Editing Character: nuShrike (section)

==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.