Pyotr Malishev is a gnomish miner, who arrived on Confluence around 18 years ago. He was originally from the Nyran Mountains of the Kirvanian Empire, but left when the Syran Civil War led to taxes increasing five-fold. There may also have been a small incident involving shaving a tax collector's head and tattooing obscenities on it, but you'll have to get Pyotr very drunk indeed to hear THAT story !
 
Although he is one of the best miners around, Pyotr's temperament is not always conducive to human company. He is inclined to be a bit obsessed with mining matters to the exclusion of everything else, and can alternate between morose and savagely grumpy in a flash. But he does like a tipple, and a glass of something liver-destroying is usually a good way to get his attention.