"'Cause this heart is a stone and this is a stone that we throw"

family

the anatole family is a branch of one of the twelve royal weaver families. according to family legend, for at least ten generations, the anatole family has only given birth to sons. some generations back, a male elder of the family had a dream, and claimed that dream foretold one day the anatole line would finally birth a daughter, and that daughter would be destined for greatness. the current head of the anatole family is marceau anatole, aurore's father. marceau works in the city of ivoryhelm, leaving the care and keeping of his precious daughter to family when he's out. aurore also has an older brother, manon, who is being groomed to be sent as potential emperor when the time comes. manon and aurore's mother, adrienne, died when manon was 14 and aurore was 9. the cause of her death is uncertain. after her mother's death, aurore's father became even more coddling and protective of her, and aurore spent much of her childhood combined to her room, located in the highest possible room in one of their family manor's tall towers.

current life

at 25, aurore has marginally more freedom than she did as a child, even convincing her father to let her leave home and attend university, as opposed to being homeschooled by various scholars as she was for her early education. guided by her devotion to the goddess yvonne and her family's vague prophecy, aurore has spent much of her life fascinated with theology and history, which is what she is studying in university. she also paints in her spare time. when she's not studying, attending class, or in her painting studio, aurore is wandering the streets, looking for bookshops where she might find interesting and/or old and/or rare books to add to her growing collection. she also has a penchant for expensive, sparkly, diaphonous clothing, which her royal standing allows her to indulge in freely. because of her extensive and thorough schooling, meant to prepare her for her mysterious destiny, aurore is eloquent, well read, and --academically-- very bright. since she was raised the way she was, and because her family was so protective, she has very little street smarts/common sense, and tends to trust easily and see the best in people, even if it might put her in danger. she is spoiled, loves attention, and used to getting what she wants, but for the most part has an earnest and sweet personality and a genuine affection for life and people around her that makes her difficult not to like for the average person. if she doesn't get her way, she's more likely to pout or cry than start screaming or throw a tantrum. if someone yells at her or scolds her harshly, she will all but shut down.

goals

aurore wants to find balance, more than anything. she loves her family and ancestors dearly, and she wants to fulfill her prophesized destiny, whatever it ends up being, but she also wants time and space to develop and grow as her own person, away from the coddling influence of her father, older brother, and other relatives. she wants to travel, see and paint beautiful sites, buy beautiful clothes in different countries and continents, read every old text she can get her hands on, and, most dangerously of all (according to marceau and manon, at least) she would really, really like to fall in love.