Captain Cadence Thessaly   

Character Information
Name		Cadence Thessaly
Rank		Captain
Position		Chief Medical Officer
Gender		Female
Species		Sagittaron
Age		35
Physical Appearance
Height		5’ 7”
Weight		124 lbs.
Eye Color		Blue
Hair Color		Blonde
Physical Description		Cadence Harlowe Thessaly is a good-looking woman of thirty-five currently serving as a Medical Officer aboard the Battlestar Megaera. As such, she is most often attired in a lab coat over her standard military fatigues. In keeping with military protocol, she wears her hair up when on duty, but almost always down when not.

Personality & Traits
General Overview
Owing to her Sagittaron heritage, Cadence can be quite a stubborn person to deal with at times. However, unlike her fellow Sagitarrons, she is adamant in the belief that medicine can and does help people and that the folk practices of her home colony are little more than archaic rituals. This attitude has led to her estrangement from her kinsmen, something that she is annoyed and somewhat bitter about. She is an extremely competent doctor, having studied at the finest medical colleges on Caprica. Consummately professional while on duty, she is not above socializing in the weekly card game or the latest round of Pyramid while off duty. Possessed of a keen, analytical mind, she doesn't like it when she can't figure something out.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths: - Dedicated - Analytical Weaknesses: - Stubborn - Often feels as if she has something to prove
Ambitions
Survival, first and foremost. Closure for her lost loved ones second. Proving herself as a doctor and a Sagittaron woman third.
Hobbies & Interests
Pyramid, card games, crosswords
Languages		Colonial Standard
Family
Father		Corwin Bristow (deceased)
Mother		Althea Bristow (née Thessaly, deceased)
Brother(s)		Maran Bristow (deceased)
Sister(s)
Spouse		Zebulon Varnham (divorced, deceased)
Children		Carwyn Thessaly Varnham (deceased)
Other Family

Born to a Sagittaron father and a Caprican mother on Sagittaron, Cadence was raised in the traditions of her homeworld, taught to revere religion and folk practices. At least, that's how her Sagittaron father tried to raise her and her brother. However their mother, a free-spirited Caprican artist, would often let her children read off-world literature, opening their eyes to the worlds beyond Sagittaron. As a child, Cadence would spend a lot of time with her mother, listening and learning from her stories.

When Cadence was fourteen, her older brother Maran fell sick with Mellorak infection. Althea Bristow implored her husband to take Maran to a Caprican doctor, but Corwin Bristow would have none of it, taking the boy to Sagittaron folk practicioners. Maran died soon after, leaving the Bristow family devastated. Althea left within the month, citing Corwin's stubborness as leading to Maran's death. She attempted to take Cadence with her, but to no avail. Corwin kept his daughter on Sagittaron and raised her by himself. Cadence stayed with him as she loved her father despite his blindness to the truth, keeping in contact with her mother through the years.

In high school, she met someone by the name of Zebulon Varnham. He was handsome and well-spoken and it wasn't long until they started dating. Following their graduation, Cadence and Zeb got married and soon after, she became pregnant with their son. About five months into her pregnancy, she received word that her mother was dying of breast cancer on Caprica. She implored her husband to let her go visit, but Zeb would not allow her to leave, afraid she would never return to Sagittaron. Unfortunately for him, it was this very attitude that pushed his wife over the edge, making her do exactly what he feared. Cadence got divorce papers drawn up and left them on the kitchen table in the middle of the night as she stole away and left the planet to go be with her dying mother.

She never returned to Sagittaron after that, instead choosing to raise her son by herself on Caprica. She took her mother's maiden name as a tribute, though she had Carwyn keep his father's name out of respect to Zeb. She never hid the facts of their separation from her son, promising him that he would be able to meet his father someday. To provide for the both of them, Cadence joined the Colonial Military as part of their Medical Program, studying medicine while serving in the Fleet. In addition to her medical studies, Cadence also earned her junior pilot qualification wings in Raptor flight and ECO training. Carwyn grew up a military brat, accompanying his mother as she bounced from assignment to assignment.

In a heartbreakingly ironic twist of fate, Cadence sends her son off to see his father for the first time two days before the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies. She never hears from either of them again.

 

Colonial Fleet OCS - Medical Specialization
Colonial Fleet Flight School - Raptor Certification
Caprica Medical College - specialization in Internal Medicine / Hematology
Colonial Fleet Headquarters - Medical Officer (internship)
Battlestar Night Flight - Medical Officer (residency)
Battlestar Solaria - Medical Officer / Raptor Pilot
Battlestar Atlantia - Medical Officer / Raptor ECO
Battlestar Megaera - Chief Medical Officer (former ACMO)