Cassandra Pavelisia de Veziert

Cassandra

Siblings - Sarah Pavelisia de Veziert, Josephine Pavelisia de Veziert, Xavier Pavel de Veziert

## ***History***

#### ***The Black Sheep***

Cassandra was born into the noble House de Veziert, a house that had achieved it's status as nobility in Absalom, Taldor, and Qadir primarily via the financial route as merchants. Much to the dismay o

f her mother especially, she never took well to the proper lifestyle of a noblewoman. She acted out constantly, and took great joy in stealing small items of little to no actual value from the household. It was a game to her, much to the annoyance of her parents and the house servants. Unfortunately for her family, telling her not to take things only made her even more interested in doing it. She was less than an ideal fit for the high society she was forced to partake in, she hated the pretentiousness of it all, and after more than a few instances of her using banquets, balls, and feasts as a means of sneaking off to steal the finest alcohol she could get her hands on from the storeroom, her family simply quit taking her to them, instead electing to leave her home.  Her parents and siblings could never understand why she would 'squander her privilege' in favor of being such an 'unruly brat', but although they did not understand her, they did still love her. Cassandra knew that she was loved, but hated that her family refused to accept that perhaps the noble life of sitting around organizing trade arrangements and political displays was simply not for her, and she had a growing resentment of her family for it. One day the air around Cassandra began to smell of scotch, it was faint at first, but it only grew more potent as the days went on. Her father was furious when he discovered it, thinking that she must be stealing it from him, not believing her when she told her that she wasn't, as he could quite literally smell it on her. Neither of them knew the truth.

#### ***A Growing Problem***

Weeks passed, and despite the father hiring guards to ensure she remains in the house and to guard the alcohol under lock, key, and constant supervision, the smell remained with her. Meanwhile, Cassandra was growing incresingly ill. She felt weak, her hands were trembling, her head hammered against the inside of her skull, and nobody rightfully knew what to do. After a few days of the awful migraines, a doctor was called. The doctor did what he could do to ease the pain, but after two weeks of trying in vain to actually cure Cassandra of whatever ailed her, he suggested to Alexander that he try giving her scotch. With Alexander's consent, the doctor made the last mistake of his life. Something awoke in the girl as she downed her drink. She felt the weakness, the trembling, and the headache fading away as she took more, but suddenly she felt something different, an energy bouncing around within her fingertips, waiting for a path to be released. It didn't hurt, however and so she didn't think much of it. The doctor began to theorize that perhaps she was somehow cursed, and that the occasional drink would fix it, but before he could finish the sentence, that energy within Cassandra found a way to be released as she hugged him to thank him for the relief. A bright blue flash of electricity arced from her to him, and before anyone could process what had happened, the man was dead.

#### ***The Curse of Magic***

After the death of the doctor had been dealt with and the family was certain there would be no repercussions for the unfortunate accident, they sought after someone who would better understand what was going on with Cassandra and hopefully be able to help her control it or, if necessary, get rid of it altogether. To that end, they brought in a mage from Osirion. The mage was able to uncover more of the nature of her magic, realizing that the scent in the air around her was a function of the magic in her blood, and also that she was only magically potent when she had been drinking. She didn't need to be drunk to do magic, she simply needed to drink from time to time. When she abstained, she would grow lethargic, weak, and sick all over again. The mage presented the family with a choice. Cassandra could keep her magic and live the rest of her days depending on drink to be a functional person, or she could lose the magic and not need the drink. Cassandra's father immediately told the mage to get rid of the magic, but Cassandra wanted to keep it. A huge argument broke out between Cassandra, her parents, and her siblings, and the mage took the incredibly awkward moment as a sign that he should give the family time to think.

#### ***A Decision to Make***

Over the course of the next few weeks, there was a constant stream of on and off shouting in the household. Cassandra saw her magic as a gift that, while carrying some unfortunate side effects, would be a waste to squander. It could be useful if honed, and could enable her to do incredible things in the world, both for her own enjoyment and for the enrichment of mankind, even for the spreading of the family name and influence. Her mother and father, on the other hand, saw it as a curse with limited upsides. They were upset that the smell and her constant need for the bottle would mean that the family would have to hide her from noble guests, and that the world would see their noble house as having a dirty secret to keep. Her sisters sided with the parents, while her brother thought that this should be Cassandra's decison and Cassandra's alone. Cassandra surprised everyone with an idea. There was a manor in Absalom owned by the family that for most of the year was only occupied by servants keeping the place neat and tidied up whilst tending to the landscape. The manor was used to host guests from time to time, but that was about it. She suggested that she go to Absalom to live in the de Veziert manor there. She'd see to it the place was kept decent, and it could be used as a space for her to live while she figures out how to better control her powers. She would then join up with the Pathfinder Society, using the adventuring life to spread the word of the deeds of House de Veziert further in the world. That way she could keep her magic the way she wanted whilst not being an ugly stain on the family's public image. Her father consented, and with that she made off to Absalom to learn to better control her magic. Meanwhile, she found she had a knack for detective work and a love of her newfound distance from her family. Thus the life of Cassandra Pavelisia de Veziert as a detective and private investigator was begun in earnest. She set about ensuring she always had a large supply of her favorite scotch on hand, as it was quite literally vital for her.

## ***Appearance***

Cassandra is a small woman, standing at 5 feet tall and having an overall slight frame, her short brown hair not quite raching her shoulders. Despite never having been one for the proper noblewoman's life, she certainly does love the attire, adorning herself in fine luxury clothing even when working, as she loves the feel of it (and admittedly does enjoy looking pretty). She is especially fond of the color blue, for her fabrics, and pure white for her furs.

## ***Ambitions and Goals***

Cassandra wants to achieve the approval of her family. At her core, that is her number one goal, but she'd never admit it, not even to herself. She is a woman of many goals. She wants to spread her family's name through her deeds as an adventurer. She wants to be a successful adventurer in her own right, not just by using her family name to get ahead in the Pathfinder Society. She wants to find the best scotch in the world (and she does have quite the collection of contenders), she'd also like to one day learn to make it herself, but that's more of a want than a real goal. She's bitter and tired of people thinking of her as someone in need of help with her drinking habit. She, as she sees it, doesn't need help, and just wants to be accepted as she is. She feels that if she can be a successful adventurer, her family will be able to accept her, and so that is what she wants to do.

## ***Noble House de Veziert***

House de Veziert is a family that runs a large scale trading company. Through commercial success and more than a few clever arrangements, the family has achieved the status of nobility in Absalom, Taldor, and Qadir, with intent to spread the nobility further.

#### ***History of the de Veziert Trading Company***

The de Veziert family began its business as sellers of fine luxury fabrics. Initially they sold fabrics locally, but were eventually able to secure contracts to sell fabrics to larger scale high-end clothiers. Using money from the larger contracts they were slowly able to piece together, they began selling hgh quality furs as well. Once they had more money, they began producing clothing and various fur or fabric accessories of their own, and found success doing so. Slowly but surely the trading company branched out further and further into different markets, and today the brand is known for producing high end commodities, including but not limited to watches, clocks, furniture, rugs, luxury clothes, shoes, various forms of alcohol (of which their Black Spiced Rum is the most popular, particularly among the wealthier men of the sea), and even fine tableware.

#### ***The Business of the House Today***

The trading company today operates in much the same way it always has. They trade primarily by sea, and are open to being contracted to make shipments for other companies. As part of those contracts, they will take a cut of the sale value, and will demand to know the cost of producing the item. With that information, they'll decide if it's worth cutting into the high end market for that kind of item. As for the family, the de Veziert family still oversees all of the businesses of the company, either through direct blood relatives or through marriage to those overseeing things. The family estate and contractual obligations currently lie with Alexander Pavel de Veziert and his wife Atestria, however the couple for the most part simply delegate much of the decision-making to those in the family who are responsible for the various divisions of the company business, whilst they themselves maintain vetoing power over large decisions, but for the most part busy themselves tending to the political life that comes with the family's noble title. So far, this strategy continues to work quite well for them both politically and commercially.