#theblackhand

Comissioned from RuckyArtStudio

But it was only when they were invited to the inauguration of the Archduke, where her heart had soared. The simple splendor, the show of strength and domination, it was all in honor for her Lord. It had been like fate when his Chosen had addressed her, proclaiming her an ally. Her Lord had blessed her that day. He had looked upon her, called her by her name. And she wasn’t able to reveal herself to him at that moment. He promised her to rule together, it almost felt like a dream. To be honored in that way by the Chosen of her God, she couldn’t even believe that. She had so many questions, had the Black Hand informed him of her arrival? She could hardly believe he wouldn’t know. Or had she displeased her God, had He decided she hadn’t served him well?

Cassandra lore dump

I was tagged by the lovely @bladesingerlily in the OC lore dump tag. So here's part 2, my Banite Cassandra.

Name

Cassandra, Lady of The Hand Cassandra: the one who shines and excels over men

Also known as:

Deep Mystery to other Banites

Cassie to streets of Mulmaster

Archduchess of Baldur's Gate (in The Black Hand)

Cassandra Gortash (in The Black Hand)

~ BASICS

Born: Mulmaster, City of Danger

Background:

• Urchin/Acolyte

Cassandra was born in Mulmaster on the streets. Her mother is elven who had ran away from home and ended up in Mulmaster working in a pleasurehouse. Her father is a petty thief. The only thing Cassandra knew were the streets when she was young. When she was ten, she was already running messages for petty criminals. At thirteenth she felt pulled to Black Lord's Altar. She started to attend every sermon that she could and at fifteen she joined the clergy.

Occupation: War cleric of Bane

~ GENDER / IDENTITY

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Hetero

Pronouns: She/Her

~ OTHER — FAMILY

"My mother is a whore and my father is a petty thief. They couldn't care if I lived or died. The Church is my family now."

~ ALIGNMENT

Lawful Evil

"I follow Bane. His word and dogma rules my world."

Art by RuckyArtStudio

⚔️ FLAWS

Closed off

Cold

Zealous

Distrusting

✨ VIRTUES

Fiercly devoted to her religion

Strong willed

Disciplined

~ HOBBIES / EXTRACURRICULARS

What is a hobby?

Praying

Ritual torture

Reading

"I am Bane, The Black Lord. I am the Ultimate Tyrant. I am Fear, I am Hate."

~ THIS OR THAT

Introvert |Ambivert | Extrovert

— Why would I bother?

Organised | In-Between |Disorganised

— Lae'zel: "Like a true soldier should be, neat and efficient."

Closed-minded |Open-minded

— Bane's will is law.

Calm |Alert |Restless

— Discipline rules all.

Disagreeable | In-Between | Agreeable

— I don't care for the opinion of those beneath me

Patient | In-Between | Impatient

— Bane will bless me when he deems it ready.

Outspoken| In-Between | Reserved

— Only when it is needed

Leader | Reluctant Leader |Follower

— I'm a cleric of Bane, ofcourse I lead.

Empathetic| In-Between | Apathetic

— I'll try to help but not everyone can be saved.

Optimist | Hopeful Realist |Pessimist

— If they follow Bane, the world would be the best.

Traditional |In-Between | Modern

— I hold the tenents of Bane.

Hard-working |To a Fault | Lazy

— I work out of devotion to Bane, to rise in His ranks and get His will into the world.

"I choose to rule for all eternity as the ultimate tyrant. I can induce hatred and strife at my whim, and all will bow down before me while in my kingdom." - Bane

The Black Hand

Gentle tag to @fireflyeyes

Read chapter 14 on AO3.

I was tagged by the amazing @fireflyeyes , @optimisticgrey and @saylofwaterdeep for this one.

I will break this up in two parts and will add the tags in the next part. I wanted to give my 4 girlies the proper care for this.

Choose an OC and answer the following questions so we can learn a little more about them. Feel free to include all your OCs if you want.

Art by @blue-noir-art

1. OC Name:

Lady Seara of House Alsevir

Lady Seara for people who need to be reminded, Archduchess if they really piss her off. Called sweetheart by Enver Gortash to annoy her.

In my Seara x The Dark Urge AU she's called 'my sweet' by Durge because he thought her blood tastes sweet when he bites her. Some of the DU-related characters call her different things, but those aren't revealed yet.

2. Does your OC have any nervous ticks or self-soothing habits?

No, if you count putting people in their place self-soothing then maybe. Seara has an arrogance and confidence that's immense. She can get incredibly annoyed when she feels like she's not in on a plan of scheme. But she will just lash out to someone (lol Gortash gets it a lot) instead of looking inwards.

3. Let's say your OC got kidnapped. What would save them?

She would set the person who dared to do it on fire. She's a fire draconic sorcerer and is very qualified in setting people on fire, thank you very much. She's also super charismatic so I think she would be capable to yap her way out of it.

4. If your OC has a love interest, are they opposite or rather similar?

The Dragon & The Tyrant

She's betrothed to Enver Gortash. They have things that are polar opposite like their upbringing and trajectory of life. Seara grew up into nobility and is used to it. Gortash obviously had a totally different upbringing and rise to power. But they're both so ambitious and cutthroat.

The Dragon & The Storm

In this series she's with The Dark Urge who was a companion on the nautiloid as well. While Seara can be devious and laissez-faire about moral ethics, Durge goes a bit further than her. But I feel like the taste of power that Durge provides would really turn more from evil/neutral to fully evil.

In game she was together with Ascended Astarion. I really played into the 'noblewoman that escaped arranged marriage with this' so freedom played a LARGE role.

5. Is there a story behind making your OCs? What inspired you?

Seara was the first character that I finished the game with! I loved playing a sorcerer and playing a more morally grey character. But as my OC now she's way more morally grey (maybe sometimes more evil). Seara was inspired by ASOIAF, she's kinda a blend of Daenerys, Cersei and Margaery.

The Dragon & The Tyrant The Dragon & The Storm

1. OC Name:

Cassandra, Lady of the Hand

Cassandra for the companions and people she met on the road. Deep Mystery to the other Banites. No family name because Cassandra has cut those ties when she joined the Church of Bane.

2. Does your OC have any nervous ticks or self-soothing habits?

Her self-soothing habit is praying to be honest. She would see being nervous as a weakness, so better pray to Bane for it.

3. Let's say your OC got kidnapped. What would save them?

She would save herself with the skills she learned in the clergy. I feel like she would see being kidnapped as being weak and Bane does not tolerate weakness in his clergy. She would probably rather die trying to prevent the kidnapping then being kidnapped.

4. If your OC has a love interest, are they opposite or rather similar?

Well, Enver Gortash ofcourse. More of a political marriage but there are some feelings there. Not that she would admit that. They are very similar, both grew up poor but Cassandra obviously didn't have the whole devil thing. Cassandra did join the Church at fifteen so she grew up in the Church. They share their faith and obviously the same moral values.

5. Is there a story behind making your OCs? What inspired you?

Cassandra was born in my mind when I was thinking on how each of the Dead Three would react if a cleric of their faith would be a part of Team Tadpole. I thought that Gortash would be the most interesting and from there researched about Bane and found the religion fascinating.

I was tagged by the lovely @aerin67 @optimisticgrey and @saylofwaterdeep (which thank you thank you, it's like a little treat to see your writing)

"I'm still a cleric of Bane, I will always go where he calls me to. I'm the person who killed Ketheric Thorm and the Avatar of Myrkul. I'm the person who killed the Chosen of Bhaal in his own temple. I was in command when we wiped out the whole of Moonrise Towers. Archduchess or not, I am still the same warrior," she proclaimed while she rose from her seat.

Cassandra is getting a bit snippy in battleplanning. (ONLY 3 MORE CHAPTERS AAAAAH)