Aurek Nuikin

Aurek Nuikin is a character from Scholar of Decay. In universe, he is a Borcan nobleman. He is the older brother of Dmitri Nuikin by almost 15 years and the husband of the now late Natalia Nuikin. Once an intellectual who valued knowledge only for knowledge, his life changed when an accident during a robbery left his wife trapped in the form of a small statuette. Following this development, he ventured to Richemulot, where he and Dmitri fell afoul of Louise Renier's machinations to take down Jacqueline Renier. The plot failed, but it ended disastrously for everyone.

Biography

Prior to the accident, Aurek was a scholar who cared only for knowledge and theory, not actually applying it to the betterment of the world despite Natalia's objections. He compiled a spellbook of a hundred spells, even combat ones in spite of being a pure academic. He lived in the Nuikin Family Estate in the Borcan countryside with his wife and his loyal servant, Edik. Back in the city, his four sisters spoke highly of his work, to the point of Dmitri's chagrin. To Aurek, Dmitri represented an undisciplined, uneducated fool. The two brothers did not get along together. One night a thief ( Possibly Thedmore or one of his clones) attempted to steal Aurek's spellbook, only to cause an explosion of magical energy in the scuffle. The thief was vaporized, but so was the spellbook. Worse, Aurek's wife was transformed into a small porcelain figurine, and Aurek was continually haunted by the spirit of the intruder - or possibly his own feelings of guilt manifested to him in the form of the thief.

Pretending to be only a scholar, Aurek visited Richemulot and was granted permission to explore the many old wrecked houses of that land. In truth, he hoped to find some long lost magical spell or bauble there to free Natalia. He told nobody about this secret, even Edik. As far as what everyone else knew, Aurek made sure only he and the persistent haunt dogging him in every reflection knew.

Because Dmitri had inadvertently attracted the interest of Ivana Boritsi, their sisters insisted Aurek take his younger brother with him, and would not allow him to refuse. They also voiced the hope that as adults, the brothers might finally come to understand one another better. In Richemulot, their estrangement only grew, fueled by Aurek's arrogance and secretiveness on the one hand and Dmitri's angry naiveté on the other. Dmitri also fell in with the wrong crowd: Louise Renier pretended to love him and a small clique of the Renier family pretended to be his friends. Ultimately, Louise used Dmitri to discover the nature of Aurek in the hopes of using him as a weapon against Jacqueline. Louise even manipulated Dmitri into stealing Natalia's statuette and delivering it to her. From there, Louise extorted Aurek into helping her kill Jacqueline. To Aurek's intense distress, the wererat pointed out that he had practically driven Dmitri into her arms by giving him nothing but hostility and secrecy, when his younger brother had been desperate for his approval.

Louise' plot failed, but things ended up disastrously for everyone. Natalia's statuette was shattered when Aurek had to divide his attention between saving either her or Dmitri, and Dmitri learned both of how he had been deceived and the weighty implications of his actions. Aurek no longer saw or heard the spirit that had been haunting him, but his grief and loss had prematurely aged him and left him nigh-unresponsive, possibly even insane; when last seen, he was carrying a box with Natalia's porcelain shards and Dmitri had to help him get into a carriage. Jacqueline exiled both brothers from Richemulot, but provided them transport and safe passage to the border, apparently feeling a kinship for Aurek due to his intense loss.

If nothing else, the Nuikin brothers had achieved an understanding for each other once all their respective secrets were revealed. Aurek and Dmitri had both proven willing to fight for each other's wellbeing, and were both willing to admit they had been at fault for their mutual estrangement.

Aurek's Spells

Aurek's spells are known to include:

• Burning Hands
• Dispel Magic (with which he destroyed a bone golem
• Fireball
• Phantasmal Killer
• Sleep
• A tracking spell of unknown name that can deliver a person to the doorstep of the creator of a magical object or creature, provided the object is in hand.
• An unknown spell which he used to incapacitate a giant spider, causing the spider to feel immensely heavy and unable to support its own weight
• Another spell which he had to relearn to paralyze a wererat, likely hold monster