The rightful ruler of the Principality of Novgorod (or the Republic of Novgorod, as it's also known). Vladimir is the son of the great Alexander Nevsky?, and is thus a scion of the House of Rurik, which has ruled the Russian lands for four centuries.

Novgorod's political structure is such that its prince is not an autocratic ruler; Vladimir leads Novgorod in matters of war and defense, and remains in power so long as Novgorod's people — in the person of its boyars (the hereditary landed aristocracy), lesser land-owners, merchants, and trade and craft guilds — judge him to be fit to lead. In the eight years of his rule, the still-young Prince Vladimir has not given these groups any reason for displeasure; on the contrary, he has surrounded himself with advisors from amongst just such worthy folk (Isidor, lately, among them). Depending on one's perspective, this either shows that Vladimir is a wise ruler, attentive to the needs of his people and his land; or, that he has no ambitions or convictions of his own, and is influenced overmuch by men of wealth and power who use him as their tool. (It was pressure from his advisors, for example, that convinced Vladimir to dismiss General Alexei Bodrashov from his service, along with some other veteran warriors who had served his father.)

As Novgorod has, until now, had a peaceful decade, Vladimir can boast of no significant military accomplishments, nor has he distinguished himself in battle. This may change, now that Vladimir has announced war against Kiev (declaring that, as a scion of Rurik, it is only right that he should rule there as well — especially as Kiev is without a prince).

The last two years have seen Vladimir carefully maneuver (or, some say, be maneuvered) to this point. After rebuffing the advances of Archbishop Satyros?, and declining to permit the Orthodox Church to establish a presence in Novgorod, Vladimir forged an alliance with Poland?; he has even negotiated directly with General Bratislaw Wronowicz?, commander of Poland's famed Aerial Hussars? (whom Vladimir has always admired; General Wronowicz's exploits in holy battle against demons made him something of a childhood hero to the prince). (The Cult of Loki's intelligence suggests that Prince Vladimir has specific plans to make use of the Aerial Hussars in combat against some specific threat(s) or target(s).)

The player characters have never dealt directly with Prince Vladimir. The prince, for his part, is firmly convinced that the PCs are Kievan spies and saboteurs, and that the Cult of Loki is a dangerous group of fanatics. This is due largely to the manipulations of Isidor and Rudolf Sikorsky? (see entries for each of those characters for more details), although the PCs did not help their case by violently resisting an attempt by the prince's warriors to apprehend them — an action which resulted in the deaths of several good and loyal citizens of Novgorod, and the PCs' flight from justice.

It is for these reasons that when a special delegation from Cherkessia arrived in Novgorod (immediately following the activation of the Key) to ask Vladimir for a small piece of land in the Valdai Highlands? (land on which the Cult's research base stood), the prince quickly acceded to the request. (Hours later, the research base had been destroyed, carved out of the earth and blasted to rubble by massive application of high-level battle magic.)

The Cult of Loki, through Lev Gurov and General Bodrashov, has some low-ranking agents in, or with access to, Prince Vladimir's court (although none among his close advisors and lieutenants).