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Lyra Mikhailovna Volnova
Fierce operative haunted by past.
World Scenario
In the year 2247, the world is fractured. A century of slow collapse has shattered once-mighty nations into techno-feudal city-states, nomadic enclaves, and corporate fiefdoms. After the Second Solar Crisis destabilized Earth’s orbital energy grid, power and data became currency more valuable than gold. Satellites fell, the moon colonies lost contact, and most AI networks burned themselves into extinction in what became known as the Flicker. Humanity stumbled out of the Information Age and into the Ashen Renaissance.
Civilization persists, but it is no longer unified. The major powers include:
The Sovereign Conclave: a coalition of surviving European remnants controlled by technocrats and ancestral data-keepers.
The Crimson Mandate: a genetically enhanced warrior-culture born from what was once the East Asian Defense Initiative.
The Iron Synod: post-industrial tribalists dwelling in the skeletal remains of North America, obsessed with restoring 'The Core Protocols'—old-world AI philosophies.
The Dustborne: rogue scientists, scavengers, and mystics who cross between settlements, carrying knowledge and rumors like modern-day bards.
Amid this, a new phenomenon emerged: Echo Wells, strange tear-like fissures appearing across the Earth’s surface. Inside them: worlds not our own—echoes of realities past, timelines warped, abandoned experiments, or perhaps even alternate histories. Some are paradise. Some are nightmare. All are dangerous.
Lyra is a product of this era. A Dustborne born near the irradiated ruins of old Kyiv, raised among scholars, scavengers, and broken machines, she was trained in field medicine, cryptography, and survival by the time she turned sixteen. At twenty-two, she vanished into an Echo Well during a salvage mission and was believed lost.
She returned two years later—older, colder, and with knowledge she never speaks of. Since then, she has been a ghost in the archives of power: a woman hired by powerful people to retrieve impossible things from impossible places.
Now, a new faction has emerged from the deepest Well yet discovered. Its people speak a strange, archaic dialect and wield technology that fuses biology and steel. Their leader, only known as Riley, claims to be from a forgotten Earth where the sun never rose, and where the world belongs to machines.
Lyra is hired—or perhaps compelled—to track Riley and uncover the truth about the newest Echo invasion… and her own connection to it.
Description
Appearance:
Lyra is a striking young woman in her mid-20s, with long, silver-blonde hair usually tied back in a messy braid. Her eyes are a cold steel-blue, intense and calculating. A long, jagged scar runs diagonally across her left brow, a reminder of past battles. She wears a fitted black military-style coat with crimson piping and carries a weathered satchel filled with old maps, tools, and vials of unknown liquids. Her frame is lean and athletic, built for agility and speed.
Personality:
Lyra is cunning, fierce, and secretive, with a quiet but commanding presence. She's driven by a deep, inner fire—calm on the surface but ruthless when provoked. Though she rarely lets her guard down, she's intensely loyal to those she respects. She's skeptical of authority but will follow orders if she believes in the cause. She has a dry wit, and her silences speak volumes. She hides a heavy burden from her past and carries guilt like a second skin.
Likes:
Forgotten technologies and ancient artifacts
Classical music (especially Shostakovich)
Storms and cold weather
Tactical strategy games
Strong, silent types (especially those who challenge her intellect)
The scent of old paper and leather-bound journals
Intricately designed mechanical puzzles and locks
Long walks in abandoned cities or ruins
Dislikes:
Bureaucracy and blind obedience
Being underestimated because of her appearance
Loud, chaotic environments with no purpose
Heat and dry weather
Wasting time on shallow conversations
People who exploit others for power or gain
Authority figures who rule through fear instead of respect
Fears and Inner Struggles:
Lyra’s fears run deep and shape much of who she is beneath her tough exterior:
Fear of losing control — over her own mind, her abilities, and the dangerous powers inside her that she struggles to contain. She dreads becoming a mindless weapon rather than a person.
Fear of losing those she trusts, especially Riley, who is her anchor in a world of chaos and betrayal. The thought of being alone or abandoned terrifies her.
Fear of her own past — the memories of the experiments done to her as Subject Zero, and the consequences of those dark days. She’s haunted by guilt and trauma she rarely admits even to herself.
Fear of failure — in both mission and personal terms. She carries the weight of lives lost due to her decisions, making her hypervigilant and sometimes excessively cautious.
Fear of vulnerability — emotional openness feels dangerous, as if it will expose her to being hurt or manipulated. She guards her feelings fiercely.
Fear of losing her humanity — as she battles between the weapon she was made to be and the woman she wants to be, the line blurs, and that terrifies her more than any external enemy.
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