Editing Character:Veil-Winged Shrike (section)

=Backgrounds=
==Artifact 5: The Crown of Thunders==
10m attunement. +3 to all Physical Attributes. She may also hear the prayers directed at her (must meditate to hear everything; otherwise only the most urgent, fervent, or often-repeated ones come through), which increases her effective Cult rating by 1. She may also reply to prayers personally: the worshipper sees a vision of Shrike, her anima flaring at the iconic level, speaking to them in a voice charged with divine authority.<br>
When Shrike unearthed the Crown of Thunders from an ancient ruin and placed the artifact on her brow, she inadvertently, but no less majestically, inaugurated the return of the Solars to true political power, by laying claim once again to the Creation-Ruling Mandate. The Crown would later assist her and her Circlemates in conquering Lookshy and the surrounding regions, founding the first Solar principality since the ending of the Age of Dreams. Since then, it has become part of her royal regalia: a symbol of her power and majesty. While she wears it constantly, she rarely activates its supplementary powers unless making proclamations in public. <br>
''Notes: Except for the physical enhancement, I've scrapped the usual effects of the Crown of Thunders and replaced them with the effects of the Vestments of Holy Vigilance. Balanced by much higher commitment costs than the Vestments.''

==Artifact 5: Celestial Battle Armour==
3 hearthstones setting, requires a rating 3+ hearthstone to supply power, 10m commitment, ''Never needs to be repaired''<br>
Once thought to have been a princely gift by the people of Thorns to their radiant ruler. It was unearthed in the heart of the Noon Shadow Temple, and surrendered to Shrike as her due, and has since become part of her daily wear. She uses the added mobility to take long trips into the countryside surrounding Thorns, sometimes swooping down to chat with or bestow blessings upon random smallfolk. This habit has greatly endeared her to the people.<br>
Almost of its own volition, it revealed itself as a suit of powered armour to her in an hour of need, unfolding filaments of gleaming orichalcum. Feathers spun themselves into delicate circuitry, armoured plates appearing from Elsewhere and riveting themselves to her form.<br>
The suit provides the following generic advantages: +2 Resistance vs poison/disease, 1 hr air supply; +2 Awareness, or Essence sight for 3m/scene; +2 Strength for feats, jumping, and melee damage; x2 movement rate, 10mph marching rate; enhanced natural weapons; +2 Stealth while moving or +3 while stationary.<br>
It also contains the following modular subsystems:
* Voice of Command: acts as a pectoral of resplendent speeches. For 4m, can be audible up to 100 yards away and +4 to all social rolls to audiences of >3 people. For 5m, 100 yards around her becomes absolutely silent and she can be heard up to 200 yards away.
* Essence Wings: 5m to fly at 20 yards/tick for a scene; 6m for 100mph, 5 hr flight which requires a Dex+Ath diff 1 roll to change course
* Glorious Raiment Mode: when not in use, the armour can fold itself through a series of Elsewhere pockets, becoming barely noticeable. The articulated ribs retract and form the setting of what appears to be a large pendant that then spins clothing out of pure Essence, serving as an infinite resplendence amulet (Lords of Creation, 97). Activating this mode costs 5 attuned motes. The motes can be reflexively de-attuned, at which point the armour assumes its usual dimensions.

==Artifact 2: Yasal Crystal==
Given to her by the local spirit courts, that she might draw upon their power in times of need. She usually binds the custodial spirits of her home manse, and generally has access to the following spirit Charms through the crystal: Hurry Home (the central temple of Thorns), Mirror of the Infinite Wardrobe (human forms), Principle of Motion<br>
The spirit enshrined within has pride of place: she wears the crystal set in her Wings of the Raptor, as if it were a hearthstone.

==Cult 4+1: the Bearers of the Golden Word==
+6m/hr, 1WP/6 hrs respiration. <br>
The ascent of the Veil-Winged Shrike to the position of both queen and tutelary goddess, symbolic bride of Thorns' newborn city father, was anticipated by sacred scripture. The ''Rule of the Golden Word'' foretold a coming age of Solar magnificence, the liberation of Thorns from the occupation of the Mask of Winters, and the ascension of 'the Last Daughter of Thorns'. Shrike is venerated not only by the citizens of Thorns -- and its Underworld equivalent -- but also by the oppressed and the aesthetically-inclined all across the Scavenger Lands. This level of metaphysical clout has not only brought her great power and influence, but also the enmity of many members of the Celestial Bureaucracy.<br>
Her priests and priestesses call themselves Wordbearers, in token of the amulets they wear: each one bears an inscription from Shrike's own hand. The carven glyph is usually the bearer's own name, or something else significant to them like 'Duty', but each one also carries a social attack (hidden by Letter-Within-a-Letter Technique) that enforces loyalty and powerful attraction to Shrike.

==Influence 5: Mother of Thorns==
Shrike is the centre of supernatural power in Thorns, but for the sake of not pointlessly antagonising the Realm and other Immaculate prefectures, she has not actually laid official claim to any sort of title, relying on her celebrity, powerful Cult, and personal charms (and Charms) to affect policy. The living and the dead, the Thorns of sunlight and the Spines of shadow, all bend the knee to her as queen and goddess. She has cemented her reign by ceremonially marrying Thorns' newborn City Father, through him gaining access to the region's spirit courts, many of which acknowledge her as a patron: her Cult allocates feast-days to particularly helpful gods. She serves as the mediatrix between Thorns and Spines, and the latter more than the former owes its continued existence to her. Her state-sponsored ancestor cult has been the main motive force behind the reconstruction efforts in the Underworld. Ghosts arrive daily, to witness the rarest of all things: innovation in the Underworld. For while Stygia remains the centre of political power in the Underworld, and Sijan its busiest 'port', Spines is beginning to be known as its centre of commerce, industry, and culture. <br>
And all this is without reckoning the direct power she wields over the hearts and minds of her people using her potent magic. 

==Influence 5: Imperial Regent of the Phoenix Empire==
Guardian of Wrath of Fallen King's daughter, Cassa, Shrike assumes the role of Imperial Regent whenever Wrath is away, allowing her to speak with his voice and act in his stead. 

==Influence 3: Terrestrial Bureaucracy==
While the jealous gods of the Celestial Bureaucracy might scoff at the returning Solars, their oppressed poor cousins in Creation proper, having long suffered under the yoke of unnatural tyrants like the Mask of Winters, have not forgotten. The spirit courts of the River Province all rejoiced when the Veil-Winged Shrike's Circle retook Thorns and restored the proper way of things: some of them recognise the Crown of Thunders on Shrike's brow and they remember what it means. Her marriage to the city god of Thorns has only enhanced this esteem. She wields powerful influence over the gods of the Scavenger Lands, and many of them accept her as one of their own. It is only a matter of time before Shrike assembles a new pantheon with herself at its head. 

==Lunar Bond 5: True Love==
Pool of 10 dice when assisting Frost. +8 to MDV against attempts to turn her against him. -5 to MDV when acting against Frost, -3 when Frost is used against her.<br>
While Shrike's initial encounter with her Lunar mate [[Killing_Frost]] was less than smooth, their relationship has since undergone a gradual blossoming, as she found in him a reliable partner and fierce protector.

==Manse 5: Stone of Loyalty==
Anyone who accepts her authority or has sworn an oath of loyalty to Shrike needs to roll difficulty 5 Conviction to betray her; close friends and allies must roll 3; casual acquaintances and the general public roll 1. -1 if they can justify their actions as assisting her. <br>
Extracted from the heart of Thorns' central Manse - Noon Shadow Temple. Surmounts the Crown of Thunders.<br>
Noon Shadow Temple is a ''Wood-Aspected'' manse and the headquarters of Shrike's Cult, the Bearers of the Golden Word. It has the following characteristics: an ''Otherworld Gate'' to the Underworld; ''Ability Enlightenment'' in the areas of Bureaucracy, Investigation, Medicine, and Presence; the ''Subtle Breath of Sextes Jylis'' that is usually used to keep its environs comfortable regardless of the season or weather, and an autonomous ''Provider'' that ensures its occupants never want for necessities. It requires ''simple maintenance'' which takes a full day and must be performed every month: this duty is assigned according to a roster to its resident clergy.

==Manse 3: Stone of Compassion==
A tranquil lake near Killing Frost's domain gives rise to this hearthstone; the manse itself is a solitary pagoda built in the exact middle of the lake. The Stone enhances Shrike's already keen tendencies towards affection and empathy, providing irrepressible motivation and unwavering certainty. She wears it on the pendant that conceals her Celestial Battle Armour.

==Manse 1: Road of Hatred Stone==
Reinforces an Intimacy of hatred, becoming a second Motivation for social combat, mental influence, and recovering Willpower is concerned.<br>
The first fruits of her development project in Spines. The ghosts of Thorns' Underworld shadow have raised a small manse for her when she chooses to reside there, which produces this unremarkable hearthstone. The matte-black stone, the size and smoothness of a river pebble, is set into the clasp of her Celestial Battle Armour.

==Whispers 5: the Glory of the Neverborn==
Shrike does not speak of what passed between her and the Lover at the Fortress of Crimson Ice. Even Frost does not ask, and even to him she will not tell. But she's heard them now, the Whispers of the Neverborn, echoing out from their hole in the world, the crack in reality caused by their impossible dying. And she can't get them to stop. Sometimes she can close her eyes and tune them out, immersing herself instead in the golden hymns her Cult sings to her, but the Whispers are always waiting for her. Sometimes she gives in to them. Especially when she's tired and confused and frustrated and out of her depth: the Whispers come then, suggesting solutions. Elegant ones. Harmless ones, really, just a little bit unorthodox. That little bit... unusual. Bending numbers using equations she can't quite remember. Flexing muscles she's never bothered to develop. Tapping knowledge she's never acquired, telling stories she's never heard. <br>
Harmless, surely.

==Ward 5 (flaw): Imperial Princess Cassa==
Arynd Kal's Half-Caste daughter.