Grigorii the Needle (died December 875) was the Russian dockmaster of Jorvik and a Palatinus of the Order of the Ancients during the late 9th century AD.
Biography[]
Growing up among sewer rats, Grigorii envied those who never had to fight for their meals. Then one day, Audun the Vault rescued him from the gutter, bringing him into the Order of the Ancients and giving him a purpose. Loyal and devoted ever since, Grigorii's life work was to see the Vault's plans fulfilled and the Order's goals achieved.
Eivor's investigation[]
Eivor meeting Grigorii at the docks
He became the dockmaster of Jorvik through the Order's influence, and he was hated by the city's merchants due to his frequent confiscation of their goods in the name of keeping a "clean dock". However, Grigorii secretly forged the city council's permits for the seizure of the goods in order to take them to his warehouse, from which he melted down the silver products into bars or coins, and sold exotic goods on the black market at Coppergate Market to fill the Order's coffers. In 875, much of this funding went to Audun's extravagant plans for the city's Yuletide feast, at which Audun planned to poison the city's elites and help the Red Hand bandit group to take control of the city.
Grigorii met the Viking warrior Eivor shortly after his arrival in York, as Eivor had heard from an Anglo-Saxon boy that he had seen Ljufvina Bjarmarsdottir (Eivor's friend, whom he was looking for) talking with Grigorii. Eivor approached Grigorii shortly after Grigorii ended an argument with an angry merchant, and Grigorii told Eivor that Ljufvina lived in a large manor with flowers in front of it. However, Eivor threatened Grigorii with cutting out his tongue when he requested silver as a reward for his help, and Eivor went on to find that Ljufvina's manor had been looted and Ljufvina and her husband Hjorr Halfsson had been chased out.
Grigorii in his secret chamber
Eivor went on to investigate the Order's role in sending the Red Hand brigands to attack Hjorr and Ljufvina's home, and, after killing Abbess Ingeborg ("the Firebrand"), Eivor investigated "the Needle" at Grigorii's trade depot. Eivor learned that the black marketeers at Coppergate marked their stalls with black ribbons, and, after investigating in the market, Eivor was told to go to a house next to a large Roman statue, where he could meet Eivor. Eivor found a subterranean entrance and followed it into a large chamber where the silver-melting occurred. Eivor killed the Red Hand brigands before confronting Grigorii in his private chamber, although he was separated from Grigorii by metal bars.
Death[]
Grigorii's body
Eivor - now aware of Grigorii's central role in the black market - asked Grigorii if he was one of the Needle's puppets, but Grigorii revealed himself to be "the Needle" and ordered his men Hæming Thangbrandsson and Gærrar Hreidarsson to kill Eivor and then meet him in the market. Eivor outran Grigorii's henchmen and found him in the market, where he killed the merchant Eadsige Forester for stealing from him. Eivor jumped down and attempted to assassinate Grigorii with his hidden blade, but he accidentally landed on one of Grigorii's men and wounded him. Eivor proceeded to get into a fight in the market, killing Grigori and his guards with his battle-axe. In his last words, Grigorii recalled how "the Vault" had shown him kindness and given him a better life when God would not, and Eivor retrieved the stolen council seal from Grigorii's body, helping him to identify Audun as "the Vault".