Nerin Vipère

Nerin Vipère — The Poet Duelist of the Moors
Second Child of Lucien Vipère IV and Cyranel Voss | The Gilded Blade of Blarget

⚜️ Basic Details

• Full Name: Nerin Vipère of Embermoor
• Titles: Second Heir of House Vipère, Court Duelist of Tudor, Laureate of the Poppy Hall
• Race: Half-Elf (¾ Elf by blood)
• Date of Birth: 606 PR
• Age (as of 620 PR): 14 years
• Faith: Nominally Apotheosic, privately indifferent—worships art, beauty, and the self.
• Appearance:
  A handsome youth of lithe build, with chestnut-brown hair flowing to the shoulders, sharp dark blue eyes, and skin kissed with a faint golden hue from his mother’s lineage. His garments blend noble taste with personal flair—gold brocade lined in black, a green gem at his throat shaped like a serpent’s eye.

Birth and Upbringing (606–613 PR)

Nerin Vipère was born during the brief calm following the Ashen Riots, when House Vipère’s influence reached its height. His mother, Lady Cyranel Voss, predicted that he would be “the son whose words weigh more than swords,” and so she forbade his tutors from teaching him warfare until he could master persuasion.

At five, he recited The Alchemist’s Lament—an ancient Vindhan poem—in perfect rhythm to a gathering of nobles. His father, Lord Lucien, remarked,

“He lies as sweetly as his mother breathes. A fine start.”

His education took place under the shadow of Blarget’s misty courtyards and the candle-lit salons of the Vipère estate. He studied rhetoric, fencing, and the Vipère philosophy that “every truth must wear a mask.”

The Young Laureate (613–617 PR)

By seven, Nerin was composing odes for the court of Tudor, his works celebrated for their haunting beauty and subtle venom. The Emperor himself was said to have requested a poem after hearing the young Vipère’s verses compared to “poison wrapped in gold leaf.”

Notable early works:

• “The Dreamer’s Blade” — a sonnet comparing dueling to love.
• “Venom of the Heart” — a satire mocking the clergy, nearly banned by the Church of Krina.
• “The Garden of Smoke” — a ballad that romanticized alchemic death as transcendence.

At nine, he began dueling—not by command, but out of vanity. He claimed that “words sharpened my mind, but I wanted my hands to match.” Under the tutelage of his steward, he learned the fencing style of the Vindhan court: precise, graceful, and theatrical. His first duel was fought over a wager involving his sister Aradel’s stolen experiments. He won by poisoning the tip of his rapier—a scandal that delighted his father and horrified his mother.

Life at the Poppy Hall (617–620 PR)

When Nerin turned eleven, Lucien sent him to the Poppy Hall Academy in Tudor’s capital—an institution for the Empire’s noble sons known for art, intrigue, and excess. There he refined his charm and perfected the art of the duel as performance.

At thirteen, he was titled Laureate of the Poppy Hall after composing “The Ashen Waltz”, a tragic poem about forbidden love between an assassin and a saint. He also fought seven duels in one year, winning all without killing a single opponent—his signature move being a slash across the cheek “to remind them how close beauty comes to pain.”

Rumours spread that Nerin’s charm extended beyond the academy’s walls. He wrote love letters to both noble sons and daughters, sealing each with a drop of gold-tinted venom. None died, but all remembered.

Family and Philosophy

• Lucien Vipère IV (Father): Nerin worships his father’s intellect but secretly despises his coldness. He calls him “the alchemist who could bottle fear but never affection.”
• Cyranel Voss (Mother): He adores her brilliance but resents her manipulation. “Every time she smiles, I hear the rustle of cards being played,” he once told a tutor.
• Aradel Vipère (Sister): His greatest rival and muse. He writes poetry about her eyes, her cruelty, and her genius. He sells some of her formulas to buy stage costumes for his duels, yet would kill for her without hesitation.
• Cyris Vipère (Brother): Nerin sees him as fragile but spiritually gifted. He once declared, “Cyris dreams for us all, so I bleed for him.”

Beliefs and Character

Nerin is neither devout nor faithless—he believes that art is the truest form of divinity. To him, every act of beauty is holy, every duel a prayer to perfection.

His philosophy:

“A poem should draw blood, a blade should rhyme.”

He spends his nights composing, fencing, and debating morality with tutors who cannot keep pace with his mercurial moods. He is known to gift his lovers flowers preserved in alchemical amber—a romantic gesture that doubles as a curse if the glass ever cracks.

Reputation and Titles

• “The Gilded Blade” — for his ornate rapier and dueling style.
• “The Serpent’s Tongue” — for his poetry that both flatters and wounds.
• “The Viper’s Son” — a title whispered by rival nobles who fear his growing charisma.

He is welcome in every salon and banned from half the academies of the Empire. The Emperor himself is said to enjoy his verses but keeps a tester for every cup of wine Nerin offers.

Current Standing (620 PR)

At fourteen, Nerin stands on the threshold of legend and danger. He has been invited to perform at the Festival of Thorns in the capital—an honour reserved for poets of renown—but rumours claim the performance will mask a duel against the Inquisition’s champion, who accused the Vipères of heresy.

Aradel warned him not to attend. He only smiled and replied:

“If I die on stage, I’ll die performing. What could be more poetic?”

Legacy and Foreshadowing

Lucien believes Nerin will either be the saviour or the ruin of the family name. Cyranel thinks he will surpass them all, for his lies are wrapped in truth, and his truth always wounds.

The poets of Tudor whisper that when Nerin Vipère writes of love, hearts quicken—and when he writes of death, someone inevitably dies.

He is, in every sense, his parents’ child:
his father’s mind, his mother’s grace, and his own heart—too sharp, too beautiful, too doomed.