Korovin
Overview
Korovin was a Bravos veteran and swordsman who specialized in Leviathan hunting. He was the father of Afanas Korovinovich and husband to Ryang. Korovin died fighting the Kraken during a voyage to Cebir, defending his family and their ship during a night attack.
Life as a Leviathan Hunter
Korovin was a veteran who had faced many Leviathans. He and his company would depart for long months to repel the seasonal assaults of these gigantic monsters, all to protect Asgartha. His tales of these hunts captivated his eldest son Afanas, who relished hearing about their airship cutting through the clouds to approach the beasts, all harpooners at their stations aiming their ballistae at the Leviathan they pursued, and the feeling of camaraderie that animated them.
Daily Training
When Afanas woke up in the morning, he had the habit of opening the door of his cottage and watching his father train. Korovin whirled around the striking dummy like a dark silhouette dancing in the mist. The Bravos swordsman struck the straw scarecrow again and again with precise and resounding blows, under the fascinated gaze of his eldest son.
When Afanas was old enough to train, Korovin began teaching him the rudiments of martial arts at a brisk and rigorous pace. Early rises and frugal meals, endurance runs and demanding katas—these repetitive tasks set the rhythm of young Afanas’s life as he sweated blood and water to prove himself worthy of his father.
Decision to Pioneer
Korovin could no longer stand the idle periods he had to spend in Caer Kettria, itching to go back on campaign. When the Bravos announced the departure of an expedition beyond the walls of Asgartha, decades before the official announcement of the Expeditionary Corps, Korovin volunteered to emigrate to those distant lands, still subject to The Tumult. He had enlisted his family to settle in a fortress barely built, the first outpost of an attempt to reconquer the world: Cebir.
This fateful decision changed all the carefully laid-out plans for his son, who had aspired to join the Bravos at Haven through more traditional means. Instead, the entire family would embark on a dangerous journey to the western frontier.
The Voyage
After months of preparation, the family set off, packing everything they could salvage from their old life into a simple cart. They embarked from Arkaster to the west, toward a province once known as Caer Oorun. Days passed as temperatures inexorably dropped. The coast they followed became covered in snow and ice, and small icebergs began to strike the ship’s hull.
Venturing further inland through narrow fjords, these ice floes became larger and more dangerous, making navigation more perilous. They were following the path taken by the famous explorer Abelen Sundström sixty years prior. They would soon arrive at Cebir, the citadel built by the Bravos and the architects of the Ordis.
The Kraken Attack
As night fell, a violent blow struck the bulwark and shook the frigate. Cannon fire erupted, followed by several more salvos, along with the shouts of sailors and the creaking of wood as leaks began to trickle inside the boat. When Afanas emerged on deck, the mizzenmast was plunging into the sea, hanging from ropes that snapped dryly as they broke.
Korovin stood at the bow, a harpoon in hand, shouting orders that were lost in the tumult. A colossal tentacle emerged from the depths, wrapping around the ship’s hull like a vise. The Kraken had found them. Korovin launched his harpoon with deadly precision, but the creature barely flinched.
Death
Another tentacle swept across the deck, and Korovin was struck and thrown overboard into the icy waters. Despite his years of experience hunting Leviathans and his skill as a warrior, Korovin perished in the Kraken’s attack, along with his wife Ryang and his other children.
Legacy
Korovin’s death, along with that of the rest of his family, left Afanas Korovinovich as the sole survivor. This tragedy became the defining moment of Afanas’s life, driving him to join the Yzmir and dedicate himself to hunting the Chrysanthemum Cloak Warlock who had conducted forbidden experiments at Cebir—experiments that Afanas came to believe were connected to his family’s fate. Korovin’s training and example shaped Afanas into the determined, skilled warrior and mage he would become, even as his death fueled an obsessive quest for vengeance that would consume decades of his son’s life.