event, soon the Tzarina would not make a decision but that she would consult with Pyotr first. Seeing the danger in such a figure, the advisors to the Tzarina conspired to do away with the ruler’s dangerous companion. Pyotr was poisoned, stabbed, shot and eventually thrown into the icy Urskoy river. Presumed dead, Pyotr disappeared from the pages of history.
The last record of a Grigorovich is almost four centuries later and across the Old World from the frozen lands of Kislev. According to port records, a Petrus Grigorovich arrived in Marienburg in 2493, apparently pursued by a pair of Ostland witch hunters for unknown offenses. The witch hunters disappeared within days of arriving in Marienburg, as did Grigorovich, although the dilapidated house that he had purchased in the poor quarter of the city was transferred to a Petrus Grigori a week later. Unfortunately, Petrus Grigorovich disappeared without a trace thereafter. While Petrus Grigori is certainly of no relation to the Grigorovich line, he is an interesting figure in his own right and deserves some description here. Initially, Petrus Grigori seemed to keep largely to himself in his decrepit manor—the only records of his activity are the shipping manifests for two long, heavy boxes which arrived for him from the lands of Araby. Unfortunately, shortly after the Marquis of Marienburg announced a contract deal for the best local Blood Bowl team, Petrus’ neighborhood and indeed much of the poor quarter fell victim to a terrible plague that turned its victims deep purple before they died. Nevertheless, some cheer was brought to the pitiful inhabitants of the poor quarter when none other than Petrus himself emerged with a new Blood Bowl team, the Organ Grinders, to represent the luckless neighborhood. So great was the excitement of some of the fans that they immediately identified with the new team, even claiming that some of the linemen resembled relatives lost to the deadly plague. Such is the speech of adoring fans, of course, but it is heartwarming to see the inhabitants of the poor quarter showing zeal and excitement after such terrible, inexplicable loss.
Excerpt from Yuri Pushkin's "Biographies of Kislev Notables"
The strange legend of the Grigorovich family can be traced back over six centuries to the land of Kislev. Born in 1845, Prince Aleksandr Grigorovich was a wealthy, landed noble, whose rural estate covered a rough expanse in the forests south of Praag. While the Prince was young, handsome and well liked in court, he was struck with a cruelty that would bring down even the most powerful aristocrat—Aleksandr’s wife, the young and fair Annushka, was unable to bear children. Devoted to each other and seeing their whole lives ahead of them, the young couple put out a call to all magicians and medicine men to cure fair Annushka’s condition. Each doctor came and left with little success, until the arrival of a mysterious healer, claiming to be from “lands far to the south.” Desperate for any solution, the couple welcomed the healer into their home. Yet, while the strange healer’s techniques seemed promising, the Grigorovich’s were soon beset by another problem—a deadly plague had broken out among the serfs on the estate, and after only a few weeks, hundreds had fallen ill and died. Even the Grigorovich family was not immune, and after some months even Aleksandr showed signs of the “Purple Death.” Despite his ailing condition, the dying Aleksandr was overjoyed to see that his love Annushka had successfully conceived a child, thanks to the miraculous methods of the mysterious healer. The young noble even held on to life, fighting all odds, long enough to see the birth of his son in 1869, whom he named Pieter, the first of his name in the Grigorovich line. Nevertheless, Aleksandr died shortly thereafter, followed quickly by Annushka. Following the deaths of the ruling couple, the local serfs, in their ignorance and superstition, quickly turned on the Grigorovich estate and the strange shaman whose arrival had presaged the deadly plague. As the legend goes, the shaman quietly rode away with young Pieter as the estate burned in the cold darkness of the Kislevite night. The two were never to be seen again.
The next instance of a Grigorovich in Kislevi history is Pyotr Grigorovich in 2118, although he is certainly unrelated to the Grigorovich family nearly 250 years earlier. The background of Pyotr Grigorovich is shrouded in mystery, although it is known that he showed up at the court of the Tzarina one night and immediately caught the ruler’s attention. Despite the concerns of the Tzarina’s closest aides, Pyotr quickly became a close consort and “special friend” of the Tzarina. The accounts of this relationship are seemingly contradictory. Some reports claim that the Tzarina and Pyotr spent long nights of debauchery and partying in the palace, inviting doxies from the poor quarters and murderers from the prisons to engage in lewd and lascivious acts and drug-induced bacchanals. Other accounts seem to indicate that Pyotr was an esoteric cult leader, who mesmerized the Tzarina with profane teachings and heretical mysticisms. In any event, soon the Tzarina would not make a decision but that she would consult with Pyotr first. Seeing the danger in such a figure, the advisors to the Tzarina conspired to do away with the ruler’s dangerous companion. Pyotr was poisoned, stabbed, shot and eventually thrown into the icy Urskoy river. Presumed dead, Pyotr disappeared from the pages of history.
The last record of a Grigorovich is almost four centuries later and across the Old World from the frozen lands of Kislev. According to port records, a Petrus Grigorovich arrived in Marienburg in 2493, apparently pursued by a pair of Ostland witch hunters for unknown offenses. The witch hunters disappeared within days of arriving in Marienburg, as did Grigorovich, although the dilapidated house that he had purchased in the poor quarter of the city was transferred to a Petrus Grigori a week later. Unfortunately, Petrus Grigorovich disappeared without a trace thereafter. While Petrus Grigori is certainly of no relation to the Grigorovich line, he is an interesting figure in his own right and deserves some description here. Initially, Petrus Grigori seemed to keep largely to himself in his decrepit manor—the only records of his activity are the shipping manifests for two long, heavy boxes which arrived for him from the lands of Araby. Unfortunately, shortly after the Marquis of Marienburg announced a contract deal for the best local Blood Bowl team, Petrus’ neighborhood and indeed much of the poor quarter fell victim to a terrible plague that turned its victims deep purple before they died. Nevertheless, some cheer was brought to the pitiful inhabitants of the poor quarter when none other than Petrus himself emerged with a new Blood Bowl team, the Organ Grinders, to represent the luckless neighborhood. So great was the excitement of some of the fans that they immediately identified with the new team, even claiming that some of the linemen resembled relatives lost to the deadly plague. Such is the speech of adoring fans, of course, but it is heartwarming to see the inhabitants of the poor quarter showing zeal and excitement after such terrible, inexplicable loss.