01-12-2025, 07:58 PM
Name: Zholdin Gregorovich
Age: 23
Birthplace: Moscow
Affiliation: Russian Mafia
Role: Enforcer and manager of entertainment operations
Nickname: Zholka Gregorovich
Zholdin Gregorovich is the heir of Gregor Petrovich, the Russian vodka kingpin. Zholdin’s childhood was a relentless lesson in control, calculation, and cruelty. In his father’s world, loyalty was earned through affection but forged in blood—an expectation Zholdin learned early and learned well.
When Zholdin was just eight, Gregor led him into the basement where a man sat bound to a chair, trembling under a single swinging bulb. The air reeked of fear and sweat, the damp chill biting into young Zholdin’s skin. Gregor’s lesson that night was twofold: a demonstration of retribution and an education in control. Torture, Gregor said, should be efficient, precise, and always serve a purpose. His voice was calm, almost detached, as he explained each cut, each deliberate act. Zholdin listened, his wide eyes absorbing the scene with unsettling composure. When his father handed him the knife, he didn’t hesitate. It was as if cruelty had been waiting patiently in his blood, ready to be called upon.
Power, Gregor believed, came from mastery of one’s environment, and his family reflected that belief. Zholdin’s mother was a elegant but unyielding symbol of Gregor’s dominance, her presence commanding respect, poise, and strength. His sister, sharp and ruthless, mirrored their father’s cunning, her brutality almost rivaling Zholdin’s. But Zholdin was the chosen heir, the one Gregor molded into his successor. While his sister schemed, Zholdin grew into his father’s shadow, his skills honed alongside his body as strength and intelligence coalesced into a terrifying weapon. The empire Gregor built would one day be his, sprawling and untouchable—provided Zholdin could prove himself worthy of it. And Gregor had ensured that worthiness was tested, one brutal lesson at a time.
But Zholdin isn’t a carbon copy of his father. Where Gregor’s dominance is cold and calculated, Zholdin’s approach is unpredictable and theatrical. His presence is arrogance, his charm intoxicating, and his laughter sharp as a dagger. He carries the confidence of a man who knows how to bend those around him to his will, yet his edges hint at something raw and untamed.
There are rumors, as well. Suggestions that something darker churns beneath the surface. The stories vary—a sadist, a masochist, or a sociopathic monster who thrives on destruction. Regardless, Zholdin himself pays these tales no mind, but he’s not above stoking them for his advantage. After all, fear and mystery are as valuable as loyalty in his world.
His most audacious move—caging wild animals—adds fuel to the fire. It is his symbol of power, a warning to rivals, and a spectacle to those he wishes to impress. The predator kings fill his cages: a Siberian tiger prowling in echo to his heritage, the black panther stalking its prey from the shadows, a wolf circling its cage absent a pack. It’s been said that he once fed those who wronged his father to his menagerie—alive.
As Moscow’s criminal families cling to an uneasy truce, new players—the Japanese Yakuza and the Singaporean Syndicate—hold a fragile balance with their plans for pending Japanese-style clubs. Zholdin is tasked with ensuring the Petrovich vodka empire flows seamlessly into these ventures and maintain their dominance over the city’s alcohol trade. But logistics are only part of his vision. For Zholdin, these clubs are stages for spectacle, places where entertainment and indulgence fuel loyalty and control. His recruitment of Alistair Bishop, an American wrestler and entertainer, as a headline act in the ring is part of a plan. Bishop isn’t just an attraction; he’s a weapon, a display… a dancing monkey to entertain.
Personality
Zholdin thrives in the blurred space between menace and charm, indulgence and command, chaos and dominance. His presence commands attention with a confidence that feels both deliberate and effortless. He arms with a smile, unsettles with a glance, and ends conversations with blood. His charisma, while natural, is sharpened to a fine edge, wielded as much for domination as for seduction.
Indulgence defines much of Zholdin’s life. Fine vodka, exquisite food, and the visceral thrill of nature’s circle of life—they’re statements of control. His appetite for extremes isn’t merely hedonistic; it’s a way of asserting dominance, over himself and those who watch him revel. Yet, behind this façade of excess lies a darker current.
Zholdin’s cruelty is deliberate, his strategies finely tuned to maximize suffering. A quiet humiliation, a carefully timed insult, or a well-placed threat—these are the tools of a man who knows power isn’t about brute force but about manipulation and fear. These are the traits crushed into him since infancy, the only inheritance Gregor Petrovich would allow.
There is a restlessness within Zholdin, a yearning for something he does not know he wants, but assumes more will sate it.
Rebirth
Shuten-dōji
The Myth
Shuten-dōji is the most infamous oni demons from Japanese mythology. He was said to be a monstrous, towering, human-like figure with crimson or dark skin, horns, and wild hair, exuding power and terror. A lover of excess, Shuten-dōji's name translates to "Little Drunken Boy," a nod to his insatiable thirst for sake, which he consumed in lavish quantities alongside human flesh. His lair was on Mount Ōe (or Mount Ibuki, depending on the version), where he ruled over a band of marauding oni, kidnapping noble women from Kyoto to serve as his prisoners and ultimately his victims.
The most famous myth surrounding Shuten-dōji recounts his downfall at the hands of Minamoto no Raikō and his warriors, who infiltrated the oni’s stronghold disguised as monks. Offering enchanted sake laced with a powerful sleeping potion, they subdued the demon and beheaded him, though even decapitated, his severed head attempted to bite Raikō. This tale cements Shuten-dōji as both a fearsome adversary and a symbol of unchecked indulgence and destruction. His connection to sake and revelry, combined with his terrifying presence and control of oni embodies the balance between chaotic power and tragic excess.
Early life
Shuten-dōji is the son of the ferocious Yamata-no-Orochi, who is personified in legend as a great dragon. His mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Toyoma, a coastal prefecture on the Sea of Japan known for its harsh, windy winters.
He was a difficult child to say the least. Meltdowns, screaming, tantrums and violence. He would thrash on the ground when he didn’t get his way and hurt other children who wronged him. By the time he was five, his own mother declared he was a demon and abandoned him.
By this time, his father had been slain by the god, Susanoo, younger brother to the Sun Goddess Ameratsu. Susanoo had been informed by a farmer than their daughters were being taken by Yamata-no-Orochi, and Susanoo promised to avenge them. He tricked Yamata-no-Orochi and killed him in his sleep. From the treasure, he plundered a divine weapon, the Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven that he returned as offering to Ameratsu, who kept the sword from then on. Eventually, it became one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan.
With his mother’s abandonment and father’s demise, by the time Shuten-dōji was six, he was expelled by the people of Toyoma and taken to a Buddhist temple at Mt. Heiti in Kyoto to be raised by monks. He became increasingly anti-social, slacking off from his studies and getting into fights yet he was the strongest and most intelligent of the acolytes, and his resentment of the people around him grew. Despite their vows, the monks were forbidden from consuming alcohol, but at fourteen, Shuten-dōji fell into drinking. He could out-drink anyone and everyone who was willing to sit down and drink against him.
When he was fifteen, he attended a festival completely drunk. He donned a demon mask, hid in the shadows and jumped out at his fellow monks, attempting to frighten them with his dark pranks. When one died of a heart attack, he was scolded and reprimanded by his masters. Shuten-dōji had enough. He ran away from the temple, fleeing higher into the mountains where he could isolate himself from weak and hypocritical humans. He lived outside Kyoto for many years as a bandit, stealing what he needed to survive. Other outcast boys joined him, and by the time he came into his power to channel, he had amassed a loyal gang of followers.
Shuten-dōji grew in power and knowledge. He mastered strange, dark magic, and taught it to his thugs. One of his earliest and most loyal followers was a boy named Ibaraki-dōji, who would become infamous in his own right and later became his chief servant. Over time, the gang prowled the highways, terrorizing the people of Kyoto during drunken rages. They scoured the mountains, capturing oni alive and bringing them back to his lair for unknown purposes. His violence and ferocity grew to the point where he would kidnap noble virgin girls of Kyoto, rape then kill each, drink their blood and eat their organs raw.
Eventually, they settled in the remains of a dark castle on Mount Ōe, where he plotted to conquer the capital and rule as emperor. Now with his army of oni at his back, strangely beholden to his will, dark followers, and fearsome powers, the Emperor declared that Shuten-dōji had to be stopped. Minamoto no Yorimitsu, leading a group of heroic warriors, assaulted the dark castle. Prior to the assault, Minamoto visited Hachiman, the god of war, who armed each warrior with enchanted swords named Bloodsucker, Stone-cutter, Demon Slasher, and the most famous, Dōjigiri, known as one of the Five Best Swords Under Heaven.
They gained entrance by impersonating ascetics dedicated to En no Gyōja, a god previously banished by the Imperial Court for using his magic to bond, manipulate, trick and control others against their will. Knowing that Shuten-dōji was sympathetic toward En no Gyōja, he admitted the disguised warriors. During the night’s revelry, Minamoto and the others poisoned members of Shuten-dōji’s gang and waited for them to fall into slumber, at which point they cut off their heads in their sleep. For Shuten-dōji himself, the warriors held down his arms and legs while Minamoto cut off his head. With Shuten-dōji now dead, the oni army rose up in wild frenzy, and a bloody battle ensured until they were all either dead or disappeared.
The cup and bottle of poison that Minamoto no Yorimitsu used is still kept on site at Nariai-ji temple in Kyoto to this day.
Powers
Zholdin is an unsparked channeler. Once sparked will have a talent for Spirit weaves.
Age: 23
Birthplace: Moscow
Affiliation: Russian Mafia
Role: Enforcer and manager of entertainment operations
Nickname: Zholka Gregorovich
Zholdin Gregorovich is the heir of Gregor Petrovich, the Russian vodka kingpin. Zholdin’s childhood was a relentless lesson in control, calculation, and cruelty. In his father’s world, loyalty was earned through affection but forged in blood—an expectation Zholdin learned early and learned well.
When Zholdin was just eight, Gregor led him into the basement where a man sat bound to a chair, trembling under a single swinging bulb. The air reeked of fear and sweat, the damp chill biting into young Zholdin’s skin. Gregor’s lesson that night was twofold: a demonstration of retribution and an education in control. Torture, Gregor said, should be efficient, precise, and always serve a purpose. His voice was calm, almost detached, as he explained each cut, each deliberate act. Zholdin listened, his wide eyes absorbing the scene with unsettling composure. When his father handed him the knife, he didn’t hesitate. It was as if cruelty had been waiting patiently in his blood, ready to be called upon.
Power, Gregor believed, came from mastery of one’s environment, and his family reflected that belief. Zholdin’s mother was a elegant but unyielding symbol of Gregor’s dominance, her presence commanding respect, poise, and strength. His sister, sharp and ruthless, mirrored their father’s cunning, her brutality almost rivaling Zholdin’s. But Zholdin was the chosen heir, the one Gregor molded into his successor. While his sister schemed, Zholdin grew into his father’s shadow, his skills honed alongside his body as strength and intelligence coalesced into a terrifying weapon. The empire Gregor built would one day be his, sprawling and untouchable—provided Zholdin could prove himself worthy of it. And Gregor had ensured that worthiness was tested, one brutal lesson at a time.
But Zholdin isn’t a carbon copy of his father. Where Gregor’s dominance is cold and calculated, Zholdin’s approach is unpredictable and theatrical. His presence is arrogance, his charm intoxicating, and his laughter sharp as a dagger. He carries the confidence of a man who knows how to bend those around him to his will, yet his edges hint at something raw and untamed.
There are rumors, as well. Suggestions that something darker churns beneath the surface. The stories vary—a sadist, a masochist, or a sociopathic monster who thrives on destruction. Regardless, Zholdin himself pays these tales no mind, but he’s not above stoking them for his advantage. After all, fear and mystery are as valuable as loyalty in his world.
His most audacious move—caging wild animals—adds fuel to the fire. It is his symbol of power, a warning to rivals, and a spectacle to those he wishes to impress. The predator kings fill his cages: a Siberian tiger prowling in echo to his heritage, the black panther stalking its prey from the shadows, a wolf circling its cage absent a pack. It’s been said that he once fed those who wronged his father to his menagerie—alive.
As Moscow’s criminal families cling to an uneasy truce, new players—the Japanese Yakuza and the Singaporean Syndicate—hold a fragile balance with their plans for pending Japanese-style clubs. Zholdin is tasked with ensuring the Petrovich vodka empire flows seamlessly into these ventures and maintain their dominance over the city’s alcohol trade. But logistics are only part of his vision. For Zholdin, these clubs are stages for spectacle, places where entertainment and indulgence fuel loyalty and control. His recruitment of Alistair Bishop, an American wrestler and entertainer, as a headline act in the ring is part of a plan. Bishop isn’t just an attraction; he’s a weapon, a display… a dancing monkey to entertain.
Personality
Zholdin thrives in the blurred space between menace and charm, indulgence and command, chaos and dominance. His presence commands attention with a confidence that feels both deliberate and effortless. He arms with a smile, unsettles with a glance, and ends conversations with blood. His charisma, while natural, is sharpened to a fine edge, wielded as much for domination as for seduction.
Indulgence defines much of Zholdin’s life. Fine vodka, exquisite food, and the visceral thrill of nature’s circle of life—they’re statements of control. His appetite for extremes isn’t merely hedonistic; it’s a way of asserting dominance, over himself and those who watch him revel. Yet, behind this façade of excess lies a darker current.
Zholdin’s cruelty is deliberate, his strategies finely tuned to maximize suffering. A quiet humiliation, a carefully timed insult, or a well-placed threat—these are the tools of a man who knows power isn’t about brute force but about manipulation and fear. These are the traits crushed into him since infancy, the only inheritance Gregor Petrovich would allow.
There is a restlessness within Zholdin, a yearning for something he does not know he wants, but assumes more will sate it.
Rebirth
Shuten-dōji
The Myth
Shuten-dōji is the most infamous oni demons from Japanese mythology. He was said to be a monstrous, towering, human-like figure with crimson or dark skin, horns, and wild hair, exuding power and terror. A lover of excess, Shuten-dōji's name translates to "Little Drunken Boy," a nod to his insatiable thirst for sake, which he consumed in lavish quantities alongside human flesh. His lair was on Mount Ōe (or Mount Ibuki, depending on the version), where he ruled over a band of marauding oni, kidnapping noble women from Kyoto to serve as his prisoners and ultimately his victims.
The most famous myth surrounding Shuten-dōji recounts his downfall at the hands of Minamoto no Raikō and his warriors, who infiltrated the oni’s stronghold disguised as monks. Offering enchanted sake laced with a powerful sleeping potion, they subdued the demon and beheaded him, though even decapitated, his severed head attempted to bite Raikō. This tale cements Shuten-dōji as both a fearsome adversary and a symbol of unchecked indulgence and destruction. His connection to sake and revelry, combined with his terrifying presence and control of oni embodies the balance between chaotic power and tragic excess.
Early life
Shuten-dōji is the son of the ferocious Yamata-no-Orochi, who is personified in legend as a great dragon. His mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Toyoma, a coastal prefecture on the Sea of Japan known for its harsh, windy winters.
He was a difficult child to say the least. Meltdowns, screaming, tantrums and violence. He would thrash on the ground when he didn’t get his way and hurt other children who wronged him. By the time he was five, his own mother declared he was a demon and abandoned him.
By this time, his father had been slain by the god, Susanoo, younger brother to the Sun Goddess Ameratsu. Susanoo had been informed by a farmer than their daughters were being taken by Yamata-no-Orochi, and Susanoo promised to avenge them. He tricked Yamata-no-Orochi and killed him in his sleep. From the treasure, he plundered a divine weapon, the Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven that he returned as offering to Ameratsu, who kept the sword from then on. Eventually, it became one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan.
With his mother’s abandonment and father’s demise, by the time Shuten-dōji was six, he was expelled by the people of Toyoma and taken to a Buddhist temple at Mt. Heiti in Kyoto to be raised by monks. He became increasingly anti-social, slacking off from his studies and getting into fights yet he was the strongest and most intelligent of the acolytes, and his resentment of the people around him grew. Despite their vows, the monks were forbidden from consuming alcohol, but at fourteen, Shuten-dōji fell into drinking. He could out-drink anyone and everyone who was willing to sit down and drink against him.
When he was fifteen, he attended a festival completely drunk. He donned a demon mask, hid in the shadows and jumped out at his fellow monks, attempting to frighten them with his dark pranks. When one died of a heart attack, he was scolded and reprimanded by his masters. Shuten-dōji had enough. He ran away from the temple, fleeing higher into the mountains where he could isolate himself from weak and hypocritical humans. He lived outside Kyoto for many years as a bandit, stealing what he needed to survive. Other outcast boys joined him, and by the time he came into his power to channel, he had amassed a loyal gang of followers.
Shuten-dōji grew in power and knowledge. He mastered strange, dark magic, and taught it to his thugs. One of his earliest and most loyal followers was a boy named Ibaraki-dōji, who would become infamous in his own right and later became his chief servant. Over time, the gang prowled the highways, terrorizing the people of Kyoto during drunken rages. They scoured the mountains, capturing oni alive and bringing them back to his lair for unknown purposes. His violence and ferocity grew to the point where he would kidnap noble virgin girls of Kyoto, rape then kill each, drink their blood and eat their organs raw.
Eventually, they settled in the remains of a dark castle on Mount Ōe, where he plotted to conquer the capital and rule as emperor. Now with his army of oni at his back, strangely beholden to his will, dark followers, and fearsome powers, the Emperor declared that Shuten-dōji had to be stopped. Minamoto no Yorimitsu, leading a group of heroic warriors, assaulted the dark castle. Prior to the assault, Minamoto visited Hachiman, the god of war, who armed each warrior with enchanted swords named Bloodsucker, Stone-cutter, Demon Slasher, and the most famous, Dōjigiri, known as one of the Five Best Swords Under Heaven.
They gained entrance by impersonating ascetics dedicated to En no Gyōja, a god previously banished by the Imperial Court for using his magic to bond, manipulate, trick and control others against their will. Knowing that Shuten-dōji was sympathetic toward En no Gyōja, he admitted the disguised warriors. During the night’s revelry, Minamoto and the others poisoned members of Shuten-dōji’s gang and waited for them to fall into slumber, at which point they cut off their heads in their sleep. For Shuten-dōji himself, the warriors held down his arms and legs while Minamoto cut off his head. With Shuten-dōji now dead, the oni army rose up in wild frenzy, and a bloody battle ensured until they were all either dead or disappeared.
The cup and bottle of poison that Minamoto no Yorimitsu used is still kept on site at Nariai-ji temple in Kyoto to this day.
Powers
Zholdin is an unsparked channeler. Once sparked will have a talent for Spirit weaves.
There is nothing false in the words of demons