Cassandra’s mother had fled home as a teenager, seeking to escape the judgement that plagued the descendants of the fools who had released the creatures of the shadow realm. Feeling like she had escaped her heritage, she started up a life for herself with a farmers son.
As time went on, she had two sons who also grew up to be farmers, though later in her life, she had a young daughter. When her daughter was born, she was horrified. That which she had been fleeing had found her. Her daughter was born pale with grey eyes, a sign of the taint that had often emerged in those descended from the four who had unleashed the realm of shadow.
Cassandra was forced to dye her hair and was passed off as blind for her entire childhood. Her mother would scold her if she drew any attention to herself, fearing the infamy that had plagued her as a child.
She did not know that her actions would cause Cassandra to flee her as she had fled her own family. At the age of 11, Cassandra’s father died in an attack carried out by the creatures of shadow on their farm bordering the edge of the settlement she was a part of.
The loss of her father and the cold treatment by her mother led Cassandra to question her belonging to her family. Her brothers had never really paid her much attention and she had rarely been allowed to come with her mother to markets as a reward for good behaviour. After four more years living like this, Cassandra managed to sneak out of her house and run away.
She ran to the markets she knew so well, but realising that her mother would look for her there, continued to run. She found herself lost and began to cry, sitting down against a building on the road. It happened to be a school of magic.
A young mage came out to find her crying, he attempted to comfort her, but she
