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From: Anastasia
Anastasia Novykh was born to the mortal world in 1904 in St Petersburg, Russia. Always a sickly child, she stayed indoors much, reading, writing and dreaming. Her mother, fearful that she might take seriously ill should she attend a school, educated her in their home. But, Anastasia's mother was fearful of more than mere illness. Many times, little Anastasia would hear her mother's night terrors. "It was of your father," she would explain the next day. It did not console her that she had heard her mother shriek out the name 'Rasputin' during her nightmares. It also did not help that her mother gave her the surname of the mad monk. She never knew her father, and refused to give in to her mother's obviously psychotic delusions of her father's identity.
Little Anastasia had a great affinity for languages, and a fascination with the Russian Orthodox Church and occult studies, both of which disturbed her mother greatly. She would frequently sneak out to try and hound professors and clergy alike, and had aspirations of becoming a nun, not out of any profound spirituality, but for further access to clergy and tomes. She even believed she caught a glimpse of the mad monk himself once. All it brought was a smirk to her cynical, cold eyes.
When she was but a young teen, she far surpassed her mother's ability to teach and began spending more time at Saint John's Convent and various orthodox monasteries and cathedrals. She taught herself French, then Latin with the help of the sisters, who were amazed at her talent for languages. She began to learn English on her own for the most part as there were not many with which to practice. She attended sermons all over the city, learning of the teachings of the church, and she delved into occult studies at the monasteries. Anastasia's health could barely keep up with her long hours, and so there were times that she stayed at the convent, at the behest of the sisters who would attend to her when she fell ill.
It seemed, however, that more than just the sisters watched over her, for when Anastasia's own mother was tragically found murdered, a wealthy, if eccentric, parishioner offered to adopt her. She was 13 at the time, a bit too young for the convent, and had no other family. The state allowed it, though even to Anastasia's young mind it seemed odd for an unmarried man to be allowed to do such a thing. She reasoned he must have friends in political circles, and hoped that he was not as eccentric as he seemed.
She arrived at his house for the first time, late in the eve as per his request, and he gave her extensive tours of his estate, complete with extensive libraries, and even a laboratory. "You seem quite the apt scholar, and able to wend your way into the hearts of others in order to pursue your lust for knowledge." He smiled with an eerie gleam, though it did not shake the cool demeanor of the young girl, so used she was to such types at the cathedrals. "It is time that you were given the access to such things, and the time to pursue them. There is one small price, however."
Anastasia's worst fears about what this gentleman might want with a young girl did not approach the horrific revelations of walking dead living off the blood of others, intrigues of the night, and mind bending oaths of loyalty. There was only acceptance or death. And the prizes were all she had ever dreamed of.
She lived in St. Petersburg during the murder of Rasputin, and the overthrow of the Romanov's. There, she served, studied and learned under her master for seven years and on her twentieth birthday, he gave her the gift of death, and life eternal.