Katerina Saburova

Pathologic 2=

Katerina Saburova is the wife of Alexander Saburov and the Town's Dream Mistress.

Description
"By status, she’s the chief ruler and prophetess; in reality, she’s an impostor, a person in a position she shouldn’t be in. She dreams of having a child and is tormented by her barrenness. Morphine has put her at death’s door. In her intrusive visions, an alraune/nagual manifests itself to her—the Rat Prophet, who bogs her that much deeper in melancholy and lack of faith. She genuinely wants to do good for the town and take care of it in a real way, “like Nina and Victoria”. Alexander and she are the most loving couple among our characters, earning respect and admiration for their mutual feeling not only surviving the hell they’d been through but getting stronger along the way."

- From the game's design documents

Katerina is one of the three Mistresses in town, and remains the oldest one after the passing of Nina Kaina and Victoria Olgimskaya. She is married to Alexander Saburov. In the recent years, Katerina has developed a morphine addiction, having even been the cause for her husband to briefly outlaw tourniquets in an attempt to curb her addiction. She, alongside her husband, are a third of The Ruling Families in The Town.

Haruspex Route
"My path was called "The Rat Prophet." I didn't know that it was he who whispered to me in dreams. Until the very end, I believed it was the Earth."

Though acknowledged as one of the town's Mistresses, Katerina's vision are often doubted due to their dubious nature, muddled with vague language and meandering truths. They cause her great pain and often several reflections appear within her Wing in the Rod decrying her painful inner thoughts. Katerina believes that she is a failure as she is barren, childless and unable to protect the Town.

Following the outbreak of epidemic the Townsfolk try to find the cause of the Sand Plague. A mob blames the Saburovs after a rumour begins that they are housing a young carrier. Should the Saburovs gain the Haruspex's help in investigating it is discovered by him that while the Saburovs are not the cause of the outbreak, the Rat Prophet influences Katerina's visions and feeds her lies or, at the very least, half truths.

On Day 8, she can be found locked inside a house in the infected Marrow district. She'll say townspeople did this as a trial for her, but refuses to be helped out of it, saying she is waiting for someone.

In the Diurnal Ending, Katerina will lose her place as a Mistress, just as her husband Alexander Saburov loses his power as a Governor. Following the Diurnal Ending, Katerina and Alexander adopt Grace as their new daughter. Though Grace may be living with Peter Stamatin, both declare that he is unfit to be her father. If both the Saburovs are dead, Grace claims their spirits adopt her.

In the Nocturnal Ending, Katerina can be found fleeing the Town alongside many of the Utopians and Humbles.

Pathologic: The Marble Nest
"Someone convinced Katerina Saburova, a local ruler, that she must save the Town. She promptly went across the river. And we had just evacuated her, too..."

Katerina is still alive during the events of Pathologic: The Marble Nest: she is stated to have gone across the river.

Spoken Dialogue

 * → See Katerina Saburova/Spoken Dialogue

Description
"Appearance: A tall woman with a classy posture. She has very long straight dark hair. Katerina posses the mores of a predator, her movements are slow but alert.

''Personality: Katerina is more of “a ruler” than “a ruler's wife”, but she can skillfully combine both. Smart, patient, a good listener. She makes a perfect match for her husband even though their marriage is built on affinity and respect rather than love. Katerina is a good judge of character, she is able to firmly say “no”. The Humble ideology occurred to her naturally, influenced by the inner sense of discomfort coming as the result of complete loss of moral bearings. After the deaths of Nina Kaina, the Black Mistress, and Victoria Olgimskaya, the White Mistress, Katerina was left as the only Mistress of the town. Still very young, Katerina had a hard time choosing sides. Previously, she served as independent arbiter to opposition of the two Mistresses, then heartily replaced the infernal Nina. After Victoria’s death, she was left on her own and rushed to become the White Mistress, but it was too late. The evil seeds grew strong roots in her soul. Her games with the poltergeist called the Rat Prophet, who appeared to her as both her inner voice and a character of prophetic dreams, went too far. The poor woman who wanted to become a Mistress so badly was deceived. The Rat Prophet indoctrinated her with the idea that the Town’s demise is inevitable and fighting it would be as pointless as resisting the coming of winter."

- From original Pathologic character concepts ''

Katerina is much weaker than the forces of the deceased Mistresses. Unlike them, she is neither dark nor light, torn between two principles. Her words are vague; they cannot be expressed clearly, since, according to her, details distort the essential meaning and devalue what is said. Many citizens doubt the truth of her prophecies, in part due to her morphine addiction.

However, despite Katerina's dubious ability, some citizens trust her visions. According to Capella, the visions of Katerina are true in general, but the little things are often distorted. Katerina herself knows this and thus refuses to clearly and unequivocally formulate her prophecies.

At night, she is visited by the strange Rat Prophet, who whispers to her and influences her prophecies.

Background
Her position as a Mistress was held alongside Nina Kaina and Victoria Olgimskaya, the Mistresses of Dark and Light respectively. While both were alive, she occupied an intermediate position. After the death of Nina she began to play the role of Mistress of the Dark, but after Victoria's death could not revert to the light.

Portrait Quotes
"A queen turned witch. That's what you get for dabbling with the spirits of the night. After Nina died, Katerina shamelessly rushed to take the place of the Dark Mistress; the burden of caring for the town was Victoria's, so petty games were still allowed. She got carried away though... Rumor has it, she needs daily morphine injections and welcomes cold-skinned visitors in her alcove at night..."

- Aspity's take on her "Katerina took a hard hit and managed to pull through. Who could survive between Nina's rock and Victoria's hard place? That's how the town worked back then—upon this rock Nina was forging it, while Victoria maintained a firm stance to keep it in check; Katerina was the one to ensure the balance was in place. I also admire how much Alexander and she love each other. They could have been the grand kings of old—noble, resolute, and honest. Now is simply the wrong time for them."

- Lara Ravel's take on her

Changeling Route
Throughout the Changeling route, in contrast to the commands of her husband, Katerina appeals to Clara to convince her to spare the ones that Alexander is scorning. She encourages her to prove the innocence of the people that the town requires, be it through their expertise or the role they will play in the coming days. While it does seem that she holds a maternal love for Clara, it is soon spoiled when the truth of her prophecies is revealed, that the Rat Prophet whispers secrets to her from the earth, as means to corrupt her.

When the rumour spreads that a girl resembling Changeling is a carrier of the plague, Katerina and her husband cast Clara from their home. Clara returns to them when she discovers a cure for the plague is to sacrifice the sinners of the town, and convinces her adopted mother to give her life to better the town. On Day 11, before she is to die, she tells Clara she regrets how she treated her, and that she loves her deeply.

Spoken Dialogue

 * → See Katerina Saburova/Spoken Dialogue