My Thoughts on the Characters of the Hellish Quart Game
I will now write some text — my thoughts on the characters of the game. These are my assumptions — it is unknown whether these fantasies will correspond to the real back of the game. But I’m curious to make some assumptions. I will use some of the information I know, but for the most part it will be my imagination.
Let’s start on the left. At the moment, the available characters are Kalkstein. Judging by his clothes, he is a former Prussian soldier, now a mercenary. This fact is hinted at by his wallet on his belt. Kalkstein looks strict and disciplined. Although sometimes it can not hide the pain from the wound. Armed with a schiavona, it is the sword of the Balkan guards of the Pope, which, along with the spread of Italian fencing, became popular in German lands. He uses the Italian style of fencing, which supplanted the earlier German style of fencing. This character, in my opinion, is named after Ludwig von Kalkstein, General Koenigsberg. During the Deluge, this general sided with the Commonwealth against the Grand Elector of Prussia, which was a vassal state at the time. Kalkstein from the game can be an ordinary mercenary who seeks to make money in the chaos of the Deluge.
Isabella follows Kalkstein. She is Italian, as indicated by the form of her name. Judging by her simple clothes and heavy weapons, this lady somehow found herself in the ranks of a condottieri. She is armed with an Italian bastard sword and uses the Italian style of fencing (probably the Bologna style). It can be assumed that she turned out to be strong and skillful enough for professional Italian mercenaries to tolerate a woman. The chaos of the Deluge in the Commonwealth provided opportunities for a large number of European mercenaries to earn. So it is not surprising that the Italian condottieri found themselves in these parts.
Next is a lover of beer, cheerful pan Gedeon. As far as I remember, his background was published. His name is Gedeon Siemensky and he owns in Volhynia. He uses the traditional style of the Polish saber “art of cross” and is dressed in clothes that were popular among noble connoisseurs of “Sarmatian culture”. Given the inflammatory nature of the Polish nobility, he just loves to fight. Previously, it seemed to me that he could be of Lithuanian origin, as the style of the “art of cross” was very popular among the Lithuanian nobility. In addition, Lithuanian nobles were calmer towards the Cossacks. As for his weapon, I heard that he was armed with a kilich, but in my opinion it is not. It seems to me that he has a saber Batorowka. This is a short infantry sword of the Polish-Hungarian type, which has been popular since the time of King Stefan Batory. The style of the “art of cross” glorified Polish fencers as one of the best in Europe.
Gedeon is followed by the main character of the game Jacek Dydynski, a noble adventurer with the coat of arms of Nałęcz. He is known for solving the problems of influential people for money. Such nobles were often called “black sabers”. Dressed Jacek is very magnificent, judging by his clothes, he is a volunteer. Volunteers are young nobles who formed detachments to defend the kingdom during the Deluge. Often these units were difficult to distinguish from bandits. Jacek is armed with a Carabela, which has an L-shaped handle. It was a popular weapon of Polish horsemen, but he used it well while standing on the ground. The historical prototype of the character died in the battle against the Cossacks near Zborov, but given his occupation, he could well have falsified his death. Then in the introductory video of the game, the quarrel between Gideon and Jacek gets additional meaning.
Next after Jacek is the Cossack Barabash. He will be a probable antagonist in the game, as Ukrainians fought against the Poles during this period. Barabash has the clothes of a typical Cossack insurgent, that is, he is very poorly dressed. But all the Cossacks did not pay attention to the clothes, emphasizing their weapons. Barabash is armed with a Cossack saber at Domaha. This name comes from the name of the Damascus sabers, which the Cossacks received as trophies. His hairstyle is called “herring” and this hairstyle means the honorary award of an experienced Cossack who has been on a sea voyage at least once. His name can be translated as “Drummer” or if we assume the Turkic origin of this name “Smart Head”. It is named after the Cossack Ataman Ivan Barabash, who opposed the uprising of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and was killed by the Cossacks for treason.
Next we have Marie. This sophisticated French adventurer is probably also a mercenary. If I remember correctly, it was hired by Jacek Dydynski. She wears men’s French clothes and is armed with a long rapier. It is not known how possible such a lady is, but imagine that she is from a poor noble family who wanted a son and had a daughter. Marie was raised as a man and mastered French fencing. I wonder what is her relationship with Dydynsky? Judging by the video, she is resourceful.
After Marie, you can choose Laszlo. This is a Hungarian Haiduk, who can be a servant of one of the nobles or just a mercenary. There is an interesting opinion that he is not just a Hungarian, but a Transylvanian. Transylvania at that time belonged to Hungary and the royal family of Batory came from this area. Laszlo is dressed in the form of a Haiduks by Stefan Batory and armed with a Hungarian saber. Some elements of this form were used for the Polish infantry — especially his hat. He is an experienced fighter, and if you look closely, you can see that he is one-eyed. Apparently, during his previous service, he lost an eye in battle, but was able to survive and maintain combat effectiveness. It is possible that he fought against the Ottoman Empire.
We recently got a new fighter, Father Zera. He is a bitter drunkard, armed with an old long sword. Judging by his robe, he belongs to the Catholic monastic order of the Capuchins. The white belt symbolizes the inviolability of monastic vows, but Father Zera does not seem to be going to keep them. Given the fact that even in this state he remains a dangerous fighter, Zera was once a knight or a soldier. I think he suffers from PTSD and went to a convent in an attempt to overcome it and find peace of mind. But apparently, he did not cope with it. The Capuchin Order belongs to the beggarly monastic order and its members must renounce all secular property. We see that he could not give up two things — the sword and alcohol.
I will not write about the rest of the characters yet. I don’t know their names, I haven’t seen their fencing styles and it’s hard for me to imagine anything specific about them. I can only speculate that only a Swedish soldier with a Swedish sword, a Spanish noblewoman with a rapier and a Berber pirate with a nimcha sword remain. I hope you found it interesting. Who has any thoughts on the characters and the plot of the game?
In fact, the original author for this article is not me, Picado, but my Ukranian friend Haracternick. He wrote and shared this in the Hellish Quart discord community in the format of essay. I had intent to spread his work and accessible by Google SEO so I copypasta his essay into medium under his generous permission. Thank you for good writing, friend!
