Temple of Daphne¶
The primary cathedral and clerical/paladin order dedicated to Daphne Windsor's divine faith, where Cassian Windsor trained for years after swearing his paladin's oath. Not the only Windsor-family-connected location, but the one most developed in the sources.
Overview¶
Located in the city of Celestine (GM clarification, chat, 2026-08-23), set on a verdant hill with sunflower gardens, overlooking meadows and the sea, not far from a town or main road. Its architecture is grand — tall carved columns, prismatic stained glass, a ceiling painting depicting Daphne's destruction of Lavos — and its congregation draws people from strikingly varied, often hard, backgrounds finding purpose there: an old tortle Life Cleric, a human "running away from something and himself," a reformed centaur berserker. The temple's followers are not told that Daphne's mortal children live ordinary lives outside the order — they know she married a tiefling and had children, but Cassian's specific identity was disclosed to the temple's leadership only, at Daphne's request, "to make sure they treated him with kindness." A house of healing within the temple offers medicine and divine healing free of charge to those who can't pay.
Notable members¶
- High Cleric Valerica — a dragonborn with golden scales, the temple's highest-ranking cleric. Converted to Daphne's faith after the goddess appeared to her in a dream and encouraged her to leave an abusive marriage; rose quickly through the ranks as a Light Domain cleric. Trained Cassian in prayer and divine magic. She did not teach him swordplay — that correction (a mistake in this wiki's earlier summary of
Cassian_Windsor_Backstory.md) is fixed per direct GM clarification: she merely introduced him to his actual sword teacher, Udisam, within the temple's house of healing. Eventually marries the archdruid Sylvanan, in a wedding Cassian officiated and Daphne personally attended. - Sylvanan — an ancient elven archdruid (self-reported roughly 6,000 years old, missing his right arm to "a beast long returned to the earth"), leading a druid circle allied with the temple. Trained Cassian in the balance of nature, as befits an Oath of the Ancients paladin. Cassian directly encouraged the slow-building romance between Sylvanan and Valerica.
- Cassian Windsor — trained here for years following his paladin's oath; departed after a costly campaign against Lavos-cultist remnants (see below), eventually returning home.
- Udisam (deceased) — an earth genasi battlemaster and city constable who trained Cassian in swordplay outside the temple grounds; killed by Cassian after Cassian discovered he was running a violent extortion racket. See Udisam for the full account.
History¶
Cassian's sword training¶
Early in Cassian's time at the temple, Valerica introduced him to a patient in the house of healing, Udisam, an earth genasi city constable and battlemaster, who trained him in swordplay for months before Cassian discovered — and killed — him over a violent extortion racket run under cover of Udisam's guard post. See Cassian Windsor and Udisam for the full account.
The siege of the mountain stronghold¶
The temple, allied with clerics and paladins of several other good-aligned faiths, discovered a hive of Lavos cultists holding a fortified stronghold in the mountains and mounted a full siege — trebuchets, ladders, battering rams, thousands of soldiers. Mid-battle, an earthquake tore the mountain apart and collapsed the stronghold's walls; Cassian was trapped beneath rubble alongside an enemy cleric, Rhea, for an indeterminate period before escaping. Very few of either army's soldiers survived; the cult was scattered, though not necessarily destroyed outright.
Sources¶
Additional Materials/Cassian_Windsor_Backstory.mdAdditional Materials/The_Swordmaster.md- GM clarification, chat, 2026-08-23 (location in Celestine, sunflower gardens; Udisam, not Valerica, taught Cassian swordplay)