Kassandra

"Humanity's fate will be decided by the choices you make."

- Pythagoras, to Kassandra

Kassandra (458 or 453 BCE – 2018 CE), also known as the Eagle Bearer or West Wind, was a Spartan mercenary who fought during the Peloponnesian War.

During her mercenary travels, Kassandra came into conflict with the secretive Cult of Kosmos, an organization intent on controlling the entire Greek world. She later opposed the Order of the Ancients, who sought to hunt her down, due in part to her nature as a Tainted One, and also for her allying herself with Darius. For her opposition against the Cult and the Order, Kassandra is considered one of the early precursors to the Assassin Brotherhood.

She was the older half-sister of Alexios and, through her mother, Myrrine, the granddaughter of King Leonidas I of Sparta. Although raised by her step-father, Nikolaos, Kassandra was the biological daughter of Pythagoras. She was also the mother of Elpidios, an ancestor of Aya, one of the co-founders of the Hidden Ones.

Early life
Kassandra was born in Sparta to Myrrine, the daughter of the late King Leonidas I and the philosopher Pythagoras, whose lifespan was extended due to the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus he possessed. Shortly after her birth, her father departed from Sparta on a quest to learn more about the Isu and the staff his possessed. As such, Myrrine was left to raise Kassandra alone. As a baby, Myrrine brought Kassandra to the acting Pythia, who proclaimed that the child showed a lot of promise. At one point, Myrrine later met and married the Spartan general Nikolaos who, despite Kassandra not being her own flesh and blood, raised her as one of his own. Kassandra would later gain a younger brother named Alexios.

Owing to her lineage as being a granddaughter of Leonidas, great hopes were placed upon her to live up to the strength and valor of Leonidas. As such Kassandra was trained to fight at a young age by Nikolaos. While training in the woods near Sparta as a child, Kassandra was presented with the broken Spear of Leonidas, an Isu weapon, as an heirloom by her mother. Afterwards, Kassandra wouldn't let go of the spear, even in her sleep, telling her parents that she needed it "to fight the monsters in [her] dreams."

In 446 BCE, the Pythia Praxithea at Sanctuary of Delphi prophesied at the decree of the Cult of Kosmos that Kassandra's younger brother, the baby Alexios, would bring about the fall of Sparta. In order to prevent this, Alexios was to be sacrificed at Mount Taygetos, despite Myrrine's pleas for Nikolaos to stop it. As a priest was about to drop Alexios, Kassandra attempted to stop the sacrifice, but instead pushed the priest and Alexios to their apparent deaths. Kassandra was condemned as a traitor to Sparta by the ephors, who urged Nikolaos to execute her immediately.

Nikolaos, being adherent to Spartan law, reluctantly complied and held Kassandra by her hand and dropped her down the mountain despite pleas from Myrrine. However, Kassandra survived the fall, and escaped to the beach with the spear. Refusing to be found by the Spartans, Kassandra fled out to the open sea in a boat, with an eagle following her. A storm later turned Kassandra's boat overboard and she woke up on the beaches of Kephallonia. There, she was greeted by Markos, who took her under his wing and tasked her to do errands for him.

Life as a misthios
As the years went by, Kassandra continued performing errands for Markos, occasionally helping him to settle debts that he owed. Around this time, she forged a career as a mercenary under the tutelage of such men as Photios and Heitor, and acquired misthios as her nickname on the island. At some point, she and Markos took an Athenian orphan Phoibe as part of their 'family'.

Kassandra set up home within the Ancient Ruins of Kranioi on the western coast of Kephallonia, far from other people. She worked from there, and habitually clashed with thugs and bandits working for the Cyclops, a bandit leader who sought to rule the island.

In 431 BCE, Kassandra was confronted once again by the Cyclops' thugs who gave her a bruised nose. After taking care of them, Phoibe stopped by, telling her that Markos requested to meet her at his newly-bought vineyard. Coming across Markos in his new vineyard, Kassandra expressed her disbelief at his purchase of the vineyard even though he still owed her drachmae. Calming her with the promise of more, he directed her to collect from Duris, a merchant in Sami who owed Markos drachmae. In exchange for helping Markos to collect his debt, Kassandra convinced him to give her a horse, which she named Phobos.

Before Kassandra could depart, she and Markos was stopped by Euterpe, a farmer who informed them that Phoibe had been kidnapped by the Cyclops' thugs and was being held at Ktimene Beach. Making her way to the beach, Kassandra stealthily dealt with the thugs and freed Phoibe. Assured that Phoibe was alright, Kassandra then traveled to Sami to locate Duris and collect her debt. In doing so, she was given the revealtion that Markos had bought his vineyard with money he borrowed from the Cyclops. Once Duris has been dealt with, Kassandra returned to Markos at the Temple of Zeus, catching him speaking to one of Cyclops' thugs. As they devised a plan to deal with the Cyclops, Drucilla, the town's bowyer, confronted Markos about her stolen lumber shipment. Kassandra later helped Drucilla to deal with her stolen lumber problem in exchange for having her bow fixed.

Working for Elpenor
Afterwards Kassandra returned to Markos, who then laid out his plan to repay the Cyclops by stealing his obsidian eye. Kassandra infiltrated the Cyclops' estate and stole the eye. Upon returning to Markos, he insisted she hold onto the eye before telling her that a group of bandits had arrived on Kephallonia. He believed the bandits were there to work with the Cyclops, and suggested Kassandra deal with them. Kassandra then went to an abandoned house the bandits were squatting and killed them all. To her surprise, the last bandit was executed by their real employer, a man named Elpenor of Kirrha. Furthermore, Elpenor stated he was looking for Kassandra and hired her to recover Penelope's shroud from Ithaka. Subsequently, after Kassandra recovered the item, Elpenor hired her to assassinate a Spartan general nicknamed the Wolf in Megaris.

Requiring a ship to reach Megaris, Kassandra learned from the shipmaster Telemenes that the Cyclops had a ship and had returned to Kephallonia. Thus she confronted him in Kleptous Bay, interrupting him torturing a one-eyed man. After mocking the Cyclops by sticking his obsidian eye up a goat's backside and then killing him, Kassandra made the acquaintance of Barnabas, captain of the Adrestia, who agreed to transport her to Megaris. After bidding farewell to Markos and Phoibe, who gave her Chara her wooden eagle, Kassandra informed Barnabas of her contract and was surprised to learn that the Wolf was none other than her father, Nikolaos.

Arriving in Megaris, Kassandra met Stentor, the adoptive son of Nikolaos. As she asked to met the general, Stentor hired her as a mercenary to fight the Athenians in the region due to the Peloponnesian War. After defeating the Athenian army, Kassandra confronted Nikolaos but decided to spare his life. Regreting to have thrown Kassandra as a child, Nikolaos decided to quit the Spartan army and revealed to Kassandra that he wasn't her father. Before leaving, he tasked Kassandra to find her mother for more answers.

Arriving in Kirrha, Kassandra met Elpenor and showed him Nikolaos helmet to prove she accomplished her mission. As the discussion went wrong, Elpenor flew while his guards attacked Kassandra. As she survived, she decided to track down Elpenor in the region.

Uncovering the Cult of Kosmos
Going to the Sanctuary of Delphi to question the Pythia about her family, Kassandra met the historian Herodotos who seemed to have knowledge about the Spear of Leonidas. When she spoke to the Pythia, Kassandra discovered that the oracle was under the control of the Cult of Kosmos, who forced her to tell the prophecies they wanted. Talking alone with the Pythia Kassandra discovered that the Cult had a meeting under the Sanctuary and that Elpenor was a member of the Cult. Finding his hideout she fought him and kill him. On his corpse, she found a mask, a robe and a strange shard.

With the mask and the robe, Kassandra went to the reunion of the Cult. In the middle of the room was a Pyramid composed by the same type of shard she found on Elpenor and decided to complete it. During the meeting, Kassandra learnt that the Cult had infiltrated the different levels of Greek society: economy, religion, politic. They even had men in Delian League and in the Peloponnesian League. She also discovered that the Cult wanted her family dead to end the bloodline. Deimos, who was the weapon of the Cult, entered in the room throwing Elpenor's head. To find the traitor, he test the members with the Pyramid. When it was Kassandra's turn, the two saw memories of their childhood. Kassandra understood that Deimos was Alexios. Pertubated, Deimos decided to let Kassandra went and accused Epiktetos to be the traitor before killing him. During the confusion, Kassandra took two shards of the Pyramid before leaving the hideout.

After that, Herodotos convinced Kassandra to join him in a travel to Athens for reporting to Perikles the informations she gathered. Before sailing to Athens, Kassandra met Herodotos at the Lion of Leonidas at Thermopylai, where her grand-father died during the Battle of Thermopylae. There, the two touched the Spear of Leonidas and relived the king's last memory during the battle. Understanding it was an artifact of an ancient civilization, Herodotos talked to Kassandra about a old complex on the Andros island. Kassandra went on the island and opened the Isu construction with her spear. In there, she found a mold corresponding to the spear and using shards she took from the Pyramid, she upgraded the weapon. Leaving the structure, she was confronted by her brother, who accused her to have throw him when he was a child. Kassandra tried to tell him the truth but his endoctrination by the Cult was to strong and left her sister alone. Kassandra returned on the Adrestia to tell to Herodotos what she saw and they began their trip to Athens.

Interfering in Athens politics
In May 431 BCE, Kassandra and Herodotos arrived in Athens, which was besiege by the Spartans. The population was tired by the Perikles's strategy to wait behind the walls of the city until the enemies left. The politician Kleon was for a most aggresive tactic and the population was ready to follow him. As Kassandra wanted information about her mother, Herodotus told her she could go to the Perikles's symposium but the Athenian leader said she must help his friends to be accepted by the Athenians.

The sculptor Phidias was targeted by the Cult of Kosmos. Kassandra escorted him to Seriphos and killed Brison, the man charged to kill Phidias. Kassandra also saved Metiochos, who was captured by thugs and left in his house to be killed by snakes. Kassandra discovered that the thugs were poor peoples manipulted by a mercenary to kill Metiochos. She found the mercenary and killed him. Later, Kassandra helped to rig the ostracization of Anaxagoras to be sure he will be exiled. After the vote, Kassandra met the philosopher Sokrates who questionned her about her choices.

After accomplishing her missions, Kassandra was accepted to participate to Perikles's symposium. Entering in Perikles' Residence, she met Phoibe, who left Kephallonia to search her parents, working now for Aspasia, Perikles' lover. Entering in the party, Kassandra spoke with Herodotos who introduced her to the guests of the symposium: the playwriters Sophokles, Euripides and Hermippos, the sophists Protagoras and Thrasymachos, Sokrates and Perikles' nephew Alkibiades. Speaking to Sophokles, Kassandra learnt that Euripides heard about a Spartan woman. After drunken him with wine, she discovered that the woman went to Asklepios Temple in Argolis to save her son. He told to Kassandra to speak to Hippokrates in Argos to have more informations. After giving some oil to Alkibiades, the young man adviced Kassandra if she searched a woman who took her independence to go to Korinth and spoke with the influencial hetaera Anthousa.

Discussing with other guest, Kassandra met Aspasia. Learning about her mother, the hetaera told to Kassandra to met her friend Xenia on the island of Keos for having more information. After that, Kassandra spoke to Perikles about the Cult of Kosmos and the threat they represented for Athens. Later during the night, Kassandra left the party after saying goodbye to Phoibe.

Before searching her mother, Kassandra helped the playwriter Aristophanes to investigate on Hermippos and discovered that he was a cultist and killed him. She found another member of the Cult in Attika, the Master, who mistreated his slaves. She killed him after he tasked to kill a woman against the freedom of one of his slaves. She also helped the general Demosthenes and Kleon to fight the Spartans who camped around Athens. She was tasked by Kleon to join two of his men Heremos and Onomakles. The first one was dead but she saved the second before destroying the Spartan fleet permitting to Onomakles to go to Mytilene.

Searching her mother
When Kassandra left Athens, she decided to follow all the lead she gathered during the symposium. Arriving in Argos, she met the doctor Hippokrates. As he need his notes to heal his patients, she went to Fort Tiryns but the notes was burnt. She escorted the doctor of the fort to Hippokrates as he red the notes. After that, Hippokrates told her that when he was younger, he saw a Spartan woman who went to the Asklepios Temple to save his wounded son. Going in the Temple, Kassandra helped the priests. They all gave information on the priest Mydon who had his tongue cut. Going to interrogate Mydon, Kassandra surprised with his lover who was his slave. The slave spoke for Mydon, explaining that the priest met Myrrine who tried to heal her son, but that the priests failed to save him. Chrysis, the priestess of Hera decided to cut Mydon tongue to impeach him to speak about it. Kassandra understood that Chrysis made believe her mother that Alexios was dead to abduct him.

Going to the Altar of Apollo Maleatas, she was attacked by cultists, understanding the link between Chrysis and the Cult of Kosmos. As the priestess of Hera kidnapped another baby, Kassandra confronted her. Chrysis explained that she rose Alexios as her son and tortured him to become the weapon of the Cult. She also explained that her mother fled to Korinth after that and that The Monger was sent to capture her. Chrysis proposed Kassandra to join her family but she refused. The cultist set in fire the altar with the baby in here to run away from Kassandra. While Chrysis fled, she was killed by her son Dolops.

Arriving in Korinth, Kassandra entered in contact with Anthousa. She also met again Phoibe, who was sent by Aspasia to announce her arrival to Anthousa. The heteara accepted to give information on Myrrine if Kassandra helped her to kill the Monger, a member of the Cult who forced the hetaerai of the city to pay him. She helped Damalis and Erinna against the Monger's men. Kassandra also burnt one of the Monger warehouse to stop his smuggling but was trapped by the guards. As she fought them, she was assisted by the Spartan general Brasidas and defeated them. Brasidas explained to Kassandra that he was there to stop the Monger crimes as Korinth was an ally of Sparta. He was agreed that Kassandra killed the Monger but steathly. When the Monger arrived, he was killed by Kassandra, Brasidas with the help of Roxanna and Erina. After that, the Monger's remains were then displayed publicly by Kassandra and Anthousa at the theater against Brasidas' wishes. To thank her, Anthousa told to Kassandra that she gave a shelter to her mother and that she fled Korinth with a ship, the Siren Song.

Arriving on Keos, Kassandra infiltrated the Temple of Athena Nedousia the headquarters of Xenia the queen of pirates, who control the island. As she asked her information, the pirate demanded a payment. When Kassandra collected the money, Xenia revealed that Myrrine worked for her as a pirate for a time and renamed herself Phoenix. She later left the island sailing southeast to search another goal. Kassandra began a partnership with Xenia for finding treasures with maps that the pirate gave to her.

Returning in Athens during the Autumn 429 BCE, Kassandra witnessed the city being stroke by the plague. As Hippokrates tried to save the sicks, she helped him to burn the bodies of the deads as the Followers of Ares impeached that, seeing this practice as sacrilegious. Going to see Perikles, she learnt from Aspasia that he was sicked. Speaking with the strategos, she understood he was really weaked and that Kleon will took his place as the leader of Athens. When she returned to Aspasia, Perikles's lover tasked her to find Phoibe who was missing after she sent her to find a ferry. Investigating around the Odeon of Perikles, she found a massacre. As she saw Phoibe being followed by guards of the Cult, she ran to save her but when she finished the fight the young girl was already dead. Mourning her friend, Kassandra deposed Chara on the corpse of her owner. Joined by Sokrates and Hippokrates, she decided to go to the Parthenon to speak with Aspasia.

Arriving near the temple, they found Aspasia who searched Perikles. Kassandra announced her the death of Phoibe which shocked Aspasia. When they entered in the temple, they saw Deimos killed Perikles. As Kassandra tried to stop him, he ran away sending guards. Following that Kassandra decided to leave Athens with Aspasia As Kleon was the new ruler of the city and ordered that no one leave the city, Kassandra fought her way to the Piraeus. Before leaving, she asked to Sokrates and Hippokrates will stay to bury Phoibe. On the Adrestia, Kassandra spoke to Aspasia about the clues she found on her mother. Aspasia said she knew someone named Phoenix on Naxos Island, so the Adrestia sailed in this direction.

Death
Kassandra eventually obtained the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus and became immortal until she passed on the staff to Layla Hassan who in 2018 ventured into the Isu temple under the island of Thera.

Personality and traits
"I always finish what I've started"

- A catchphrase of Kassandra as her profession as misthios As a mercenary, Kassandra had one prime goal - drachmae. Willing to go to extreme lengths to earn it, Kassandra had no qualms about choosing sides in battle. She had a soft spot for children however, particularly Phoibe, a young orphaned Athenian girl. She was able to hold a grudge, as seen with how she reacted when she was reunited with Nikolaos, her estranged step-father. Kassandra was also known to be impatient and quick to anger at times, and would often intimidate those who angered her.

According to both Phoibe as well as Kassandra herself, she never really got sick.

Equipment and skills
"To shoot, you need to raise your elbow to be level with your ear, keeping your arm straight and relaxed. Your arrow needs to be just below your eye, then exhale on release. Try to aim for the eye so that you don't damage the rest of the meat."

- Kassandra, on the bases of archery Trained from a young age to fight as a Spartan, Kassandra was a highly skilled warrior capable of defeating multiple opponents simultaneously. Kassandra was able to competently wield a variety of weapon types, including swords, bows, spears, and axes. Unlike most Spartan warriors, however, Kassandra did not rely on a shield for protection, instead being able to easily deflect enemy attacks.

A master of stealth, Kassandra was able to silently assassinate her targets undetected and was also able to utilize the foliage of bushes to remain hidden from her enemies. She also proved proficient in the use of the Spear of Leonidas which aided her in silent assassinations. The Spear also gifts Kassandra with Superhuman powers which includes enabling her to know what, when and how her enemies are going to attack, giving her a major edge over her enemies in combat. It greatly enhances her physical strength to the point where she can send normal and giant sized men to animals as large as grizzly bears flying through the air dozens of feet away from her in a single blow with sufficient force. Her blows could even stagger Legendary beasts like the Nemean Lion and a Cyclops with significant effort. She could also briefly enhance her speed and reflexes to the point where she can move faster then a human eye can see or react to and can also regenerate her injuries that would normally be fatal, although the Spear does have a limit, as shown during the flashback of Leonidas' death that Kassandra experiences upon visiting his grave. If necessary, the Spear can also turn her invisible for a short while, allow minor control over poison and fire, produce concussive shockwaves, charge arrows with raw explosive energy, phase arrows through solid objects, and very minor control over time, only allowing for time to be stopped for five seconds. During her Journey through Elysium, Kassandra learned to tap deeper into the spear's power, able to enhance several of her abilities to the level of a Isu as well as briefly summon the Full Power of the Spear of Leonidas. With these abilities Kassandra grew to rival the gods themselves, easily besting Hermes, an actual god and slaying the mighty Cerberus.

A skilled freerunner, Kassandra was able to scale the statue of Athena in Athens as well as natural elements with relative ease. She also proved to be a strong swimmer whilst searching the ruins of underwater shipwrecks and was capable of holding her breath for a relatively long period of time.

Kassandra shared a symbiotic relationship with her eagle, Ikaros, which aided her in reconnaissance thanks to her Eagle Vision. Unlike later generations who possessed the skill, her Eagle Vision was far more literal in the sense that activating the ability allowed her to see through the eyes of Ikaros.

With the Staff of Hermes, which was passed on to her by her father Pythagoras, Kassandra was rendered immortal and remained unchanged for far longer than two thousand years. With the staff she no longer required food or water as the staff sustained her needs. She could even cause the Staff of Hermes to transform into anything she chooses, such as a lantern. While never shown, it is assumed she could use everything the staff gave to it's user, including short range teleportation and energy manipulation and projection. However shortly after coming into possession of the Staff, Kassandra learned the Staff can easily corrupt individuals who lack the Strength to control it, setting Kassandra though simulations of Elysium and Hades to gain control of the staff as well as full tap into her own hidden potential. After her trials through Atlantis and under the guidance of Poseiden and fully awakening the Isu's sixth sense of Knowledge within her does Kassandra come to control the staff and realize that is actually is far more destructive then it appears, having the power to destroy entire cities if she wanted to, which she displays by destroying Atlantis after learning how horribly The Isu treat humans.

By 2018, Kassandra had a great deal of knowledge of every innovation and discoveries which have happened in her immensely long lifespan, recognizing Layla's device. She also is aware of a great deal of historical information as well as the existence of many secret societies that have risen during her immensely long lifespan.

Trivia

 * Kassandra (Κασσανδρα) is an Ancient Greek name derived from possibly κεκασμαι (kekasmai) "to excel, to shine" and ἀνήρ (anḗr) "man", altogether meaning "shining upon men".
 * Her name could also be a reference to the who was given the power of foresight by Apollo, but when she rejected him, he cursed these visions so that they would come true, but she wouldn't be believed (this is known as the "Cassandra metaphor", in which a figure with knowledge of the truth and/or upcoming disasters is ignored).
 * Kassandra is one of two selectable protagonists in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, alongside Alexios. Regardless of who the player chooses, the two protagonists share the same story. However, the novelization of the video game confirms that Kassandra is the canonical protagonist.
 * If the player chooses Alexios as the protagonist then he and Kassandra's roles in the story are reversed, with Kassandra becoming Alexios' younger sister.
 * Kassandra has a scar on her right upper lip.
 * As of January 2019, one-third of Odyssey players have chosen Kassandra as the protagonist. During playtesting, the split was 50/50.

Appearances

 * Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
 * Legacy of the First Blade: Hunted
 * Legacy of the First Blade: Shadow Heritage
 * Legacy of the First Blade: Bloodline
 * The Fate of Atlantis: Fields of Elysium
 * The Fate of Atlantis: Torment of Hades
 * The Fate of Atlantis: Judgment of Atlantis
 * Assassin's Creed: Odyssey novel
 * Assassin's Creed: Rebellion