Princess Mariele von Löwenherz

"When I traveled these worlds, I did not see the grand and noble Federation you still cling to. I did not see people moving past notions of borders and personal gain to work towards a greater goal. Instead, I saw only people lorded over by tyrants sitting upon thrones of gold and bone. One's dreams and humanity have no value in this Federation, only the wealth they can provide to their corporate masters to sate their endless appetite for gain. Senseless cruelty and poverty dominates all aspects of life, masked by lies and false promises of success. I, Mariele von Löwenherz, swear upon the Golden Flame within my soul to see this suffering undone! No longer shall people need to starve while working themselves to death for uncaring, parasitic ghouls! Together, with sword and flame, we shall rise as one and take back the liberty that was stolen from us before we were even born!"

Princess, rebel, and bearer of the Golden Flame, Mariele was born on the colony world Vöhrenbach as its princess and heiress. The Löwenherz family traces its lineage back to the homeworld, where it was once nobility in the mighty Hasan Empire. When the empire broke apart, the family joined the brothers that would come to rule Vernio and Mailee in their rebellion, after which they remained securely upper-class members of the new nations.   After the world united into a new federation, Juliane von Löwenherz saw opportunity and used her family's wealth and influence to head for the stars and colonize new worlds. Founding Vöhrenbach, the Löwenherz family ruled as fair monarchs, overseeing the world and defending it from enemies both within and without. Though this caused quite some chagrin with the major corporations of the federation, the family refused to allow them to do as they did on the homeworld and maintained heavy restrictions on what they could do.   Now, as a new age of rebellion is poised to come underway, the Löwenherz family once again finds themselves in the center of it. After touring other worlds in the star system as part of a diplomatic mission, Mariele saw the plight of her neighbors: their resources were exploited, workers treated as disposable fodder, and opportunities to flourish constantly stolen away. After returning home, she spoke about what she had seen with her family and, after much internal debate, Vöhrenbach's forces set out onto these other worlds as liberators.   When Federation forces arrived to put a stop to things and return the system to the status quo, the princess made an impassioned speech that exposed the corruption and cruelty that the once-noble Federation had become, causing many to defect and thus starting what would become the Lionheart Rebellion. After that display, Mariele found herself the leader of an ever-growing rebellion, as her words and deeds inspired many to her cause. This would not be a simple uprooting of corruption as she had first imagined, but a full revolt that would allow the Federation's people to start anew and do things correctly to ensure the happiness and liberty of all its peoples.