The Viper's Scheme is a fantasy novel in progress by The Dancing Crow. It follows a demon assassin, Esares, who has failed in a mission to bring down humanity's Chosen One, Sylves. With his magic confined by a slave collar, Esares saved himself by manipulating Sylves into thinking he regrets his actions. When Esares finds himself in the power of Sylves' mysterious and untrustworthy friend, a talented mage named Anereth, he expects that this human will be, if anything, worse than his master. The truth, however, is much more complicated...
Notable for its exploration of the intense psychological damage caused by Esares' enslavement, as well as extensive worldbuilding.
In addition to the main story
, there are several chapters of backstory regarding Anereth and his relationship with slaves other than Esares.
The Viper's Scheme contains examples of:
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Anereth likes to play with Esares' hair. This can comes off as comforting, condescending, or sweet, depending on how things are going.
- Alone with the Psycho: Esares' expectation of being left in Anereth's care. Thankfully, it's not as dire as he expected.
- Apologizes a Lot: Esares has a tendency to do this, for understandable reasons.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Not necessarily more evil than the average human, but since the nobility can afford—and are expected to keep—slaves, they have more opportunity to show off their depravity.
- Badass Bookworm: Though we don't get to see Esares fight much, we know he is an assassin, had strong magic, and was a good enough swordsman to teach someone else. He's also extremely fond a reading, a hobby that was considered odd by his clan and is outright forbidden in his master's household. Thankfully Anereth is also a Badass Bookworm. Getting the chance to read again is a not insignificant factor in Esares coming to trust Anereth.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: Anereth's morality is ambiguous, but compared to Sylves' racist fanaticism and the open bigotry and sadism of some of the other characters, his gray can sometimes look quite light. And either of them could make Esares, who has claimed he would kill any human that wasn't completely helpless, look like a pillar of morality.
- Becoming the Mask: Esares worries that constantly having to pretend he's in love with Sylves could have this effect.
- Chained to a Bed: Used several times as a punishment.
- The Charmer: While Anereth doesn't bother to play nice with people he doesn't care about, he can be frightfully charming to those he has a use for. Esares also has shades of this, as Anereth likes to point out.
- The Chosen One: Played with. Sylves is the Chosen One who, according to prophecy, is capable of defeating the dragons and bringing the demons to heel once and for all. The wording, however, speaks only of the Chosen One's power; if someone else steals Sylves' magic, they become the Chosen One. Of course, the prophecies are vague, and the demons have a slightly different version than the humans.
- Consummate Liar: Both Esares and Anereth, but particularly the latter. Esares is shown to be less willing to lie to people he actually likes, even if it would be a good idea, whereas Anereth frequently lies to his own family, whom he clearly loves.
- Crazy-Prepared: When Esares gives Anereth the means to defeat Sylves, he assumes it will take Anereth a while to confirm the information, because it requires an extremely complex potion. Unfortunately for him, Anereth not only has a batch of the potion ready, but has re-brewed it several times, meaning he's been keeping it on hand almost the entire time Esares has belonged to Sylves on the off chance he got the opportunity to use it.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Invoked by Sylves and other slave owners who insist that they must discipline their slaves for their own good.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Though it's unclear how much of his early distance was part of the plan, Anereth starts out being rather cold to Esares. He soon becomes more friendly, but the degree of warmth gradually increases as a genuine emotional attachment starts to form.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Humans and demons have very different ideas about morality.
- In considering the difference between how he is treated by Sylves and Anereth, Esares thinks about how he would treat a slave, but doesn't get very far because he can't imagine having or wanting one.
- Sylves once apologized for getting too drunk at a party and forgetting to feed Esares; Esares privately thinks that this is like having someone who repeatedly and remorselessly pushed you down stairs apologize for stepping on your foot.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Anereth has been known to get back at people who annoy him in rather extreme ways, but in at least one of these instances, it turns out to be more a case of Laser-Guided Karma.
- Dramatic Irony: Thanks to the dual perspectives, the audience learns about Anereth's intentions early on. Almost every interaction between then and when Esares gets the reveal is laced with dramatic irony, as Anereth is prone to dropping hints that leave Esares desperately wondering what, exactly, he is thinking.
- Driven to Suicide: Attempted by one of Anereth's former slaves, though it wasn't Anereth's fault, and he managed to talk him out of it.
- Enemy Mine: Played with. Though by all appearances Anereth doesn't consider Esares his enemy, Esares seems to be thinking along these lines when he initially agrees to the partnership.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Despite knowing that he should never have trusted a human in the first place, Esares is still deeply affected by the reveal that Anereth has been planning to use him to steal Sylves' magic all along.
- Fantastic Racism: Humans and demons have been enemies, or at least wary of each other, for a long time. Humans in particular seem to have developed many stereotypes about demons, thinking of them as animals.
- Fate Worse than Death: Esares had assumed that, if he failed to kill Sylves, the worst that could happen was being killed in turn. Instead, he's a slave, with no hope of regaining his freedom. He flip-flops on whether it's this trope or not, especially when it turns out he may have a chance to bring about Sylves' death after all.
- I Know Your True Name: A variation: when a mage comes into their power, they're given secret Words of Revelation. Knowing someone else's words allows you to steal their magic, though it usually kills them, and isn't entirely safe for the one doing the stealing, either.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Part and parcel with being a slave, Esares is often subjected to disturbing conversations about him, other slaves, and demons in general. If he so much as reacts adversely to the things being said, he could face punishment.
- Informed Ability: Esares was once an excellent fighter and above-average shapeshifter, but thanks to the slave collar preventing him from doing magic or committing any acts of violence, we don't get to see him use those skills.
- Internal Reveal: The reader learns that Anereth plans to use Esares to kill Sylves and steal his power in the first chapter. Esares doesn't find out until Chapter 31.
- Karma Houdini: Anereth once pranked a fellow student in a way that could have killed him, but because of his careful planning, he managed not to face any consequences that we know of. His ability to get away with things is one of the factors in Esares' initial fear of him.
- Leave No Witnesses: Why Esares assumes that helping Anereth will ultimately get him killed.
- Living Lie Detector: Anereth is such an expert in the art of deception that he almost always knows when Esares is lying. Esares, in turn, is savvy enough to know Anereth isn't trustworthy, but he's not quite as adept at picking up on Anereth's lies.
- Made a Slave: Subverted and the played straight: Esares tricked Sylves into believing he was a slave, but the ruse was discovered when Esares made an attempt on Sylves' life, months before the story begins.
- Manipulative Bastard: Anereth's MO, to greater or lesser variations of "bastard."
- Mystical White Hair: Anereth has naturally silver hair, which makes him quite noticeable. Other members of his family also have it. Esares notes that it doesn't look human, but since humans and demons can't procreate together, he assumes one of Anereth's ancestors got the color from some kind of magical accident.
- Never Found the Body: When Sylves and his company are attacked by a dragon, his brother is assumed dead, and it's possible that someone important to Esares may have died in the attack as well. At this point, it's still ambiguous what happened to the former, and the latter may not even have been there.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Discussed. Sylves, like many slave owners, doesn't consider himself a rapist. This is partly because demons are extremely responsive to touch and can't always control the way their bodies react; the prevailing theory among humans seems to be that it is impossible to rape a demon, because they like sex so much. Anereth rejects this reasoning and refuses to have sex with slaves, recognizing that even Esares' attempts to seduce him do not equal freely given consent.
- Our Demons Are Different: There are many different types of demons, none have which have any relationship to a devil-type figure, nor are they any more likely to be evil than their human counterparts (depending on who you ask). Instead, they are associated with dragons and a pantheon of gods. They are highly magical, though different clans specialize in different abilities. Some look very like humans, though unusual eye colors and other fantastic traits seem to be common.
- Our Vampires Are Different: The Vaskla are a clan of demons that display a number of vampiric traits, including red eyes, pallor, and drinking blood. There's no indication that the Vaskla are in any way undead. They can survive on animal blood. It is possible for them to eat other foods, but if their blood supply is deficient, this will make them ill.
- A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: While not the entire point of the parties thrown by mages and nobles, it seems fairly ubiquitous. Not a big deal for the consenting attendees, but causes a good deal of anxiety for the slaves, especially those who work for the host, as "entertaining" the guests is explicitly part of their job.
- Pet the Dog: At times uncomfortably literal. Anereth is a liar and almost assuredly dangerous, but his good moments with Esares reveal that he's not the all-out villain he expected.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Anereth and his friend Ksielle are this. Their one-night-only foray into fake dating only solidifies this point. Since both of them are homosexual, the possibility of a Marriage of Convenience is discussed, but the conclusion is that the two of them would be too much of a disaster.
- Pretty Boy: Several characters have commented on Esares' good looks, and Anereth specifically calls him "pretty." The fact that he sometimes wears makeup and jewelry, and doesn't mind doing so, contributes.
- Prone to Tears: Esares doesn't normally consider himself this, but the stress of going from an environment that is dangerous but familiar to one that is almost completely unknown makes him something of a Nervous Wreck.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Esares delivers more than a few to Anereth, some more deserved than others. To Anereth's credit, he usually makes an effort to smooth over or explain whatever prompted the rant.
- Sex Slave: Esares disguises himself as one to get close to The Chosen One; though not the only kind of slavery in this world, it is despicably common, with the vast majority of mages and nobles owning a personal slave as a status symbol.
- Slave Collar: Functional as well as symbolic. These collars were developed by human mages to restrain a demon's magic, as well as prevent them from causing any harm to a human. Though there have been cases of the collars malfunctioning, being put in one is generally a life sentence, as there is no known way to remove one without killing the wearing.
- Slave Race: Humanity's ultimate plan for demonkind. Esares believes that, should this come to pass, his people will eventually dwindle and die out, as it is apparently extremely difficult to force a demon to have a child.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: A lot of attention is paid to how abhorrent the treatment of the slaves is, but even for those who aren't excessively sadistic or don't own slaves themselves, it is made very clear that the vast majority of humans are complicit in depersonalizing demons. The mental strain of having to navigate relationships with people who hold absolute power over you, whether they are kind or cruel, is a fundamental element of the story.
- Sleep Cute: Happens with Esares and his friend/ship-tease-bait Lykis a couple times. Becomes less cute when you consider the fact that Lykis is tired all the time because his owner is literally starving him.
- Sleeps with Everyone but You: Esares starts to feel this way about Anereth's continued rejection, despite the fact that he doesn't actually want to have sex with him. Downplayed in that, though Anereth is known for his sexual exploits and lack of interest in monogamy, it's not only Esares he won't sleep with, but slaves in general.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Discussed. Some demons become attached to their owners; this is described as being pitiful, but understandable, considering the amount of conditioning and manipulation slaves are put through on a daily basis. As Esares' feelings about Anereth become more complicated, he worries he may be falling prey to this.
- Superhuman Trafficking: Played with. Though demon slaves are, at this point, far more common than human ones, their powers have very little to do with this, as the collars they wear keep them from doing magic. There are some supernatural traits that make them especially desirable as slaves, including long lives, durability, and quick healing.
- Sympathetic Slave Owner: Anereth is a complicated case. He's definitely not above abusing the power he wields over Esares, and he's clearly a master manipulator, but compared to the way in which people are expected to treat their slaves in this universe, he's quite ahead of the curve. (It's noteworthy that being "too lenient" with slaves is actively frowned upon, and we still don't know exactly how Anereth would have treated Esares if he had not been carefully treading the line of his expectations.) Though he owned two slaves previously, he did not acquire either of them on purpose, and since it is physically impossible to free them, keeping them (and eventually giving them to his sisters) was the best he could do.
- Anereth's sister Valithia is a more straightforward example. From everything we've heard, her relationship with her slave is extremely unconventional, and she is only distantly aware of how terrible most slave owners are. Anereth figures that once she understands the extent of it, she's likely to become an abolitionist—which, in this society, is akin to social suicide.
- There Is Only One Bed: Played with. It's not that Anereth doesn't have multiple beds, but that allowing Esares to use one would be conspicuous. Though they most often share, while they are traveling and on less than ideal terms with each other, Esares opts to sleep on the couch or floor.
- Took a Level in Cynic: At the beginning of the story, Esares already believed all Humans Are Bastards, and fully expected that Anereth would want to hurt him. After spending several dozen chapters warming up to the man and coming to trust him, the reveal leaves him even more cynical. He spends quite a while assuming that Anereth will kill him the second he gets what he wants.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Esares enters Anereth's home completely sure that the man will want to have sex with him, and spends quite a bit of time and energy wondering and worrying when it will happen. Even when Anereth protests that it's not going to, the tension remains. The fact that they've spent several weeks sleeping in the same bed, exchanging physical affection, and discussing sexual matters doesn't help.
- Was It All a Lie?: After Anereth reveals his plan to kill Sylves, with Esares' help, Esares is convinced that Anereth's treatment of him up until that point was nothing but a ploy to manipulate him into complying. Though Anereth protests that he genuine likes Esares, it takes corroboration from other slaves for Esares to believe that Anereth's treatment of him was probably not very different from what he would have done normally.
- Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: There's a heavy dose of this in most master/slave interactions; the fact that Anereth approaches punishment very differently is part of what incites Esares' curiosity about him.
- You Can't Go Home Again: A source of pain for Esares, who is not even sure whether his clan knows that he's failed in his mission yet.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Anytime things seem to be going well for Esares, expect it to get worse very soon.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Esares expends a lot of energy trying to make sure Sylves stays happy with him, but the things he has to do in order to achieve that are almost as bad as the alternative.
