Cassandra Baratheon

## Lady Cassandra Baratheon, Lady Dowager of Oldtown

Cassandra in 98 A.C (above) and 130 A.C (below)

Luwin Hightower (d)

Cassandra Baratheon is the eldest child of Raymont and Jeyne Baratheon. As a result of the untimely deaths of both her parents, she has been largely responsible for the upbringing of her younger siblings from a young age, and served as one of Lord Roy Baratheon's most trusted advisors until her marriage to Lucas Hightower in 103. She is now the dowager of Oldtown and advises her son, Loras Hightower

### Appearance and Character

Born during a pouring rainstorm in 75 AC, Cassandra was raised from the outset to embody stormlander discipline. As a girl, she showed the capacity for emotions such as happiness and mirth, but rarely exercised use of them, at least inasmuch as anyone could tell.  Yet she was also observant, and showed a certain wisdom. She would grow from a willowy girl into a true baratheon, with dark, stormy features and a stocky figure. Years of training with the bow has given her an archer's arms.

Though she has endured many a harsh year since marrying the lord of
Oldtown, Cassandra stands firm. Having concluded her regency, she now
settles into the role of an elegant matriarch, standing back from the
forefront even as she retains a quiet air of authority. While bearing
three children took its toll on her body, she has kept a temperate diet
and a rigorous exercise regimen, remaining fit while in the latter half
of her years

#### Biography

When her brother Roy was born three years after her, she accepted him easily enough and did her best to care for him in the way that elder siblings are wont to do for their younger.

While she never had the circle of friends Roy seemed to cultivate around him wherever he went, Cassandra held only a few close, dear ones.  With personalities ranging from the frivolous to the austere, the only thing connecting them was their affection for Cassandra.

As more and more siblings came into the world, Cassandra began to find herself somewhat sidelined.  Even her mother would often find herself distracted with the latest plot of Roy or the crying of baby Richard.  Yet while she herself was kept distant, she could still watch. While her younger siblings favoured their mother’s gentleness, Cassandra admired her father’s firm and resolute way of ruling. He was often stern with them, but never unfair.
When Jeyne passed in 88 AC, Cassandra took on her role.  Richard and Devan, the youngest siblings, could barely remember their mother.  But they both remembered Cassandra being there for them and caring for them as though it had been her who brought them into the world, difficult though they could be. Although she had been raised to behave as a lady by her mother, Lady Jeyne’s attention had by necessity tended towards her youngest, while Cassandra had become one of the few people to grow truly close to Lord Raymont. She aspired to his stoicism, and as such devoted herself to her duties rather than openly grieving, devastated though she was. When Roy left to the capital, Cassandra had questioned her father at length for sending him there.  As different as the two were and as many headaches as Roy gave her, Cassandra would miss him during his years squiring for Aemon Targaryen.
Unfortunately, it would not be under happy terms the two met again.  When Roy returned to Storm’s End next, it was not as Roy the Boy, or even as Ser Roy.  It was as Lord Roy Baratheon, the ruler of the Stormlands, a title that had fallen on his shoulders on the field of battle as their father died before his eyes. And he was woefully underprepared for it.  Despite her grief at the death of their father, Cassandra remained strong, and became one of Roy’s most valued advisors as the Stormlands began to fracture

#### Year of Skulls and Daggers

In the year 97 the Baratheon siblings faced their first crisis as rulers of the Stormlands. Banditry spread through the land, quickly revealing itself to be of a partisan nature. Ever since the death of Lord raymont in the Rosegold Rebellion, the notion of independence from The Iron Throne had been a growing sentiment in The Stormlands. The lands of those lords that favoured independence found themselves unscathed at first, leading to strong suspicions that the bandits were supported by these lords. It eventually became apparent that Lord Toyne was supporting them, and that a kinsman of his had become a brigand leader, naming himself the Lord of The Storm's Heart. In response, Lord Wylde quickly began supporting his own bandits, resulting in general disarray. As the two rebel lords stood on opposite sides of the independence question, several voices at court condemned one over the other, arguing for putting down one rebel to appease the other. Cassandra for her part, argued that both rebels should be put down by force as banditry from any source was intolerable. Ultimately Lord Roy listened to all advice he was given, then proceeded to follow precisely none of it, initially hoping the situation was mere skirmishing that would resolve itself. Cassandra was none too pleased with this inaction, and would continue to push for her brother to put forces in the field in order to restore order. However, this would later cause her to overzealously support his later decision to heed her advice, resulting in Roy taking a portion of his garrison to get more men in the field quickly, as a siege of Storm's end seemed unthinkable. Cassandra would soon learn she had been mistaken

#### The Defense of Storm's End

While Roy went to deal with Lord Toyne's brigands, Lord Wylde tried to offer his support against his rival, but was rebuffed. As a result, the Wylde brigands would take an unexpected turn towards the now lightly garrisoned fortress of Storm's End. Upon the approach of the bandit army, Cassandra granted refuge to the fleeing peasants within the walls of her ancestral home, as the brigands raided any undefended settlement they came upon. Despite an influx of refugees, Storm's End could easily have held out for months against any besieger trying to starve the castle, far longer than Lord Wylde had before Lord Roy would be alerted and send a relief force. As a result, the siege perplexed everyone from the peasants to the castellan when it first began. However before the first day was over it became clear that the brigands were preparing an assault with grappling claws. This tactic might have been suicidal against the ancient black walls if they were fully manned, but as it stood there were at least a couple of thousand bandits and a garrison of scarcely 100. Faced with the oncoming attack, Cassandra turned to the peasants she had given refuge, beseeching to aid in the defense and promising compensation for any man or woman willing to take part in the defense. In the few days they were granted, Cassandra would train her recruits with bow and arrow. When the assault came, she would don armor and join her men on the walls armed with a bow. The defense prooved bloody and desperate, but after a week in which four major assaults took place, the walls held firm and Lord Wylde abandoned his plans to take the castle hostage. After the defeat of Lord Toyne, Wylde would surrender and be spared

Her experience from the Year of Skulls and Daggers would reinforce Cassandra's dedication to the defense of her house, as well as her belief that The Stormlands needed to remain part of The Seven Kingdoms to maintain peace and order, both with its neighbours and internally. Though she too is still coming into her position and has much to learn, she remains a steady hand and a reasoned voice by Roy's side

### The years of war

Upon their arrival in King's Landing to attend the funeral of Balerion, Roy and Cassandra met in private with King Viserys and Prince Daeron. The Baratheons had gone into the meeting with the assumption that the goal was to arrange a betrothal between their sister Serra and Daeron, the prince of Dragonstone, however the King would surprise them by naming Roy Hand of The King. Cassandra protested on grounds that her brother was too young for the position and that his presence was needed in the Stormlands to maintain the fragile order established at the end of the previous year, however Roy would accept the position, making Devan his regent of Storm's End and tasking Cassandra with advising their younger brother. Although they clashed on a number of occasions, Devan and Cassandra gradually began to develope a certain level of trust as they administered the Stormlands in Roy's absence, however the outbreak of Lord Tyrell's rebellion would bring that to an end. Cassandra was left to manage the supply lines and finances of the army while Devan went on campaign. When she learned that he'd deliberately delayed troops that were summoned by the king, Cassandra would scorn Devan upon his return. With her younger brother's disinheritance and fall from favour, she would take up the regency of Storm's End for the remainder of Roy's tenure as Hand. During this time she would put together an army to defeat remnants of the bandit armies from the year of skulls and daggers, make arrangements with Lord Caron regarding the role of the Justicars in the Stormlands and make the preparations for her sister's wedding tournament.

It was also during this time that she grew closer to Tyana Wylde. Despite having been besieged and attempted taken hostage by the Wyldes during the Year of Skulls and Daggers, Cassandra would confide in her lady in waiting. Cassandra was a reserved and tempered person by nature, yet felt an attraction to Tyana she'd never felt towards any man. In the troubles ahead, the bond Cassandra and Tyana developed would prove a source of solace for both of them. Soon after her sister's wedding, the threat of war loomed once again as Dorne mobilized their armies. While Roy and Cassandra prepared for the worst, telling their lords to make the early preparations for mobilization, they held out hope that cooler heads would prevail, offering to parlay with the Martells. Roy departed Storm's End to meet the Princess of Dorne at Nightsong, leaving Cassandra in charge of a council that would administer the Stormlands in his absence. For weeks they tensely awaited a reply from Roy to learn how negotiations were faring. Before any such response could arrive, word came from Blackhaven that war had broken out. Cassandra was once again tasked with managing the logistics of her brother's army from Storm's End, ensuring that supplies and funds arrived on time.

Though she feared for the lives of her brothers, Cassandra remained stoic throughout the conflict, doing her utmost from the homefront to ensure the Baratheon armies had what they needed to fight. While she worked closely with the council of lords, Tyana was the only one she could truly confide in, and her beloved lady soon began to actively participate in the tasks of stewardship, wanting to share in the burdens of duty that accompanied the war. Though Cassandra left no room for complaint in her tireless effort to support the men on the front, the land war in the Red Mountains of Dorne would stall by 102 A.C, following a gruelling campaign by the Stormlords to liberate the marches from Dornish occupation. Roy believed the war needed to be won at sea, and so needed allies in order to bolster his fleet as quickly as possible. For the first time, he would reach the conclusion that Cassandra was more useful to him outside the Stormlands. Although her brother had been hesitant to marry Cassandra off to a lord outside of his own domain in the past, the need for an alliance had finally become too dire for him to keep her as an advisor any longer. Cassandra accepted her duty solemnly. The first great challange of her marriage would come before she had even been wed, when she had to break the news of her betrothal to Tyana. It was the most tearful night the two ladies ever spent together. The morning after, Cassandra told Tyana she could now marry without regret, having learned to know such a deep love with another.

Lord Hightower proved a man of succifient grace and sensibility to postpone the wedding until the war, allowing Cassandra to continue fulfilling her duties on the council. When the war concluded with the surprising betrayal of the Martells by their own vassals, the wedding between Cassandra and Lucas would serve as an occasion to celebrate both their union and the victory in the war. Although their marriage was one of political necessity, the newly wedded couple would prove well suited to each other, with temperaments that complimented the other well. Cassandra was nervous when she arrived in Oldtown a few months later, both as the city's new lady and as an expectant mother. The courtly customs of the Reach stood in sharp contast with the more frank and forward ways of the court at Storm's End. There were those at court who would seek to challenge her authority and diminish her status. Cassandra would adapt quickly to her surroundings in her effort to thwart her opponents. Her first son was born early in the year 104 A.C. By next year, Liam had arrived, and by the end of 105 A.C she was pregnant with a third child. In a brief, hectic time, Cassandra would find great joy in her marriage to Lucas. She tried to remain close to her sons even as she busied herself to uphold the standing of her new house alongside her husband. Tragedy would take it from her suddenly and cruelly.

In 106, Lucas died in a gruesom accident while overseing a construction project in the city. Though grief-stricken, Cassandra did her best to remain strong for her children. It was not until a few months later when a protracted and agonizing labor ended with her last son, Luwin being stillborn that Cassandra reached the verge of breaking. Summoning all her resolve, she would keep things together, fiercely defending the rights of her surviving sons from scheming courtiers and lesser Hightower cousins who now emerged from the shadows with the intent of turning their new lord into a puppet. Cassandra’s early actions made her son’s claims entirely indisputable and saw the lesser branches of House Hightower removed from the ancestral keep, relegated to manses in Oldtown where they are out of sight and mind. Most have died off aside from Lord Leo, who is perfectly content with the drinking and whoring that he endlessly enjoys. Where once had been lesser Hightowers, now came lesser, loyal Reachmen sent to ward or otherwise serve the Hightowers. A few Stormlanders would also be brought in to serve in junior positions, allowing her to keep watch over her new officials while formally honouring them above her countrymen.

Immediately after the death of his father, Loras’ education in governance began. Lady Cassandra would bring the child to meetings with advisors despite his lack of understanding simply to make him comfortable in the environment. The young Loras would toddle from lap to lap as the meeting went on, inviting himself to sit on the knee of anyone present. When they were old enough to begin learning, Cassandra sought the best tutors for her children, especially Loras who was set to learning about trade, stewarding, and rulership.

Lady Cassandra kept the boys at arm’s length at best. She maintained a strict distance from her children in their childhood, hoping to instill in them a sense of self reliance and responsibility for their actions. Unlike most highborn children, Loras and Liam did not have whipping boys to be punished for their misbehavior. The lordlings took the lashings for themselves under the cold, watchful eye of their mother. Lady Cassandra even maintained a physical distance from her boys once they grew past the toddler years. Unlike previous rulers that kept their families in the lord’s apartments at the second to highest floor of the High Tower, Lady Cassandra took the lord’s apartments for herself and relegated the boys to the floor below when they began their education. She imposed strict punishments at attempts to enter the floor without invitation. When she addressed the boys, she did so either standing above them or seated behind a desk while the boys stood, the way a nobleman would address a messenger or servant.

Cassandra also faced a series of challenges throughout her regency beginning with a fire in the artisan’s quarter of Oldtown. While the damage was minimal, the economic fallout of the event led to riots. Rather than risk a spread of the violence, the city watch used harsh treatment to put down the potential insurrection. To placate the survivors, Lady Cassandra implemented charitable measures to feed workers that lost jobs and ensure they were dressed. The city watch was supplemented with Hightower troops and guard presence was increased throughout the city to ensure the streets remained silent. Lady Cassandra also lowered the taxes of the craftsmen for seven years to aid in their recovery.

It was when her sons entered adolesence that Lady Cassandra began removing the distance between herself and her sons, bringing them up to her level both physically and emotionally. She began by having the boys’ rooms relocated to the floor of the lords’ apartments, though she retained the lord’s personal chambers. She also began to share private meals with them in the solar of the lord’s family. This was the first time since they were toddlers that the boys ate with their mother. Additionally, she would share glasses of wine with them to remove the sober facade that she had presented to them for years. For the first time in their lives, she acted as a normal mother at least in private.The Hightowers continue to share a meal together each night unless they are otherwise engaged.

In 117 AC, Loras was challenged yet again by a series of violent riots in Oldtown inspired by the Cobblers. The boy, at just three and two, oversaw much of the reclamation of the city. As befits a boy just beginning to swell with testosterone, he ordered his men to offer no quarter to those that attacked them. After days of fighting, the rebellion was quelled. The ringleaders were publicly executed in the central square by burning. Like had been done in the rebellion in the Riverlands and Westerlands, lay participants were granted leniency. Loras took his mother’s advice and personally attended the funerals of noncombatants and soldiers that had been killed in the rioting and comforted the grieving families.

In raising Liam, Cassandra sought to steer her younger son away from behaviours she recognized from her brother Devan. Recognizing the boy's desire to prove himself as a second son who had lost his father, she would strive to moderate his impulses. By giving him command of his own ship and sending him on campaigns against local pirate coves, Cassandra sated her second son's appetite for glory and recognition while ensuring he would not grow bitter in his brother's shadow. Both of her sons became passionate and energetic men, and with passions followed desires. While Liam began eagerly pursuing the company of women, Cassandra noticed in Loras a more subtle but no less abiding love for his fellow men. While imploring them to be subtle and sensible, Cassandra realized that trying to interfere to heavily in the romantic lives of her sons would undermine her earlier lessons of self-reliance. While refraining from passing judgement on either, she was never hesitant to remind either of them that marriage was a fact of life for those of noble blood

In time her influence would become less visible as she settled into the role of a graceful, vigilant dowager, though her power as a matriarch in the family remained an undeniable presence within House Hightower, and her contributions to the stewardship of Oldtown continue to enrich the family. Though her greatest victories may be won, she is by no means resting on her laurels

## Family Members

* Roy Baratheon (Father, d. 93 AC)
* Jeyne Baratheon (nee Caron, Mother, d. 88 AC)
* Roy Baratheon (Brother, b. 78 AC)
* Serra Baratheon (Sister, b. 80 AC)
* Devan Baratheon (Brother, b. 82 AC)
* Richard Baratheon (Brother, b. 85 AC)
* Lucas Hightower (Husband, d. 106 A.C)
* Loras Hightower (Son, b. 104 A.C)
* Liam Hightower (Son, b. 105 A.C)
* Luwin Hightower (Son, stillborn in 106 A.C)

## Meta

 4

**Skills:** Civil Engineering, Diplomacy, Silver Tongue

**Attribute:** Diligent