Cathaline Fireborn

Cathaline Fireborn is one of the main protagonists of Shalaren Chapter 1: Ascend into Madness along with Triant Locke and Artras Nakada, and is the second to appear. Cathaline is one of the last two known Fireborn in the world, the other being Gerald Fireborn.

She was born a Bardell, and is the oldest daughter of Merrill and Danna Bardell, and the older sister of Ermelinde Bardell. She is indirectly responsible for the deaths of her sister and mother, and directly responsible for the death of her father.

She is the third recruit of Petra Oudin into the Falling Star after the death of Mallory Gervesin, the man directly responsible for the death of Cathaline's little sister.

Cathaline, being a Fireborn, was the only one within the Falling Star capable of stealing the Eternal Flame hidden in Paetow Island, so Petra sent her on a mission to retrieve it. In the island, Cathaline has been taken and imprisoned by the Faithful, and under captivity is where she met Triant Locke.

Previous Life
Cathaline Bardell was born in Red Hawk in 12D of 1428 to the wealthy Merrill and Danna Bardell, who later in 11B of 1435 gave birth to Cathaline's sister, Ermelinde. Her father Merrill was the owner of a successful industrial business and her mother was an important council woman within the establishment of the city.

Growing up Cathaline was always known for being particularly adventurous and always getting into trouble, but still, her and her family had lived peacefully up until to when Cathaline turned 15 years of age, when she stumbled upon the less fortunate zone of Red Hawk where she saw what the greedy and wealthy residents of the city bring upon the poor. There she met Delmont Herre who offered her to join his gang, the Joyous Thieves who steal from the rich and provide for the poor.

In 24C of 1446 when Cathaline was 17 years of age, during a mission with Delmont and her friend Adrian, she discovered she had the flame, which she inherited from her mother, and was able to control fire with ease. Delmont Herre was excited to take advantage of Cathaline's flame for the goals of the Joyous Thieves and began entrusting her with more missions then usual, which Cathaline accepted without question. Her mother was able to sense that a flame has awoken inside of Cathaline since she has one of her own, and told Cathaline that she and her are Fireborn, near extinct beings, descendants of The Great Blaze, and begged Cathaline not to practice her abilities and feed the flame because it will only get stronger, until one day she wont be able to control it. Cathaline disregarded her mother's warning and continued to use her flame.

In 3E of 1448, when Cathaline was 19, Delmont Herre entrusted her with a mission to steal a very valuable set of dishes from Amauri Favaro's Orphanage which he will be able to trade for enough money to purchase property that he intends to turn into a homeless settlement. Cathaline attempted to walk into the orphanage but was quickly recognized by the guards. Determined to get these dishes, she asked for the assistance of her 13 year old sister, Ermelinde. In 5E Her sister was to pose as one of the orphans and sneak into the orphanage and take the dishes, while Cathaline attacked the guards outside taking the attention away from her sister. In a twist of events, an explosion happens completely destroying the orphanage and killing everyone inside, including Amauri and Ermelinde.

Shaken, Delmont informed her the man responsible was Mallory Gervesin, the leader of the Falling Star, an organization sworn on creating a destructive spell that will wipe out the world and start a new. Full of grief Cathaline along with Delmont found themselves surrounded by the enforcers of Red Hawk and arrested. Cathaline's mother released her but spoke no word to her. Both her parent's sensed Cathaline's involvement with Ermelinde's death. She abandoned the Joyous Thieves.

Grief has taken over the lives of both her mother and father, as her mother has not attended any council meetings for 3 years and has therefore lost her position, and her father was arrested for three accounts of violence and had his business taken away from him. In 6C of 1451 when Cathaline was 22 years old, Cathaline walked into the house to see her parents fighting, as they usually have for the past 3 years, but this time the fight escalated with Merrill Bardell pushing his wife off the balcony into her death. Witnessing her mother's death by the hand of her fire made Cathaline lose control of her flame, just like her mother had warned her would happen, and she set the house ablaze burning everything inside including her father. Now on the run, the enforcers of Red Hawk are looking everywhere for her, holding her responsible for the deaths of her parents.

Outside of the borders of Red Hawk, Cathaline meets Petra Oudin.

Plot (spoilers)
Petra has sent Cathaline to Mellow island to collect the essence of the Mellow Tree, however she was taken hostage by the Bradach. She awakens by the player, and the two team up and plot their escape.