Orchid Queen

From Gothpoodle

Queen of the Crimson Court

The Orchid Queen has a great deal of respect for the Old Man, but not much for the other two monarchs. She keeps a privy council of her closest advisors.

Description

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Mask

A lean, athletic black woman with dark eyes and short hair. She radiates a feline sensuality and smells of fragrant, heady flowers. Her face is strong and angular and her eyes burn with a deep intensity. Her armor appears to be a military flak jacket, when it is worn.

Storytelling Hints

Sandra will never willingly allow herself, or anyone else, to be put under the influence of the Others again. She is driven by the anger of what she went through (essentially, years of rape) and guilt at having escaped while leaving behind another (or more) like her. While hard, driven, and unyielding, she retains her sense of justice and would not sacrifice others to achieve her goal. She is also firmly dedicated to the changing of seasons and, while she finds the Spring Court to be weak and the Winter Court cowards, she would never disrupt the succession.

Stats

• Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 4, Resolve 5
• Physical Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4
• Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 2, Composure 4
• Mental Skills: Academics (Architecture) 2, Crafts 2, Investigation 3, Medicine 1, Occult 2, Politics 2.
• Physical Skills: Athletics (Sprinting) 4, Brawl 2, Drive 2, Firearms 1, Larceny 2, Stealth 3, Survival 1, Weaponry (Sword) 4.
• Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Empathy 1, Expression 2, Intimidation 3, Persuasion (Inspiring Troops) 3, Socialize 1, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 2.
• Merits: Fighting Style (Fencing) 4, Fleet of Foot 3, Hollow 10, Inspiring 4, Mantle (with crown) 5, New Identity 3, Resources 2, Striking Looks 2, Token (Hedgespun Armor) 3.

Advantages

• Willpower: 9
• Health: 9
• Initiative: 8
• Defense: 4 (3 + 2/3 with armor)
• Armor: 0
• Speed: 16

Changeling Traits

• Clarity: 7
• Wyrd: 5
• Glamour/per Turn: 14/5
• Contracts: Eternal Summer 4, Fleeting Summer 4, Vainglory 4.
• Pledges: Commendation (liege for all vassals of the Summer Court), The Knight's Oath (liege for all sworn knights of Summer).

Weaknesses

• Flaws: None
• Derangements: None
• Frailties: None

Equipment

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Background

Mortal Life

Cassandra Hale was always competitive with a strong sense of self-discipline and fair play. She excelled at a number of sports but her best were track and field and fencing. In addition to her physical prowess, she was also immensely attractive, a trait which caught the eye of a Faerie Lord when she was seventeen. He abducted her from her hotel room through a mirror, drugging her with the scent of the orchids he brought from his garden. In her place, he left a pretty little thing which lacked any of her best qualities except for her beauty.

Durance

Sandra's memories of her life with the Fae are like a drug-induced dream, which in a way they were. She was kept in his palace surrounded by the narcotic orchids he bred, to make her pliant and accommodating for when he wanted to use her for his own pleasure. One day, his home was disrupted by the escape of one of his other abductees and his servants forgot to refresh the flowers in her rooms. Able to regain some clarity, she snuck out and escaped with the screams of the one just re-captured ringing in her ears and tearing at her conscience.

Changeling Life

Her anger at her captors was fed by the realization on her return of just what they had left in her place. Rather than take out her anger on her useless pretty fetch, she abandoned her former life and dedicated herself to a new military one. She adopted the moniker "the Orchid Knight" and joined the Summer Court, quickly growing popular in part because of the nature of her kith but also because her discipline and sense of justice were admired. She served well until the idea for the Iron Tower brought her into disagreement with her lord, who thought the fortress was too bold an affront to the Fae and would attract their attention unduly. She disobeyed his order not to build it and was imprisoned, but a coup in her name put her on the throne and led to her lord's banishment. Since then, she has ruled the Summer Court with an iron fist, gathering any who have the courage to built a force to fight the Others, when they come. To support herself, she works as a private investigator under the name "Sandy Garrison", using an identity purchased from Counterfieter Guy at high cost which she refuses to discuss.