Martha Winsley

Martha Winsley is a vampire with a fascinating life story that put her through numerous ups and downs. Though her destiny originally seemed to take her into places she couldn't truly be herself, over the course of many years she's found some semblance of freedom and happiness. In the modern era, in a secure location, this stubborn, willful and intelligent vampire has managed to make a home for herself.

Despite Martha's attempts to stay under the radar, she is most prominently known for her role in the Mariposa Incident in 2014, where she was a key player in saving the magical underground based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since her involvement in that case, she has become a minor celebrity in the magical community, something she despises.

Human Life
Born in 1902 to a ridiculously wealthy family in Chicago, Illinois, Martha was the only daughter out of four children, as well as the youngest. As the heiress to the Winsley oven fortune, she had the upbringing of a wealthy young lady and excelled in learning skills such as piano, French, needlework, and penmanship. However, it quickly became evident that she faltered in social situations. Intense, blunt, and introverted, she had few of the personality traits that made her a desirable friend or potential spouse. Her secret, but not subtle, preference for women added to the issue.

Despite this, as she grew into a young woman, her family attempted to arrange a marriage for her. She attracted the attention of a French prince, Prince Hercule Balandier. Hercule was gay, unmarried, and running low on funds. He and wealthy heiress Martha found a lot in common, including a love of mysteries and lack of social skills. The two got along famously, and a marriage was planned, one purely of convenience and friendship rather than romantic love. It wasn't an ideal situation, but it was recognized by both that it was the best possible one. The wedding was planned for a year and a half after the official arrangement.

During this time, Martha was introduced to Colette Blakesly, who was said to have recently moved to Chicago from New York City. Colette was also an heiress, though a series of strange situations had left her alone in her family and more or less able to choose her own fate. She took an immediate interest in Martha and began pursuing the soon-to-be princess. At first, Martha was put off by Colette. Despite this, she saw several inconsistencies in Colette's story, and the detective in her was drawn to figure out the truth. Allowing Colette's advances in hopes of getting close to her, Martha soon found herself drawn into Colette's charms. As time went on and the wedding loomed closer, she even found herself confiding her fears and worries in Colette- everything from a horrible marriage, to worries of how people would take her, to her looming fear of death. She continued to attempt to solve the mystery Colette presented, but to no avail.

About a month before the wedding, the night before Hercule and Martha were to sail to France, Martha spent what she planned to be her last night in America with Colette. That night, Colette revealed her secret. She was a vampire, and she said she wanted to turn Martha so that Martha might be free from obligation and death. Martha agreed and let Colette turn her.

Vampire Life
When Martha awoke, Colette was gone, she was locked in a closet, and her ship had literally sailed. When finally she got the door open, the only trace of Colette was a newspaper at the foot of the door, claiming that the heiress to the Winsley oven fortune and future princess had died under mysterious circumstances

Her sharp detective skills and her issues with social cues warred for days before she realized that Colette wasn't coming back. She'd left Martha high and dry. Rather than get upset, Martha grew cold and even more blunt and antisocial than before. With nothing left... no family, money, romance, or home... she threw herself headfirst into tracking down Colette, intent on killing the woman who had stolen the closest thing she'd have to happiness away.

This task took decades, with clues few and far between. Within twenty-five years, she'd established what "Colette's" MO was, her travel patterns, and several possible motives. She began working against her vampiric territorial and proud nature and entering the territories of other vampires in order to track down the crafty Colette. Along the way, she often became entangled in smaller cases, her fame growing despite her wishes as she solved issue after issue.

The Mariposa Incident
While on the trail of Colette, Martha moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Colette's normal stop after New York City, where she had last been spotted.

Aliases
Before the reveal of magic, Martha went by a variety of aliases. She always used the same initials so that dedicated clients or people with Colette leads could find her, but changed the name she used. Though the official rule of her names were simply same initials, many of the names she went by sounded similar to her real name. Her extensive list of aliases include the following: Now that magic is revealed and Martha is somewhat settled, she prefers to go by her given name.
 * Mari Winterberg (her most famous alias, used for the duration of the Mariposa Incident)
 * Maria Winslow
 * Molly Wyndom
 * Marleigh Wisely
 * Margaret Williams
 * Marissa Winston

Powers, Traits, and Abilities
Martha has mostly the same basic power set as most modern vampires, including the bloodlust ability, the ability to shapeshift claws, and sleep recovery. Her blunt nature, however, often counteracts the charisma most vampires have. She also has managed to train herself out of the well-known vampire territorial nature due to frequently infringing on the territory of other vampires in order to track "Colette."

Trivia

 * Martha is autistic.
 * Martha is very loosely based on the historical figure of Winnaretta Singer, although it is a different UA character who is named for her.