Agnes Hasenbach

"There is one truth in this world that cannot be broken. I have learned this from portents many and varied, spoken to birds from strange and distant skies as well as consulted with the secret whisperers of the winds and clouds. It does not matter if on the other side stand kings and monsters and all the gods that stride this earth. It does not matter if the odds are paltry and the signs scream of defeat with every silent voice. I will always, always, bet on Cordelia Hasenbach."

―Agnes Hasenbach

Agnes Hasenbach
General information
Name	Augur
Faction	Procer, Heroes
Species	Human
Status	Deceased

Appearance

Agnes is a young woman with blonde hair cut in a short bob, who usually wears light blue dresses of a style markedly different from the rest of Cordelia's court. She is described as having porcelain pale skin despite spending most of her time outdoors.

Personality

Agnes is a quiet, lonely girl who was considered odd and was ignored by most prior to coming into her Name. Her distant cousin Cordelia is one of the few individuals who has always made a point of spending time with her, a fact that Agnes has never forgotten.

According to Cordelia, "Agnes had been a lonely child and then a lonely girl, thought odd by most for her awkwardness and endless enthusiasm for bird watching."

Agnes is passionate about ornithology and spends most her time sitting in a garden bird-watching. She would prefer to be left alone to do this and seems distracted when speaking to people. She will, however, use her prophetic abilities to help Cordelia, stating that she does so because “You do what you think you need to do, not what you want,” the Augur said. “That’s why you’re worth helping, even if it’s tedious.”

Background

Agnes is a distant cousin to Cordelia Hasenbach. She developed prophetic powers as the Augur and those abilities were essential in helping Cordelia discover that Malicia was the reason the Proceran Civil War had extended for decades. After the southern nobles failed to heed Cordelia's warnings regarding Malicia's plot, Agnes was instrumental in helping Cordelia win the Civil War and become the first Lycaonese First Prince of Procer.

Agnes has since kept Cordelia safe from countless assassination attempts from Praes, and helped her during the Tenth crusade.

Agnes has been shown to have a cunning side. Although Kairos Theodosian implied that the Wandering Bard was working through Agnes to manipulate events in Procer, Agnes has at least once worked against the schemes of the Wandering Bard. In one instance, Agnes pretended to work with the Bard in order to force Cordelia to obtain a Name, but appears to have only done so in order to be able to distract the Bard at the last minute. Agnes' interference set off a chain of events that would give Cordelia the choice to become a Hero, Villain, or neither.

Abilities

Agnes is the Augur, a Named oracle capable of predicting the future. Agnes appears to get most her predictions from bird watching. She also tells the Wandering Bard that owls are horrible gossips, hinting that she can talk to birds as well. None of her aspects are known.

Black and Catherine Foundling theorize that Agnes has two major ways to predict the future. The first way is a direct vision from Above. The second is when Agnes attempts to predict the future on her own. The second way is theorized to be limited to predicting events that have been planned in advance. Black speculates that Agnes' prophetic abilities are limited because she cannot see actions that are unplanned. Although Black has been successful in avoiding Agnes' abilities by following this theory, Agnes has also foiled plots to assassinate Cordelia that have been carried out by unplanned actors. Therefore, the clear limit of Agnes' abilities are unknown.

It's possible to block Agnes from seeing an area or person, if protected by a sufficiently powerful creature. She has been blocked by the Dead King and has trouble seeing past the darkness shrouding Keter. Similarly, she was unable to see past Sve Noc, and attempting to do so caused her to faint in the snow. Agnes may even be harmed by the entity blocking her, as Sve Noc was able to claw at her arms on the three separate occasions Agnes tried to examine them.

Relationships

Cordelia Hasenbach: Agnes is both very fond of and fiercely loyal to her distant cousin Cordelia, who was one of the few people who spent time with her before she got a Name. Agnes supports her cousin because she loves Cordelia but also because she trusts Cordelia to make the right decisions with the information Agnes provides. It's hinted in "Interlude: And Yet We Stand" that Agnes lost her parents before getting her Name, after which Cordelia took Agnes into her household as part of her family. Though there are others who survive to carry on the name Hasenbach, Cordelia considers her the last of her family.