| Bernard "Bernie" Zeppi | |
| Fictional Character | |
| 1632 series POD: May, 1631 | |
| Appearance(s): | Grantville Gazette VIII 1636: The Kremlin Games 1637: The Volga Rules |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Nationality: | United States of Europe (formerly United States) |
| Date of Birth: | 1978 |
| Parents: | John Bernard Zeppi, Carolyn Zeppi (d. June 30, 1631) |
| Relatives: | Candy Yost and Misty Zeppi (sisters) Matt Zeppi (brother) Kent Bernard Ruffner (nephew) (b.1997) |
| Created by: | Gorg Huff & Paula Goodlett |
Bernie Zeppi was a football player at Grantville High School. It is not clear what he did between graduating and the Ring of Fire, though he was fairly skilled as an auto mechanic. After the RoF, he mostly worked on Grantville's road crews. He was at the Battle of the Crapper and the Battle of Jena. He did well, but the experience left him with a mild case of PTSD. In addition to that, his mother had a medical condition which required a steady supply of medication. The medication became unavailable after the RoF, and she died on the same day as the Battle of the Crapper. Bernie turned to drink, first at the Club 250, then at the Thuringen Gardens, once the Gardens had its own building. Even when he wasn't drunk, he usually had a "buzz", and had managed to largely alienate most of the people he knew, except for Brandy Bates.
In October of 1631, while drinking in the Gardens, he met Vladimir Gorchakov, a Russian prince and spy. Feeling that he had no prospects in Grantville other than watching his life slide downhill and eventually drinking himself to death, Zeppi accepted Vladimir's offer to relocate to Russia, though he insisted on consulting a lawyer and having a contract drawn up. In November, he left with Boris Ivanovich Petrov, and they arrived in Moscow in January of 1632.
In Moscow[]
After meeting and presenting a gift to Tsar Mikhail I, Bernie is sent to work at the Gorchakov's Dacha.
Notes[]
- Information on family is per the 8 February 2012 version of the Grid.
- Dates are per 1636: The Kremlin Games. The original serial in the Grantville Gazette had him leaving in Spring of 1633.