Anastasia di Gratiano
Anastasia di Gratiano is the head of the di Gratiano Family.
Less well-known is the fact that she is a skilled blood mage and demonologist with ties to various organisations including the Sanguine Veil and the Carmine Pillar, and that moreover she is also a vampire.
She is believed to be in a relationship with the shapeshifter Tdjaia'ucchan, and possibly also with Luca Rattenvanger.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Daughter of Demetrio and Serafina di Gratiano, Anastasia was born into the di Gratiano Family in 1304AK. She was raised by Demetrio, Serefina, and their husband Evaristo, and was educated by a series of tutors. Apparently considered to be a gifted student, she proceed to studied rhetoric at the University of Auditore in 1321, and gathered a reputation both as both a charismatic speaker and a skilled duellist.
Following her mother's death in 1327, she returned to Cameri and married Urseo Kriger, the captain of a Cameri Free Company called the Company of the Hares. After giving birth to two children in 1327 and 1328, she joined Urseo on campaign against the Savuran insurgency, fighting alongside him in battle.
Urseo was killed in the Battle of the Karst in 1331, along with most of the Hares. One eye-witness account described Anastasia refusing to abandon her mortally-wounded husband when the retreat was sounded, and that she was last seen “standing over Urseo’s body, holding her own against a dozen soldiers, screaming to the heavens in rage and defiance until at last they cut her down”. It is said that her father Demetrio dropped dead of shock upon hearing the news of her death; the custody of her children and of the Gratiano finances fell to Anastasia’s elder sibling, Vernanzi.
Though Anastasia was presumed dead, her body was never recovered; nonetheless, it was a surprise to all when she turned up two years later at the gates of the Gratiano estate, not only very much alive but bringing with her an infant daughter that she had named Ursula. Whilst her survival was thoroughly unexpected, it was not seen as having been entirely out of the question; however to those aware of Anastasia's vampirism, it is perhaps quite clear that there is more to this story than is claimed.
Following her return, Anastasia retook her place as the head of the family. Though leaving the estate only on rare occasions, generally under the cover of darkness, she was noted as having a steady stream of visitors and guests to the estate, and hosting lavish parties on festival days. Vernanzi served as a close confident, conducting much of her business for her outside of the estate.
Social
Family Ties
Anastasia was raised by her parents Serafina and Demetrio di Gratiano, and their husband Evaristo. As with many of the remaining families of the old Katari nobility, the Gratiani practiced plural marriage and it was customary for those who married into the family to adopt that name regardless of their gender or rank. Whilst Evaristo was the bloodline descendent of the Gratiani line, the "old dynasties" tended to consider adoption or affiliation with a family to be vastly more important than bloodline descent - and thus Anastasia was considered a full scion of the di Gratiano family, despite her lack of direct ancestry. Her mother Seraphina died of a fever in 1327 AK; her father Demetrio is said to have died of shock upon hearing of his daughter's death in 1331. Evaristo is believed to have died during the Battle of Cameri in 1339 AK.
Anastasia has one sibling, an elder brother named Vernanzi di Gratiano di Cameri, who is understood to be a close confidente and ally of hers, and who manages much of the family's business interests.
Anastasia married Urseo Kriger in 1327 AK, and remained with him until his death in the Battle of the Karst in 1331 AK. During that time they had two children, with a third being born after his death. She has not remarried, though is believed to be in a relationship with the shapeshifter Tdjaia'ucchan, and possibly with Luca Rattenvanger, a scion of the Rattenvanger Crime Family.
Anastasia's three children are Antonia (born 1327), Vittoria (born 1328), and Ursula (born 1331 or 1332).
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Life
1304
1331
27 years old
Circumstances of Death
Battle of the Karst
Birthplace
Cameri
Place of Death
Pangratic Karst
Family
Children
Aligned Organization
Comments