Mab (CTD)

Mab is a Seelie Sidhe Grump of House Fiona and ruler of the Kingdom of Apples.

Overview

Queen Mab is the oldest (and most feel the wisest) of Concordia's monarchs. She is a strong Reformer and was instrumental in High King David's rise to power. She is a stabilizing influence in Concordian politics and a strong counterweight to the excesses of some sidhe Traditionalists. A canny and puissant monarch, she brooks little in the way of court intrigue and is known to have the most ordered court in Concordia. Despite her public antipathy toward government by reune, she is heavily involved in behind-the-scenes political maneuvering through her membership in the Cat's Cradle. She is a visionary ruler who clearly sees (or so she thinks) the converging forces of the coming Winter. She is an inclusive ruler, who believes that the only opportunity for Kithain survival is unity across all lines of kith and court. Queen Mab's court of Caer Palisades has more commoners in positions of power than any other, including Tara-Nar. Queen Mab is a formidable grandame of great, though aging, beauty.

War in Concordia

Queen Mab was one of the first to acknowledge David Ardry as High King and swear fealty. Since David's creation of Concordia, Mab has supported his cause to the best of her ability, ceding to him the lands where he built Tara-Nar and providing him with her wise counsel. Her Fiona passion has tempered with age, but she still evokes a tremendous amount of emotion when she latches onto a cause.

Most fae do not realize how much David Ardry owes to Queen Mab. She has long espoused many of the same ideas that the High King used as the basis for his dream of Concordia. Her enlightened rulership and visionary leadership has made her beloved by commoners as well as nobles. She inspires trust in all her subjects, Seelie and Unseelie alike.

As a member of the Cat's Cradle, Mab has made contacts with Seelie and Unseelie noblewomen throughout Concordia. Her firm conviction that only an alliance of all fae can forestall the worst ravages of the coming Winter lends power to her actions.

After the disappearance of the High King, Mab made an astute assessment of the political situation and realized that the Princess Lenore occupied the most vulnerable position of those close to the High King. Fearing that Morwen might resent handing over the rulership of Concordia to a mere girlchild, Mab approached Lenore with the intention of offering her an alternative to remaining in Tara-Nar. Princess Lenore accepted Mab's offer, impressing the Queen of Apples with her mature grasp of her own situation.

Unfortunately, some of Mab's own supporters have urged her to press her own candidacy for the throne, arguing that Man's experience and age make her the best of all possible rulers. The outbreak of war has changed Mab's outlook. She wonders whether those who urge her to take Concordia in hand might not be right.

Image

Queen Mab represents the quintessential "grand dame" of the fae world. She has an ageless beauty that could never be mistaken for youth. Though her face bears faint lines of age, her deep blue eyes gleam with wisdom and humor. When not attired in court finery, Mab dresses simply, as befits a woman of her age and character. She moves with grace and dignity and never appears out of place... ever.

Personal

The thought that Concordia could not outlive David Ardry saddens Mab. She has spent the last decades strving for excellence as a ruler and conducting her affairs so as to encourage the best qualities of all her subjects. Now she sees all she worked for crumbling under the weight of civil war and outright revolution. She must do something, once no one else seems of a mind to take decisive action. She would love to place Lenore on the throne, but fears that she might not be able to do the job. If only David had waited another few years before disappearing. Perhaps she should attempt to claim the throne and take charge for a few years, abdicating in favor of Lenore when she has developed more political acumen. Whatever she decides, however, she must act soon or all will be lost.

References

1. CTD. Nobles: The Shining Host, pp. 96-97.
2. CTD. War in Concordia: The Shattered Dream, p. 104.