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Oleska, was born just at the time, when the Ukraine as a whole, was under going the convulsions of a country wide rebellion: at the hands of Peter the first of Russia, the vestiges of the Kozak freedoms were being dismantled in the east by the Russians, in the west by the Poles. Both of which were tightening their grip on the Ukrainian lands and making over the formaly free villagers into serfs. In affect, complete slaves to the foreign overlords. A major rebellion erupted in the eastern Ukrain while in the western Ukraine there appeared a movement known as Opryshki.

Opryshki originally meant highway robbers, because that is how the foreign landowners characterized the rebellious bands. But to the common villagers, the Opryshki were champions of their freedom and independence, their heros, their leaders in the largely hopeless struggle for existence. The Opryshki spread in the Carpathians, but also in the lowlands.

Oleska joined the Opryshki, together with his brother, Ivan. Soon he was the leader of his own band of 30-50 leheni (young men) , making daring raids on palaces and castles of the rich foreign landowners, robbing and killing them and their servants and then spreading the acquired wealth to the poor people of the land. In particular, he was known for punishing those landowners and their lackeys who, were notorious for their cruelty towards the villagers. At the complaint of a victim, Dovbush would capture the miscreant and hold a regular trial over the accused. Usually such a trial ended in the execution of the foreign magnate. Any confiscated treasures would go to the victims. Soon Dovbushbecame the greatest hero to the local population and a threat to the foreign aristocracy, who labled him a terrorist, a robber and a brigand.

Oleska met his end due to a vengeful girlfriend by the name of Dzvinka, who, in a fit of jealousy, betrayed him to his enemies. Oleska was captured by the Poles, taken to jail and later quartered publicly on a scaffold in front of the town hall. Parts of his body were hung in parts of the region to scare local peasants and quash the Ukrainian national uprising.

Dzvinka was also taken and put to death for her knowledge of the raids and the partaking of the wealth.

As for I you wonder?

I was the child of that ill fated union between Oleska and the blackhearted Dzvinka. After the deaths of my parents, I was taken from the home of my Grandmother by my Uncle Ivan.

Ivan whisked me away far into the Carpathian Mountains where a few of the remaing Opryshki had fled. There I was raised, abused and beaten, among these men. The beatings by Ivan were severe, as I was a everyday reminder of the traiterous bitch who had betrayed his brother. The abuse worsened as I grew older and became to look more as my mother. There came the time when I became numb to the abuse, detaching myself from my body, my mind. The only pleasures I had where the times I could sneak away into the mountains in the darkness, as Ivan slept, guided by the moonlight.

It was on one of my night time forays that I met the Dark One........

At first he came to me within my dreams,rousing me from my sleep. Dark images swirling of a man, and at times a woman would appear at his side. They would call to me in my dreams, beckoning me to join them. Then the images would fade as the dawn approached.

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