Maria Thorne

Maria Thorne is the leader of the Vichy faction of the Spring Court of the Miami freehold.

Biography
"What? I can’t hear you. Can you say that — oh my God, I love this song! You wanna dance?"

Maria Thorne claims to be Rose Thorne’s daughter, and the Spring Queen has never publicly denied the claim. Whether the claim should be taken in the literal, biological sense or a more metaphorical one has never been clarified by either woman. Maria remembers (or claims to remember) little of her time in Faerie or of her life before; she emerged from the Hedge in Miami Beach in the late 1990s, shortly before Grandfather Thunder’s coup. At the time, the  Spring  Court  had  a  strong  presence  there,  and when a motley of Broadback satyrs in the middle of a barcrawl of epic proportions found her and saw her resemblance to their Queen, they immediately took her to Rose.

Neither has spoken about what transpired in that meeting, but Maria was formally brought out to the Antler Crown as “Maria Thorne.” It wasn’t until some years later, after the coup and the Spring Court’s exile, that she began to expressly call herself Rose’s daughter, a claim that rallied several discontented courtiers to join her in her return to Miami. It is widely speculated, especially amongst Rose Thorne’s loyalists, that it was only the Thorne name that lent any weight to Maria’s  exodus;  had  her  name  been  Maria  Bramble,  they sneer, she would have been lucky to convince even one changeling to return with her to the city. While this theory may be a slight exaggeration, it certainly is not entirely without merit.

She is a short, slender Latina woman with full, luscious features and tightly curled hair that reaches her shoulders. In her mortal guise, her skin is the color of light coffee, contrasting with her dark, almost black eyes and cinnamon hair. To the eyes of the fae, her hair takes on an iridescent quality, shifting between blue and red and all the colors in which roses can be found. Her ringlets tighten up and twist into more complex patterns, making her hair resemble a flowing mass of roses in various stages of blossom. Her scent is that of a rose garden in the height of bloom. However others see her, Maria is always dressed in the trendiest and  most  revealing  outfits  on  the  South  Beach club  scene. She favors  blues  and  reds  and  blacks,  and  is almost  always  accompanied  by  one  or  two  hangers-on, whether mortal groupies or changeling cohorts.

Maria fancies herself a savvy politician and  skilled  leader  like  her  mother,  a  delusion  bolstered by the fact that she “persuaded” Grandfather Thunder to give her and her followers South Beach, but in truth she is more akin to the queen bee of the high school clique: she leads by sheer force of personality, good looks and the reputation of her name. Maria is more interested in being left alone to dance and party her life away in whatever club happens to be the hot spot of the week than in forging any sort of  real  political  entity. Unless she  savvies  up  rather quickly, she may well find herself forcibly pushed out of the top spot by one of her more ambitious hangers-on.

Character Sheet
Maria Thorne

Seeming: Fairest

Kith: Flowering

Court: Spring (“Vichy” faction)

Entitlements: None

Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 4, Resolve 1

Physical Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 5, Stamina 3

Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 4, Composure 2

Mental Skills: Academics 1, Computer 1, Occult 2

Physical Skills: Athletics (Graceful) 3, Firearms (Pistols) 1, Larceny 2, Weaponry 1

Social Skills: Empathy 2, Expression (Dance) 5, Socialize (SoBe Club Scene), Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 2

Merits: Barfly 1, Contacts 3 (South Beach Rumor Mill, Bouncers, Designer Drug Dealers), Court Goodwill (Summer) 1, Mantle 3, Resources 3, Retainer 2, Striking Looks 4

Willpower: 3

Clarity: 5

Virtue: Charity

Vice: Lust

Initiative: 7

Defense: 4

Speed: 11

Health: 8

Wyrd: 3

Glamour/per Turn: 12/3

Contracts: Dream 2; Vainglory 2, Fleeting Spring 2

Pledges - The Motley Pledge, Pledge of Horn and Bone, Good Neighbors Pact (Rose Thorne)