Profile

Name: Lydia
Class Troubador -> Sorceror
Weapons: Staves, Shortbows, Longbows
Mount: Persephone [Horse]
Country Hanalan
Age17 18
Birthday: September 23, 609
Zodiac Libra
Blood Type: B
Family: Father // Holdyn; Mother // Bernice; Brothers // Josiah, William; Sister // Amelie
Languages Known: Trade [A], Hanalan [D], High Dentorian [B]

History
Lydia is the younger daughter of a wealthy pair of Hanalan courtiers, and as such has lived her entire life in a forested lap of luxury, surrounded by beauty and talent, laughter and excess. As a child, she spent much of her time begging for stories -- fictional tales, faerie tales, tales told by her parents and even her elder siblings about the wonders of the Floran Court. She devoured each word, wide-eyed and eager, and awaited the day she could live like a heroine in the stories.

As she grew older and into adolescence, some of this childish idealism left her, to be replaced with a surprisingly practicality and fledgling insightfulness, which served her well when the time came to groom herself for her own appearance at court. Conditioned by the constant teasing tales from her elder siblings and her sister Amelie in particular, Lydia set about discovering and cultivating her own talents.

Already an accomplished rider by her early teens, she enlisted her siblings to teach her the bow, combining the two skills with the expectation that a competent horseback archer would be well admired among the other nobles. However, not so far into her training, Lydia discovered a far more intriguing talent latent within her, entirely by chance -- the staff. Thrilled at the prospect of bringing such a noble and well-respected skill with her, Lydia put her archery on hold and enlisted the aid of the best adepts her parents could afford to train her in staves. An increasingly practical minded girl, and always eager to please her peers, Lydia styled herself as a gracious benefactor, always present to mend superficial scrapes and bruises.

At eleven, she was caught by her elder sister Amelie -- an accomplished violinist, herself -- singing folksongs to herself in the garden. Much to her delight, Amelie decided she had a talent for it, and the sisters set about perfecting a performing act between the two of them. Lydia soon grew into an accomplished vocalist; it was yet another talent she could bring to court, yet another hope to impress her peers there, and she clung to it, practicing often.

Then, of course, at twelve, she was allowed at last to accompany her sister to Court. Overwhelmed by the whirlwind of color and sound she found herself in the midst of, Lydia started off shy, more reserved than she had ever been, though she delighted in every moment of the experience. Her life had become a living storybook, filled with minstrels and dancers and performers from every exotic corner of the creative spectrum. She had entered into a world of royalty and grandeur her own home could never have matched, for all its beauty.

As she entered her teens, some -- though not all -- of her shyness faded, and she became increasingly friendly with the men and women her age. She developed her talents into flirtatious tools; her earnest nature and friendly disposition won her many friends, and when Amelie finally convinced her to play a concert with her at court, she made the jump into full-blown popularity.

She spends her time now the same way that she has through all her teen years; stepping lightly through a life blessed with all the best Hanalan has to offer.


Personality
Lydia is a sweet, earnest girl whose greatest pleasure to hear others praise her. She is open with her positive feelings and very private with her negative, choosing often not to confide what few (and largely superficial) troubles she has. However, she loves to be confided in, and so makes an effort to be as trustworthy and empathatic as possible. She is not as shy as she once was, but she tends to encircle herself with comfortable familiarity, reaching outside of it only when forced or when her curiosity wins over her reservations. She adapts and familiarizes quickly, making this less crippling to her social life than it otherwise could be.

For a courtier, Lydia has a surprisingly practical mind; she is very good at weighing consequences and untangling proverbial knots. She is a bit of a diplomat among her friends, settling quarrels and soothing wounded pride and feelings. She can be very forthright -- almost direct to the point of impropriety, at times. She tends to break things down into their parts, and while this means she is good at solving things in pieces, she sometimes has trouble viewing the entire picture.

She can be somewhat vain and is very touchy about her own talents -- she is as adverse to criticism as she is open to praise, and tends to take corrections and criticisms very personally.

Appearance
Lydia is a slim woman of average height, with youthful features that make her seem younger than her years. She has rich, short-cut blonde hair and hazel-green eyes, and always dresses as sensibly -- and fashionably -- as possible.

Lydia's PB is Nanna from the Oosawa Seisen no Kiefu manga. She is played by elzie for himitsu_sensou.