Cassandre Tavern was one of the most celebrated places in southern France. Owned by a wealthy merchant, Andre Delacroix, it was almost as ornate as a palace inside and out. The outside boasted beautiful granite and marble stone and delecate stained glass windows. The inside had ornate woodwork, lush rugs, exotic plants and foods, and only the finest furnishings. The local lord and his advisors were frequent visitors, as were rich travelers, and even royalty on the odd occasion. It was almost paradise for the weary, wealthy pilgrim.

However, working conditions were not so heavenly for the servents, in particular Delacroix’s daughter, Athene. She lived practically in slavery, fetching her father’s every whim, serving the drunken louts in the bar, and being beaten when the smallest thing went wrong in the tavern operations. Her father forbid her to marry or be schooled, and kept a close watch on her on the few occasions she wasn’t working. Fairly intellegent, she sought knowledge where she could find it, especially the kind that would help her escape her cruel father.

Athene’s rescue came in the guise of one of lord’s advisors, Galien Malcher. Galien was a vampire of the Cappadocian clan; while visiting the tavern for one of the lord’s many expensive parties, his eyes fell on the lovely tavern girl with downcast gray eyes and curly ebony hair. After the party, she retired to the squallor of her attic room; Galien snuck in through the tiny window, frightening her badly. He gently calmed her down and started to talk with her. Sensing an intellegent woman beneath the tavern girl guise and taken by her charms, he began coming late at night to visit her, and the two fell in love. He also taught Athene learned academics; along with her simple folk knowledges, she became quite the learned woman. She figured out on her own that her “mentor” and lover was actually a vampire, but rather being repulsed by the idea, she was intregued. She begged Galien to Embrace her, hoping that being immortal would give her the power to escape her father.

A year and a half after their fateful meeting, the Embrace happened. Angry at her for her tardiness in fufilling her duties, Athene’s father burst into her room to find her contemplatingly looking out the window. Demanding her downstairs, she ignored him. He tried to slap her, but she caught his hand easily and informed him coldly that she would be giving the orders from now on. She used her newly created discipline of Mortis to make his face and hands appear to rot away, and then her newfound strength to revenge herself for years of beatings. When Athene was bored by his tortured screams, she dumped him on the floor and informed him that she would be running the tavern; she would keep him alive as the “figurehead,” but any and all decisions were hers and hers alone.

Cassandre Tavern runs as normal and as popular as ever, thanks to Athene. Her father has since died and a new “figurehead” runs the place; however, Athene still makes the decisions; her new representative is loyal to her and more pleasant to deal with than her simpering father. Athene continues to study her vampiric and academic arts and is still in love with Galien, who continues to visit at her tavern to represent his lord.