Aubert

Aubert, rendered as both Aubert de Villaine and Aubert de Villain in the supplied text, is a legendary former-era vintner who survives as a sentient grapevine on Barrows. Wine is both his great achievement and the focus of the jealousy that corrupts him. His reconciliation with Bize turns that destructive obsession toward protecting their shared legacy and, eventually, humanity.

Biography

The vintner in the vineyard

Aubert is first remembered as one of history’s great wine masters, then encountered three centuries later as the speaking vine at the center of a hidden Barrows vineyard. He has preserved old methods, workers, and grapes while trying to create a wine superior to Henri Jayer’s. That ambition has curdled into domination: Aubert admits that he infected the workers’ minds, kept them under his control, and stole Jayer’s nephew Gates so that a future victory could be forced upon a captive witness. (Chapters 69 and 359–365)

Bize’s arrow and reconciliation

Bize finds Aubert after centuries of searching and strikes him with an arrow designed to purge his corruption. Confronted with the harm caused by pride, envy, and their broken partnership, Aubert asks her to end his life and care for those he controlled. Bize instead accepts her own share of their old conflict and stays with him. Aubert releases the workers, gives the visiting Adepts purified grapes as compensation, and declares that wine had become an instrument of dominance when it should have remained a shared craft. (Chapters 365–368)

From Barrows to the immortal realm

Aubert initially remains with Bize to defend the vineyard, but the two later join humanity’s war against the alien monarchs. His vines help restrain the Violet Princess, and in the final battle the Gods of Wine combine their power in an attack that leaves them gone without a trace. Lan Jue subsequently recovers their soul fragments, and the epilogue confirms that Aubert and Bize are active again in the immortal realm, growing grapes for a wine infused with immortal qi. (Chapters 699, 870, and 894–903)

Appearance and personality

Aubert’s present body is an enormous grapevine: branches, twigs, and fruit form a face capable of speech, while later battle scenes describe whole masses of vines extending from him. His voice can sound old and rumbling, but it becomes hard or coarse when pride takes over. The supplied corpus does not establish the appearance of his former human body. (Chapters 359–360, 870, and 894)

He is exacting, proud, competitive, and wholly devoted to wine. His resentment toward Jayer and possessiveness toward Bize lead to prolonged coercion, not merely harmless eccentricity. Once the arrow clears his mind, he accepts responsibility, frees his victims, protects the vineyard with Bize, and ultimately risks himself for humanity, although even his final heroism retains his boastful humor about Jayer. (Chapters 359–366 and 894)

Disciplines and abilities

Paragon vine body

Aubert is a Paragon whose life and power are expressed through a sentient vine body. He can extend scores of thick, thorned vines, bind a powerful target, drink blood through the thorns, and pull an opponent’s weapon arm off line. His unusual form and centuries-long survival demonstrate extreme longevity, but he can still be weakened by Bize’s purifying arrow and can expend himself in a fatal-looking final attack. (Chapters 359–366, 870, and 894)

Viticulture and wine-infused power

His greatest expertise is viticulture and winemaking. Aubert preserves a traditional vineyard, cultivates grapes that contain wine within themselves, and produces purified fruit carrying some of his protogenic comprehension. In battle his deep-purple power crystallizes his branches and carries a rich wine scent; joined with Bize’s power, it forms a spear-like assault. These accomplishments do not erase his own conclusion that obsession and control had degraded the craft he loved. (Chapters 360–366 and 894)

Relationships

• Bize: Aubert’s former business partner and sole acknowledged love. Their pride and jealousy help destroy their old partnership, but Bize’s arrow purges his corruption and the two reconcile, fight, and cultivate grapes together.
• Wine Master: A devoted admirer who discovers Aubert’s vineyard, accepts his compensatory grapes, and receives the Gods of Wine’s legacy before their final charge.
• Lan Jue: One of the visitors who witnesses Aubert’s confession and later recovers the soul fragments of the Gods of Wine after the last battle.
• Henri Jayer: The absent rival against whom Aubert measures his wine and self-worth. Aubert’s inability to surpass him feeds the envy at the root of his corruption.

Items

No separately cataloged notable items are associated with Aubert.