housekeeping | application for teleios

[abovereproach]

Player Info

Name: Alishia
Age: 30
Contact: knightinqs
Characters Already in Teleios: Bruce Banner (The Hulk); Dylan Rhodes; I'seth
Reserve: Here.

Character Basics:

Character Name: Cassandra Pentaghast
Journal: abovereproach
Age: Canon's a little fuzzy on the subject of Cassandra's age, but at best guess, she's likely in her mid-to-late 30s.
Fandom: Dragon Age
Canon Point: Post-What Pride Had Wrought
Debt:

Class A: 5000 years

Murder (multiple counts; most, if not all, of which are related to killing demons / bandits / dragons / general bad guys)

Class B: 250 years, 6 months

Assault (multiple counts)

Kidnapping (specifically the detainment of Varric Tethras after the start of the mage rebellion)

Class C: 305 years, 5 months

Animal Abuse (apparently she likes to wander off and beat up bears? who knew?)

Attempted Murder (multiple counts)

Cruel and Unusual Punishment (multiple counts)

Harassment (specifically Varric after learning he could have gotten in contact Hawke after all)

Ignoring a Direct Order by a Superior

Invasion of Privacy (mostly related to her duties as a Seeker)

Prejudice Against Other Species (or, well, mages, for the most part)

Property Damage (multiple counts; warriors have a specific ability that allows them to kick down walls and gates and such)

Purposefully Ignoring Those in Need (not that she enjoys or makes a habit of this, but it has sometimes been necessary)

Threatening Death (multiple counts)

Tresspassing (multiple counts)

Vigilantism (declaring the Inquisition in the first place)

GRAND TOTAL: 5555 years, 11 months

Canon Character Section:

History:

Here.

It is important to note, however, that Cassandra comes from a world where malleable protagonists rule the day. While this includes the one from her own game, and therefore has the biggest impact on her, the rest is important to some degree. That said, the state of Thedas, the continent the game takes place on, can be found here.

Personality:

Near the beginning of Inquisition, Cassandra is described by a semi-antagonistic character as a thug, albeit one that can justify what she does as service to a higher power, and at first glance, this doesn't seem to be entirely untrue. In her first appearance in the series in Dragon Age 2, she kidnaps and interrogates one of the main characters and none too kindly, after all, and in her own game, within the first ten minutes, she threatens to have the Inquisitor killed for their assumed involvement in the death of Chantry leader, Divine Justinia, at the peace talks between the Templars and the mages. And even beyond that, even once she warms up to whoever she happens to be dealing with or assuming they haven't done something to immediately earn her ire, she remains outwardly intimidating, brash and tactless to a certain degree, prone to making snap decisions just for the sake of having made one. She doesn't see a point to argument when action is called for, if only because she feels chasing one's tail to the point of inaction tends to cause just as many problems as her tendency towards more direct, immediate routes do.

While she recognizes this as a failing, however, oftentimes second guessing her own decisions after the fact, more often than not, she does it with the best of intentions at heart. She's a strong advocate of the preservation of life, particularly of those of the innocent, and believes that the Chantry, the Inquisition and even herself should serve as defenders who leave the world a better place than they found it. If that means making hard, fast decisions, than so be it, and that, perhaps, is why she respects her team (most notably Cullen and the Inquisitor herself) as much as she does. Both of them have been put into the position to make those hard decisions, be they personal, professional or both, and both have done so honestly and without trying to deny responsibility of what comes of their choices.

Beyond that and perhaps obviously at this point, Cassandra is deeply religious. Despite having her faith shaken multiple times throughout the course of her canon, in seeing what lengths the Templars, the Grey Wardens, and even her own people, the Seekers of Truth (all supposed paragons of order and faith) have gone to, she still believes that the Maker has a plan and that people and the Chantry are, for the most part, good. She isn't entirely blinded by her faith, however -- particularly in the case of the latter, she recognizes that the Chantry could stand to see some serious reform, as it has, in her opinion, become more of a pagenting figurehead of an institution rather than a place for the faithful to turn in times of trouble. Which probably explains why, if elected to become the new Divine in game, she enacts serious reforms on the Chantry, the Templars and Circle of Magi, and the Seekers of Truth, re-devoting them all to their original, pure purposes, without all the corruption and lies and politicking -- all of which she has no great love for.

Despite her best intentions, however, Cassandra is occasionally guilty of some of the standard, fearful beliefs of some of her peers, particularly where mages are concerned. Exceptions can and have been made, as was the case with the Inquisitor in eventuality (and the first and only man she's ever bedded, a mage named Regalyan), but for the most part, she is mistrustful of mages as a whole. In her opinion, most of them are inclined to abuse their power, either through making deals with demons or practicing the forbidden art of blood magic, and are worthy of careful scrutiny, if nothing else. Considering everything that's happened in Thedas over the course of her life, between the trouble in Kirkwall and the fall of the Circles, and her brother's murder at the hands of a blood mage, however, she at least has justification for her wariness that goes beyond just simple Chantry prejudices.

Finally, it should be noted that despite all her outward strength, Cassandra does have a softer side. In her spare time, when she's not working on her swordplay or making disgusted noises at Varric, oddly lovable rogue despite how much he's put her through, she enjoys reading romance novels as sort of a guilty pleasure and is a romantic at heart. Not that she'd ever admit to any of it or wouldn't deny it if called on it, but the idea of candle-light dinners and poetry and passion appeals to her greatly. As does simply spending time with the people she considers friends, even if it means something someone outside her circle might imagine as being beneath her, such as playing a card game just for the bonding experience.

Powers/Abilities:

First and foremost, Cassandra is a member of the Seekers of Truth, an arm of the Chantry dedicated to protecting it from external and, perhaps more importantly, internal threats. To aid in this duty, the Seekers have several abilities at their disposal, both unique and similar to those of the Templars, and Cassandra is no exception. These abilities boil down to the following:

Immunity to Mind Control: Basically what it says on the tin, Cassandra cannot be compelled by any means. Additionally, this immunity provides her protection against possession by the demons of her world -- it just can't happen.

Lyrium Burn: All Templars and mages who have been using mana potions have Lyrium in their system and Cassandra can use this against them by literally setting it on fire in their blood. This typically causes paralysis via the intense amount of pain it causes and can eventually lead to death. Usually, however, she doesn't go that far -- it's more an interrogation tactic than a weapon, as far as she's concerned.

Silence: Again, like it says on the tin, Cassandra can prevent mages from using their magic. According to one in game conversation, Templars and Seekers manage to bring a certain measure of stability to reality, disrupting a mage's connection to the Fade (the pseudo-reality where mages draw their powers from and where humans and elves mind's go when they dream), and thereby preventing them from changing reality by will alone.

Spell Purge: If a mage does manage to get a spell off in her presence, Cassandra can negate its effects to a certain degree. While this wouldn't protect her from taking a fireball to the face, however, it would allow her to remove magical shielding put in place by a mage or free an ally who's been frozen in their tracks by ice.

Wrath of the Heavens: Through her faith, Cassandra can summon a pillar of light to stun enemies and deal severe damage to demonic targets.

Beyond that, Cassandra is an adept warrior, more than capable of defending herself and her allies with an assortment of melee weapons (though her favorite, perhaps, remains the sword and shield), and rallying them to fight longer and harder, particularly where demons are concerned.

Appearance: Cassandra is a human woman of average height and a strong build -- the latter likely thanks to years of martial training. She has short black hair, worn cropped close, and lightly colored eyes. Years of battle have left her with two prominent scars, one on her lower left cheek, along her jawline and the other on the right, just below her eye. In terms of dress, she is almost always in some form of armor, even while at rest.

Samples:

Actionspam Sample:

Here.

Prose Sample:

Here.