| Character
Description and HistoryCassius was
born an only child in the city of Arabel. His father was a mystery to him, as he abandoned
the family when Cassius was a baby, and his mother refused to speak of him. Cassius was
very poor as a child; his mother worked very hard to provide for both of them. Cassius
supplemented their income with work from a local church of Tyr; in time he realized that
working for Tyr was his calling in life. He dedicated himself to Tyr as a paladin.
As soon as Cassius reached his late teens, he left home to go
adventuring. He felt that he could accomplish two objectives; he could bring glory to Tyr,
and he could find treasure to send home to his mother. He had barely left town when he
heard cries for help. Rushing towards the sounds, he found a young elf being attacked by a
pack of wolves. He rushed to the elf's aid, and drove off the wolves. The elf was Magnus
Xavier, and he soon realized that Cassius could be controlled and used. For his part,
while Cassius was initially fooled by Magnus into believing the elf had his best interests
at heart, Cassius was not as stupid as he usually acted. He soon realized Magnus's true
nature, but felt that the mage could do much good if properly directed, and much evil if
left alone. He decided to stay with him. Soon they met up with other young adventurers,
and formed The Company of the Iron Circle.
After traveling together for a short time, the Company was kidnapped and
branded by a group of evil beings that were attempting to duplicate their success with
Alias. Cassius was working with the rest of the group to remove these azure bonds when the
trail led them to Zhentil Keep. The group was set upon and Magnus was sentenced to die in
their arena. The Company freed him, but was forced into a confrontation they could not
hope to win. Cassius died helping the good characters survive, while his less noble
comrades fled. (This began an enmity between the Riders and the Zhentarim that would last
for a decade.
As luck would have it, the remaining members of the Company of the Iron
Circle managed to complete the quest to remove the azure bonds, and were rewarded with 3
wishes. Magnus used one of them to resurrect all deceased party members, and Cassius once
again found himself among the living. However, he felt that he had been neglecting his
only relative, and returned to Arabel to spend time with his mother.
Cassius was soon to return to the party (now renamed The Riders of the
Elvenflow), and worked with them as they started to biuld the town of Elven Flow. He was
one of the most important Riders for years; he served as one of their strongest fighters,
and as one of the commanders of the Elven Flow army. During this time he acquired both a
Holy Avenger and his own Holy Steed, Aragorn (a pegasus).
Unfortunately, Cassius was with a group of Riders that entered Zhentil
Keep on one of numerous occassions to thwart their black dealings. In this case, Cassius
and the others found themselves unexpectedly battling a dragon. To allow the others time
to get to safety, Cassius took the dragon on by himself. His gambit worked, and the others
regrouped and destroyed the dragon. Alas, Cassius was killed by the dragon; his head
bitten off! However, Tyr had seen his noble warrior's death, and had decided to reward
him. Cassius was turned into a Planetar, and still fights for law and justice on the outer
planes.
Cassius was a very good looking man, with classic features. he was very
big and strong, and always kept himself very neat. This was not vanity, but simply what
Cassius felt his job was as a paladin of Tyr. He was always cheerful, and often acted
dumb. He was not stupid, but found that many people (Magnus among them) underestimated him
when he pretended ignorance. He was the heart of the Riders for many years, an is still
sorely missed. |
