To say the Lithuanians had a warped sense of stability at the height of the fourteenth century would be an understatement. While virtually all of Europe had been converted at the hands of missionaries, crusaders, and other means, the Lithuanians remained close to their pagan beliefs, officially adopting Christianity thirty years into the future. While some of the nation had adopted the religion by means of the Teutonic knights and the Poles to the east, much of the vast land remained wrapped in an enigma of mystery, caught up in the recent defeat of the Tartars and consumed by the black death that had already ravaged across much of the European continent. But all was not well in a nation-state that stretched from Volgograd to Novgorod, from the frigid marsh lands to the agriculture-rich lands of the south.
Lithuania was in a state of panic. Devastated by the plague and the recent retreat of the Golden Horde, nothing was left to protect the great state from certain death. Russian Cossacks, the pride of the Motherland, burned Lithuanian towns to the ground, leaving no mercy for the peasants. Teutonic knights, looking to expand their claim in the Baltic, swooped down from their port cities and sacked hundreds of innocent villages. Even Hungarian gypsies, Polish soldiers, Swedish mercenaries, and Ottoman horsemen raged onto the vast land, hoping to carve into her weak defenses and gain more ground for their nation. Added with the Black Death, which was blamed on the Jews and Poles, who were relatively unaffected by the ailment, the entire nation fell deep into a state of chaos.
Yet before the darkness settled in, a ruthless king soon took up shop, slaughtering his predecessors before him. His name, feared by his peasants, was Vlesnikov, a horrible, burly, and intelligent lupine who would jump at any opportunity to send his people to death, hoping the sheer numbers would be enough to stop the foreign invaders. But every battle seemed to be lost, and with each loss came more massacres, more taxes, and more deaths. For the typical Lithuanian peasant, suicide was only the beginning for an escape from the hell on earth.
However, the seemingly unimportant town of L'vov is stirring. Everyone in the village has felt it. New blood has mixed with old, causing friction to the rigid life structure of the typical peasant. Those who dared challenge their sovereign's orders knew of the consequences to their actions. To them, no more would the king be tolerated. But, how could one even dream to bring up an uprising? One would have to choose his or her force carefully, as spies and plagued people roamed the landscape like rolling clouds dotting the sky. Even so, what chance does a force have against a Teutonic division or Lithuanian soldiers, the pride of the yellow, red, and green? Hopelessness sets in.
(note the color code in the bottom-left corner)Name: Vladomir (Vlady) Khumrov (real name: Edek Czevinowski)
Nationality: Polish
Age: 20
Race: red fox
Physical appearance: Thin, short fox with the typical markings of an anthro-red fox. His ears are entirely black, and his hair is parted down the center (much like my avatar, I suppose)
Clothing: Dark green tunic with lose dark brown pants. Black boots hug his lower thighs.
Religion: Catholic
Weapon: Bastard sword
Bio: The son of a miller, he was chosen to wed the beautiful burgomaster's daughter in his hometown of Czeschowia. However, an outlying Tuetonic Knight division killed her and most of the town, ravaging its once productive wheat fields to chaff and burnt countryside. Since nothing in the town was left for him, he traveled eastward, searching for a quiet life away from the evils of war. Finally, he settled in a small village on the border of Poland-Lithuania, Zdelew. However, within a week, the town was raised and burned to the ground by a band of Magyar mercenaries siding with Russian forces. Depressed and defeated, he now lives in L'vov, hoping to live peacefully, yet willing to fight for what he believes in.