.✦ ݁˖ Mitya

Mitya is a Snezhnayan researcher and energy specialist who works for the Royal Energy Institute and spends much of his time at the Oruzheynaya Palata, where he is involved in important energy research connected to Snezhnaya’s military projects. He is highly intelligent and knowledgeable about energy-related technology, but he is also rather eccentric and easily distracted, especially by theater; he often sneaks away from work to watch performances because he genuinely finds them inspiring for his research, which leads Valeriy to repeatedly go looking for him. Mitya wears a mysterious hand-shaped scarf that has its own consciousness and can move independently, acting almost like a guardian and even stopping him when he is about to accidentally reveal classified information. Because of his position, Mitya has access to extremely sensitive information, making him an important figure within Snezhnaya’s military and scientific operations. He is also connected to the research surrounding Kresnik’s energy and Stellar technology, which places him close to some of Snezhnaya’s most important scientific developments.

Snezhnaya is heavily centered around energy, survival, scientific research, and the systems that keep civilization functioning. Snezhnaya is an extremely cold land where human civilization depends on artificial sources of heat, particularly the Kresnik's Torches. These enormous installations use Kresnik energy/crystals and are spread throughout the nation, allowing settlements to remain habitable despite the freezing environment. The Royal Energy Commission/Institute oversees research and the operation of this energy system, making scientists like Mitya important to the survival of the country. Mitya works at the Oruzheynaya Palata, the Fatui's weapon-production facility, showing how closely Snezhnaya's scientific research is connected to its military industry.

Snezhnayan society in Mitya's world therefore isn't simply a snowy Russian-inspired kingdom—it is a civilization that has had to build technology around survival. Cities developed around sources of heat, while Kresnik's Torches became essential infrastructure rather than ordinary machines; if one fails, the surrounding population can be exposed to the extreme cold. The Kresnik system was established under the Belyi Tsar, and the Royal Energy Commission was subsequently created to regulate and maintain the Torches across Snezhnaya.

This also explains why science and energy research are so important to Mitya's world. Researchers aren't merely inventing convenient technology—they are maintaining the systems that allow people to live in Snezhnaya at all. At the same time, scientific advancement is intertwined with the Fatui's military-industrial structure, with places such as the Oruzheynaya Palata combining research and production. Mitya sits directly in the middle of this system: he's an energy researcher, has access to classified information, and is involved with research important enough that his strange scarf sometimes prevents him from accidentally revealing it.

And Snezhnaya isn't only laboratories and machinery. Mitya's story shows that there is a normal cultural life underneath all this survival infrastructure: theaters such as the Korolevsky Theater are popular enough that Mitya repeatedly abandons his work to watch performances, while the Fatui, researchers, workers, and ordinary citizens all coexist within the same highly organized society. That contrast—a harsh frozen environment requiring advanced technology to survive, alongside art, entertainment, research, politics, and ordinary daily life—is a big part of the world-building surrounding Mitya.

The Korolevskiy Theater is one of the important cultural places in Snezhnaya, serving as a center for theater, ballet, music, and performances. It is especially associated with performers such as Odette and Vodyanitsa, and it is also one of Mitya's favorite places to visit. Although Mitya is supposed to spend his time researching, he frequently goes to the theater under the excuse that performances help him clear his mind or inspire his research. This is also where Valeriy often finds him and attempts to bring him back to his duties. The theater therefore represents something different from Snezhnaya's scientific and military institutions: it is a place where people gather for art, entertainment, friendship, and everyday life.

Odette is one of the theater's principal ballerinas. She is disciplined, serious, and emotionally reserved, putting enormous effort into her performances and training. Despite her cold demeanor, she is close to Mitya, Vodyanitsa, and Alyosha. Vodyanitsa is a bright and expressive performer associated with the theater, known for her beautiful singing and more energetic personality; she is close to the same group but tends to clash playfully with Odette. Alyosha, while not primarily a theater performer, is a kind and practical hunter who sometimes helps around the theater and is also close to the trio.

The Podvorye Restaurant is another recurring location in Mitya's circle. Unlike the theater, which represents Snezhnaya's artistic life, Podvorye functions more as a social and everyday meeting place, where characters can eat, talk, exchange information, and spend time together. It appears during story events involving Mitya, Vodyanitsa, Alyosha, and others, making it one of the places where the characters' relationships outside their official occupations become more visible.

The characters around Mitya:

Mitya — An intelligent, curious, and somewhat eccentric researcher associated with Snezhnaya's energy research. He is particularly fond of the theater and has a tendency to get distracted by whatever interests him.

Valeriy — A calm, polite, and highly dutiful Fatui member who is closely associated with Mitya. He frequently has the unenviable task of finding Mitya when the researcher wanders off to the theater.

Vodyanitsa — A lively theater performer, a Primma Donna with a mysterious side. She is associated with Hydro and is described as a water spirit, while maintaining close friendships with Mitya, Odette, and Alyosha.

Odette — A highly disciplined principal ballerina who is quiet, blunt, and intensely devoted to ballet. She has a close friendship with the group despite her reserved personality.

Alyosha — A calm, kind-hearted hunter from Dew Village who is willing to help others. He is practical rather than overly idealistic and is close to Mitya, Odette, and Vodyanitsa.

The Tsaritsa — Snezhnaya's Cryo Archon and the nation's highest authority. Her rule and ambitions form the larger political backdrop against which Mitya and the other Snezhnayan characters live and work.

Pierro — The Director of the Fatui and its first Harbinger, whose authority places him near the very top of Snezhnaya's political and military structure. He represents the much larger Fatui system surrounding characters such as Mitya and Valeriy.

Basically, the two locations show two sides of Mitya's Snezhnaya: the Korolevskiy Theater is where science-minded Mitya escapes into art and where his friendships naturally develop, while Podvorye Restaurant is a more ordinary gathering place where these characters can interact outside their official roles.

Mitya has a youthful, delicate appearance that fits his role as a Snezhnayan scientist. He has short, slightly messy light-silver/light-blue hair with a noticeable cowlick, along with pale purple eyes and a calm, intelligent gaze. His outfit is formal and academic-looking, consisting of a white shirt, dark trousers, and a blue-and-black outer coat decorated with elegant gold accents. Around his neck is his distinctive light-blue and purple hand-shaped scarf, which is actually sentient and can move independently. He also wears a prominent golden scientific-looking ornament around his chest, resembling an atom, astrolabe, or celestial diagram, reinforcing his identity as an energy researcher. Overall, his design combines a refined Snezhnayan appearance with messy, slightly careless details that make him look like a brilliant scientist who is more concerned with his thoughts and research than keeping himself perfectly presentable.

Ronova is the Shade of Death, one of the four Shades who exist above the ordinary gods of Teyvat. In Mitya's story, she becomes directly connected to him because he is working on scientific research that could push Snezhnaya's technology beyond a limit that the powers governing the world do not want humanity to cross. Mitya is affected by the Curse of Death, which activates when his research reaches a sufficiently dangerous breakthrough. The curse doesn't simply mean that Ronova personally decides, “I want Mitya dead” every time he thinks; rather, it functions as a restriction placed upon him and his research.

The terrifying part is that Mitya's breakthrough can trigger the curse for the people around him as well. During the Korolevskiy Theater incident, Mitya suddenly has an important realization connected to his research, and the curse activates. The people nearby collapse, appearing to die, while Mitya himself becomes caught in the same phenomenon. This is also why similar incidents had already happened around the researchers working with him—their sudden collapses weren't ordinary accidents.

The theater incident becomes especially strange because its ley lines had previously been altered by angels, meaning the souls of people affected by the curse don't behave normally after death. This creates the bizarre situation in which the characters become trapped between life and death, turning the theater into something resembling a supernatural "murder mystery." Ronova takes advantage of this situation to deal with the souls that had become trapped there.

And Ronova is actively watching Mitya. She appears in the story while investigating the situation, and Mitya eventually realizes that the strange deaths are connected to the curse placed upon him. What's particularly interesting is that Mitya doesn't react to Ronova like an ordinary terrified human would—he approaches the problem almost like a scientific puzzle, trying to understand the rules and limitations of Death itself.

*Mitya isn't simply being hunted by a powerful god. His own curiosity and intelligence can literally become the trigger that brings Death down upon everyone around him.

The current Snezhnaya lore establishes that the country has a large railway network because its extreme cold makes ordinary travel difficult. Snezhnograd’s Central Station is described as the major railway hub, and trains connect different settlements across Snezhnaya.

The currently known stations include:

Sretomorozsk — Dewdrop Station — a relatively quiet station in southwestern Snezhnaya, with travelers coming through from Nod-Krai.

Rankova Zorya — Dawn Station — formerly a nearly abandoned station that is still being maintained.

Snezhnograd — Central Station — the largest railway station in Snezhnaya and the main transportation hub of the capital.

Svetloledovka — Cryoice Town Station — located beneath the frozen peaks and used by workers traveling between Cryoice Town and Snezhnograd.

Morepesok — a railway station serving the coastal fishing town.

Pale Crown Palace — a remote waystation in the snow-covered northern lands.