Noktyurn is a monarchical microstate ruled by vampires.
The Tsardom was founded by a russian vampire woman
named Vladlena who became Tsarina
of the island in 1890.

Below there's a detailed info about Vladlena and Noktyurn:
HER LIFE

Vladlena was well born in the year 1529 in Russia;
hers, was a noble and almighty family of feudal public
supervisors (called Boyars) whose jurisdiction was second
in command only after the ruling princes. Her father,
Pëtr Shaklovityi, was considered by the citzenny a selfish,
lunatic and cruel man used to exploit unpriviledged people
being continuosly in search for new dominance means.
His main aim was to make his descent the best,
without yielding to charitable deeds towards the poors.
When he had to punish a manservant, Pëtr always had his
daughter Valdlena up (since she was a little girl) in
order to show her the right way to punish them explaining
her the reasons leading him to that behaviour.

Her Mother, Eudoksia Afanasievna, was no less so.

She taught her to avoid people not having noble births
and also the right way to imbue dread and respect into
their servants. Therefore, Vladlena was educated in this
manner and, when she hit 15, she even insisted with her
parents to be allowed to discipline in person those servants
refusing to obey the Shaklovityi rules and orders.

Rumors has it that one day, while having her lunch, Vladlena
disliked a course so, by using a knife, she cut off one
finger of the maidservant who waited on the course, threatening
her that she would have cut her other fingers and even
the entire hand on every future mistake.

In the 1547 Vladlena hit 18. She was a girl very appraised
by the youngs for her beauty so she got many marriage proposals
from as many other nobles, but her father Pëtr, pushed by the
yearning to see her sat on the russian throne, wanted her to
partake to the selection in Moscow as the future wife of the
Tsar Ivan IV; but she had no opportunity there, because she was
considered too old for the young and, at that time,
only sixteen years old Tsar.

The same year, Vladlena married Dimitr Strešnëvj (the son of a
friend of his father) who gave her two kids: Andrej and,
two years later, Ksenija.

During the subsequent years Vladlena tried to educate her
kids by teaching them the same violent methods to punish
their servants she was used to, but she was repeatedly restrained
by her husband who did find her manners too extreme at the point
that he started to have doubts about her mental health.

In spite of everything, the relationships between Dmitrij
and Vladlena didn&339;t seem to grow dim because Dmitrij
not only used to not lend excessive weight to his wife's queerness
but even used to conceal her oddities strictly inside their
family boundary. In the year 1565, Vladlena asked an elderly
woman over, together with her young assistant.These two person
practised black magic. Rumors, in fact, has it that Vladlena
started to go in for the occultism since she hit 36.

Her husband Dmitrij, for the fear of getting caught having
a wife so easily impeachable of sorcery, went as far as killing
all those persons that could have had the chance to pass around
rumors about his wife even urging his eighteen and sixteen years
old kids to do the same.
But all these preventative measures failed. After some years, and
in some way, the rumors were spread out and the consequences for
Vladlena was not long in coming.

DEATH AND VAMPIRIZATION

In the 1570, a group of “opricniki” (a private army at the service
of Ivan IV) was coming back from a massacre accomplished in Novgrod
where they killed patricians and common people by the command of
the Tsar. They went on along their way towards Moscow ravaging
and wrecking all the proprieties of the federal supervisors and
killing all the nobles. The Vladlena family didn’t make an exception.

In fact, five, among the opricniki soldiers, were payed by the
families, crying out for revenge, of those servants killed by the
Shaklovityi family. These families told the five opricniki that
Vladlena was an “unbeliever harridan”.and that she would have
deserved a special punishment. The five opricniki reached the Vladlena
mansion; they firstly killed Dmitrij and then they captured Vladlena.
At that moment the opricniki weren't able to find the two Vladlena's
kids but, later, they were discovered and killed too.

Vladlena, that in those days was 41 years old, was took away
by the soldier and put on a boat setting for a small, scarcely
inhabited and ill reputed isle.
Along the way the opricniki even tried to rape her, Vladlena
fought hard but a precious little she could do against five
sturdy soldiers.

Once reached their destination, the opricniki dragged her into
an old, forsaken fortress, closing her in a prison cell.
That way, Vladlena was convicted to die alone, from thirst or
starve, inside that cold and dark cell of the deserted stronghold.

No further details are known about her death but, it is instead
well known that since that day, that little island had no peace
because a strange epidemic started to spread out among the islanders.
This so-called “epidemic” consisted in sudden deaths caused by
the appearance of two close and deep holes in the neck, in the wrists
or in other body parts where the blood could be easily leaked out.

These were the events leading the rising of the legend about
the “Sanguinary Boyar” among the islanders. Alot of hearsays about
her death started to spread over:

1) the most common belief was that Vladlena, broken by the anguish,
suicided dealing with Satan to obtain the eternal life;
2) Others maintain that God punished Vladlena for her horrible
life’s conduct and the punishment was the “Vampirism”
3) Another less common talk says that Vladlena had been eventually
found by one of her woman friends practising black magic;
When she managed to find her, Vladlena was at the point of death
so the woman vampirized her to “save” her life. Somebody asserts
that that woman was, in turn, a vampire.

THE RISING OF THE VAMPIRES IN THE ISLAND

The inhabitants of that little island kept dying one after the other
for two centuries, but, as a direct consquence, their deaths also
increased the number of vampires. The legend was no longer a legend
but it had changed into reality although many foreigner coming from afar
kept describing it as a result of the population's illiteracy
and superstition.

The old stronghold, little by little, had been renovated and it
frightfully overlooked the entire isle. The islanders had no doubts:
their land was on the point of being overawed by the vampires.
Nobody had had the bravery to venture towards the old fortress but
one thing they knew for sure: in case, they should have gone there
in the daylight to sink a pole in their hearts.

By now. it was the year 1850 and, on the little isle the anguish
ruled every night. Some persons said that they saw people being
assaulted by pale men and women. Some islanders were bitten while,
some others, to save their human life, were even disposed to become
their servants.
The number of these human vampires' servants increased day after
day, and their main role was to guard the vampires' tombs in
daylight time.
Several islanders even volunteered at being bitten in the hope to
obtain the eternal life, others had no other choice.
Some foreigners arrived there because they were interested in the
existence's mysteries, asked how all that came into being and at
this question the inhabitants always answered with the same name
“Vladlena” but nobody managed to see her, even if, further
informations about Vladlena were gotten by means of an old diary,
presumabily belonging to a decedent manservant named Ivar, who was
also the first human being serving the vampires in that isle.
Here is a part of his diary:
QUOTE

“ (..) Two pale men assaulted me and knocked me down.
It was clear they wanted to maul me, so I started shouting my
head off saying I didn't want to die and that I would have done
anything to have the chance to survive. They did pay no mind to my
pleas so I shouted again: “Take me to Vladlena! Take me to your mistress!
She started the vampirism in this isle! I want to talk with her!
I want help you!”. The two men suddenly stopped and faced up one
another. Then, one of the two said: “Do you want to help us? Well,
stop your floundering then so we can have our snack”, then he tried
again to bite me but the other one suddenly stopped him: “Wait!”,
he said, “He mentioned Vladlena and we are all her creatures, we'd
better not play with fire! If she wanted to feed on this man
exclusively and discovered that we feeded on him before, she could
kill us”; then, pointing at me he added :”you are a lucky human,
Not every vampire knows the name of our ancestor.
Well, at least not yet!”

So, they conducted me inside the old fortress and there I noticed
that, in the meantime, somebody had renovated and revamped it.
It was immense inside but nighttime it became extremely gloomy and
that kind of atmosphere was giving me the shivers.

At a certain point the two vampires stopped in the face of a door.
One of them knocked at that door and went in a big room while the
other creature was holding me back grabbing my neck but eftsoons
they admitted me in, pushing me ahead and then closing the door
behind me.

The new room was large and it seemed an atelier or something like
that to me. It was all well furnished and I wondered from where
all these furniture might have come out. In particular a big and
massive table with a fine high chair having a preciously decorated
seatback, drawn my attention. For a handful minutes the silence
enfolded everything and the only sound I was able to hear was my
frenzied heartbeat, the same heartbeat preventing me to say a thing.

The woman was sat turning her back. She was writing something.
Then, suddenly, just like the sound of a thunder breaking a long
deep silence, she began to speak:
“So what?”
This was the first thing she said.

Her voice had a clear russian inflection and a stern timbre that,
booming against the atelier’s walls, it became even more disquieting.
I moved in a bit and coyly I asked her:
“Are you Vladlena the Boyar?”
“Yes I am”, replied the lady whilst turning around and facing me.
She was a pleasing woman and she looked about forty years old to me.
Her blond hair was bunched up in a refined 'chignon' and her
skin was pale just like the skin of the two vampires who brought
me there. She wore a luxurius attire made with an antique finish
and she was gazing at me with her yellow eyes and an an icy look.
Vladlena continued: “What is your name, mortal, and how do you know
about my past life?”, I replied: “My name is Ivar and I came from
Vadsø, her Godliness, and I know about you because the islanders
have passed down your story from generation to generation.”
“Just like a legend, I guess.”, said Vladlena sniggering. I hanged
my head.
“You are right, your lordship, but I would want to add that
I always believed in this legend they told me since when I was a boy”.

Vladlena standed up and come closer. Her steps was even slower
than my deep heartbeats in that moment.. Whilst approaching she
said: “And what did they tell you?”
I was having a hard time answering her because I was still
unwilling to believe that the person standing in front of me was
the so controversial Vladlena but, eventually, I did find the
cheek to reply.
“..they said that centuries ago, when you were mortal as I am,
you had been shut in a jail inside this fortress and then you have
been changed into the vampire that you started to torment the
inhabitants of this isle, vampirizing some of them and killing
some others.”
Meanwhile, Vladlena was looking me up and down, ringing around me,
then, suddenly I heard her voice coming from behind my back, close
to my left shoulder giving me the creeps:
“And you? You believe in vampires, Ivar?...” “ye.. yes”, I answered.
“...Are you frightened by us, Ivar?...” she asked again, and this
time her voice was coming from behind my right shoulder.
“Yes her Godliness”

My answers seemed to please Vladlena. She put her cold hands on my
neck, slowly sliding them down on my shouders, and then, gradually
down reaching my wirsts, then she turned around me facing
me and she said:
“how warm are your hands. I can even feel the blood pumped
in your veins.”

These words rocked me but I tried to do my best trying to
appear calm.
“Why did you come here, Ivar?”, she kept asking me with a calm,
cold and an ominous voice.
“Because I want to serve you, her Godliness, I want to protect
you during the daytime”, I replied.

But Vladlena sternly said, “And who guarantees me you are not
lying me to have the chance to do something against us during
the day!?” Then she grabbed my neck with one hand and squeezed it
so tight I couldn't breathe. “No, ple..please, Wa..wait, let me
explain her godlin...”.
I didn't even manage to finish my phrase because she pushed me
down the groud and while I was coughing and trying to breathe
again she said: “Explain what!?”

I stuck on my knees in front of her and I said: “Somebody on the
isle already has a plan to creep inside your mansion during the day,
when you are inactive. I want to guard your house and protect you.
You must trust on me before it is too late her godliness.”
“show me who this person is, instead, and I will pay him a
visit personally”, Vladlena replied. “That person is very religious
and his house is well protected...”, I said.

Vladlena seemed peeved about this and it was weird for me
to see her so puzzled. I kept talking: “... With all respect,
I think this could be a sore point for you and your counterparts;
faith is a power greater than yours and....”
“ENOUGH!!”, yelled Vladlena.
“I swear I didn't want to be disrespectful towards you”,
I immediately pointed out. Vladlena got closer and forced me to
stand up by grabbing my neck and lifting me up, then, using an
apparently calm tone she said: “Do you really want to serve me?
Do you want to yield your life to me?”; “Yes I want...”,
I promplty answered, “...But, please, don't hurt me.”

Vladlena didn't consider my answer very much and kept
talking “...your first assignment will be to sneak in the house
of that 'religious' person and kill him. Have you ever killed
somebody, Ivar?”. That question seemed a bit provocative to me
but I told her the truth: “No, her godliness”; “Well, there is
always a first time, then”, she promptly answered, and she bursted
out laughing in a way that gave me the shivers again.

Suddenly I wanted to move out from that room. I had understood
her lunacy and I had lost that crumble of nerve left I was
trying to maintain. So I tried a step back but Vladlena stopped
her laughing and with a sudden jerk she grabbed my wrist
pulling me back. “..where did you want to go? don't you want
to obey your mistress any longer?”
In that moment I was feeling confused and I really didn't know
what to answer her but then my survival instinct prevailed forcing
me to accept everything: “Yes, milady, I want to obey all your
orders.”; Very good, “She said” and she forced my wrist close to
her mouth. I got scared and said: “No, milady, please.
Don't bite me, I don't want to die” but she hushed me. “Asshh!
This is only a blood pact, don't worry mortal!
I'm gonna only sip some.”; then she showed me her sharp canine
teeth and then she bit the veins of my wrist. I felt a shooting
pain and my screams echoed agains the fortress' walls. There
I become a Vladlena's servant forever.

THE NOKTYURN TSARDOM

By the reading of the Ivar's diary, it was clear that Vladlena,
in time, had the intent to redesign and reorganize the vampire
society on the isle so stopping the growing kaos. In fact,
in the 1890 Vladlena gathered up all the vampires of the island
explaining them her intentions.

All those refusing to acknowledge Vladlena as their legitimated
sovereign and their begetter, were banished from the isle or
even eliminated. Since then, Vladlena nominated herself 'tsarina'
of that isle that she named 'Noktyurn'. The most part of the human
Inhabitants were enslaved and one among their first orders was
to not tell the visitors anything about her or about the vampires,
so that those visitors could have been easily transformed into
food for the Noktyurn's vampires population. This was, in fact,
the Vladlena tactic to grant the sustenance of her vampires:
every Noktyurn visitor should have been swindled and sent to
the fortress and there changed into a living blood resource.
Often, also the inhabitants were decieved by the vampires.
They were firstly accepted as servants and then, maybe with
the excuse of some disobedience, they were used as food.

Vampirism was a phaenomenon not only relegated to that small
and lost island, of course.. and some centuries later, vampires
from all over the world got the news about the isle of Noktyurn,
ruled by their counterparts. So, Noktyurn started to prosper and
thrive till this day and age. Even a hierarchy and a chain of
command were established and was founded also a consultation
authority called “Supreme Private Council” where the vampires
having the top rank exchanged advices (and still they are doing it)
with Vladlena offering her their hints in order to improve the isle administration. Today, Noktyurn is an insular monachist micro-state,
inhabited by vampires and enslaved humans, but for the foreigners
it remains a mysterious island.

Blood Bowl was spread in Noktyurn by Count Vasilij Korneyev.
Thanks to him,Blood Bowl became the main sport appreciated in the Tsardom for its violence and brutality.Therefore,Count Vasilij Korneyev founded
the first noktyurnan blood bowl team called "Noktyurn Tsars",
becoming the Chairman.


Baron Dusk is not originary from Noktyurn but he gained the noktyurnan citizenship and owns a castle there. Being a blood bowl fan like Count Vasilij, and owning the beverage company that sponsors the team, he was chosen as co-Owner (sharing 40%) and Head Coach of the Tsars.