Cassiope Winterthorne

Cassiope Winterthorne, known more commonly as Cass, is a dryadborne Fey-Favoured Sorcerer.

## Basic

* Height: 5'7
* Weight: 115 lbs
* Cassiope Winterthorne (Common Name)
	+ Used with the large majority of those she meets. Given by her father.
* Casaraine (Dryad Name)
	+ Used with dryads, and other dryad-borne. Given by her mother
* Languages known: Common, Sylvan, Elvish, Plants + Animals
	+ Accent: Distinct to Cal Araenora (OOC: Who Knows)

## Appearance and Traits

Cass's eyes are dark, though in light can be identified as a deep green. Aside from her face and her fingers, most of the dryadborne's skin and all of her hair is covered in bright, flowing robes. Dyed vivid red and lined with gold thread, the outfit is suitable for the entertainer. The thread matches the many dangling jewels and metals that adorns her scarves, wrists and ears that sing and jingle while she moves, iconic to those from Cal Araenora.

### Other Information:

**Racial Traits:** *Currently well hidden. Ears, hair and most of her skin is hidden from view. Otherwise, she appears as something not-quite human. A discerning eye may identify a fey, though she has often been mistaken for elvish as well. (Of which, it must be said she is 1/4 elvish).*

**Level of Grooming:** Very high. Robes are kept meticulously cleaned and free of wrinkles, and her jewelry shining. A disheveled Cassiope is something very wrong.

**Communication:** Relaxed and rarely without a smile. An entertainer at heart, she is rarely far from a good joke - even if it is just for herself. One can tell she is truly happy when the smile pulls and crinkles the corners of her eyes.

## Abilities

### Archery

* Both Junipera and Elidyr knew their way behind a bow, and their daughter was taught as such. It is for that reason, that the style in which Cass shoots her bow is reminiscent of the styles used by those in the Wild Hunt, where her mother honed her own skills. Originally, it was a skill to be used for entertaining - it was always a crowd-pleaser to have a young girl shooting targets thrown by her parents - but as Cass gained her magic she started utilizing that more for her shows, and bow was used more for her own enjoyment.

### Magic

* *Source of Power:* It is currently unknown where Cass’s arcane power comes from. Her mother, by all accounts, was a fairly minor fey spirit before being turned into a dryad, and her father had no such abilities. While for many years the young dryadborne’s powers were kept quiet due to fear of association with Eesonnet or another similar fey, none came to claim the gift - or curse. If asked about it, Cass will generally say a line about it being a gift from Srar - and will leave it at that.

## Backstory

Born in Cal Araenora during a time when the town was situated in the feywilds, Cass was born to half elf father and a fey mother – the later having been bound to a tree after having fallen in love by a rather grumpy Archfey Eesonnet who took the betrayal as a personal affront. The family built their home around her mother’s Heart Tree, nestled in a grove in the small courtyard. In the city itself, the family worked as entertainers, delighting the visitors to the traveling city with tricks and japes.

It was a good life, even for through the teasing and harassing that occurred at the hands of those who followed the Archfey Eesonnet. The bits and pieces that marked her were easily enough covered by bits of cloth, scarves, and the ringing jewelry that marked a citizen of Cal Araenora, and Cass picked up the entertaining life quickly – joining her parents in their craft even in toddlerhood.

When her powers appeared as a child, levitating a trick scarf into the air, her parents beheld them with a mixture of fear and only a small amount of curiosity. Neither were sure of where the powers came from – and given her mother’s history, both were more than a little concerned about more meddling by the Archfey.  But none arrived to bargain for their child, and as the years passed, her parents relaxed their rules on her use of magic, letting Cass use her powers only slightly to aid in their work. With their daughter now in tow, the family managed to make a small name for themselves, and were called in to perform in lavish parties and esteemed guests along side their performances in the street. As she got older, Cass even started to perform on her own, and was looking into earning enough money to send her parents into an early retirement.

Unfortunately, she never got the chance.

She was returning late from a party that night – too late. She had tried to slip in the door to not wake her parents, only to hear the sound of her mother screaming.

She doesn’t talk much about what she saw that night. Even now she still has nightmares of her mother’s screams and the way the flesh darkened on her bones, the murderous glare in her father’s eye as his mind was taken over by some mad power. Cass managed to escape – just barely, with a scar on her side inflicted by her father’s own blade. She was rescued by a kind old fey maid in the city named Nym. A fellow entertainer, she helped to wrap Cass’s cuts, and helped to piece together the bits of her memory into something more substantial.

Her mother’s heart tree was turned into a Willowhaunt Tree, the fey maid had informed her, after hearing the story. The men that she saw surrounding it, with the blood moon on their cloaks – Venari. But the name that she heard whispered of their leader – Kristoph – was one that Old Nym had never heard before.

Cass had rarely left the confines of the city, but without her parents, she felt little more tying her. Filling a pack with essentials, she said her goodbyes and thanks to Old Nym, and left the wards of Cal Araenora to explore the rest of the continent of the Material Plane. And while her driving force is vengeance, there is a small, quiet part of the dryadborne that is excited to see the world, and to use the power that she feels building in her bones.

## Family

**Junipera Winterthorne** - Mother. *Location: Last seen at Winterthorne cottage. Reportedly in the Nodosis*

* ~~Dryad~~ *Willowhaunt Tree*

* Cass always looked up to her mother. She was beautiful and graceful, skilled in dance and fey japes. While Cass's father was the livelier of the pair, Junipera was more measured, choosing her words carefully. She was a dancer in the group's acts, pairing with her husband's more verbal acts. She was very devoted to Srar, and viewed her worship as more a penance for her act of falling in love with a common folk (a guilt that was apparently was not strong enough that it dissuaded her from marrying him), and taught her daughter the rote of worship.

**Elidyr Winterthorne** - Father. *Location: Unknown. Last seen at Winterthorne cottage*

* Half-elf (Half Human/Half Eladrin)
* Cass's father also had things he lost when he joined with a dryad. Elidyr was the son of a proud Eladrin father, and they lived together while his mother had long since passed away. He met his fey love when he was out hunting, and she had lured him away off a cliff and into a pond. But instead of angry, he was enthralled. It was Elidyr who pursued Junipera first, chasing her through the fields and courting her with flowers and gifts. It's for this reason that he likely blamed himself for his wife being chained to the tree. He helped build their house around it, protecting it in their courtyard. He was an excellent gardener and built an entire garden around the tree. While his wife was more careful, Elidyr was more energetic, constantly joking and teasing his daughter. When his wife was turned into a Willowhaunt, Elidyr was turned mad, and attacked his daughter as she ran.

**Synaris Winterthorne** - Grandfather. *Location unknown*

* Elven (Eladrin)
* Cass has never met her grandfather. Her father spoke of him very rarely - and usually derisively. What she does know of him, from what her father has said, is that he is (or was, as she is not even aware if he still lives) a proud-to-a-fault eladrin who lived in one of the other cities of the feywild.

## Non-Player Characters

**Dark Blossom -** Horse

* Acquired thanks to the generosity of Coel, Dark Blossom is a very proud horse more focused on proving his heroism than of fostering his relationship with Silvara, another horse owned by Arnica. He is so far resistant to her encouragement to pursue less...lofty aspirations.

**Harold** - Flower

* A single flower that Cass rescued outside the door of her house, that she found surrounded by weeds. She rescued him, and with a bit of conversation and magic, brought him back to health. A boon that he often forgets, when he orders Cass around to move him toward the sun or give some extra water. She...tolerates him, for some reason.

## Relationships

### Friends

* Ashewan Norvegicus
* Enor
* Gwyneth
* Timbermitt

### Acquaintances

* Anivia Reman
* Arnica
* Coel
* Moxzi Bluhedd
* Rinn Zelnolar
* Rover Custard Augustine
* Rynros

## Personal Items

* Showfolk's Sensu - Magical fan gifted to Cass by her parents on her 12th birthday, often kept out of sight when not used for entertaining for the best dramatic effect.

* *Glass Taken from the Ashenvale - Thanks to the glass which allowed them to see invisible enemies, the party was able to make it out of the Ashenvale in one piece. After some further evaluation, it had no further significant properties. Laid at the foot of the statue of Srar (The Frozen Prince)*

* Small token of Srar - Bought in the feywild, and kept as a token of the adventure. Kept now in a small household shrine that Cass has made for her god in her apartment.

* Necklace of Adaption - Given by Timbermitt while in the feywild. *Attuned.*

* Calacaza Berries (15) - Acquired from...somewhere?

* +1 Dagger - Given by Enor, as a gift from their re-meeting. While originally simply decorated with a twist of vines in the style of the Sheire Knights. It has since been transformed by the Forgotten Prince, and now has a blade of milk white.

* Robe of Cunning - Given by Khurezolgrax by winning the hunt. This item allows Cass to change her appearance at will. *Attuned*.

* Citrine Pendant - Given due to her participation in a hunt by the dragon Khurezolgrax, Cassiope has added the jewel to her collection on her robes.

* The Charm of the Freshbloom - A charm given by Lucereon Velenthir in Cal Araenora, as thanks for her service to the Aethelwald.

## Locations

### **Room above the Shop**

A simple, warm room above Gardet's Garments, kindly rented out by Ashewan and Gwyneth. It is very noticeably sparsely decorated, aside from Harold and any other project plant she has living on the shelf. She often swears that she is in the middle of redecorating when others visit. She is often, very obviously, never redecorating.

## Trivia

* Favorite season: Whiterose. Cass is surprisingly hardy to the cooler temperatures, and apparently does not feel the need to don heavier fabrics than her normal cloaks.
* In Greencrown, it’s noticed that Cass takes on a rather warm floral scent, which gets stronger throughout the warmer months. She swear that she owns perfume, but has never been seen applying or purchasing such an item.
* While the languages she speaks are limited, Cass has a rather colorful collection of swears and insults in a multitude of languages that she has collected over years of entertaining.
* Likely related to the above, while very proud, Cass is noticeably hard to truly insult. And any attempt will often return with a retort that she's heard worse. Occasionally she provides examples.
* Favorite genre: *Romance.* Without question.
* Cass celebrates her birthday in Whiterose. Given Cal Araenora's characteristic trait, she's not exactly sure *when* in Material Plane time that is, day-wise. Don't even bother to ask her what year - you'll get more of a headache at the explanation than is usually worth.