Dmitri Nuikin

Dmitri Nuikin is one of the main characters from Scholar of Decay. In universe, he is a Borcan nobleman. He is the younger brother of Aurek Nuikin by almost 15 years and the brother-in-law of the now deceased Natalia Nuikin. He also has four older sisters. Naive and socially oblivious to a tee, Dmitri was putty in the hands of Louise Renier as a tool to manipulate Aurek into a plot to murder Jacqueline Renier. The plot failed, but ended in tragedy for everyone.

Biography

Dmitri Nuikin is a young, athletic man trained in weapons and fighting. He killed a man once in a duel to defend his sister's honor. However, he is naive and highly seeking of social approval. He once desperately wished to get his older brother's approval, but at the same time found Aurek to be a callous, arrogant intellectual with little love for anyone, and no interest in the things at which Dmitri himself excelled. When Aurek married Natalia, she tried to help the brothers reconcile, but the attack on the Nuikin Family Estate brought a sharp end to her efforts.

After Natalia became trapped in the form of a small statuette, Aurek announced he was traveling to Richemulot to research history there, but let everyone else - Dmitri included - believe that she was dead. The Nuikin sisters demanded Dmitri tag along, as he had recently earned the interest of Ivana Boritsi, an interest likely to prove fatal if he remained in Borca. After moving to Pont-a-Museau, Dmitri fell under manipulation by Louise Renier, whom Dmitri thought was a romantic interest, and Yves Milette's clique, whom Dmitri thought were his friends

In Pont-a-Museau, the brothers' estrangement worsened, especially under the influence of Louise Renier. The Renier noblewoman pretended to love Dmitri and drove (more of) a wedge between the brothers Nuikin in order to discover Aurek's skills as a wizard and then a way to exploit him as a weapon against Jacqueline. Louise ultimately manipulated Dmitri into stealing the Natalia Nuikin statuette and delivering it to her while remaining ignorant of the statuette's true nature. (It is worth noting that Dmitri was the only one capable of removing the statuette from Aurek's study because he alone could pass through his brother's wards unharmed, implying either his blood relation to his brother made him immune, or else Aurek cared enough for his younger brother to exclude him from the spells' effect.) With the statuette in her possession, Louise held both it and Dmitri's wellbeing hostage to force Aurek to help her murder Jacqueline. The plot failed spectacularly (partially because of Yves Milette and his clique), but it ended in tragedy for most everyone. Louise's betrayal was discovered, Natalia's statuette broken, and Dmitri was traumatized by the evil he had been manipulated into aiding. Exiled from Richemulot, the Nuikin brothers were to be escorted to the border by coach.

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. When last seen, Dmitri was helping the unresponsive, possibly insane Aurek to board the carriage for the border. The coachman observed that Dmitri had the appearance of a man who had hit rock bottom but survived to rise back up.