Praesidius Yakov Dilisnya

Praesidius Yakov Dilisnya is the founder of the Church of Ezra, penning the First Book of Ezra in 666 BC. He also became its first Praesidius. Yakov was the brother of Camille Dilisnya, whom he convinced to support the Church financially. Although Yakov was a close adviser to Camille, she nonetheless poisoned him along with much of the most of the others in the Dilisnya Family at the funeral of Oleh Fortich.

History

Yakov Dilisnya and his sister Oleska Dilisnya were born to Lev Dilisnya and Elena Almeida in rural Mordent. in 641 BC. and grew up there on the Dilisnya Estate. He was the older brother of Stepan Dilisnya, the older half-brother of Camille Dilisnya and Richtor Dilisnya, the uncle of Anton Boritsi, Ivana Boritsi and Sulo Boritsi, and the great uncle of Oton Boritsi. He was also the uncle of Clifford Dilisnya and Virginia Dilisnya and the great uncle of Michael Ratcliff and Winifred Ratcliff, all werewolves.

In 666 BC, a seizure struke Yakov while he was out horseback riding. When he was found, Yakov was possessed of a fevered delirium where upon he raved like a madman. When Yakov became lucid, the young man proceeded to pen the First Book of Ezra. Over the next few years, he attempted to spread the doctrine of a goddess named Ezra, but he gained few followers. That changed in 684 BC after he immigrated to the recently formed domain of Borca, at once invited by Camille, drawn by the evangelistic opportunity afforded by virgin territory, and tempted by the prospects of being recognized as a noble of Borca. Through mentioning the Church as a potential tool of manipulation, Yakov ironically manipulated Camille, then both Borca's ruler and darklord, to finance the construction of the Great Cathedral. The faith in Ezra spread readily to the workers, then to their families, ultimately across Borca. In the act of building the Great Cathedral, Yakov had at long last built his Church of Ezra.

Yakov took the title Praesidius of the Church of Ezra as its founder and first leader. In 687 BC, he presided over the marriage of Camille to Klaus Boritsi, her second husband. In 695 BC, the the first service was held within the stone skeleton of Great Cathedral, by which time the Church was thriving and had become a force to be reckoned with. A smaller temple had been established in Sturben and the faith had even started to spread into neighboring Dorvinia. In 698 BC, the Dilisnya family gathered for the funeral of Camille's fourth husband, Oleh Fortich. Camille was persuaded that her family had been conspiring to kill. She proceeded to poison to death the nigh entirety of her branch of the Dilisnyas, Yakov included. Subsequently, Borca's black widow raised a statue before the Great Cathedral, which would, however, help precipitate the Church's First Schism.

As a darklord, Camille was cursed to be stabbed in the back by any man she believed in. Ironically, because she never fully trusted Yakov, his loyalty to her was only ended by her act of murder.]

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Ravenloft Third Edition
		Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume IV -p16 Ravenloft Third Edition - pp14,17