At 109 years old, Madara Gailīta has defied Father Time when we meet her in Haunted. Indeed, her age has become one of her most recognizable attributes to Ashlanders: being the last living member of the original White Stripes movement, and therefore the only living link between Ashland’s civil war and the present. Once a common sight at national functions and ceremonies, Madara retired from public life nearly three decades prior, to live out her days in peace and tranquility. 

While more open than most about her experience, there remain certain events that Madara cannot bring herself to speak about in the present day. They bring back memories she’s worked hard to forget; never mind the complicated truths about the White Stripes, which were deliberately buried by the young republic in the decades after the conflict. Having lived through the Imperial regime herself, Madara harbors stories and secrets of what life really looked like for everyday people before the war. Stories and secrets which could very well undo all the whitewashing of Ashland’s famed resistance group, if only the nation were willing to listen…

In the grand scheme of things, Madara is relatively new to the scene. However, her current-day character might be a subconscious cross between two lost characters from the defunct Auseklis story-world. They are: Markuss (2015 – 2018), a teenaged resistance fighter known for his dark humor and Cheshire Cat’s grin; and Dzena (2016 – 2019), a young woman who at different points was the girlfriend or wife to Sviats. (In an unrelated note, Markuss’ outfit was transferred to Caleb in 2018).

Upon being introduced to the Haunted world in 2022, Madara almost immediately filled the shoes of Ashland’s last surviving war veteran. Since then, Madara has taken me down the path of reading oral histories, and the discrepancies between the everyday experience of people and how that experience is remembered by subsequent generations. The historical trend of prioritizing the histories of men over those of women also figure into her character–her existence and her story only becoming “relevant”, if you will, after the last of Ashland’s male veterans have passed away.

Currently, Madara is the only character I have whom we meet at two separate times in her life. She is also the only character to straddle two (narratively) separate story-worlds. As such, she has two appearances: one for her younger self, during the days of the White Stripes rebellion; and one for her present-day self, 87 years later.

Madara does not have a doll at this time.

Songs whose lyrics and/or melody call to mind scenes involving Madara; character development and beliefs; or general moods and themes from over the years.