Character Profile: Nicolai Ilyich Drovgor

One of the things I like to do on occasion is create detailed histories for each of my primary or supporting characters. Now, I could wax lyrical about this for oh say 500 words, or I could simply show you a basic format of what I do. What's that old writing advice? Oh yeah ... "Show, don't tell."

Name: Nicolai Ilyich Drovgor
Age: 31
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Jade
Hair: Sandy blonde
Build: Athletic
Rank: Commandant-Major of the King's Army
Armaments: Twin long-barreled Budurian pistols with six-round cylinders
Biography:  Nicolai Ilyich Drovgor was born in the Marketplace district of the city of Callarion, the capital of the country of the same name. He is the only child of James Drovgor and Ilsa Barianova, the explorer/ambassadors who helped negotiate new trade agreements with Anguo and Budur for access to the Deep Territories.

It was on one of these journeys to the Deep Territories that James and Ilsa's airship crashed near the top of Mount Raskali, the highest peak in the Kirvan Mountain range. Rescue efforts were stymied by blizzard conditions near the crash site. By the time emergency crews reached the Drovgors' last known location, all they discovered were the frozen corpses of both explorers and their entire party.

Nicolai, who was only ten at the time, was sent to live with his aunt and uncle -- Cynthia Bluecallow and Malory Drovgor -- at the ancestral home of the Rowani family, where Malory and Cynthia were employed as servants.

Nicolai befriended the youngest member of House Rowani -- four-year-old Moriah -- and the two remained close friends through their formative years. At age fourteen, Nicolai received a commission in the King's Army from Archduke Alexei Rowani. Nicolai rose quickly through the ranks, and achieved the grade of Captain before his 20th birthday.

It was two years later that he rekindled his friendship with Moriah when they ran into each other on the streets of the Anguo capital city, Kuan-yin. He wouldn't have recognized the sixteen-year-old firebrand as his childhood friend except for her distinctive platinum eyes meeting his across a crowded teahouse.
Love at first sight was too strong of a word.

He proposed to her two years after they first met, and she accepted his offer gladly. They planned to wed after she finished her course of study at the Senro in two years time.

Then Yuan-cho happened, and everything fell apart.

Nicolai spent a year and a half wandering the Ten Nations, finding work wherever he could, and managing to run into Moriah quite a bit more than he expected. He returned to Callarion five years ago, and his original plan was to merely join the rebellion against Lucian Rombard. Instead, as the senior surviving King's Military officer, Nicolai ended up leading it.

Through everything he's done, Nicolai has loved Moriah. He'd do anything to get her back ... including help her topple a government.