History Literature / HouseCerberus

* FiveManBand: House Cerberus and friends by the end of Part 2.
** TheHero: Nephem Festiva
** TheLancer: Lith Cloud
** TheSmartGuy: Vlaine
** TheBigGuy: Hardule Nightwater
** TheChick: Selenia
** TheSixthRanger: Rhend

** [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Hardule]] realizes in-universe he has a lot in common with [[TheCaligula Ulcik]]. Both are powerful spellcasters, and Hardule begins the story as just another of Ulcik's sycophants kissing up to him for power. The differences ultimately come in that Hardule ultimately stays true to his friends and in the process his character becomes a NobleFugitive similar to Nephem, whereas Ulcik is true only to himself and his lust for power, resulting in his character becoming more powerful than ever but in the process becoming an in-universe monster and [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating alienating]] every last one of his fellow players.

* RealityEnsues: Nephem is able to kill more powerful, higher-level characters by virtue of his real physical fighting skill--it doesn't matter how much imaginary damage or health you have if you can't hit the enemy or stop them from hitting you. This is turned around on him in Part 2, where Nephem has trouble with Ulcik's EliteMooks who come from a medieval combat recreation society.

LeeroyJenkins: Hardule has the nasty habit of making the dumbest decisions at the worst times, forcing Nephem to improvise under pressure.

* MonsterClown: Ulcik's appearance as a lich in Part 2 invokes this, with some garish make up and a tendency to SlasherSmile

* RuleOfCute: The goth girl that tags along with Nephem shuffles her feet in a kind of kimono waddle for no other reason than because on paper it makes her cuter.

* HappyEndingOverride: Part 1 ends with Nephem, Lith, and Hardule inducing FinalDeath on Ulcik and the latter two establishing the titular noble house. Part 2 begins with Ulcik returning as a lich, retaking control of the LARP, and hunting House Cerberus to near-extinction.

Received an autobook courtesy of [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb6k7Ranr1BLkZiHn2DI7LQ Neckbeardia]], which was positively received. Part 1 can be heard [[https://youtu.be/SGsRZsWke-A here]]. Part 2, dubbed ''This One Time At Larp Camp: Ulcick's Revenge'', is ongoing.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Nephem at one point publicly debates one of Ulcik's followers in an attempt to get the other players to turn on him. The noblewoman dominates the debate simply by [[PsychopathicManchild screaming down]] anything Nephem has to say, until he mentions [[SoulJar the phylactery]] and explains how it works. [[spoiler:Since the phylactery is powered by eating six souls a month]], and only two members of House Cerberus are alive, unless Ulcik intends to outright ''cheat'', he'll eventually need to resort to [[spoiler: [[CannibalismSuperpower eating his own men]] to survive.]]

* KilledOffForReal: Played with. The higher a characther's level, the fewer times they need to be killed before they're dead for good. The highest level players only need to be killed once. This of course doesn't stop them from making a new character, but they need to start from scratch with a level one character. [[spoiler: Ulcik, sore loser that he is, uses his GM influence to write him already overpowered character back into the game as a lich anyways.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: At one point in Part 2 Nephem gets in an argument with Ulcik himself at the inn. In a rage, he [[spoiler: blurts out a threat to lead an army against Ulcik.]] From this, Ulcik is able to deduce [[spoiler: the heroes have [[EnemyMine joined forces with the monsters]] as that's the only force big enough to rival his own army.]] Cue him using his influence as a GameMaster to [[spoiler: stack the deck against the heroes by royally nerf the encounter, including [[spoiler: limiting the types of damage the monsters can deal, making him effectively immune to death from monster ZergRush like they'd originally planned.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: At one point in Part 2 Nephem gets in an argument with Ulcik himself at the inn. In a rage, he [[spoiler: blurts out a threat to lead an army against Ulcik.]] From this, Ulcik is able to deduce [[spoiler: the heroes have [[EnemyMine joined forces with the monsters]] as that's the only force big enough to rival his own army.]] Cue him using his influence as a GameMaster to [[spoiler: stack the deck against the heroes by royally [[Nerf nerf]] the encounter, including [[spoiler: limiting the types of damage the monsters can deal, making him effectively immune to death from monster ZergRush like they planned.]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Nephem at one point publicly debates one of Ulcik's followers in an attempt to get the other players to turn on him. The noblewoman dominates the debate simply by [[PsycopathicManchild screaming down]] anything Nephem has to say, until he mentions [[SoulJar the phylactery]] and explains how it works. [[spoiler:Since the phylactery is powered by eating six souls a month]], and only two members of House Cerberus are alive, unless Ulcik intends to outright ''cheat'', he'll eventually need to resort to [[spoiler: [[CannibalismSuperpower eating his own men]] to survive.]]

** [[TrueCompanions House Cerberus]] by the climax becomes this to House Ulcik. House Cerberus is composed of TrueCompanions who participate in the LARP simply for enjoyment of adventuring together and are even said by one of the GMs to embody the spirit of good sportsmanship other player should aspire to emulate. In contrast [[BigBad Ulcik]] and his cronies are a coterie of [[PsyhcopathicManchild whiny manchildren]], bullies, cheaters and [[BloodKnight sadists]], who are only allies for the sake of power or [[HiredGuns money]], whose enjoyment of the LARP seems to be ''derived'' from making the other players miserable.
** [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Hardule]] realizes in-universe he has a lot in common with [[TheCaligula Ulcik]]. Both are powerful spellcasters, and Hardule begins the story as just another of Ulcik's sycophants kissing up to him for power. The differences ultimately come in that Hardule ultimately stays true to his friends and in the process his character becomes a NobleFugitve similar to Nephem, whereas Ulcik is true only to himself and his lust for power, resulting in his character becoming more powerful than ever but in the process becoming an in-universe monster and [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating alienating]] every last one of his fellow players.

** [[TrueCompanions House Cerberus]] by the climax becomes this to House Ulcik. House Cerberus is composed of TrueCompanions who participate in the LARP simply for enjoyment of adventuring together and are even said to embody the spirit other LARPers should aspire to. In contrast [[BigBad Ulcik]] and his cronies are a coterie of [[PsycopathicManchild whiny manchildren]], bullies, cheaters and [[BloodKnight sadists]], who are only allies for the sake of power or [[HiredGuns money]], whose enjoyment of the LARP seems to be ''derived'' from making the other players miserable.
** [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Hardule]] realizes in-universe he has a lot in common with [[TheCaligula Ulcik]]. Both are powerful spellcasters, and Hardule begins the story as just another of Ulcik's sycophants kissing up to him for power. The differences ultimately come in that Hardule ultimately stays true to his friends and in the process becomes a NobleFugitve similar to Nephem by the start of Part 2, whereas Ulcik is true only to himself and his lust for power, his character becoming more powerful than ever, but in the process becoming an in-universe monster and [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating alienating]] every last one of his fellow players.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Nephem at one point publicly debates one of Ulcik's followers in an attempt to get the other players to turn on him. The noblewoman dominates the debate simply by [[PsycopathicManchild screaming down]] anything Nephem has to say, until he mentions [[SoulJar the phylactery]] and explains how it works. [[spoiler:Since the phylactery is powered by eating six souls a month]], and only two members of House Cerberus are alive, unless Ulcik intends to outright ''cheat'', he'll eventually need to resort to [spoiler: [[CannibalismSuperpower eating his own men]] to survive.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: At one point in Part 2 Nephem gets in an argument with Ulcik himself at the inn. In a rage, he [[spoiler: blurts out a threat to lead an army against Ulcik.]] From this, Ulcik is able to deduce [[spoiler: the heroes have [[EnemyMine joined forces with the monsters]] as that's the only force big enough to rival his own army.]] Cue him using his influence as a GameMaster to [[spoiler: stack the deck against the heroes by royally [[Nerf nerf]] the encounter, including limiting the types of damage the monsters can deal, making him effectively immune to death from monster ZergRush like they planned.]]