Background

Born the son of the Rom Baro (Gypsy "king") of a prosperous clan, Kyrill seemed to have everything. But he never really knew his mother, whom he long believed died when he was very small, leaving him only a crucifix to remember her by.

However, despite losing his mother, his life was a mostly happy one until one fateful night when his two brothers angered the Czar's Guards. By the time Kyrill arrived they were fighting five of them. He single-handedly killed all five while his injured brothers fled, only to find when he finally returned to camp that everyone had been murdered in his absence.

Alone in the world and full of pain and grief, he stumbled upon a young Gaje orphan named Valentina near to death in the ruins of a burned village and adopted her, becoming a foster brother to her. They would eventually meet up with and be adopted by the rest of our Kumpania with open arms, just before we were to leave Russia forever.

However, Kyrill's painful past made him into a dark and intense figure who felt cheated out of his destiny. He was very much a loner -- a strange and dangerous thing for a Gypsy to be -- and even went off for a year on his own, exploring the British Isles and having many perilous adventures. It was at this time that he became determined to reclaim his lost destiny and become Rom Baro, even if it meant Nikolai's death, despite what it meant for him if he was caught.

He sought to get Nikolai's "crown" any way he could and gained allies among the Royal Court and Clergy. Ironically, he was not only Nikolai's greatest rival but also his champion, defending his Rom Baro from all others who sought to harm him, though he meant to as well. The conflict between them was truly nasty, and ended only when the two discovered they were long-lost brothers!

Baba Ravena was the mother Kyrill remembered only by the crucifix she had given him, and which he still possessed. It was by this that Baba Ravena recognized him and reunited with her son. Long ago she had had an affair with Kyrill's father, driven into his arms by the cruelty of her husband (Nikolai's father Kostos). Once all of this was discovered, Kyrill and Nikolai became quite close, their rivalry changing to a friendly one, its weapons being clever words instead of swords.

And Kyrill did get his wish to be Rom Baro, though of a different clan, the Vitsa of the Midnight Sands, created by Nikolai to take care of the huge population problem within his vitsa. Kyrill has since gathered many Gypsy outlaws, exiles, mercenaries and other unsavory types to his banner, seeking to control them and keep them out of trouble. Thus he and his vitsa have gotten a rather bad reputation, which isn't helped by members of the Fiery Dawn blaming crimes on them to escape unfair imprisonment. This often causes conflicts between the two brothers, who in the past could often be seen arguing in the lanes of Scarborough over everything from inter-vitsa politics to playing at dice. : )

Sibling rivalry is alive and well in the Kumpania, but Kyrill and Nikolai are very close, when it comes down to it. It is with ambitious and unsatisfied Natalya that the real bickering happens, for she and Kyrill cannot seem to agree on anything!

Possessed of a dark and and smoldering charisma, Kyrill is nonetheless also gifted with a clever sense of humour and a passion for dancing and festivity, not to mention his notoriously charming smirk. In the last few years, though he has also learned much of leadership and responsibility, he has lightened up considerably.

Or at least he had. In the summer of 1532, the Midnight Sands' bad reputation finally caught up with them, and things began to go very badly for them. To put it bluntly, they were destitute and starving. This was made even more unbearable by the news Kyrill often received from the north of the prosperity of the Fiery Dawn. A meeting was set, for the autumn of 1532, in the town of Canterbury (in Midnight Sands territory), to discuss these problems. Despite the help offered by Nikolai and his vitsa, Kyrill and Larysa, his kid sister yet also the first Phuri Dae of his clan, decided to go westward in search of greener pastures.

And so they left in the late autumn of last year for Ireland, a new land our people had never visited before. We wish Kyrill and his vitsa well in their travels, and miss them more than words can say.