Maria Seraph

Known for her powerful abilities as a healer, Maria Seraph abandoned the family after the death of her husband and the desertion of her son Darius. The founding member of the Rephaim, she and her followers play a significant role in the ongoing undermining of Seraph power throughout the Old World.

Personality

Known in her youth for her vibrancy, kindness, and dedication to helping others, Maria was plunged into deep despair after the death of her husband Joshua Seraph. For nearly a decade she was intensely withdrawn and near-mute, isolating herself from others as much as possible. Those who knew her during this time period recall her as being on the edge of sanity, existing mostly in a fugue state of major dissociation; while she retained her abilities enough for the family to still call on her for healing their most dire cases, she seemed to have very little sense of self or the world around her. Even as she began the slow process of recovery in her later years, seeming to regain some control out of necessity to lead the Rephaim, Maria remained a changed woman. During this later part of her life she is a source of quiet authority, still obviously scarred by her grief but beginning to find small moments of happiness once again. She's known for her fairness, her thoughtful planning, and putting the safety of those under her command before all else.

Abilities

Maria's primary ability of note is her talent in the art of Healing; despite being Old World born, she has a surprising amount of power and finesse in the practice of her art and is one of those rare healers who can heal massive injuries unassisted without endangering their own life. Though she's not a Seraph by blood, her magic takes on the visual appearance of pale flames. Those who've felt the effects of her healing similarly describe it as a searing sensation, trading comfort for efficiency and rapid rebuilding of the damaged areas.

Backstory

Born in the city of Rome in the Old World, Maria's childhood and adolescence were spent with no knowledge of Genesis or the existence of magic. At the age of nineteen she was working as a waitress and saving money to attend nursing school, already having developed a passion for caring for others after growing up helping tend to her grandparents. Her life changed dramatically when she met and fell in love with Joshua Seraph, the young Huntlord of the Seraph family. The two had a whirlwind romance, and when Joshua eventually revealed the true nature of his family Maria was willing to make the difficult decision to leave her old life behind to join the Seraphs as Joshua's wife. They married soon after, and though Maria wasn't well-suited to the violent lifestyle of her new family she discovered her remarkable latent talent for healing. Joshua and Maria had a son several years into their marriage, who they named Darius in recognition of his white hair. Their years together were the happiest of Maria's life, and she committed herself fully to her role as mother to make sure that Darius had a loving family beyond the greater structure of the Seraphs as a whole. Everything changed when Darius was eight years old, however, when Joshua was killed at the hands of the Reaper Kenneth Hunter. Spiraling into all-consuming grief, Maria pulled away from everything and everyone and all but abandoned her son to be raised by his grandfather Ak'har. It took years for Maria to recover from the death of her husband, and by the time she was beginning to regain a sense of self irreparable damage had been done to her relationship with Darius; the two were all but strangers to one another, a fact that Maria deeply regretted but felt she had no way to repair. When the Reaper Artemis Hunter was captured by the Seraphs, Maria seized upon Hunter and Darius's friendship as an opportunity and healed the Reaper's wounds in exchange for his promise to help convince Darius to leave the family. Her gamble proved successful, and when Darius left the Seraphs behind for good Maria soon did the same. Though she hadn't intended to become the leader of anything, Maria was soon sought out by other Seraphs who'd chosen to break away from the family after her departure. Her status as the wife of Joshua, who'd been a respected and well-liked Huntlord, meant that they saw her as having a similar natural authority; while the Rephaim started out as nothing more than Maria's attempt to safeguard her fellow renegades it quickly became something more. As it currently stands the group's numbers are growing year by year, and under Maria's leadership they've begun to do significant damage to the Seraphs themselves.

Important Relationships

JOSHUA SERAPH
Maria's beloved husband, and the light of her life. Though she's slowly recovering from the pain of his death after years spent in near-madness, Maria still feels his loss acutely and spends a great deal of her time alone in quiet reminiscence of better times. She tries to lead the Rephaim in the same way that she believes Joshua intended the Seraphs to be; protecting humanity from an unseen threat, though in this case the unseen threat is the Seraphs themselves. DARIUS SERAPH
Maria's absence from her son's life during its hardest years is one of her greatest regrets, and she cares deeply for him despite the distance that's been formed between them. Thankfully, since their respective departures from the Seraphs they've begun the slow process of repairing their relationship. Though Maria knows that they'll never be as close as they might have been, the fact that they can make up for lost time when circumstances allow is an opportunity she's glad to have in her old age. In addition to mending their bond as mother and son, Maria appreciates having powerful allies to call on in the form of Darius and his ties to the Reaper. She and the Rephaim are more than willing to hold up their end of the alliance, helping keep tabs on Seraph activities in the Old World and passing along any significant movements to Darius to put in the right hands. J'ALLA SILVERLEAF
Though they don't have the opportunity to visit one another frequently, Maria adores her half-elven granddaughter and enjoys any chance to see her. The feeling is mutual, and J'alla loves spending time with her only surviving grandparent. The fact that Maria is on of the rare few unphased by J'alla's Seraph blood and resulting fire abilities is a source of great comfort for the young girl, and for her part Maria later helps J'alla explore the full range of her magic when she's old enough to begin consciously exploring it.