Vipère
House Vipère of Blarget, Embermoor, and Dinkawal
Motto: “Venom in Silence.”
Sigil: A coiled black serpent upon agold field.
Seat: Embermoor Keep, western Tudor Empire
Vassal to: The Crown of Tudor
Origins and Founding
House Vipère traces its bloodline to Marcel Vipère, a knight-apothecary in the late Age of Bronze, whose knowledge of poisons and antidotes saved Emperor of Tibur from assassination. As reward, Marcel received the marshlands of Blarget Fen and the smouldering hills of Embermoor, lands few others wanted. There he built a keep from blackstone and alchemic mortar, and his descendants made their fortune in tinctures, venoms, and curatives—“the art of life and death in equal measure.”
The Vipères became indispensable to the Tudor courts. Their potions prolonged emperors, silenced rivals, and, at times, ended wars before they began. In secret histories, they were called the Crown’s whisper of death.
Faith and Allegiance
Though nominally loyal to the Tudor Faith, the Vipères keep private shrines to Drevrena, goddess of Night and Shadows. Their priests wear masks shaped like serpent heads and light violet candles that burn without smoke. Outsiders call them heretics; the Vipères call themselves pragmatists—believers in any god that rewards secrecy.
Notable Members
Marcel Vipère (Founder) – Knight-Apothecary, hero of the Emperor’s cure.
Iselda Vipère “the Pale Widow” (402 PR – 447 PR) – perfected the Sigh Serum, a toxin that leaves victims appearing peacefully asleep.
Lucien Vipère IV (573 PR – current) – Lord of Embermoor; adviser to the Tudor Council. Keeps peace through debt, not blades. Known for his courtesies and his collection of caged vipers fed on powdered gold.
Ser Noél Vipère – Captain of the Ember Guard, famed for slaying a Fenraith wight in single combat with a blade coated in distilled sun-venom.
Reputation
To the Tudor nobility, the Vipères are useful monsters—uncanny, polite, and feared. Their sigil’s whisper means intrigue; their invitation to supper is both honour and threat. Commoners say: “A Vipère’s smile is the antidote you hope they’ve brewed first.”
Despite dark rumours, the house has kept Tudor’s rulers alive through plagues and poisonings alike, ensuring its survival through every regime since the Age of Darkness.
Current Standing (c. 620 PR)
Under Lord Lucien IV, House Vipère prospers quietly. Blarget’s markets feed Tudor’s armies with alchemical stimulants, while Dinkawal’s poppy trade funds the crown’s wars. Yet whispers claim Lucien sponsors covert experiments for the Old God cults, seeking a serpent elixir that grants eternal youth—the same corruption once seen in Bhrytyros alchemists.
Should this truth surface, the Crown’s “faithful vipers” may be branded traitors—or ascend as immortals, as they have always desired.
