Kennilos Corner

In accordance to his role as the Chief Justice, Neuvillette takes the court and trials very seriously, handing out verdicts with impartiality. He is notably perceptive, being able to hear Paimon’s whispers and is able to deduce the additional details from the evidence provided to him during a trial. He utilizes the Oratrice Mecanique d’Analyse Cardinale to make the final decision, honoring its request regardless of his own feelings on the matter as per protocol.

Due to his position and ties to the Hydro Archon, he is popular among Fontaine’s people as a symbol of justice and honor. As a member of the Seven Sovereigns, Neuvillette is unfamiliar with human customs and feelings, using the court to help him process and understand them. He rarely spends his time out in public, as he does not enjoy unwanted attention, and in the few times he speaks to humans, he appears to be aloof, though honest in his words. However, when interacting with Melusines, he is extremely friendly, seen as the ideal father by them; likewise, he is fiercely protective of them, considering them the pride of Fontaine and investigating matters himself should he hear of a Melusine being bullied or threatened. This stems from his failure to protect his friend and subordinate, Carole, when she was driven to death due to Fontainian’s prejudice, and Neuvillette being forced to sentence his other friend, Vautrin, for carrying out a revenge killing for Carole, he had since resolved to prevent such tragedy from happening ever again.

When he was initially reincarnated, Neuvillette was left with many questions about himself, leading to him accepting a position as the Iudex. His time overseeing trials led him to experience a plethora of human experiences and emotions, which was secretly prepared by Focalors in the hopes that his newfound perception would save the people of Fontaine from a looming prophecy that would exterminate them. Upon learning the full extent of Focalors’ deception, he admitted that she was devious and was both saddened and shocked by her self-sacrifice. Indeed, having seen humanity positively, Neuvillette used his fully restored powers to save the people and left aside fragments of his power in the form of Visions for those worthy of them.

Neuvillette opposes the Heavenly Principles, and by extension The Seven, as they usurped the authority of the Dragons that once ruled Teyvat. This appears to be more of a professional standpoint than a personal matter, as he expresses surprise at the current status of some Archons, like Barbatos, while respecting Lesser Lord Kusanali for her duties.

Despite his appearance, Neuvillette enjoys water and is an avid taster, being able to discern the properties of where the water came from and how it’s prepared; as a result, this also extends to him liking food with plenty of sauce. He does not like deep fried food and grilled food with no sauce, especially taking great offence to Charcoal-Baked Ajilenakh Cakes.

Neuvillette is a just person.

If not for that quality, he probably would not have been qualified to serve as the Iudex in the first place.

To the children, the job of the man in the judge’s seat is nothing more than wearing a wig, maintaining order in the court, and being the Oratrice’s messenger pigeon. In truth, however, there are many administrative affairs that he must handle in private to keep the justice system up and running.

Due to certain historical and traditional legacies in Fontaine, the Iudex also has the right to prosecute, as well as the power to enforce the law in person. This was originally intended to make it easier to maintain law and order during chaotic times, but as the system became further refined, this rule, which represented the spirit of the pioneer far more than that of the law, became maintained only symbolically. When the Iudex investigates a case or serves as the prosecutor, they must recuse themselves as judge, and have someone else take the seat. And in the few instances where he has personally investigated cases, Neuvillette has unerringly followed this rule.

One thing to note is that he has been the only Iudex in the land for a very long time, so much so that people often speculate that he must have been given an unimaginably long life due to divine favor. As such, it is well that he is nothing if not fair-minded, or such an extensive term would surely lead to problems someday.

As to what he is precisely — a familiar of the Hydro Archon, or a mysterious Hydro elemental creature, perhaps — there are a great many opinions, though Neuvillette has never once commented on such talk.

Indeed, he is a person most impartial.

Due to a variety of reasons, Fontaine’s legal codices retain all manner of odd articles from days past. Neuvillette himself contributed this clause: “A Melusine shall be addressed as ‘she,’ rather than ‘it,’ for they are people too.”

This might look strange on its face, but the more one considers it, the more it makes sense. After all, Melusines have been found all over Fontaine since near-modern times, and fighting for equal rights for them beginning with terms of address sent a powerful signal.

Indeed, Fontainians have noticed that Neuvillette displays different amounts of warmth toward Melusines and humans. Most regard this as the understated goodness in his heart having found an outlet, becoming the love of a father.

Oddly enough, this one only gets stranger the more one knows about Neuvillette.

For he is the Hydro Dragon, and in this capacity, he regards Melusines as dependents and successors, and also as the finest example of a new sort of Hydro Vishap species. Yet he is also the destroyer of the present order, the one who shall judge all gods, and the foe of humanity. So why, then, did he secure human rights for the Melusines? You alone could ask him this question, and this was his reply: “It wasn’t up to me. Melusines simply prefer being around humans, that’s all.”

One as great as he should have no need for a constellation to shine over him. After all, “fate” is merely the manner in which the present ruler of this world plays with living beings.

Now that he has obtained one part of seven of the authority over the mortal realm, and reforged the throne and title of a “Fully Fledged Dragon,” he is one strong enough to equal and rival “the human realm,” and logic would dictate that he need not subscribe to this system known as “fate.”

He can see, in the skies of destiny, how many stars contend with one another, creating a complicated, fragile world. He did not initially care much about such, for the puppet strings glossed as “divine rules” would one day be burned away by the fires of judgment. But he too was taken in by certain pleasing rhetoric.

“In that case, why don’t you just watch over the Fontainians? They were born from the Primordial Sea, after all. That makes them part of this planet’s native life, too, and a form of life that requires your care.”

He would never admit that he himself had become quite fascinated with the joys and sorrows of humanity. Was it not so, he would argue, that humans find their gaze stolen by the ripples from falling raindrops in puddles? And could it not be, he would explain, that King Nibelung had been wrong, and that the black void could only be opposed if all life were to band together as one?

Thus did he, in the end, come into his own “fate.” The skies had left a special, ennobled place for him, one reserved for the overseers and those who could defy the world itself — that of his own reflection. Of course, he was born in the form of a human. But why, then, is his name the image of the great leviathan? Well, this leads us to a more mundane explanation for the situation, one quite separate from grave matters of the world’s fate:

As the one named “Neuvillette,” he would often be roped by Melusines (especially Sigewinne) into a bit of astrology via The Steambird’s constellation columns or astrology guides from Sumeru. Would it really do, at that point, to tell them that he “didn’t have a constellation” or that his own constellation was just “Neuvillette”?