Yuri Stepashin

Yuri Stepashin is a former member of the powerful Black Diamond crime syndicate and currently a freelancer dealing in high profile robbery, espionage, kidnappings and assassinations.

Early Life
Little is known of Stepashin's early life. He was born in the city of Ratibor in the Rhenyyd province. He grew up an orphan living in the streets of the impovershed city. His days in Ratibor made him a master thief and he learned to be ruthless.

Black Diamond
Stepashin joined the Black Diamond in 1900. At the time, the Diamond was rapidly growing in power. Stepashin provided services as a "Bucket Man," or an assassin. He was so successful that some grew to distrust him. One of such men was Pike, the First Officer. As a result, three bucket men were sent to silence Stepashin. The following day, all three assassins hung under the city hall with slit throats. One of the assassins was a woman named Jade, the lover of one of Stepashin's closest friends in the guild, Cutter. Cutter arranged for Stepashin to be sent to Manzant Prison in Attograd, easily the highest security prison in Pavlostani. However, Stepashin's freedom was bought by a man named Saldur who requested that Stepashin retrieve documents containing radio security codes to the provinces of Togia, Galilin and Dunmore. Stepashin obliged and returned to Rhenyyd where the Diamond believed him to be safely locked in Manzant. Members of the Black Diamond began to disappear as he began his personal war on those who had locked him in Manzant. Cutter escaped the city before Stepashin could reach him. Eventually, the Diamond could no longer sustain such losses and agreed to hand over Pike. Stepashin killed Pike on the spot and placed his body in the city's fountain for the world to see. He left Rhenyyd afterwards for the province of Melengar.

Freelancer
Stepashin began selling his services as a thief and assassin with a friend of his named Aleksandr Federov. They worked jobs for nobles through the front of Archduke Alric of Melengar who welcomed their services to the Pavlostani nobility. In 1904, they received a hundred gold pieces each after stealing valuable documents from Hintindar and the Ming Empire for Pavel. In 1905, lightning Tenkin attacks were devastating towns near the Nidwalden River, particularly in Dunmore. Stepashin and Federov sabotaged Tekin equipment and poisoned the Nidwalden, effectively dehydrating the Tenkin army. Lord Haddon of Dunmore granted knighthood to Federov and Stepashin; however, Stepashin refused to be knighted. With thousand gold tenants, Stepashin was ready to retire when he was called upon again in the War of Apelanese Aggression.

The War in the South
In 190X, the Apelanese Empire crossed the Nidwalden River and quickly conquered Galilin, Togia and Dunmore. Stepashin was directly responsible for the easy victories of the Empire in the south due to the documents he had stolen for Saldur following his release from Manzant. Following prompting for Ser Federov, now Lord of Warric, Stepashin employed his services to aid the Pavlostani. Following the Battle of Vitograd, Stepashin, Federov, Count Pickering, and Colonel Viktor Litshenko embarked on a journey to assassinate Bishops Saldur and Galien and Patriarch Nilnev of the Apelanese Empire.

Personality
Stepashin is a cold, ruthless killer. He knows little compassion and has no morals. He trusts nobody save Federov, and never forgives a slight. He is feared throughout the Black Diamond and has an unspoken agreement with Cutter to keep his distance. His friendship with Federov has tempered him somewhat but he remains dark and brooding.