Merope Charnecki

Age: mid 20s

Pronouns: she/her

Bio: A trans girl born to an absent Polish father and kind-but-ignorant Bulgarian mother. At 18 she quietly left home with no plan besides finding a bunch of hippies[1] to live with. Fortunately, she found a women-only co-op, who embraced the transient lifestyle and welcomed her with open arms. Unfortunately, when stopping by an otherwise unassuming town, she and three of her friends encountered some young men from Vasilevo[2]. After a brief spat between the two groups, the men later cornered the women and forcibly took them to the home of the men. There she met a pre-transition Divna, 14 at the time, who was an aquaintance of the men. The women were held there for a week before the village was raided by national law enforcement.

After spending some time recovering, she decided that risking the hippie lifestyle again was better than being stuck with her parents and trying to fit into their expectations for her, so she went off again. On this go round she never stuck to any place for too long and frequently found herself hitchhiking to different places all over Europe. However, when her health starts catching up to her, she's forced to permanently settle somewhere. This is difficult to do on her own, as someone with no money and sporadic job experience, but luckily for her the Independent City-State of Sofia has a totally well-funded and competently run program for ex-hippies trying to become productive members of society, which includes living accomodations. That's when she gets placed to live with Divna.

Divna Novakova

Age: early 20s

Pronouns: she/her

Bio: As a trans girl born in the blood magician village of Vasilevo, Divna grew up as a bit of an outsider to the community. Though her parents loved her very much, she was considered too "soft" by others, especially the boys of the village. After her father died of an illness when she was 8, she and her mother went back to live with her maternal grandparents. A year or two into this arrangement, her mother and grandmother left the village, no longer able to stand the abuse at the hands of the family patriarch, but left a young Divna behind. Soon after, her grandfather married a much younger woman, and had a child with her. While Divna never felt a true familial bond with the woman, she nevertheless cared deeply about her and her child, especially since her grandfather continued him cruelties.

For a short while she hung out with a friend group of older boys, centered around a guy named Sokol. They didn't exactly treat Divna well, but it was the closest she got to having friends. Eventually, Sokol requested Divna's help with keeping the women he kidnapped alive, as she was one of the only people in the village he trusted with this. She agreed to help him and in doing so, became attached to one of the girls. Eventually, the violence in the village became too much for her to handle; she killed her grandfather in a fit of rage and escaped with his now-widow and daughter. After crashing the car, they ended up in the hospital and later in police custody, leading to Divna revealing everything about Vasilevo to the authorities. What followed were lengthy judical proceedings and a reconciliation with her biological mother and grandmother.

Years later, she lives in the Independent City-State of Sofia, working the graveyard shift at a gas station at the edge of the city. Longing to make up for what she was involved with when she was young, she agrees to house one of the girls she hurt, only to find out it was the one she was obsessed with — Merope.

Krum

Age: mentally 17, but has existed for less than half of that

Pronouns: he/it

Bio: He is a servitor unintentionally created by Divna when she was young. Named itself after the Bulgarian khan, due to his being known in Bulgarian pop culture as that one ruler who made a cup out of his enemy's skull. He is the embodiment of barely-held back rage and violence. Is really into Merope. Likes mice, the way a cat does.

Sfikos

Age: very late teens

Pronouns: he/him

Bio: Divna's friendly demon coworker. Possesses the ability to create time loops, mostly uses it for petty reasons. Addicted to drinking petrol and motor oil.

[1] As we wold call them in our world. In the universe of this story, they're called something else. I just haven't come up with it yet lol.

[2] No relation to the real life town of Vasilevo.