Name: Nikolai “Niko” Vostrikov
Age: 37
Background: Russian father, American mother. No siblings. Born in Geneva during a diplomatic visit, raised between Moscow and New York.
Biography
Nikolai Vostrikov was once a golden boy. His father, Pyotr Vostrikov, was one of the post-Soviet oligarchs who carved out a vast empire during the ‘Wild 90s’—shipping, oil, and cultural preservation (read: looting). But when the regime changed, Pyotr fell from grace. Sanctioned. Assets seized. Friends vanished. Pyotr drank himself to death in exile in Cyprus.
At 22, Nikolai was broke, bitter, and exiled from the only world he knew.
But Niko had two weapons: charm and an eye for beauty. Through his mother’s American art world contacts, he started working private auctions, identifying underpriced pieces and brokering shady sales between oligarchs, corrupt officials, and secretive collectors. Soon, he was moving more than just paintings—artifacts, manuscripts, forbidden sculptures, entire wings of forgotten estates.
He now controls a semi-legit high-end art house in Moscow, but his real influence lies in his “quiet rooms”—hidden auction parlors across Europe and Asia where wealth whispers and power trades in secrets. Some call him a tastemaker. Others, a cultural thief.
Personality
- Polished, but dangerous. Think GQ meets espionage.
- Speaks with a soft Russian-American accent, can code-switch depending on the room.
- Smiles like a man who knows your secrets.
- Never carries a weapon, but always travels with one loyal fixer.
- Romantic, in the fatalistic Russian way. Drinks too much red wine, quotes Tolstoy when melancholic.
Style
- Tailored suits, gloves indoors, always a pocket square.
- Collects antique rings and wears one on each index finger.
- Drives a vintage black Jaguar when in town; otherwise uses armored chauffeurs.
Known Associate
Kristian and Niko met during the final years of the Vostrikov family’s decline.
Kristian, operating under a false identity as a European curator, infiltrated a private auction tied to the Vostrikov estate. He was caught attempting to lift two pieces before the sale—but instead of turning him in, Niko saw potential.
They’ve stayed in touch ever since, bonded less by trust and more by mutual usefulness and a shared fluency in deception.
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