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 individuals' 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 demeanor, 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. .

Early Years
Danica Maupoissant was born in Westgate, the only child of Lord Maupoissant, a famous wagoneer and his wife. Little is known about Danica's mother, other than the fact she hailed from lands far to the East. Her father was one of the best wagon engineers in Westgate and often drew jealousy from rival artisans. It is unknown why, but Danica was sent to a local disciple of Penpahg D'Ahn, who was also a friend of her father. Danica spent much of her early years dividing her time between her parents' house and her duties with her master.

At some point during Danica's early teens, her parents were killed by a guild of assassins known as the Night Masks. As a result Danica was primarily raised by her tutor from that point on. Though he knew the identity of her parents' killers, the man did not tell Danica as he knew she would seek retribution.

Several years passed and Danica continued to grow in strength and skill, eventually surpassing her master and becoming arguably one of the finest fighters in the region. At that point, her master informed her that he had nothing left to teach her, but suggested she travel to the Edificant Library to study directly from the texts of Penpahg D'Ahn. As a parting gift, he gave her two enchanted crystal daggers, one with a hit carved in the likeness of a tiger and the other of a silver dragon.

Time at Edificant Library
Following her master's advice, Danica traveled to Edificant Library, deep in the Snowflake Mountains. She quickly attracted the attention of two junior priests of Deneir, Cadderly Bonaduce and Kierkan Rufo. Though she politely ignored Rufo's advances, she quickly became attached to Cadderly, being charmed by the young priest's good looks and innocent, boyish demeanor. She also became fast friends with the library's two dwarven cooks, Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder, as well as Headmistress Pertelope.

Danica passed her time both by studying the preserved texts of Penpahg D'Ahn and wrestling with the resident priests of Oghma. Unfortunately, her undefeated status led to the Oghmans refusing to help her navigate the large library unless she beat them at wrestling, which she always did. Before long, Danica's relationship with Cadderly became the talk of the library.

After a year at the Library, Danica was in the midst of a wrestling match with a priest of Oghma who refused to tell her the location of a particular scroll Danica had wanted to examine. After she easily defeated him, Danica happened upon Cadderly who was trying to recreate a drow hand crossbow. The couple snuck into a corner and began to kiss intimately. After Cadderly childishly groped her breast, Danica immobilized his arm with a technique she called Withering Touch. She further explained that she was in the process of researching one of Penpahg D'Ahn's highest techniques; the Iron Skull, the ability to smash a large slab of stone using only the forehead. Cadderly expressed concern, but Danica stubbornly held her course and demonstrated her mastery over her body by using only her finger to hold her upright on a table top.

Shortly thereafter, Cadderly inadvertently released the Chaos Curse into the Library. Danica was among those infected by the noxious gas and as such began to relentlessly pursue her desires without her inhibitions to hold her in check. Rufo, also under the influence of the curse, made another pass at her, but Danica casually beat him bloody. Cadderly later found Danica in her room where she somehow managed to appropriate a boulder and was attempting to master the Iron Skull. After some difficulty, where Danica attempted to force Cadderly into making love, he managed to convince the young monk to hold off on breaking the boulder.

When Cadderly returned to check on her again he found her unconscious with her blood dripping from her forehead and staining the stone. With the help of the druid Newander, Cadderly eased Danica into her bed and had the druid restrain the young monk with vines to prevent her from trying the stone again. While comatose, Danica was able to resist the effects of the chaos curse by visualizing it as a noxious mist. Temporarily in control, Danica, along with Newander, followed Cadderly down into the cellar to stop the effects of the curse.

Along the way, the pair ran into a group of zombies, which Danica had little trouble dispatching. They also found Percival, Cadderly's white squirrel friend, who was able to lead them to Cadderly. Following Percival, Danica came across Pikel who had been severely poisoned by the imp Druzil. After Newander neutralized the poison in Pikel's body, Danica used her knowledge of the body to revive the Dwarf. Continuing onward, they found Cadderly in a losing battle against the evil priest Barjin and his undead bodyguards.

Leaving the Bouldershoulder brothers to deal with the mummy, Danica and Newander fought Barjin. Despite putting up a good fight, and the druid transforming into a wolf, they were hopelessly overmatched. Eventually, Cadderly was able to kill the evil priest and save the Library from the chaos curse, although Newander was killed in the struggle.

Following the defeat of Barjin, Cadderly was proclaimed a hero, though the thought of having killed another sentient being left him confused and despondent. Danica did her best to support him and give him the space he needed to come to terms with his lost innocence.

A few weeks afterward, Danica finally felt confident enough to try the Iron Skull once again, having reached the required level of spiritual mastery to do so. She successfully shattered a solid slab of stone in a live demonstration and was named the highest ranking disciple of Penpahg D'Ahn. One of the spectators was Elbereth, the elven prince of Shilmista, who became quite taken with the beautiful monk. Elbereth invited Danica to return to Shilmista Forest to investigate the unusual orc activity. Danica only agreed once she learned that Cadderly and the Bouldershoulder brothers would be going as well.

War in Shilmista Forest
En route to Shilmista, Danica watched the verbal sparring between Cadderly and Elbereth. Annoyed at times by the elf prince's disparaging remarks, she nonetheless trusted Cadderly to hold his temper in check. The group came upon a squad of ogrillon in the employ of Castle Trinity. Danica took a major role in ensuing battle, personally killing several of the monsters. Cadderly and Elbereth once again got into an argument when the elf prince killed the lone surviving ogrillon, despite Cadderly's protests. Though she sympathized with Cadderly's emotional turmoil, Danica agreed with Elbereth's assertion that it was necessary.

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 Fyrentennimarr, 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 Hephaestus 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