Cassandra Harely

Cassandra Harely (Made with HeroForge)

A powerful witch with shrouded motives. Her coven, the Unbroken, was allied with the Library. Her first true run-in with the New Wells Six was her theft of the inter-dimensional prison box known as the Abyssal Maw from Richard Mortem. She only promised to return the relic on the terms that Matthew Greene and the new mutant head of the MC/Nomads, Walker, were killed. During the NW6's excursion to Junkyard's underground in search of the library delegation, it was revealed by the witch Nat that Queen Mab and Cassandra were one in the same.

## History

### Arc 7: Tracking Liberty

In April of 2096, Cassandra had caught wind of a manifest that contained the last locations of certain artifacts, including the Witch's Blade, Abyssal Maw, and Bell of Saint Michael, located in Curie, Utah. She conjured up a snowstorm around the ghost town, aided by her elemental, and sent her witches to search for the item. She and her people killed anyone that approached Curie, and captured Liberty when she came there in an attempt to find out what was happening.

The NW6 encountered Tessa, one of Cassandra's underlings, but not the lead witch herself. The group left the town before they could come across her or any more of her people.

### Arc 9: The Goat, The Witch, and the Warden

While Dick, Noni, and Mac were traveling in their own group, Cassandra used the opportunity to steal the Abyssal Maw. The demon in her artifact, the Witch's Blade, also called the Snowflake, sought out the demon in the Abyssal Maw known as Orzithal. Using the connection between the two beings, Cassandra tracked down Dick. Orzithal used its hold over Dick to control him and lead him into an ambush. Cassandra hexed him and broke his bond with the Maw, taking it for herself. She also captured his crow familiar, Ellis. Mac and Noni found Dick during the attack, and tried to defend him to no avail. Cassandra made off with her haul, leaving the group alive.

During a meeting between the NW6, Mac mentioned finding Cassandra's home base in the mountains of Montana with the help of ComSat.

On the night of May 11th, Cassandra sent Ellis to Sumpter to bring a message to the NW6. She took control of the bird, attempting to deceive the group into believing Ellis wasn't tampered with. Through her messenger, Cassandra told the group she wanted to meet with them, and offered a lead on Anne Mortem as a peace offering. She offered an exchange: the heads of Walker and Matthew Greene in return for the Abyssal Maw. The NW6 hesitantly agreed. Addie proceeded to ask Noni to check if Cassandra had a connection with the familiar, and cut it immediately if it existed. Noni followed through, and Cassandra was cut off from Ellis.

On May 13th, the NW6 traveled to Rexburg, Idaho to meet with Cassandra, Matthew in tow. Satisfied with the evidence of Walker and Matthew's downfall, Cassandra agreed to hand over the Maw. She had one of her underlings, disguised as herself, walk it over to the group. The woman offered it to Gregg, brushing off the illusion and revealing herself to be Mai Uhr, Gregg's older sister. The two went off to talk, and Addie continued to question Cassandra on her motives and how to use the box to trap another demon. Cassandra was forthcoming with the ritual information. The groups separated with Addie requesting open contact.

### Arc 10: The Summit

Cassandra had already planned to make moves against Junkyard when the Summit between wasteland factions came to her attention. She had made plans with a Library delegation to help protect them while they traveled into Junkyard's underground to make contact with the area's inhabitants: mutants known as moorlocks. Cassandra herself had made contact with the moorlocks, striking up a deal with their chief, Papa Bracken, to train his daughter Gwyneth in the magical arts. A short time before the Summit, in late June, Cassandra, Mai, and a few other members of her coven descended into Junkyard's old tunnels with the Library delegation. It was not long after that she had her witches attack the delegation and take the members hostage, the fight with the delegation's other guard (Team Pancakes, Na-Way) persisting over a few days.

Together with the moorlock chief Papa Bracken, Cassandra captured moorlock civilians and, using Han's church and lab to edit their DNA and turn them into deadly, acid-spitting fighters under her thrall. She paid mercenaries from OPEC to cover her witches, and protect her operations. She set up her base of operations in the church.

The day before the summit was to begin, Cassandra had summoned a servant from the Hunting Grounds to take the guise of a worker at the Yard Arms hotel. The servant used the name Jim Rhodes, and gathered intelligence on the groups making their way into Junkyard. She had Jim and a group of OPEC mercenaries set up a room of explosives in the hotel. Waiting for the Summit to begin before assassinating all of the faction leaders in one fell swoop.

Her plans to attack the summit were thwarted by the NW6, and at hearing of their continued interference in her plans, sent her witches, OPEC mercenaries, and eventually her elemental after them. As they fought past her challenges, Cassandra waited for their final assault in the church. It was not until Natalie's reveal that the NW6 knew Cassandra and Mab were the same person.

The NW6 opened their assault of the church with Ian tossing flashbangs inside to disorient Cassandra's people. Cassandra used her illusion magic to create a duplicate of herself to draw attention to the back of the church. As Addie approached the fake Cassandra, the witch summoned ice to cover the floor ahead in an attempt to trip her up. The ice grew quickly around the room, creating obstacles for the intruders. At that point, Choc's spotlight revealed the Cassandra Addie was targeting to be an illusion.

At this point, Cassandra summoned an illusion of Mai on a pedestal at the back of the church, unconscious and wearing chainmail, and dropped down into the main room from above. Cassandra told her adversaries to "Know true winter, and die before the cold takes you", before summoning ice to spear them. Addie dodged the hit, and cut off Cassandra's staff-hand in retaliation. The witch attempted to use her illusions to make herself difficult to hit, but Choc's spotlight cut through her tricks. Addie grabbed Cassandra and shoved her against the back wall, asking what she was getting from all of this. Cassandra replied she was getting knowledge, and before she could make a move, Addie decapitated her, putting an end to Cassandra and Mab.