The House of Vosti is the deposed imperial dynasty that ruled the continent-spanning Vosti Empire for nearly five centuries. Following the catastrophic “Turnip Winter” famine and the collapse of the empire in 1918, the reigning monarch, Imperator Valerian IV, abdicated the throne and fled the chaotic civil wars consuming the continent.
For over a century, the surviving, direct descendants of the Vosti bloodline have lived in luxurious, highly politicized exile within the Kingdom of Kruhlstutt. Residing at the heavily guarded Blackwood Estate on the outskirts of the capital city of Creuzholz, the Vosti exiles function as permanent, living geopolitical weapons for the Kruhlstutt government. While they possess absolutely no legal authority or military power on the continent of Nastavak, their continued existence serves to endlessly humiliate the authoritarian governments of the Divine Republic of Kresimiria and the Federation of Boskenmark, reminding the successor republics that the “rightful” rulers of their territories reside safely in the West.
The two most prominent living members of the exiled dynasty are the current pretender to the throne, Valerian V, and his highly visible, politically active daughter, Grand Duchess Sofia Vosti.
Valerian V
Valerian V (born 1955) is the current head of the House of Vosti and the titular, unrecognized Imperator of the defunct Vosti Empire. He is the grandson of Valerian IV, the monarch who abdicated in 1918.
Born entirely in exile in Kruhlstutt, Valerian V’s life has been defined by the profound, melancholic unreality of his position. He was raised strictly within the aristocratic circles of the Admiration List (AL), surrounded by aging Kruhlstutt naval officers and neo-imperialists who treated him with the deference owed to a reigning monarch.
However, unlike his ancestors, Valerian V is deeply cynical regarding the prospect of a true imperial restoration. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, during the rapid modernization of the Kruhlstutt economy under Prime Ministers like Sandro Kepler, Valerian largely withdrew from public life. He earned the moniker the “Ghost Emperor” within the Creuzholz tabloids due to his reclusive nature and his refusal to engage with the Kresimirian dissident community or the Sovereign Workers’ League (SWL).
The Boskenmark Dilemma
Valerian V’s most significant political dilemma involves the Federation of Boskenmark. Because the historic imperial capital was Vost, Boskenmark nationalists—particularly those within the Bosken National Alliance (BNA)—occasionally view the Vosti exiles with romanticized nostalgia.
During the 1990s, when Boskenmark was briefly governed by the socialist Jannik Vorreich, hardline BNA generals secretly contacted Valerian V in Creuzholz, offering to fund a right-wing coup in Vost if Valerian would agree to return as a constitutional figurehead to legitimize their military rule. Valerian V categorically refused, famously replying, “I will not trade a golden cage in Kruhlstutt for a bloody one in Vost.” Since then, he has maintained absolute, reclusive silence regarding continental politics, spending his immense stipend on antiquities and historical preservation.
Grand Duchess Sofia Vosti
Grand Duchess Sofia Vosti (born 1988) is the only child of Valerian V and the heir apparent to the defunct imperial throne. In stark contrast to her reclusive father, Sofia is a highly visible, fiercely modern, and aggressively political socialite within the Kingdom of Kruhlstutt.
Educated at elite universities in Creuzholz alongside the heirs of Kruhlstutt tech billionaires and Liberal party politicians, Sofia recognized early on that the House of Vosti’s only true remaining power was its ability to generate media spectacle and diplomatic outrage.
Weaponizing the Bloodline
Sofia frequently coordinates with the Kruhlstutt Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allowing herself to be utilized as a diplomatic provocation. When Kresimirian Chairman Ari Stov or Blue Dawn diplomats visit Creuzholz for trade summits regarding YakaSys semiconductors, the Kruhlstutt government deliberately seats Grand Duchess Sofia at the head table during state banquets.
Her presence is designed to infuriate the Kresimirian delegation. Under Kresimirian law, acknowledging the existence of the Vosti bloodline is tantamount to treason against the Divine Chancellor. By forcing Stov’s diplomats to dine with the “rightful” empress of their land, the Kruhlstutt establishment constantly reminds Sinj of its ultimate inferiority on the global stage.
The Polograd Conspiracy
Sofia is also intimately connected to one of the most bizarre political anomalies in modern Kresimiria. During the early 2000s, the Kresimirian city of Polograd briefly elected an eccentric, monarchist Mayor named Viktor von Kres, representing the fringe Imperial Heritage Party (IHP).
It is widely suspected by the Kresimirian CIA that Sofia Vosti was secretly funneling massive amounts of untraceable Kruhlstutt currency across Lake Vokavovic to fund von Kres’s mayoral campaign. While von Kres was eventually ousted by Kiel Turundzhov in 2008, the “Polograd Conspiracy” proved that Sofia possesses both the financial means and the reckless ambition to actively destabilize Kresimirian domestic politics from the safety of her Kruhlstutt exile.
Today, Sofia is a prominent fixture in Kruhlstutt’s high-society philanthropy. However, she remains under constant, heavy protection by Kruhlstutt state security, as Kresimirian ultra-orthodox terror groups like the Prophet’s Hands view her continued, breathing existence as a literal blasphemy against the Books of Kresimir.