• Born 1149-Fall-3-3
• Squired for Ric Endeley 1161-1165
• Knighted (ORS) 1166
• Met wife Cassia Ionia in 1172
• University of Avila, 1173-1178
• Wed Cassia Ionia 1179
• Daughter Sophia born 1181
• Son Honorius born 1183
• Wife Cassia dies in childbirth 1183
• Daughter Sophia disappears, presumed dead 1189
• Sheriff Kaul Rennar appointed, largely given control of the realm 1192
• Son Honorius sent to squire in Valte 1194
• Leads attack on Orendon 1195

''Note: these are DM notes, and aren't really formatted correctly for this wiki. Oh well.''

Was desperately in love with his wife, who he met at a ball in Seven Halls in 1172. Then, he was young (23) and vigorous, a loyal bannerman of the Duke and an accomplished horseman. He was taken by her beauty--long, silky black hair tied in waves; perfect, ivory skin; piercing emerald eyes--but was entrapped by her wit and cunning. She was not impressed by his martial skills; having been educated and cultured in Avila, she found him simple and provincial. He resolved to have her, to become all she deserved.

He begged leave of his liege, and was granted a position as the Duke's envoy that he might make good his quest; he journeyed to Ascadia, and purchased a fine University education, while helping the Duke make inroads into Ascadian politics and commerce. He saw operas, rode in sky carriages, and was generally enriched. Each year, he returned to the midsummer ball at Seven Halls, and each year he was rebuffed--though she remained unmarried, as she was saving herself for him.

After the fourth year, he returned a truly cultured man, fluent in Old and Modern Ascadian, well-read of the classics, with a solid understanding of the Sciences and the Arts alike. Moreover, he treated her as an intellectual equal, in the Ascadian style, rather than as a porcelain doll, to be cherished, protected, and patronized, in the chivalric tradition.

And so they were wed (1179), and she was bound to his fortune as he to hers. She moved to Winterburg, but insisted on summering in Seven Halls with her family, where she would also go to give birth. He didn't mind spending the season amongst the ivy and roses of the Aventine...it reminded him of Avila. Her family warmed to him, initially disappointed in her insistence upon him, at the expense of a more lucrative connection to the old country. Still, as heir to County Winterburg, he wasn't that bad a catch, and it wasn't as if she was going to inherit any lands.

It was expected that her elder brother Julius would succeed her father. When he died in 1181 in a hunting accident, the mantle passed to her next brother, Claudius. He too died, taken by disease in 1183. She was then set to inherit County Aventine, much to her surprise. However, it was not to be; she died before her father, and the county passed to her baby sister Elisif, born 1182 to her father's second wife (notably not Ascadian in any capacity), a girl who she had barely known.

Cassia found it difficult to get pregnant (not for lack of trying). Her first three pregnancies ended in miscarriage, though each progressed further before failing. Her family blamed her insistence on waiting until she was "past her prime" (read: in her 20s), but she showed them in 1185, when she gave live birth to Sophia. The girl was thin and sickly at first, but she was alive...at least until age 13 (but that's another story).

Her next pregnancy seemed quite healthy...she had been quite ill in her previous one, spending the majority of the time in Seven Halls under constant care, but this time, she was spry and fresh. Hopes were high she would deliver a healthy boy, and indeed she did. Unfortunately, she was not as lucky as the child. A series of unfortunate events and bad decisions would spell her doom.

Her child was to be born in midsummer, the best of omens, according to superstition. However, a very late spring found them snowbound in Winterburg until barely half a season remained. By the time they were free to travel, she was too far along. At least, in his estimation; she insisted on making the journey, that it would be perfectly safe, but he worried about more storms. Instead, he asked that her family journey down to Winterburg to aid.

Her midwife and handmaidens made the journey, but her mother was delayed, as her husband was very ill--nigh on death's door. Though he would recover, it is thought her worry at his condition contributed to the ill spirit that claimed her.

On that note, she was also distraught that her daughter was away. The girl was often thought to be "touched"...she would say the oddest things, wander in and out of places she ought not be able to go. In general, she was feared and misunderstood by the superstitious, and that included her father. A staunch monotheist, he did not appreciate his wife's insistence on allowing the child to speak to idols of false gods, though he tolerated Cassia's own "family traditions" in that regard. He was convinced that she was bringing down ill will upon his house, so he sent her away, at the ripe old age of 2, to live amongst distant family in Menendara. His wife was not at all happy about this, but could do little to sway him.

Finally, there was a bit of a disagreement on matters medicinal. Now 8 years on since he returned from Avila, his provincial ways were beginning to reassert themselves. She asked for a surgeon to be sent down from Seven Halls, as there was none in Winterburg to her liking. He refused at first, insisting that their "sorcerer's ways" were offensive to God, and that only the traditional physicks of his land were suitable to the task. None of them, of course, understood diddly-squat about anatomy, and after leeching, poisoning, and geometering at her to their heart's content, she'd had enough. She put her foot down, and he finally relented.

But it was too late. Summer storms delayed the arrival of the surgeon, as the rivers were unsafe, and the roads flooded. She went into labor earlier than expected, and the midwives diagnosed the problem: breech birth. They recommended proceeding normally, noting there was some risk to the child, but he was quite likely to survive, as was she. He brought in his own physicks, who counseled that the vaginal birth could kill the child, and that caesarian section was preferable. Though it was not "traditional", they claimed to have skill in the procedure. Telling himself that the advanced procedure--common enough in Ascadia--would be safer for both parties, he went with their suggestion, much to the loud dismay of the midwives.

True to their word, they conducted the procedure skillfully enough, if without any anaesthesia, as his religion forbade the use of Milk of the Poppy or any such opiates. Her screaming tore at him, so he bade them move ever faster, threatening violence at times. That may have contributed to her demise, but the likeliest culprit is simple: in their ignorance, they did not sterilize their knives.

She survived the operation, and even managed not to pass out long enough to see her boy, fat and healthy. However, over the next few days, she became terribly ill. The physicks attributed this to the destruction of her womb, and her body's attempt to pass it--if she were strong enough, they counseled, she would survive. No medicine or procedures were prescribed. After three days, she died; her last words were "where is my daughter?".

Guyan was devastated by her loss. He consoled himself with reassurances that everything was done as it must have been done, but she brought evil upon herself with her idol worship. Her family insisted that his own foolish, stubborn decisions, and the ignorance of his "surgeons", led to her unnecessary death. They went so far as to seek the judgment of the Duke against him, though no culpability was found. The incident caused massive enmity between the two families, which remains to this day.

He never truly recovered from her death, psychologically speaking. He did allow his daughter to return home, but kept her under the strict tutelage of nuns, and banned from the merest mention of pagan idols and magicks.