Danica Maupoissant

Danica Bonaduce, formerly known as Danica Maupoissant was a human monk. She was the wife of Cadderly Bonaduce and mother of their three children.

Danica appears as a central character in the Cleric Quintet series as well as a minor character in two Drizzt Do'Urden novels, in addition to the spin-off novel, "The Servant of the Shard" in a supporting role.

Description
A small woman, Danica was hardly taller than five feet. However, every inch of her body was covered in lean, toned muscle, a testament to her strict martial training. However, the muscle hardly diminished her feminine qualities, enhancing them rather.

She had strawberry blonde hair, which fell just below her shoulders in unruly curls (though the cover artwork of "The Servant of the Shard" depicts her as having straight, dark hair). Her eyes were dark and almond-shaped.

Danica was noted as being stunningly beautiful, attracting the attention of Cadderly, Kierkan Rufo as well as Elbereth, the elf prince of Shilmista.

Personality
Danica was wholly devoted to the teachings of the great monk, Grandmaster Penpahg D'Ahn. As such she was disciplined, ordered and in complete control of her emotions at all times. When Cadderly initially proposed marriage, Danica instantly informed him that she would not give up her studies for any man.

Danica was also an extraordinarily perceptive young woman. She often correctly guessed other individual's thoughts and motivations with little conscious effort.

Brave and fun loving, she was often at the forefront of every battle, using her speed and strength to assist her slower comrades. She usually cried out nonsensical comments to calm herself against overwhelming odds.

Danica believed that the ends justified the means. Though she abhorred needless killing, she would not shy away from it if she believed it necessary. Despite her usually kind and tender demean, Danica often went to extreme measures to prove a point. If a man went too far with her, she would not hesitate to use violence to put him in his place when words did not suffice (she paralyzed Caddely's arm when he groped her breast).

Danica also seemed to have a talent for insults. She was able to taunt both Fyrentennimarr and a vampiric Histra into rages so severe, they were unable to fight properly.

Combat
In combat Danica is occasionally reckless, charging forward with abandon. Sometimes she laughs and shrieks, "There are only ten of them!" or something similar. It is unknown whether this is to embolden herself or to unnerve her enemies (or perhaps both). Using her hands and feet is her preferred mode of combat, but against more powerful opponents she uses her enchanted crystal daggers - one of them with a golden pommel resembling a tiger, the other with a silver hilt in the form of a dragon. She can throw her enchanted daggers on the run. Even if prone, she gets embroiled in melee with a whirling array of circle kicks, high kicks, back kicks, elbow smashes, and forceful hacks with the heels and sides of her hands. She can jab a finger into the limb of an opponent and paralyze it. Foes using ranged weapons against her can get frustrated, as she can easily slap aside arrows, bolts, spears, and other missiles as long as she can see them coming. She has the monk skill of 'iron skull' which allows her to break a large block of solid stone using her head - she once shattered an ogre's ribcage by imagining it as a stone block. She was able to quickly and efficiently get the skilled Jarlaxle Baenre into a solid hold where she could easily kill him, which Drizzt Do'Urden commented he thought he would never witness and caused Jarlaxle to state that he will never underestimate her again.

In order to escape the vampire Kierkan Rufo's designs for her as his undead queen, Danica performed Physical Suspension - a death that is not death - the highest mark in the teachings of Grandmaster Penpahg D'Ahn by slowing her heartbeat, breathing and the flow of her blood to a point where all who would regard her, including Kierkan Rufo, as dead.

History
Danica was raised (in her early years) in Westgate, the daughter of a wagoneer and his wife of Eastern ancestery. Her parents were killed however by Night Masks assassins, and Danica underwent tutelage in combat arts under a disciple of Penpahg D'Ahn, and eventually found herself at the Edificant Library as well beside Cadderly Bonaduce to complete her training through the texts of the venerated master.

Danica and Cadderly were in love almost from first sight, and consummated their love after the battle of Shilmista Forest when Cadderly arrived in Carradoon. Cadderly had left the war to find his own answers, and Danica quickly came after him. After a series of battles with the Night Masks, she joined him in seeking out Castle Trinity, source of the evil chaos curse. Facing magical monsters, the red dragon Fyrentennimar, and the soldiers of the castle, Danica accompanied Cadderly up until his confrontation with his father, Aballister Bonaduce.

Returning to the Edificant Library, Danica found it under the control of Kierkan Rufo, who had become a vampire by ingesting the liquid form of the chaos curse. Beaten by Rufo and his undead horde, she was taken prisoner. Rufo attempted to turn her into his queen, but she was able to escape his thirst for blood by employing the ultimate technique of Penpahg D'Ahn: suspended animation. Sadly, Danica was then forced to watch for five years as Cadderly gave up his own life force to construct the Spirit Soaring cathedral, making him an old man. Her only comfort was that she conceived and bore fraternal twins, her son Temerle and daughter Hanalesia during this time. Another bright side was that as time went on, she became pregnant again as Cadderly began growing younger again, and bore a third child, her second son Rorick.

Catti-brie found a kindred spirit in Danica when she and Drizzt Do'Urden came to the Spirit Soaring in search of Cadderly, needing his power to commune with the demon Errtu. The two talked, and became quite friendly before Catti-brie was forced to leave. Still later, she accompanied Cadderly on his quest to destroy Crenshinibon. She found a natural antithesis in the form of Artemis Entreri, who was in the company of Jarlaxle Baenre. After a grueling battle against both the red dragon Hephestus and the drow band Bregan D'aerthe, they succeeded, but shortly thereafter parted ways.

The Cleric Quintet

 * 1) Canticle (1991) - Main Character
 * 2) In Sylvan Shadows (1991) - Main Character
 * 3) Night Masks (1992) - Main Character
 * 4) The Fallen Fortress (1993) - Main Character
 * 5) The Chaos Curse (1994) - Main Character

The Drizzt Do'Urden Series

 * Passage to Dawn
 * Servant of the Shard
 * The Ghost King