Historical Note

The last pair of short stories concerns a figure who is important primarily for who he is connected to. Were it not for those connections he might have been rather more important.

Yuri Sveldana's name itself is one of those connections. His first name was given to him by his father; it was his uncle's name. That name is human; his surname is Nieldic and as such follows Nieldic custom. Svel is the name his mother used, mostly when she didn't want to be known. Da, is the Nieldic suffix indicating 'child of' in names it's usually accompanied by either the feminine 'fel' or the masculine 'mul'; the discussion of these terms could take several paragraphs, so I'll spare you. Na is the most critical element though; it's a rare suffix in names and quite unfortunate for anyone who bears it. The use of 'na' in a surname indicates that his mother does not care for him; unwanted or the mother was lost at childbirth, to the Nielda it makes little difference as both indicate the mother's weakness.

His mother would be a delicate subject for his entire life; they never did reconcile. She regretted it her entire life, particularly in her later years. He died without meeting her directly.
His father was the top vampire. The count himself; though much reformed by the time of his son's conception. He spent the later half of his life attempting to convince the vampires, a disorder he himself had begun, to adopt a more peaceful lifestyle. It was a relatively fruitless measure but several covens did accept the so called 'Draculaic conventions'. These conventions revolved around self-control, and interdependence on the local mortal population. Where the population was hostile; animal blood could be substituted for that of Humans, Jaguans, Harakai, Pythans or Ga-Vok. Nieldic and Gravagan blood are unsuitable for vampiric needs for different reasons; Nieldic blood treats Vampires as undead and destroys them with haste while preventing infection, and Gravagan blood is of a completely different elemental build. Count Dracula was by all accounts, a good father and excellent role-model.

Yuri was related to the future rulers of Gasca and Tara. Queen Masne of Tara; despite ruling over the most Lycanthropic world in all history; always considered her cousin(on her father's side) welcome at court and his Nieldic blood(unique among vampires) protected him against the local werewolves. His Aunt Niste, and her heir his Half-cousin Bisnon, were less friendly but more obliged to help. His mother had, as has been said, been responsible for placing her on the Gascan throne in multiple ways.

Yuri and Vestine married after school. It was a happy and fruitful marriage. She chose the mortal life, he was quite distraught at her death and threw himself into his father's work. Most of their children followed him in his work. By his death in 7893(Nieldic standard) his descendants were numerous enough to form a coven of their own. They would take a human variation of their father's name as the name of their coven; Yellsdana.

His most illustrious descendant is Courtney Yellsdana. She was one of the coven's rare daywalkers during the frostbourne war. Following the death of it's ruler/creator, and her defeat of the demon responsible for the war, she became Countess Courtney Demonsbane, the ruler of Stormguarde; a city built onto a series of asteroids and planetoids within the Witch's Nebula. A position she holds to this day.