Cassius

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Alliance Cassius Palenix
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Player Cassius
Title <Grand Master>
Gender Male
Race Human
Class Paladin
Age 33
Height 6'1"
Weight 195 lbs
Eyes Steel grey
Hair Raven black
Affilliation(s) Barony of Palenstrad (Collapsed), Knights of the Silver Hand (Formerly), Scarlet Crusade (Formerly), League of Palenstrad (Defunct), House Whiteshore (Formerly) and the Sovereign Order.
Occupation Knight of the Silver Hand (Formerly), Scarlet Crusader (Formerly), Knight-Commander of Whiteshore (Formerly), Grand Master of the Sovereign Order.
Relative(s) Ephemios (Father, Deceased), Athena (Mother, Unknown)
Mentor(s) Torben Bolt (Deceased)
Companion(s) N/A
Status Alive
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Appearance | Personality | Background| Storylines

Appearance

Cassius has a typically well-groomed, long and raven black hair descending down to his shoulders. His body can be described only as strapping, as demonstrated by his tall, firm and fairly muscled shape. His steel grey, deep-set eyes, his sharply pointing down inner half of his eyebrows and angular face gives the paladin a very brooding or mischievous appearance to the common eye. No scars appear on his body, despite being a man of war, one can easily determine that with his powerful usage of the light that he is capable in healing most of his heavily received injuries without delay.

Personality

Cassius is a calm and very quiet individual to those who first see him in person. He is patient, polite and sincere. His tone is soft and soothing to the average ear. Due to his time in the Scarlet Crusade, Cassius lost grasp with the old tenants that the Silver Hand once taught and now follows a twisted variant of the old chivalric code.

He is stern and also austere to those who desecrate the corpses of the fallen. He shows common distaste for members of other sects unaffiliated with his vision of the light's agenda but respects his fellow brothers and sisters of the light. The destruction of Havenshire and New Avalon brought Cassius over a powerful hatred against death knights. Knight of the Ebon Blade or not, he will not hesitate to bring himself over to assault a death knight to avenge his fallen brothers and sisters at arms.

Despite his standard serenity, Cassius reveals an inquisitive nature of his to few. He will not hesitate to inquire about one's perspective or faith in general.

Background

Cassius Palenix is son of the widowed Baroness Athena Palenix, his genetic father being the deceased knight Ephemios Palenix, who was slain by a band of brigands before Cassius was even born. His early childhood consisted of him being pampered by the young Baroness's servants, listening to gallant tales of his father and horror stories of the First War. He was tutored and constantly trained by his mother who was obsessed with making the child look proper and adorable to the public eye. Cassius meanwhile was inspired to become a knight, much like his father. His mother was not opposed to the idea and even encouraged the child to do so.

As Cassius reached the age of nine, Athena influenced a paladin of the Silver Hand, Sir Torben Bolt, to take Cassius as his squire and pupil. Cassius did the basics of a squire by taking care of his master's armor, horse and maul. In return, Torben taught Cassius the basics of combat, the three tenants and the holy light. By year 17 Cassius officially became paladin and member of the Silver Hand.

Tragedy struck during the Third War when the Scourge emerged, Torben was slain by the horrendous ghouls while Cassius and his brethren managed to survive the carnage. Cassius did not hear word of his mother, however the manor he once resided fell during the war, therefore expected the worst. He and the surviving paladins gathered to join the newly formed Scarlet Crusade to eradicate the population of the undead.

Cassius prior to the Third War

His time as a Scarlet Crusader made him more cynical, stern and ruthless to those around him. He showed no mercy to those who opposed the Scarlets and carried their colors proudly. He supported the Scarlet Crusade and its cause, disregarding the opinion of the Church and their lack of support in the Plaguelands.

In year 27, an unexpected assault from the Scourge occurred. The Lich King had deployed his shock troopers, the 3rd generation death knights, in Tyr's Hand, resulting in its total destruction. Cassius didn't follow Brigitte Abbendis's route to Northrend to join the Scarlet Onslaught, instead he defected from the Scarlet Crusade and prudently went south to Ironforge.

Along the way he had heard stories about the mysterious Dark Riders in the proximity of Duskwood and Deadwind Pass who had supposedly caused great corruption in the area. This encouraged him to take the Deeprun Tram when he was in Ironforge to easily reach the city of Stormwind and later followed the path to Duskwood. When he finally reached the location he began to investigate upon the many possible explanations for the corruption. Nothing but superstitions clouded the very settlement, from rumors of necromancers, curses, witches or even presence of the Scourge reached Cassius' ear. What caught his attention however, were the rumors of the Dark Riders of Deadwind Pass.

Once he had reached his destination, Cassius met a young woman, a confessor of the Argent Crusade. The two, despite their differing philosophies, had similar goals, to cleanse the lands of Duskwood. Cassius grew attached to the woman during their time in Duskwood. Once the Northrend Campaigns began, Cassius and the Argent Confessor went to Northrend to deal with the Scourge. When the Lich King fell, Cassius decided to avoid contact with the Argent Confessor and returned to the Plaguelands to assist what little remained of the human survivors.

During the few years that followed, Cassius founded the Militia of the Holy Light. Its members consisted of former criminals and citizens from the poorer classes of society who were brought together by Cassius to combat the undeath in the Plaguelands, Scourge and Forsaken alike. During the time of their expansion, the Argent Crusade had begun to take over the city of Hearthglen, claiming it as their own. The extremist methods used by the Militia attracted the attention of shadow fanatics from the Forsaken, this eventually led to the group of undead to kidnap the paladin and torture him with the use of shadow magic. His zealous militia however found their leader's trail and liberated Cassius from his captors.

Angered at the shame and pain he had endured, Cassius led his militia into a grim crusade, slaying any of the undead his group and him encountered. Till one evening, Cassius and his group encountered a Knight of the Ebon Blade. The group ambushed the Knight till it submitted defeat, but the same Argent Confessor he had one known appeared and demanded that they liberated the death knight. Cassius was insulted as the woman spat venom at him and his men, his militia replied bluntly by clubbing the woman in the head repetitively with flanged maces. The angered death knight was killed as well by Cassius' exorcism. Cassius ordered the crucifixion of their corpses in order to make an example to those who are faithless.

This provoked conflict and enraged many, the Argent Crusade and other organizations put up bounties against members of the Militia and Cassius himself. This led to a series of conflicts between living outsiders and crusaders, quickly ending with the destruction of the Militia's Chapter house and causing all of its members to disband. Most were hunted down by bounty hunters and Cassius disappeared from the public eye, many assuming he was slain during his escape. The man had fled to Darkshire, remaining subtle within its vicinity.

Storylines

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The Sacred and the Wicked | Contrition | The Sovereign Order

The Sacred and the Wicked

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The Pseudo Liege

By the time of the Shattering, bounties on Cassius finally came to an end. The chaos generated by Deathwing brought forth words of greater threat around the whole world. This catastrophic event forced bounty hunters, adventurers, seeking fortune around the Eastern Kingdoms to focus their attentions on other issues, rather than hunting down rogues, bandits or in this case Cassius himself. As unfortunate as the Shattering was, it unintentionally played to the holy knight's favor, albeit he did not think much of it.

A month later, a formal letter from a supposed nobleman called "Tavrenius Whiteshore" came to Cassius' possession. The letter was directed to him. The so called Lord Whiteshore told Cassius to meet him within Stormwind, deep into Old Town, within the Pig and Whistle. The letter and location struck the paladin as being suspicious and illegitimate. The first thought that came to mind was that of an assassination on his life, but despite these dark thoughts the paladin went ahead with what the letter instructed.

Upon entering the partially ruined city of Stormwind, the paladin's presence was met with acceptance. No one paid attention to his presence, some even found that the emergence of a paladin, independent or not, to be a blessing. This was mostly due to the destruction that Deathwing brought forth, bringing forth a wave of hopelessness to citizens of the city.

As he marched further into the city, into the far more suspicious district, Cassius met a young pagan witch from Gilneas. Their encounter was rather bitter and nearly hostile since Cassius dared to challenge the reasoning behind her beliefs. While showing plenty of zeal, Cassius drew the attention of others and eventually an elegantly dressed Kul'Tiran appeared, interrupting the feud. Much to his surprise, Cassius barely recognized the man, Tavren Black or Tavrenius Whiteshore as he was now known.

The two conversed, away from the crowd's presence. Tavren had known Cassius from long ago, before the foundation of his militia and Cassius was also aware of Tavren's nature and profession as a warlock. Cassius had already left his knightly ranks before due to the conflicting faiths that were present at the time. Tavren, who was aware of the militia that Cassius led, managed to convince the paladin to become his Knight-Commander, not simply to serve, but to restrain the evil that resides within his so called nobility to prevent it from causing destruction.

Cassius hesitantly joined the man's nobility and was quickly outfitted with exceptional wares, arsenal and quarters. Cassius had also demanded to wear a hood and mask to conceal his face from those around him, while carrying House Whiteshore's emblem. There he met several other warlocks and sorcerers within House Whiteshore, one who he quickly grew fond of was an elementalist. He healed her after she was practicing the usage of her spells against another sorcerer and ever since the two constantly remained with one another.

Cassius took the opportunity in House Whiteshore to better understand ways to counter the powerful forces of the Burning Legion or demons in general. In the past, the paladin never considered dabbling into such blasphemy. However, this did not mean that he was studying the same witchcraft that demonologists do.


The False Chronicle

During his spare time and before meditation, Cassius would often dwell within House Whiteshore's library. After analyzing some of the many documentations and books within Whiteshore manor, Cassius discovered a worn book titled "The False Chronicle, by Count Guy Adrilam". The book was a story of how a Stormwind nobleman managed to hold off the Orcish Horde from breaching the frontier of the old kingdom of Stormwind. By the end of the novel, the nameless nobleman perished at the end of the battle and the Horde managed to breach into the city. What was unusual for Cassius, was that by the final pages of the book the author's notes were present.

The unusual notes mentioned that the tale was inspired by the knight and lord, Rufus Trevelyan, who repelled orcish invaders throughout parts of the Elwynn region during the First War. However, it also stated that Rufus was affiliated with a mysterious cult known simply as the "Silver Eagle". The notes briefly detailed that the sect's goals were to achieve talents that were beyond "man's wildest dreams". Nathrezim was said to be their inspiration to obtain their desires.

While further investigating through various documentations regarding Rufus Trevelyan and the Silver Eagle; House Trevelyan, Castle Eaglehold and the Whitehaven Conclave constantly showed up. House Trevelyan at the time was led by Reginald Trevelyan, a stern and cynical nobleman governing the settlement of Whitehaven and Castle Grindstone. Castle Eaglehold was Count Adrilam's residence and supposedly the cult of the Silver Eagle's headquarters. Finally, the Whitehaven Conclave was a branch within House Trevelyan that Reginald and his wife, Berenice, were delegating to further increase the prosperity of the northern settlement of Whitehaven which was under a critical state after a siege done by one of Reginald's former Marshall, Valdemar Tore, who led a host of mercenaries to take away the fief from the young noble.

After gathering more than enough information to prepare himself, Cassius decided to pay a visit to Castle Eaglehold as a personal mission. Castle Eaglehold's location was far in the more obscure corners of Duskwood. The castle looked partially ruined, as if a siege had recently occurred, oddly enough, no one was present.

The paladin entered the abandoned fortress and was met with nothing but an eerie and cold wind. As he finally reached the grand library, he lost consciousness.

The paladin fell deep into a dream. Cassius, in his dream, was still in the castle's library and began to dwell deeper within the many chambers around the area. He witnessed the mangled body of a battered knight, supposedly Rufus, being dragged by an unnaturally tall, hunched and heavily deformed man with the black head of a demon. By the creature's side was a tanned man wearing a monocle and a curly white wig. The dead Rufus was placed upon green runic symbols in the middle of the room and from there the wig wearing man spoke a demonic tongue. The ritual was briefly left unfinished as the dream led Cassius into another part of the library, located in a separate chamber from the grand library. The candles in his dream went out, and eventually the area began to fall apart. A red flame, generating a loud shriek began to chase Cassius throughout the grand library, and eventually one of the large staircases of the library crumbled. The paladin suddenly began to fall deep into a dark and endless pit.

Cassius awoke, still lying in the grand library, this time setting eyes to a redheaded woman, the same pagan witch he had met and argued with in Stormwind weeks before. With quick assumptions Cassius thought that the woman was responsible for the horrible vision he had to endure, but he restrained those thoughts, as he himself believed that the responsible was the one who remained in the castle. The paladin was surprised and thankful for the woman's aid as she was watching him the whole time since he entered the castle. The two finally introduced each other properly, Roux Blackwood, was the witch's name.

Cassius and the harvest witch left the castle and parted ways. Cassius offered the witch to aid him with further investigating the castle in the future, and much to his surprise, Roux considered it.


Blasphemous Desires

When he returned to Whiteshore manor, Cassius was introduced to another fellow paladin that joined his ranks, Camniel Oxworth. He was to work by Cassius' side and even swore fealty to Tavren Black throughout his joining with the nobility.

The elementalist that Cassius began to grow fond of, confessed to him, albeit under the influence of alcohol during a banquet. This made the paladin's heart ache but he restrained his strong attraction to her. After all, Cassius did not feel comfortable to confess to a woman who was intoxicated.

For the weeks he remained in Whiteshore manor, Cassius discovered some of the vile activities that Tavren was performing on others, mainly the women. This generated a hint of distrust and Cassius would attempt to convince others to steer clear of the man's nobility. This eventually made him grow more protective of the elementalist who he grew to adore.

Cassius' loyalty to Whiteshore continued to falter during a mission in Duskwood. Tavren was searching for a necromancer, for reasons which were not immediately divulged. By the time that the necromancer encountered Tavren, it was there that Cassius understood the intent. Tavren was not willing to vanquish the necromancer, instead he aspired to dabble in his dark magic. Tavren's ambition was to achieve the secret to obtain immortality. An unholy goal that even the cult of the Silver Eagle have dangerously worked for. Cassius spoke out with rebellion against the warlock's desire but before he could resume, the interference of a group of knights from the Ebon Blade ended their heated conversation.

The battle ensued and with the assistance of the spellcasters around him, Cassius managed to defeat the death knights that assaulted the group. The necromancer had escaped and Tavren was left empty handed, Cassius' loyalties remained but he was far more vigil than he was formerly.

Despite the tension, Cassius and the elementalist were far closer to one another than they had in the beginning. The two went to an outing to a lake in Redridge Mountains. At that point Cassius confessed his love and attraction to her, she accepted it, although was worried that their relationship wouldn't last long since they did not have much in common. Though their outing ended abruptly as Cassius admitted to what happened to his former lover, and how his militia killed her. It was an event that Cassius could not hold back, but the elementalist reacted negatively and left, leaving the paladin in sorrow.

The day after, Cassius met Camniel in Whiteshore manor. The paladin had trust and confidence with the younger paladin and asked if he was willing to help him in fulfilling an expedition to Castle Eaglehold. Camniel agreed to join Cassius and Roux to deal with whatever evil rests in Castle Eaglehold.


The Expedition to Castle Eaglehold

Cassius and Camniel rode to Castle Eaglehold, only to be met by Roux by its entrance. Camniel and the witch seemed to had already known one another in the past. The paladin Cassius did not mind, and the group moved onward to the desolate castle.

The same eerie wind, much like in the holy knight's last visit was still present, but the rooms itself were far cooler than they should normally be. Paranormal activities were encountered the second they marched through Castle Eaglehold's ballroom. Busts and statues began to disturbingly look towards Roux's direction, yet these were illusions exclusively aimed to her. Eventually the illusion affected the whole trio, as the bust and their heads never failed to keep their gaze on them.

As they got to the higher levels of the castle, the three were ambushed by a wight. The lonely wight was no match for the combined forces of the three and was shortly disposed of.

The group went upstairs and then made it to the long hallways leading straight to the grand library. They were confronted however by Reginald Trevelyan himself, who nearly mistook the group for bandits or thieves. There he introduced himself and mentioned that his troops had successfully conquered the siege and killed Adrilam, but due to one of Adrilam's rituals the whole castle became cursed by Adrilam's essence, who still roamed the castle as a fearsome wraith.

The trio pressed on to the grand library and as they to the level where Cassius lost consciousness, a great chill filled the air around them. Roux was concerned as she recalled exactly where he lost consciousness. Fortunately, the paladin did not fall unconscious again. There they went towards another room, another library that was separate from the grand library, it was the exact same library that Cassius had in his dream, when he last arrived.

Suddenly, the candles and lights around the chambers dissipated, only darkness and a bright red flame by the furthest bookshelf lid up the room. A frightening shriek and a terrible tremble traveled the library. The three swiftly ran out of the library, and what seemed to have been an unknown essence began to chase them throughout the levels, till the three made it to the highest level, Adrilam's quarters.

Upon entry they were welcomed by the grim and ghastly wraith of Count Adrilam. By Count Adrilam's side was the same man witnessed in Cassius' dream, the disfigured, tall and demonheaded creature.

The inevitable battle occurred, and the three managed to defeat the atrocious experiment that Adrilam had kept. Maggots were all that maintained the creature's innards as they poured out after being slit open by Camniel's sword. So Count Adrilam's wraith ended up fighting the group entirely, occasionally trying to possess the body of one of them to make them harm one another. Alas, for Adrilam, the paladins' exorcisms were far too great for the wraith to handle. The battle concluded with Adrilam's wraith finally getting rest and the castle's hostile environments to stabilize.

The curse in the castle had faded, and Reginald's men came to secure the area and celebrate.

Once Cassius returned to Whiteshore manor, he was confronted by the elementalist in front of his room. Much to his surprise, the two eventually spent an intimate evening with one another.


Crumbling Loyalties

Throughout the month that just commenced, Tavren assigned both Cassius and the sorceress Temperance Rollander to Winterspring, to rendezvous with another vital contact of Tavren's. This time, within one of the inns, Cassius and Temperance met with a band of exclusively female mercenaries. The woman in command was Berenice Trevelyan, and it through conversation, it was heavily hinted that the band were the leftovers of the Whitehaven Conclave that Reginald Trevelyan once managed.

After a distressing conversation between the two groups, Tavren finally emerged, and spoke to the lady in command. With his words, he managed to supposedly convince the group to partake in his noble's expansion and attempted to forge an unwritten alliance with House Trevelyan, as futile as it seemed. Berenice, was as relentless and unyielding as her husband, if not more so.

Once the assignment was over and Cassius was sent back to Whiteshore manor, he had a brief conversation with Berenice, he failed to understand why she tried to aid him. She simply responded with condescension and also gave hint of a plot to overthrow Tavren, either by spilling his blood or by undermining him as Cassius understood. The two spoke of Castle Eaglehold, and she knew nothing of her husband's sudden involvement in it. It was until Cassius spoke of the events that had occurred to her that she began to show concern.

The paladin took the following days to reflect, about Reginald and Castle Eaglehold, eventually taking into consideration the idea to return there with another group to once more investigate the fortress

One morning, Cassius encountered a disturbed Berenice within the manor's guestroom, the words she used to Cassius were cryptic, but gave hint of some form of unholy act that was inflicted upon her by Tavren Black. Cassius grew heavily concerned, and recalled that Tavren's agenda was similar to that of the Silver Eagle's, both wanted to achieve power beyond mortality. He was highly convinced that Tavren's goal was to claim Castle Eaglehold's study for his own work.

Without any delays, Cassius gathered a group of acquaintances and members of House Whiteshore to return to Castle Eaglehold and eliminate any form of documentation of Adrilam or the sect's work.

The afternoon before he ventured off to the castle, Cassius visited the elementalist that he so adored. He warned her of the possible fate that awaited him, and how his relations with Whiteshore will be strained after his assignment. He offered her to join him and live by his side without being held by Tavren's grasp. The lady unfortunately declined, preferring a life in safety than following the path of Cassius' dangerous lifestyle. The two broke up, preferring to not watch either one of them get hurt by the upcoming storm that soon to rise.


The Burning Eagle

There Cassius, Berenice, Roux and various members of House Whiteshore marched forth to Castle Eaglehold, only to be met by the same familiar chill that filled the area the last time he entered it. No one was present, banners of House Trevelyan were all that remained in the main halls.

By the time they reached the grand library, the group felt an otherworldly presence and upon further inspecting the roofs, large cracks and debris can be seen floating harmlessly and the skies were empty. It felt as if as soon as they entered the library, they entered a new dimension. Bodies of House Trevelyan footmen littered the library floor, piles of books were burning, giving hint that Reginald's initiative was to eliminate all of Adrilam's notes once and for all.

Ghastly figures appeared upon the group, harmlessly reenacting an act that had been committed by a stressed Reginald, who was seen coldly murdering one of his own men. The group watched the ghostly scene with disbelief, but alas had little to no choice but to move on into the library's lower chambers. In the lower chambers they encountered a wraith, similar to that of Adrilam's but far lesser. The group managed to successfully eliminate it and moved on into the higher parts of the library.

Both Roux and Cassius went up towards Adrilam's studies, but the unstable bridge separating their path with the group collapsed. Berenice then led the group towards another part of the castle, eventually finding the source of the curse and the unfortunate demise of her own husband. Cassius and Roux however were using the torches that maintained the lighting for the place and began to burn down Adrilam's studies.

As the Reginald's essence vanished, the castle's curse faded and everything felt normal again. Cassius went around to an alternate route back to the grand library and began to burn down the many bookcases that covered the whole area. The group returned only to witness the blazing chaos that was being committed by the paladin. Dastin, a warlock who was in House Whiteshore joined Cassius in burning the dreaded arts, as did Berenice of course.

While the library burned, Tavren showed up, with a handful of books that he grabbed from the castle's library. There in that encounter, Cassius declared open revolt against the pseudo noble and challenged him. Tavren swiftly brought forth his felhunter to combat Cassius and the band that followed, all the while escaping through the flames. The felhunter, albeit fearsome, did not survive long as it was highly outnumbered. Fortunately for Tavren, the flames and debris covered his escape, leaving the group no choice but to vacate through the lower levels.

The grand library's platforms began to collapse, and smoke began to fill the air around them. Though with great timing, Cassius and the group managed to make it out in time before the flames consumed them.

Cassius tossed aside the colors he wore for House Whiteshore and stripped himself from its deteriorating plate. His choice was made and now followed the more dangerous path that was ahead of him. He was once more a wanted man after that evening and knew very well that his treachery would not go unpunished.

Contrition

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The Hunted

Life was a lot less evident for the paladin and once more his life was in danger by exterior threats. The man was fortunately used to it and made sure to be discrete at his best of possibilities.

[WORK IN PROGRESS]

The Sovereign Order

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