January 11, 2015 October 16, 2018

It’s a Small Spiral 1:
Vadima and Tatyana

Pirate101 and Wizard101 both occur in the same universe: The Spiral. As such, both of these games have numerous, often blatant references to each other (references to Pet training and Malistaire in Pirate101, references to Boochbeard and Gandry in Wizard101). Some of the more satisfying references are those that are not blatant, those that require a little theory-craft and speculation. This series will explore such “hidden” connections and theorize on how the worlds of Pirate101 and Wizard101 are connected.

The Story of Castle Darkmoor

Our wizards first touch the world of Darkmoor not through the spiral gates but through a more unorthodox method: an inscription written on a gravestone. Upon arriving we learn some of the history of Castle Darkmoor. Castle Darkmoor is an area ruled by Shane Von Shane, the next in a long line of Von Shanes. The Von Shanes have maintained a grip on the the Castle and the surrounding lands through sheer terror and suppression. A potent duelist, Shane has defeated every challenge to his power including Sir Blackwater: a Paladin of the forces of Light who was defeated, killed, revived and subsequently corrupted into serving Shane.

Shane is a master manipulator as demonstrated by his relationship to Renfield Flygob, who was Sir Blackwater’s squire. According to Sir Blackwater, Renfield convinced him that the Lady Tatyana loved him thus distracting him as he was about to enter the most perilous battle of his life. According to Renfield, Sir Blackwater became obsessed with Lady Tatyana distracting himself at this crucial time. Either way the result is the same: Sir Blackwater was fatally unfocused in his battle against Shane Von Shane resulting in his loss and corruption. Shane then recruited Renfield Flygob as his herald, convincing Flygob that he would be granted immortality if he lured enough souls into Shane’s lair. Shane’s only known failure prior to Malistaire’s intrusion was his inability to woo the Lady Tatyana which leads us to the next part of the story….

The Story of Lady Tatyana

Lady Tatyana is the Spirit of Darkmoor whose real name we discover after freeing her from Lord Shane Von Shane’s control. By her own accounts Lady Tatyana was an innocent soul living her life in Darkmoor. From our knowledge of Darkmoor we know that life there is often brutal and cruel, but Tatyana seemed content with her lot. Then her family moved to the village of Carpathes (a part of the Von Shane’s domain) and there her troubles began.

Lord Shane Von Shane became smitten with the young Lady Tatyana and did all he could to be with her. It is strongly hinted that he kidnapped Lady Tatyana and murdered or drove away the rest of her family. Trapped alone with Lord Shane Von Shane who intended to make their union last forever, Lady Tatyana did the only thing within her power; she committed suicide. Unable to let Lady Tatyana go even in death; Lord Shane Von Shane leashed her spirit to Darkmoor simultaneously removing her memory and transforming her from Lady Tatyana into the fearsome Spirit of Darkmoor.

The Story of Vadima

Vadima is introduced to the player as the Witchdoctor trainer in Pirate101 who currently utilizes her myriad talents for Captain Avery in Skull Island. From the Pirate101 questline we become aware that Vadima is a powerful fortune teller who is able to commune with many spirits, summon and banish the dead and see deep into the future and over long distances. She can also sense when things are amiss whether in the spirit or “real” world.

Vadima has an interesting past that is shrouded in mystery. According to sources she was a student of Pigswick Academy until her expulsion for practicing “dark” magic. However, the part of her history that this post is concerned with is the fact that she is a native of Darkmoor. Born and raised there, no one is certain why exactly she left. What we do know is that she not only left Darkmoor, but went into hiding suggesting that a powerful force from her home world is after her. Using this information and some hints from the stories we can form a pretty interesting tale involving Tatyana and Vadima.

Theorycraft

My theory’s premise is that Vadima and Tatiana are closely related. In fact my theory is that Vadima was Lady Tatyana’s mother.

Evidence

Both hail from Darkmoor — While this on it’s own isn’t very strong evidence it does establish that their relationship is at least possible.
Both have similar appearance and voices — As we can see below Tatyana and Vadima have very similar appearances. While character models aren’t very reliable in Wizard101 (many are reused) it is interesting to note that their skin tone, hair color and even style of dress are also remarkably similar. They also carry the same kind of accent and manner of speech which is further evidence of a common upbringing.

We know that Tatyana’s mother was a Witchdoctor — Vadima is a powerful Witchdoctor.

We know that Tatyana’s family was “destroyed”- According to Tatyana her family was destroyed by Shane Von Shane when he was pursuing her. This fits well with the fact that Vadima left her home world for mysterious reasons and settled in Skull Island to hide from someone or something.

The Theory of Vadima and Tatyana

As a young girl Vadima left her home world of Darkmoor to study abroad at Pigswick Academy. A promising student, Vadima began noticing her affinity for spirit and the dead in general. Her practice of strange magic lead to her expulsion from Pigswick Academy. Vadima returned to Darkmoor where she perfected the use of her own particular brand of magic.

Satisfied with her mastery, Vadima raised her own family giving birth to Tatyana. For reasons unknown, Vadima and her family moved to the Village of Carpathes. The master of that realm Shane Von Shane fell in love with Vadima’s daughter Tatyana, but his love was shunned. Convinced that being with Tatyana was his right Shane von Shane kidnapped her and locked her away in Castle Darkmoor. Unable to bear life trapped with Shane; Tatyana took her own life.

Unable to revive Tatyana and having no great expertise with spirits and the dead, Shane Von Shane tied her Spirit to Darkmoor and went back to her home seeking to force Vadima to commune with and possibly revive Tatyana. However, Vadima having read his intentions and the future with her myriad talents fled Carpathes. Shane in his rage killed the rest of Vadima and Tatyana’s family and Vadima went into hiding eventually seeking refuge at Avery’s Court.