Asha Barca *
From Crossroads Wiki
Asha Alexis Barca
Daughter and eldest legitimate child of Duke Damien Barce of the Isle of Guardian, Asha holds herself with a confidence and casual, arrogant certainty in her position that belies a mind equally suited to strategy on the battlefield or in the court. She joined the legions at sixteen, and from the age of eighteen to twenty-two, she led a group of men in peacekeeping operations in the interior of Dun Artan. The next three years were spent closer to the duchy seat in Gwencalon and traveling the judicial circuit around the island to better get to know her people and earn their respect.
At twenty-five, Asha returned with her family to Gateway for the 500th anniversary celebration and to claim her place in court. Passionate, perceptive, and brutally honest, the same traits that contribute to her personal magnetism as a leader don't always serve her as well in politics.
In May of 501 A.G., the people's empire arranged a mine collapse that left the former Duke of Guardian incapacitated. After two and a half months of travelling Guardian on the traditional progress, Asha returned to Gateway to claim her place as Duchess of Guardian, wasting little time.
In September of 502, after a break with her longtime consort Vincente Caprios, the Imperial Cousin, Asha wed Tairell Flint, a Guardian legionnaire. The next morning, he was found dead in the castle salon. Though the Imperial Cousin was suspected, nothing was ever proven. Some few months later, the duchess miscarried a child of the union. Rumors at the time suggested the miscarriage was less than natural.
In October of 503, Asha wed Phaedrus Forester, once lord, once knight. A little more than a month later, it was announced that the pair were expecting. By spring of 504, however, there was rebellion in Guardian. After months of fighting, on July 10 504, in front of the keep at Caer Cathartha, the duchess was ambushed by rebels shouting the name of the already-dead King Tostig.
Those present observed that the duchess took three arrows, and was unable to raise her sword as the attackers rushed in. In the midst of the battle, however, the duchess disappeared. Reports of the event vary, and while all agree that she was mortally wounded, few agree as to who took her away, and where. Some claim it was an avatar of Providence, others a minion of the Lord of the Abyss. Currently, Asha is presumed dead, along with the children she carried at the time, though a body has yet to be produced.
