“I have always been their Sword. They raised me to be a weapon. My life was never really my own was it? But I would like to prove them wrong."
—Dmitri, determined to fight back

Dmitri Liiyevich Zolotov, also known as Ballista Gemini, is one of the members of the Darklight Crusaders. His memory was wiped when he was inducted into the The Ballista similarly to his sister Anya, and he has spent at least a century in-and-out of stasis. After the events of The Light of Lunaria, he became Patriarch of the Golden Church.

He used an Ancient Lightwatcher's Crucible as his weapon of choice alongside a Wyvernbone Greatbow.

Biography

Early Life

Dmitri, as he is called now, is a foreign name. The only name he's ever known is Gemini. Any memories he had of his previous life, he does not remember. His very first memory would be of pain, surrounded by the masked golden monks in a circle. The overwhelming light. And Kol-Han's voice.

Patriarch Zolotov, aka Bolt Kol-Han, is the only parental figure Dmitri has ever known. He has refused to give him any knowledge of his previous life, only telling him that his soul was to be dedicated to the light. Taking on the mantle of Ballista Gemini, Dmitri has been given power and authority. Following Ballista Leo into battle, commanding platoons of soldiers, heading into stasis, and seeing those same soldiers ten years older the next day. Dmitri, as the soldiers call him, has much to learn, yet is treated with honor and respect.

In 3E429, Dmitri was sent to Angelroost within the Lunar Kazarin Protectorate alongside Ballista Aries to make sure that the arcane reactor did not fall into rebel Vyzumi hands. His first true mission started in 3E436, when Gemini was woken up from stasis to fight in the Lunar Ashfall War alongside Ballista Leo. He helped put down the rebels on Casthys island, and the soldiers gave him the nickname 'Dmitri'. Three years later in 3E439, Gemini was 22 when the blockade fleet he was stationed on was sunk by Admiral Rakash Zaaba IV during the Battle of Suneb. Gemini was rescued, and sent back to Sergorod to re-enter stasis.

Gemini was woken up from stasis in 3E452 after Ballista Aries was heavily wounded by the Phoenix Nebula during her failed mission to recover Liikal. He replaced Aries for two years as Kol-Han's right-hand in Sergorod, learning from him and being molded directly. He traveled to many of the major cities of the mainland as a voice of the church during this time. In 3E453, he was temporarily stationed in Taltigo within the Lunar Îles Protectorate. There, he and a group of Gold Monks arrested the Chief Cleric of the Temple of Sigmus there for preaching anti-triadist messages. When they arrested him, it caused a a small riot of locals and clerics in the Sand Chapel, but he and the monks quickly put it down. Later, a replacement chief cleric with less extreme views was put in charge. Near the end of 3E454, he was tasked alongside Vortex Ermin Eins to recover a lunar asset that turned out to be a star spawn called Cthaxhu. The monster nearly killed the both of them, but they prevailed and delivered it to Skion Labs. Afterwards, Gemini was put back into stasis once Aries recovered around when he was 24.

Gemini was woken up from stasis in 3E473 and was tasked to assassinate a heretic of the church that was spotted near the Fioskan border, a necromancer devoted to Omegus named Dima. He got his first major solo win after he killed the necromancer, and was put back into stasis later that year around when he turned 25.

Dmitri was woken up from his stasis in 3E498, and sent on a new assignment to the city of Saint Arbalsburg. He was to learn some magic at the Giranyy Mahichnyy Akademiya while serving as a protector and advisor to House Giranenko. However, there he encountered Favian Giranenko, the son of Headmistress-Bolt Ithila. Even though they were likely around the same age, Favian had some radical and free-thinking views that Dmitri had not yet been exposed to.

The Light of Lunaria

In St. Arbalsburg, Dmitri and Favian Giranenko investigated the mysterious death of Captain Zakhar, leading them to a dangerous encounter with an assassin named Zeene in the woods, who was ultimately subdued before the two got captured and taken to Oly's Keep where they met Ilya and Esfir Vasilieva as well as other prisoners such as Jimjar, Ront, and Muna. With the arrival of Favian and Dmitri, the group planned an escape, eventually clashing with the prison’s warden and releasing the daemonfae Alisa in the process. Fleeing into the snowy wilderness, they made their way to Night's End, the headquarters of the Blackreyne Brotherhood, seeking help to defeat the demon they unwittingly freed. There, they met Headhunter Can Vanadiyin as well as Headscribe Otto Albiker, and learned more about Alisa’s past and reality as a Koshmorha, setting them on a quest to gather resources and allies to end her threat once and for all. Dmitri started to slowly accept new perspectives that differed from his lightwatcher teachings.

The party’s journey led them to the town of Voghnov, where they met a blackreyne slayer named Naigha, who led them to an ancient battleground that was considered to be a 'Wound in Divinity'. They eventually defeated the wyvern that she was hired to hunt down, and also found a cursed golden dagger there. At this ruin, Dmitri momentarily spotted a vision of a sun elf with flowing golden hair. With the necessary ingredients and allies in hand, they moved on to Dobuka via cargo train, but ended up running into a blockage in the tunnel created by a stone giant named Gaazon. They helped Gaazon defeat Kazun, another stone giant who had taken over his clan as a cultist of Varki. Gaazon thanked Dmitri and gave him a Giantkin necklace.

Finally in Dobuka, they headed to Greasetown where Esfir lived. In the Rust Bucket, they met another blackreyne hunter, the warforged Viktor, who sought a 'child of the Shadowfell' that Ilya recognised as his brother Zhenya. Despite the mounting dangers, the group prepared for their final confrontation with Alisa in the sewers beneath Dobuka where a few children from the local orphanage had disappeared to. The party faced Alisa in her true form after taking the tea of insomnia and casting private sanctum. With the help of Naigha and Dmitri's divine smite, the party finally overcame the daemonfae, rescuing two surviving children from her grasp and securing a hard-won victory.

After their week of recovery in the Rust Bucket, the group found itself plunged into political and personal turmoil. Ilya’s midnight meeting with his brother Zhenya revealed that he worked with Luka to steal a piece of the 'Dark Scepter'. The next night, Blackreyne hunter Mash arrived alongside Viktor, who accused Ilya and his brother for the murder of Brush, the only witness to Luka's theft. Dmitri took Ilya to Neogathol Prison, where they had a discussion with Viktor. Favian and Esfir were forced by Gordon to work with Mash, and ended up relying on Lady Anwela Neonenko for help. Eventually, Viktor revealed the truth about the Dark Sceptre to the party, and how his secret client had bought the Dark Filial that Luka stole during its journey. He instructed the party to recover it from the Shadowfell, sending Mash alongside them.

As the group ventured toward the Shadowfell, they journeyed to Neosk and the darkening Alphwoods. The mayor of Neosk told the party of the corrupted Father Borys and how the Shadowfell gate opened within the town. The battle with Borys ended with them saving the town, but ending up on the other side of the gate within the Shadowfell. The shadowy realm tested their resolve and abilities, as they faced shadows, mimic creatures, cloud giants (where Dmitri had to give up his Giantkin necklace), and dangerous Shadar-Kai assassins while traveling to the city of Moonruin with two companions named Oshki and Zuria. The party's arrival at Moonruin introduced Luka, who had become the lord of the city. He and Esfir's former teammates had taken over the city using the Dark Filial. The party ended up capturing the orc Vadim, gaining some information from him before talking to the town's dark priest, Viziel. The priest revealed the origin of Moonruin, telling Favian about his dark-worshiping ancestor who had once teleported St. Arbalsburg to the Shadowfell to escape a siege. He was neutral in their fight against Luka, and introduced them to him where the party pretended to turn to Luka's side, especially after noticing the shadow dragon Mynvokun under his command.

He tested them first by sending them on a treasure hunt in an abandoned prison nearby, where they found a strong artifact that would prevent death. Favian decided to create a replica and present Luka with a fake version of the artifact, which somehow worked and they seemingly gained his trust. He tried to test Dmitri further by having him and the party drink a sacred dark liquid, but Dmitri managed to talk his way out of it. Luka and Viziel revealed that the Dark Hunt's invasion is going to happen within the next two years. The party then stole strong artifacts from Luka's treasury, using said artifacts to finally fight him and kill him for good. Esfir ended up killing both Zanasha and Luka in the fight, and Ilya claimed the Dark Filial from Luka. After an argument on what to do and where to take it, the party decided to make a dark pact to prevent betrayal among themselves. With Viziel's help, they bound their souls with that of Mynvokun, the Shadow-Dragon. The Dark Oath made sure that any decisions the party makes had to be voted on, and no one could betray the rest of the party without having Mynvokun consume their souls. They decided to make this pact until the apocalypse of the Dark Hunt is prevented.

They decided to contact Viera Blackreyne, the Archhuntress of the Blackreyne Brotherhood. They warned her of the impending Dark Hunt invasion as well as Viktor's involvement, and she told them to meet her at her mansion in Taltigo. They plane shifted to the Lunar Sea. Dmitri realized that his actions in Taltigo many decades prior still had an impact as people seemed to be scared of him. Meeting Viera in her mansion there, she revealed to them Viktor's history and how she distrusted him. She wouldn't mind if he were to die, even. She told them to ask Lady Lyn for help in locating whoever ordered the Filial to be shipped to them, but warned them not to owe her a favor. Lady Lyn agreed to help the party, and in return they had to travel to Torishu and kill Pirate Waterlord Ozran for her. She sent her daughter Myranda with them on the small ship called The Disgraced Eel.

As the party reached Torishu, they fought off a Shinobi ambush and hid at an onsen. Dmitri had a dream in which he saw the previous Ballista Gemini told him "Find Her". The party then defeated the Waterlord Ozran in combat, and asked his corpse all the information he had about dark artifacts. They learned that whoever had ordered the Filial's shipment already owned one piece of the scepter that they had gotten from Skion. They also learned of a buried treasure Ozran hid away that he had stolen from Xaniv the Whisperer. They uncovered Xaniv's Book of Vile Darkness, and then decided to bury it again after only learning a few spells from the evil book. They said their goodbyes to Myranda at Taltigo, and Esfir named the party 'the Darklight Crusaders'.

Lyn revealed to them that the shipment was meant to be delivered to Akhlezh and was ordered by Ballista Libra of the Golden Church, who was in Kalkipol at the moment. The party discussed their options and decided to have Dmitri sneak into the church to gather intel. Upon making it to Kalkipol however, they were immediately caught and apprehended by Ballista Virgo, who took the Dark Filial from Ilya momentarily. Libra chastized Gemini, and then cut off Dmitri's right hand. Virgo then left, releasing the party from their bounds and dropping the Filial. The party then quickly escaped the Church by breaking a window and disappearing into the dark alleys, having picked the Filial back up. They took shelter in an abandoned warehouse, where they reflected on the true apocalyptic plans of both the light and the dark. Dmitri decided to truly fight against the Golden Church now. The party went to the Sabatcieni warehouse in the city where Ilya met his sister Anya. Favian immediately recognised her as looking extremely similar to Dmitri. After a lot of speculation into their lack of memories, the party came to the conclusion that Anya is likely Dmitri's twin sister, separated through time via the Feywild's time dilation. They were then ambushed by Gold Monks as well as a Gold Inquisitor, leading them to seek out an alliance with House Koporev.

They ended up meeting Bolt Matros Koporeva, and revealed everything to her including the Dark Filial. She hired them as official Kuprum Explorers, and promised to hide the Filial somewhere safe. She then sent them to Skion Labs in Gematirsk to steal information from Ballista Aquarius aka Dr. A under the guise of delivering the Soul-Sacrificial Dagger. She gave them one of her personal airships - the Sokol - as well as one of her personal trusted men, Zurikov. In Gematirsk, they infiltrated Dr A's office within Skion Labs and uncovered information about important people of note as well as communication between him and Kol-Han that revealed the Ballistas' apocalyptic plan. After a fight with Dr. A and Vortex Viktoria Vier, they escaped Gematisk on the Sokol and made their way back to St. Arbalsburg.

The party had to explain and lie to Bolt Ithila Giranenko, convincing her that they're working for the church in addition to Matros. Dmitri convinced Ithila that Favian, if he saves the world, would only elevate House Giranenko. Ithila was very suspicious and critical of Ilya, especially after they revealed that he was a dark-worshiper who turned against the dark. The party then discussed what to do, and ended up deciding to head to Terros through Dobuka to look for Baron Gideon Huxley, stopping over at the Sabatcieni near Dobuka first. The party departed with Zurikov and arrived at Boetsk for a short respite where they were attacked by Baba Nadira and then some Dark Hunt Bleed Killers. The party met Gordon and Anya in the Rust Bucket in Dobuka, and then convinced Anya to travel with them for a while for her safety. Over the next few days, they headed towards the terrosi city of Yawrôn to find Gideon after learning from Ingrid that Gideon was in his hometown. At the DoD they finally met Dame Ingrid Rennwald. As the Darklight Crusaders explained the situation to her and the guildmaster, they agreed to help them out in any way that they can.

The next morning, Ingrid led them towards the Mountainfey Ruins, where they finally met Baron Gideon Huxley. After he was briefed on the entire situation, he realized that Anya and Dmitri are linked to the fey in some way. He tried to unlock their memories, returning to them snippets of memories including their idyllic life in a kalashtar village within the feywild, the arrival of Dark Hunters, and their parents running towards a portal to the material plane. Their mother and Dmitri ended up going first, ending up in Lunaria and heading to the Golden Church. There, Kol-Han killed their mother and brainwashed Dmitri. Their father never made it to the portal, and Anya ended up nearly a hundred years removed from Dmitri. The hunters caught her and delivered her to Babaoga, who then took her under her wing. After this revelation, Dmitri had an angry reaction and is calmed down by his friends. Anya however transformed into her Nightmare Spirit, lashing out at everyone and reflecting magic as she did so. As they finally calmed her down, she vowed to kill Babaoga and anyone else who has wronged her. They then also revealed that Viera was missing, leading to the party heading to Night's End to deal with Viktor once and for all. Dmitri helped Mash and the other Blackreynes fight against Viktor and his supporters, and Dmitri was eventually able to blind Viktor, which allowed Mash to get a final hit in causing him to shatter into many pieces. Can promised that Night's End is going to be a friendly base of operations for the Darklight Crusaders.

After that, the Darklight Crusaders had a meeting with Can, Otto, Zhalimov, Zurikov, as well as a new diplomat- Raziel of Alsiorion, the Keeper of Secrets. As they told them mostly everything, Raziel asked the party about their plans and their convictions, before revealing that the oracles of Alsorion have determined that the Dark Hunt would attack two years from now, on the Varkosi Arcanos of 3E500. He then revealed to them the location of Markal Zuriel as well as his history, and told them that he awaits them in the heavenly plane of Qaydar. The party then spent many 'months' within the heavenly planes making their way to Markal. In Saturia, Dmitri had a vision that he interpreted as him meeting the soul of his mother and finally getting some closure. When they finally met him, they were attacked by Ballista Aries who they finally ended up killing for good. They then stepped back through her portal and appeared in Sergorod, realizing that 2 years had passed and that they only had one week until Varkosi Arcanos.

They met Zurikov and Bolt Matros who explained that a Lunar Council meeting was happening at the Table, and this would be the best time for them to make their case to the bolts that show up as well as Serebryanitsa Strela. Dmitri also met Ballista Leo again. The party revealed almost everything to the Bolts from the Church's plan to let the world end, Dr. A's letter, as well as what they did to Dmitri. Kol-Han almost convinced the room to be against the party, but Favian's pleas to Na-Bolt Anwela Neonenko worked and she ended up supporting them. Kol-Han attacked each of their characters, but in the end Serebryanitsa Strela ruled to be neutral in this affair. After the successful meeting, the party contacted Anya who told them that Libra and the Church were attacking the Sabatcieni at Rtutiv. They immediately teleported there and killed Ballista Capricorn. They encountered Ballista Libra who killed Anya, challenging Dmitri to defeat him in under a minute and cast revivify on her. The fight was incredibly difficult, but eventually Dmitri ended up killing Libra with Ilya and Favian's help. They revived Anya, who explained that the three Babas had locked themselves away for months conducting a ritual as well as that Zhenya was now much stronger and essentially leading the Sabatcieni into war.

Ilya and the party finally met Zhenya within the Sabbath, where Zhenya yelled at Ilya for joining the ‘light’. Ilya managed to convince most of the Sabbath that the Dark Hunt would be bad for everyone and that Zhenya is lost. After a decisive fight, Ilya managed to break Zhenya’s hexed strength and bring him down. There, in front of the entire Sabbath, he then executed his brother whose body fell into the ravine de-powered. Finally, Ilya was essentially the leader of the Sabbath at least while the Babas were locked away. Afterwards, Esfir and the entire party had a shared vision of the apocalyptic future. Esfir’s patron entity 'Gigarion' then asked each of them if they were willing to give up their lives to make things better, and sacrifice their futures beyond just killing the Babas and Kol-Han. They all vowed to do what they must: Dmitri vowed to take over the Ballista and reform it, becoming a herald of the light. Now that their bonds of trust were unbreakable, Mynvokun’s soul ended their soul-pact prematurely, now that it was no longer needed. 

The party had a fruitful discussion with Bolt Strakh in Rtutiv, but on their way out of the Merkuriyev Fortress, a magical trap tried to pull in Favian. Mash realized this in time and the party was able to follow Favian to the GIMA Bolt’s office, where Ithila and Demyan held Favian paralysed. Ithila refused to listen to reason, and even tried to kill Favian with Power Word Kill which was prevented by Dmitri. She let out their Giranium Golem on the rest of the party, and Favian and Dmitri together managed to convince Demyan to help them instead. The party neutralized Ithila to the best of their ability and took both her and the golem down. Favian made her listen to him, and she reluctantly named him Na-Bolt.

At midnight when Varkosi Arcanos began, the Dark Hunt invaded Abmarah. The barrier around Babaoga’s hut disappeared, and the party ventured into her demiplane where they finally faced off against Baba Ogafya, Baba Nadira, and Baba Imka. Despite killing the witches, their coven’s magic kept reviving them. Favian managed to disintegrate Baba Nadira before she could pull off Mash’s face, and then they managed to kill Baba Ogafya and Baba Imka together. Ilya had a touching farewell with Imka before she disappeared. The party immediately boarded the Sokol above in the Kosmosi Mountains, and rested while Zurikov piloted them to Sergorod. In Dmitri’s dream, he talked to the previous Gemini as well as Ballista Vae who invaded his dream to warn him about Ballista Leo. The crusaders reached Sergorod by sunrise, and rushed up towards the Golden Church as the Dark Hunt waged war against Lunaria and the world as a whole above them. Ballista Leo stopped them, but Markal immediately engaged the fight with the other angel. The party managed to get past Leo’s chronomancy and kill him, before rushing up to meet Kol-Han before his pipe organ. He took them high up into the sky above the city, to a cloudy altar. Chastising Gemini and vowing to destroy them, Kol-Han casted a meteor swarm and almost ended the party at the beginning of the fight. Favian’s simulacrum joined this final fight as well. The fight against the Patriarch was incredibly dire and the party almost did not make it as Kol-Han called the Lightclaw to him. Markal kept the lightclaw from reaching Kol-Han, when Dmitri finally ended him. Kol-Han died unable to reach Lightclaw, gasping for it until his final moment.

Dmitri then attuned to the Lightclaw while Ilya attuned to the now-complete Dark Sceptre. Together, the two resisted the calls to do evil and become gods. Ilya banished the Dark Hunt forever to the Shadowfell, and Dmitri let chaos into the world to end this era of order. However, outside their trance Favian, Mash, and Esfir realized that this was killing the two. They decided to let the two artifacts destroy each other, and using all their magic they forced the artifacts to touch and implode. Dmitri and Ilya were freed, as ripples in the fabric of reality brought the cosmos to a perfect balance. The party went on to all become leaders, as Favian got more responsibilities as Na-Bolt, Dmitri forced the rest of the Ballista and the Golden Church to reform as their new leader, Ilya settled the Sabbath onto a new surface town, Mash became the new Headhunter after Can’s retirement and reconciled with his family, and Esfir became a balance between all of them.

After the Campaign

In the days following Varkosi Arcanos, Dmitri awakened all the remaining seven Ballistas and offered them and the other members of the church to either leave or reform. He became the new Patriarch of the Golden Church, and helped steer the light into the right direction. He also helped Favian politically while also helping Ilya set up a legitimate town for the Sabbath.

Timeline

• 3E384 - Gemini is presumably born in this year in a Dreamborn village within the Feywild.

• 3E400 - His family escapes their village to the material plane when their village is attacked by Dark Hunters. His mother and Gemini end up in Sergorod, and go to the Golden Church where Kol-Han kills his mother. Gemini's memory is wiped, and he is made into a Ballista by Patriarch Kol-Han when he is around 16 years old.

• 3E403 - Around when he is 19, his training is deemed 'complete', and he is put into stasis.

• 3E429 - Gemini is woken up from stasis and sent to the Kazarin Protectorate alongside Ballista Aries to make sure the arcane reactor in Angelroost does not fall into rebel Vyzum hands during the Vyzumi Rebellion against the Kasaaqi Dynasty.

• 3E436 - Gemini is woken up from stasis to fight in the Lunar Ashfall War alongside Ballista Leo, and helps put down the rebels on Casthys island. The soldiers give him the nickname 'Dmitri'.

• 3E439 - After spending 3 years fighting in the islands, Gemini is 22 when the blockade fleet he was stationed on is sunk by Admiral Rakash Zaaba IV during the Battle of Suneb. He is rescued, and sent back to Sergorod to re-enter stasis.

• 3E452 - Gemini is woken up from stasis after Ballista Aries was heavily wounded by the Phoenix Nebula during her failed mission to recover Liikal. He replaces Aries for two years as Kol-Han's right-hand in Sergorod, learning from him and being molded directly. He travels to many of the major cities of the mainland as a voice of the church during this time.

• 3E453 - Dmitri was temporarily stationed in Taltigo in the Lunar Îles Protectorate. There, he and a group of Gold Monks arrested the Chief Cleric of the Temple of Sigmus for preaching anti-triadist messages. They ended up putting down a small riot caused by the arrest.

• 3E454 - Near the end of the year, he is tasked alongside Vortex Ermin Eins to recover a lunar asset that turns out to be a star spawn called Cthaxhu. The monster nearly kills the both of them, but they prevail and deliver it to Skion Labs. Afterwards, Gemini is put back into stasis once Aries recovers, around when he is 24.

• 3E473 - Gemini is woken up from stasis and is tasked to assassinate a heretic of the church that was spotted near the Fioskan border, a necromancer devoted to Omegus named Dima. He gets his first major solo win after he kills the necromancer, and is put back into stasis later that year around when he is 25.

• 3E498 - Gemini is woken up from stasis and sent to St. Arbalsburg to study at GIMA and serve House Giranenko. The events of the The Light of Lunaria begin, with Favian and Dmitri leaving the city and getting arrested by the Crimsons.

• 3E500 - The Darklight Crusaders return to Lunaria after spending two years in the Heavens, leading into the ending of The Light of Lunaria.

Gallery

Dmitri during Ch. 1 & 2 of TLoL (Credit: Daibik)

Dmitri activating his Aasimar Transformation (Credit: Daibik)

Dmitri's Sunblade Concept (Credit: Daibik)

Dmitri during Ch. 3 & 4 of TLoL (Credit: Daibik)

Dmitri Gyate (Credit: Daibik)

The Ancient Lightwatcher's Crucible claimed by Dmitri (Credit: Daibik)

Dmitri during Ch. 5 of TLoL (Credit: Daibik)

Pixel Art Evolution (Credit: Daibik)

Dmitri's First Sword (Credit: Daibik)