Koshchei

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Koshchei (Russian: Кощей Koshchey) is a quest-exclusive NPC who first appears in the World Quest Chorus of Solace in Series In the Dwelling of Life.

Profile

Koshchei is a Snezhnayan bio-alchemist. He is the creator of the Aberrant Chimeric Monsters.^[1]

Koshchei believed life was a puzzle that could be taken apart and reassembled on a whim. He did not view life as inherently sacred or worthy of respect and thus nothing was off limits. He regularly combined animals together to create the first Aberrant Chimeras, which earned him praise. However, he was not content and believed using sapient beings would enhance his work, so experimented on Snowland Fae. Rather than having him executed, the Belyi Tsar had him recruited to Hvergelmir. There, he met Aksinya. Angered by her tender demeanour after the events of the day, he felt prompted to grow an ear on her hand in a bid to drive her off. However, Aksinya was not only unfazed but disappointed by the ear and how it had no actual function. She calmly told him that if he wanted to do so again, he'd have to submit an official request. She also gave him a watch to keep to his schedule. Koshchei was left in a daze and felt a sense of yearning.^[6]

Together with Pavlina and Alvis, the members of Hvergelmir were tasked to help fulfill the Belyi Tsar's goal "To seek the stairway leading to the vacant seat in the court of the stars, a passage to a place where worry and sorrow would no longer trouble them ever again."^[7]

Many of his chimeric monsters were deemed failures and abandoned, but one of the Chimeric Winged Lions obtained a degree of intelligence which the Belyi Tsar took in and gave the name "Zver." In one instance, Zver executed eldest son of House Solovyov for stumbling into something that wasn't meant to be seen, which saved Koshchei a great deal of headache.^[1]

Realizing the threat it would cause humanity and fae alike, the Eye of Graeae convinced Koshchei, Pavlina and Alvis to betray Aksinya, which they did by shoving her into the Shadow Realm before splitting the Graeae's power into three. Koshchei took his sliver of power to Flamefeather Valley, where he came upon the village of Okurov and joined the village under the alias "Doctor Moreau." Continuing his own work there into creating an eternal life, he created several Immortal Constructs. He also came upon a severely injured Voywolf Hunter known as Furiosa, giving her life-saving treatment by experimenting on her. Seeing progress in his work, he slowly convinced the villagers of Okurov to accept his treatments and become the Perfect Tree, an endless life with no pain nor sickness. All agreed to his logic apart from Furiosa, who realized his intentions and spurned his gift.^[8]

Those who participated in this experiment dissolved into blue algae, including Koshchei himself, although a few others who had been experimented on who did not partake for various reasons, such as Aunt LePuy and "No-Nose" Ove, remained as Leshy. Realizing the truth behind his intentions, both Furiosa and No-Nose Ove would try to prevent the remaining villagers from entering the assembly hall and into the experiment grounds, and Zhara would prevent any "Badbugs" (implied to be outsiders) from intervening. After the cataclysm, Okurov remained sparsely populated, with at least four Leshy, Furiosa and Nastya remaining. The Traveler would discover Nastya and agreed to bring her to the depths of Flamefeather Valley, where she underwent the transformation into the Perfect Tree. During the process, Koshchei took over Nastya's body, thanking the Traveler for returning her and acknowledging them as a Descender. Having no need for the Graeae's power, as he had achieved his goal (albeit at the cost of forgetting it), he allowed the Traveler to take the fragment before releasing Nastya from his grip so she could say her farewells to the Traveler and Paimon.^[2]

Appearance

Koshchei is described as having had long, dark hair.^[9]

Quests and Events

World Quests

• In the Dwelling of Life
  • Chorus of Solace (as "Thing That Used to be Nastya")

Trivia

Etymology

• Koshchei (Russian: Кощей) the Deathless is a figure in Russian folklore.
• Doctor Moreau is the titular character of the 1896 science fiction novel The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells.

Other Languages

Change History

References