Naberius Tern

Naberius Tern illustrated by @GOAZart

Cavalier Primary to the House of the Third

> *"'I should've stayed home and gotten married,' he said resentfully."*
>
>

**Naberius Tern** *(Na-BEER-e-us TURN)* is the Cavalier Primary to the Heirs to the House of the Third, Coronabeth and Ianthe Tridentarius. Naberius believes that being a fantastic duelist makes him the perfect cavalier, and he isn't afraid to share this opinion.

## **Biography**

### **Early Life**

Born to a resurrection-purity line, Naberius Tern is the only child of the previous cavalier primary. He attended various academies and institutions on The Third House as well as home instruction with the twin Princesses, Coronabeth and Ianthe Tridentarius. He achieved dueling rankings within the top five, and was registered as cavalier to both princesses at age fourteen.

### **Gideon the Ninth**

#### Act I

Naberius Tern, Coronabeth Tridentarius, and Ianthe Tridentarius receive a summons from The Emperor to come to The First House and compete for the position of Lyctor. As the summons dictates only the Heir of the House attend, and Corona has no magic of her own, Third House sends the three as a set—claiming that the twins were born at the exact same time.

When they arrive at Canaan House, the additional body in the shuttle causes a delay, and The Third Priest attempts to straighten out the mess. With Teacher's permission, the Tridentarii are allowed to compete together with one cavalier—though Teacher implies it will cause them problems in their attempt to ascend.

Inside Canaan House, the Tridentarii and Naberius join the other competitors in tea and prayer. Naberius is awarded an iron key ring for their House, and Teacher (vaguely) explains the bounds of the competition. Left with more questions than answers, the Tridentarii and Naberius are led to their rooms for the night by a construct.

#### Act II

The Third House descends the stairs into the same hallway where Gideon is hiding. Naberius complains that the competition is mind-games and nonsense, while Coronabeth and Ianthe discuss their own theories. The conversation quickly turns ugly as Ianthe begins to insult Corona's lack of powers and intelligence, and Naberius is quick to defend her. Corona and Ianthe immediately close ranks and chastise Naberius for insubordination. He becomes sulky, and he and Coronabeth continue down the hall.

Days later, Coronabeth appears in the pool room with Gideon Nav. When she arranges practice duels, Naberius takes the opportunity to poke at his peers' apparent lack of skill-- particularly that of Magnus Quinn. As Gideon prepares, he mocks her choice of weapons and dismisses her as a brawler. His attitude changes when Gideon defeats Magnus in three turns, and Naberius instantly claims the next fight. Though evenly matched, Naberius holds Gideon at arms length and disarms her cleanly. Gideon, thinking the match unfinished, punches Naberius. Already angered by the illegal move, he becomes enraged when Marta analyzes the fight and proclaims Gideon the better fighter despite Naberius's win. Jeannemary's proclamation that she wants to fight just like Gideon cements his hostility toward the Ninth House.

Naberius attends Abigail and Magnus's dinner party, briefly quarreling with Ianthe, but otherwise seeming to make pleasant conversation with Colum.

#### Act III

Third House arrives on the scene of Abigail and Magnus's murder, and Ianthe joins a number of other nercromancers in bleeding themselves to call forth their passing spirits. As this fails, Coronabeth and Ianthe work together to to try more specialized necromancy, tended by Naberius. The trio leaves and returns a number of times throughout this process. As time passes, Ianthe turns to her House specialty, cannibalizing chunks of Naberius's hair, nails, and even flesh to power her spells-- which he submits to willingly, and without complaint. Only Silas achieves anything resembling results, before being knocked unconscious.

As everyone regroups upstairs, Coronabeth quickly reaches the end of her tether with Judith Deuteros. She insists that the Second has no authority to call upon the Cohort to investigate the death of Abigail and Magnus, and that Judith has no right to claim any authority over the necromantic Scions gathered at Canaan House. Naberius attempts to support her, but Coronabeth doesn't need or want it. He falls silent, letting the necromancers argue their positions until Teacher pressures Ianthe to reveal she is in possession of a Facility key. Seemingly betrayed by both his scions, Naberius turns to demand an explanation from Coronabeth. She is quick to assure him she had no idea and the two walk out, effectively ending the meeting.

Gideon and Isaac Tettares come looking for Coronabeth in the pool room, where she is swimming with Naberius. They want her help investigating the remains of a body Isaac has found, and Naberius, Marta, and Colum tag along. Isaac leads them to the incinerator chimney, but Naberius is not impressed with the teens findings. Isaac and Jeannemary's feral and exhausted appearances lead him to believe they've mistaken chimney ash for human remains, and he rather crassly dismisses them. He argues with Jeannemary, but steps back when Coronabeth chastises him. He quickly excuses himself to help Colum with his upcoming duel.

The next day, all of the necromancers gather to examine the cremains. Silas arrives with Dulcinea's keys and Naberius scolds him for his callousness in stealing keys from an ailing woman. Judith Deuteros tries to assert her authority by taking them from him and, failing that, forces a duel between her cavalier and Camilla for the Sixth's keys. Coronabeth claims that Naberius will represent the Sixth, but Ianthe forbids Naberius from interfering. When Corona tries to convince him to go against her twin, he refuses. Camilla wins in an upset, but is badly injured in the fight. Despite this, Ianthe presses Naberius to challenge her himself.

Coronabeth immediately protests, but Ianthe insists that she is doing this to secure a Facility key for her. Judith protests, saying that she has no cause and it goes against the rules-- but Ianthe neatly throws every argument and discussion Judith has made back into her face. She coaxes Coronabeth gently, and her sister folds immediately. Camilla is readying herself to fight Naberius when the Ninth steps in and volunteers to represent the Sixth, with Jeannemary close behind demanding the next duel. Faced with two strong duelers, Naberius withdraws disgustedly and the gathering breaks up.

#### Act IV

Palamedes and Harrowhark gather the remaining postulants and bring them to Dulcinea's sick room. With Protesilaus' decapitated head in hand, Palamedes proposes that Protesilaus has been dead the whole time and has been reanimated by flesh magic called the beguiling corpse-- which Dulcinea confirms easily. Naberius says little, but as soon as he opens his mouth, Ianthe shuts him down and the Third house dissolves into argument again. Visibly fractured, they leave Dulcinea's room.

Third House takes it upon themselves to re-investigate the bodies of Fifth House, and realizes that Abigail has had a laboratory key concealed inside her since she was murdered. Ianthe takes the key and they proceed to the matching Lyctor study. Inside, Ianthe learns the final piece to the megatheorem puzzle and consumes Naberius-- ascending to Lyctorhood. Despite the death of his mortal body, his spirit continues to fight against her.

## **Appearance and Personality**

Gideon first describes Naberius as thus:

> *"The first [off the shuttle] was a rather sulky young man with an air of hair gel and filigree, an ornate rapier at the belt of his buttoned coat. The cavalier. [...] The boy just looked a bit of a dick."*
>
>

She later sizes him up more thoroughly during their duel:

> *"He was about an inch shorter than her, with a frame that had been whipped within an inch of its life into perfectly sculpted muscle. He was narrow shouldered with long, long arms, and she was beginning to believe that he was not simply a douchebag who used lip balm, but a douchebag who used lip balm and had a very long reach."*
>
>

The Cohort Intelligence Files of Judith Deuteros describes his personality as "changeable" and "openly materialistic," noting also that he has "an extremely high opinion of himself and his swordplay." He is rather classically noble: entitled and arrogant without much substance. Naberius is so tangled up in the dynamic between himself and the twins, there is little room for him to form any meaningful bonds with other characters.

## **Relationships**

### Coronabeth Tridentarius

> *"She can insult me as she likes. You're insubordinate. Say you're sorry."
>  "Princess, I live to serve--"
>  "Naberius! [...] Grovel, Babs. As soon as possible. please."*
>
>

## **Trivia**

* Naberius is named for one of the demon princes of Hell.

## **References**

1. ↑  tazmuir, Tumblr.com.
2. ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," Act III, Ch. 24
3. ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 7
4. ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," Act II, Ch. 11
5. ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," Act II, Ch. 9
6. ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," A Little Explanation of Naming Systems