Cassandra Laurean Gunderit

Titles: Seneschal of the Dragon Brethren, Kinthane of Alannath

Past Titles: Silver Helm Knight, Captain in the Black Dragons.

Player: NPC. Originally created by Hal Case, played jointly with Drew Christensen & Ryan Powell. Turned over to Elgin Hushbeck III, then eventually retired to NPC status.

First Appearance: Original group member.

Status: Active as an NPC; retired from adventuring (see below).

Birthdate: 5/15/2479 IC (Age 39)

Marital Status: In a polygynous marriage, the first of Uhlrik Gunderit's three wives (Married 8/30/2512 IC in Middenheim, vows renewed on 8/30/2517 in an Asur ceremony in Lothern); she has three living children.

Cassandra has had several extramarital affairs (see below) but none of these have produced issue.

Known Offspring:

1. Tanis Oswald Gunderit (born 8/11/2514 to Uhlrik Gunderit. Twin to Rahann Magritte)
2. Rahann Magritte Gunderit (born 8/11/2514 to Uhlrik Gunderit. Twin to Tanis Oswald)
3. Katarina Gunderit (born 5/16/2517 to Uhlrik Gunderit)

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More Pics

 

Type	Female, High Elf, Noblewoman	Alignment	Good
Description	Incredibly beautiful elf-woman with dark golden-blonde hair and blue-purple eyes. 37 years old, 5'11" height. One tattoo on each arm: gryphon & phoenix.	Role	Seneschal, noble-lady of the house. Retired adventurer and general. Formerly a lightning-fast interceptor and close combatant, wardancer.

 To say that Cassandra is beautiful is to speak too poorly of the woman: hers is a noble elvish beauty that men have killed and died for. Her youthful skin, once bronzed, has been porcelain-pale ever since a Dark Elvish artifact was used to restore her shattered body to health during the taking of Clar Karond. She is slightly below six feet in height and clearly quite young, being a mere 37 years of age. Cassandra has long pointed ears, dark honey-gold hair showering down to her mid thighs and large almond-shaped blue-purple eyes. For an elf, she is unusually buxom and voluptuous. She keeps herself in excellent physical condition with highly toned muscles; she is lightning fast and far stronger than one would expect a slight elfmaid to be. Notably, she has one tattoo on each arm: a gryphon on the left and a phoenix on the right.

 

She frequently seems either distracted and distant or intensely focused and energetic. In general she has a somewhat haughty air about her, even though she is not afraid in the slightest to get her hands dirty. Cassandra’s voice is low and melodic, and she can project quite forcefully if need be. She speaks in the cultured tones of the nobility of Lothern, the world’s greatest and wealthiest city.

 

Cassandra owns an extensive wardrobe and usually dresses in the finest of clothing, particularly in expensive dresses or gowns with bodices or corsets designed to provide the support that a full-busted woman such as herself needs. Her hair is usually worn loose, but she has been known to set it in elaborate braided arrangements on occasion. She dearly loves jewelry and beautiful adornments, but prefers not to overdo them. One constant is the star sapphire and diamond ring that Uhlrik gave her when they wed.

 

When she trains or fights, Cassandra prefers garb reminiscent of the Asrai Wardancers: form-fitting outfits that leave a lot of skin uncovered and allow for minimal interference with her highly acrobatic and fast-paced fighting style. She does, however, still maintain a gleaming suit of finely wrought plate and scale armor styled much like the Silver Helm Knights, which order she once emulated. By way of weapons, she prefers to fight with a sword in each hand: in the one, a sigil-covered magical falchion of Asur make and in the other a slim curved blade that Derelek gifted to her upon his return from Nippon. Her powerful enchanted Phoenix Bow rests on her back when she goes to battle. However, since her withdrawal from active combat duty and adventuring she has had no particular occasion to wear either armor or her military uniform.

 

Profile  

M	Ws	Bs	S	T	W	I	A	Dex	Ld	Int	Cl	Wp	Fel
6	83	68	6	5	13	100	3	73	73	81	85	60	87

HtH Weapons	Statistics
Falchion	HW, banesword: elves.
Katana	HW
Magic bracelet dagger	+10I, -2D, -20Py
2-handed axe	-10I, +2D
Lance	+20I, +10Ws, +2D, -20Py
Dagger	+10I, -2D, -20Py
Knuckledusters	-1D

 

Missile Weapons	Statistics
Elf Bow	ES4, 32/64/300
Phoenix Bow	ES6, 36/72/400, load 2. Phoenix arrows add +1S, 2D6W or D3-1 hits @ S4 D8W
10 throwing knives	4/8/20

 

Location	Armor	Value
All	Full mithril armor	3
All	Sleeved Mail coat w/coif + plate parts	2
Special	Elven shield	1

She owns several different suits of armor, detailed above. She has not had occasion to wear any in a while.

 

Special Skills	SW- most, Disarm, Dodge blow, STI, SMB, STS, Street fighter, Marksmanship, Whirling Death, Distract, Transfix, Warchant, Acrobatics, Ambidextrous, Luck, Acute Hearing, Excellent Vision, more
Languages	Tar-Elthàrin, Reikspiel, Slavic, Breton, Dark Tongue, Battle, Acane - Magick, Classical, Arcane - Elemental
Magic Items	Animated two-handed sword, boots of silence, boots of command, wand of Onyx (10MP), Bracers of Archery, Ring of Warding (Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Blast), Earring of Warding (Mental Duel), Scrolls (Move Object, Storm of Magick, Foul Air, Tunnel Through Stone)
Equipment	Generally whatever she needs, including an elven steed "Windwalker" and a gryphon "Blizzard-Claw"

 

EP		Fate	1
Power Level	39	Magic Level	2
Psychology & other	Nightvision 30Y, Insanity Points: 6, Phobia & Hatred: Orcs. Assorted personality disorders

 

Level	Spells
P	Sleep, Marshlights, Produce Small Creature, Sounds, Curse, Zone of Warmth
B1	Cure Light Injury, Hammerhand, Flight, Detect Magic
E1	Hand of Fire, Magic Light, Zone of Hiding
E2	Extinguish Fire, Resist Fire, Move Object

 

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History

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Origin

 

The Heroes Gather

 

The Black Dragons

 

Siege at Bachendorf Keep

 

Imperial Intrigues

 

The Hammer Quest

 

Two Crowns

 

The Defeat of Gaynor

 

Ulthuan

 

The Rise of the Dragon Brethren

 

Current Status

Cassandra is presently retired from active adventuring and combat duties, instead focusing on managing the affairs of the Dragon Brethren as their seneschal and on raising her children. 

 

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Other Important Details

 

Combat Training

Cassandra is something of a battlefield prodigy, proving to have mastered several very different forms of combat and all at a very young age (for an elf, that is). From her father's retinue, she learned the basics of swordsmanship, archery and jousting, which talents she continued to hone and refine in her travels across the Old World. She found that she could survive crossing blades and lances with many of the deadlier warriors that humanity could muster. One day she managed to win the tuition of a Wood elf wardancer as well, finding the grace, lightning speed and sheer deadliness of those ancient fighting arts singularly suited to her talents. since that time, her preferred mode of fighting has been very fast and lethal, emphasizing flurries of strikes with paired swords.

 

Family

 

Infidelity

As has been noted elsewhere, Cassandra's marriage to Uhlrik has been a very rocky one, and Cassandra's several indiscretions with other men have been a major contributing factor.

 

Her first affair occurred after a major falling-out with Uhlrik (in which she accused him of not loving her enough) after which she set out with the dashing Morvael to continue studying the Wardancers' fighting arts. Fresh from a row with her husband, petulant and vulnerable she fell to the older elf's wiles and ended up in his arms. This torrid affair was not to last however, and when Cassandra decided to call it off and leave, Morvael attempted to keep her. A duel between them broke out and Cassandra left his cooling corpse to return to her husband.

 

Cassandra's later affair with Torandil Dorhil ended bloodily as well. When Uhlrik demanded satisfaction from the rakish highwayman, Torandil drew his pistol and fired it point blank into Uhlrik's torso without waiting for a proper duel to start. Uhlrik grabbed the Wood Elf and messily killed him, cracking his skull open by repeatedly bashing it with his horns.

 

These first two affairs arose largely out of a combination of Cassandra's immaturity, naevete and irresponsibility combining badly with guilt over not having chosen a man of her own species. She had great difficulty reconciling her passion and awe for him as a hero and lover with her simultaneous disdain for his ignoble heritage and how easily she could manipulate his emotions. Also, after marrying him she realized what this would mean for her family back in Ulthuan and panicked, causing many of the difficulties that flowed over into their tumultuous bickering and her eventual affairs. When handsome, well-bred (if rustic) elf men came along and showered affection on her, she succumbed to their charms.

 

After Uhlrik killed Torandil, Cassandra had dalliances with several human men and flaunted them before Uhlrik out of spite. A young swordsman named Stuyvesant slept with her, then got cold feet after realizing what trouble he was sure to be in.

 

Later, Uhlrik and Cassandra agreed to a long-term separation though she stayed with the Black dragons. During that period she took a young human lover from among the 'Dragons named Otto, though she rapidly tired of him. She shared quarters though never a bed with Albrecht der Rot for a time after leaving Uhlrik since he was a friend to the couple. During this period she also had a casual sexual relationship with Adolf Lundgren, which ended amicably after he fell in love with (and eventually married) Isolde.

 

While they were still technically apart, Cassandra visited Uhlrik at the Tower of Hoeth since he was there with their twin children. She discovered his reluctant attraction to the Sword-Mistress Astarielle Glitterblade and gave her blessing for any relationship that might spring up with the statuesque Asur woman. Both Cassandra and Uhlrik found Astarielle to be a soothing, calming influence. When Cassandra left the tower she hoped that Uhlrik would move on and forget her; he did try to. Astarielle decided not to accompany him back to the Black Dragons, however, and encouraged him to reach out to his estranged wife.

 

Their time apart was very good for the two of them, giving each some time to examine what mattered to them. Eventually they decided to begin the process of reconciliation and she moved back in with him and their children. Things were tentatively going pretty well for the pair when Astarielle resurfaced due to Erich's curiosity.

 

To everyone's surprise, at Cassandra's insitence Astarielle has permanently become a part of the Gunderit family, and has greatly aided Uhlrik and Cassandra in their reconciliation.