Cassandra

A Final Author's Note, For Fans, and Anyone Else Who's Still Reading

An Overal Disclaimer: A Crit-role purist will probably find some holes in my tale, differing opinions, and some interpretations that may veer away from mine. I just pray to God that Matt never finds this, as he's the only one who would know Cas better than we do, and would have the grounds to contradict me. But I hope that in spite of the bumps, I have mostly captured the imagination, and hopefully reanimated some of the Briarwood buzz. Thordak it's-time-to-fuck-up-everything-you've-ever-loved giant red dragon, has recently changed Tal'dorei forever, but I still find myself looking fondly backwards, recalling the good ol' days when the Briarwoods were still a threat.
Cassandra Herself: Cassandra has, of course, evolved over the course of my tale, into something just a shade beyond what the all powerful DM captured. She has in a way become my own character: a fleshed out creature, built on Matt's frame. A bit more emotional that Matt originally portrayed her, which is partially the fault of my writing style, which has always been very sensitive and emotionally vivid. Percy, in his canonical accounts of family life, has recounted something very lonely, as if he had a lot of time to himself. Having witnessed the inner workings of my aunt and uncle's family, (they also have seven children, three girls and four boys, like the de Rolos), I can personally attest that such a large family does pretty much everything together. Because of this experience, I've chosen to portray Cassandra's family as similarly bonded. With this in mind, loosing that family would be an extreme shock. I feel that Cas, deep down, spends most of the book trying desperately to fill this void, leaving her vulnerable to all Silas and Delilah's charms.
Delilah/Silas Briarwood: Which brings me to a note on the Briarwoods themselves, or more importantly Delilah. I loved every moment I had with Silas and Delilah, exploring all the inner workings of their twisted devotion to each other. In my personal portrayal, Lady Briarwood is intentionally much more sensitive and instinctually driven than Silas, due to her still human nature. Delilah was a complicated creature, subject to all the weakness of an ordinary woman, while Silas's undead nature changed him, making him much colder and less yielding to any but his wife. I saw only hints in Mercer's portrayal of Lady Brairwood, but I believe she was lonely. Lonely enough to seek comfort in the companionship of a fellow human, and daughter like figure. This is just my personal belief, but in the canon of this tale Delilah had a still born daughter, who would have been close to Cassandra's age, leading to the last thing she ever said: "you could have been my daughter." Regardless of her faults, I believe that Delilah did love Cas in a very broken and manipulative way, and it was fun to play with the theme.
Delilah's Ritual In the Second Rebellion, and the Ritual Magic In General: I have no idea whether Lady Briarwood could actually complete a ritual that would rain down hellfire on an entire city, but the image was just too good to pass up. If we were strictly keeping to D&D, I have no doubt that would be waaaaaay to OP, even though I did limit it with an eight hour ritual that Delilah would need to complete the spell. I really don't know how the attempted ritual at the top of the Ziggurat would have worked, but in my interpretation it required a steady stream of human sacrifices, which would have culminated in Cassandra herself: the thing that Delilah would have been sorry to loose, giving Cassandra's blood greater worth. So thank goodness Percy showed up!
Percy and Cassandra's Interactions: Much of the de Rolo tradition and way of life I borrowed from my limited knowledge of the Victorian/Regency era of Britain (courtesy of many hours reading Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen, ect). During this time public shows of physical affection were not that common, reaching only so far as a kiss on the cheek or hand, referring to someone by their first name was generally a very intimate gesture, and even a wife might politely refer to her husband as Mr. ____, while in good society. I didn't keep all of these social cues, but borrowed from their spirit, constraining Percy and Cas to nothing more than very limited signs of sibling affection while in public. When I reached The Traitor's Fortune, (which isn't canon, though we do know that Percy and Cas did have some private discussions), all of that went out the window, and I had a great time coming up with my own dialog.
The Castle: Castle Whitestone I constructed on the inside to look much more like a manor house, with kitchen and other work rooms at the back, with the large and important rooms to the front. This is also why the sitting room has giant windows, while any real castle would probably not be so vulnerable to attack. In reality I have only a very limited idea what Castle Whitestone is meant to look like.
Non Canon Characters: My original plan when I created my own characters, Sygn, Mattias, and Ivan, ect was to have all of them die. This would have removed the overlap of Canon and Non Canon characters, while giving me some tools to advance the plot. But after reading through the chapter where Ivan was introduced, my friend who was so kind as to send me some editing notes, immediately fell in love with this inanimate character, and demanded I keep him alive. Thus, Ivan's role in the story became much greater than I had first intended, and the romance between Cas and Ivan was born. Before I knew where I was, I had killed off almost everybody else, and unless I wanted to waaaay overdo the tragedy, I couldn't kill Ivan! It would have heaped the last measure of sadness, on an already monumental pile, and by that point I was trying my hardest to spread the misery with a conservative hand. So, of all the victims, Ivan alone was spared.
The Ending: And talking about Ivan, brings me to his role in the end of the book. Cas has been through the emotional wringer. I almost feel bad for putting her through so much. After all the heartbreak, I was determined to give the book a happy ending of some kind, and give Cassandra some much needed peace. Throughout the book it has been clear to me that Cas's happy ending had to be finding a family, finding a loved one who wouldn't judge her for the past, and more importantly someone who wouldn't demand she prove her devotion in the future. The Briarwood's approval was based entirely on works, Cas had to earn their praise, and strive tirelessly to please them again and again and again. I felt strongly that after so much manipulation, Cas would fall to pieces without some faithful person to keep her steady. She needed an emotional anchor, and while Percy could partly function in that role, Ivan was in a much better position to act in that capacity. Never before had I tackled anything like romance, and I was curious to try it, hoping to emulate something like the romance in classics (which I prefer a great deal to the romance of today. Looking at you Hunger Games...) It was a combination of careful forethought, and curiosity, which sort of spontaneously happened. Ivan was like her brother, could make her laugh, and it seemed simple to me, that the chemistry would become something more. 
In conclusion, I wrote this largely to entertain the fans, but also to please myself. I wanted to explore more deeply the characters that Matt had only hinted about, and I hoped that while doing so, I could also entertain my fellow Critters. It's been a long journey, sometimes progressing in rapid bursts, sometimes dragging along sluggishly, sometimes happy, more often emotional and even bloodied in places, often so inspired I could hardly put my keyboard away, and at times maddeningly unresponsive and unrewarding. For all that, its been wonderful, has helped me to practice consistency, overcome writer's block, and expand my skills. If you made it this far, you have my sincere congratulations, I know it was a long one. Thank you so, so much, and I hope you enjoyed the book.