Elya Siena Blaiddyd

Growing up around many people, especially her five siblings, has made her very sociable, outgoing, and a great talker. Albeit, sometimes she forgets personal space. Elya tends to follow quite closely to her friends. She was never really alone at home because of the number of siblings she had, and there was never a moment of silence. Because of this, Elya finds being by herself especially hard. She most enjoys being around other strong and outgoing people like herself. Despite this, she likes being in the company of people in general and can make conversation with almost anybody.

While she was still at home, she spent her time helping out raising wyverns at the breeding houses that were renowned in the lands she lived. She also would often visit the villages and help out with their daily routines. This made her very down to earth and accepting of commoners, as well as outgoing and unafraid to approach strangers to strike up a conversation.

Elya’s outward appearance seems to be that of a ditzy uncomposed girl. However, she is a strong-minded individual who is striving to be a good leader for the Grand Duchy of Itha. As the only child of the family born with a crest, as well as due to her mother’s respected name, she feels a heavy burden that she wants to live up to. Her cousin, the only child of the king, is slated to be next in line to be King of Faerghus, but her status as the only other child in the family with a crest would make her next in line to rule after the reigning king and crown prince. However, ruling Faerghus itself has never crossed her mind. All Elya wants is to live up to her mother's renowned legacy as the Grand Duchess. She keeps a very optimistic approach to this like her mother taught her at a young age.

Elya is quite religiously devout. She was raised to praise the goddess, and that the goddess blessed her with a crest. Her parents believed she was a blessing from said deity sent to save the family. She doesn't understand people who don’t believe in the goddess because she was always surrounded by religion.

Elya is also quite skeptical of foreigners. Fighting off foreign attacks from the neighboring territory of Sreng was the norm for her. Because of this, not trusting foreigners is something that was ingrained at birth from the teachings and values of Faerghus. A foreigner attack taking the life of her beloved mother and three siblings dying in the tragedy of Duscur, further instilled a distrust towards foreigners.

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Strengths:

❖Faithful - Ever since birth, her parents taught her values of true bonds. Family meant everything to Elya back home. She also truly loves all her friends. In fact, she would consider them family and would do anything for them.

❖Optimistic- Elya tries to find the light in every situation. Facing enemy invasions constantly, she has become somewhat desensitized to battles(although she has never participated in a real one). She will be the first one to try to cheer up people in their time of need.

❖Level-headed- Even in the midst of battle, Elya can keep calm and make rational decisions. As part of her training back home she had to practice making decisions in mock battles. Despite never actually participating in a battle, having the mock experience will put her ahead of most who haven’t been in fights before.

Weaknesses:

❖Attached - Elya is very dependent on her friends. She doesn't like to leave their side because of what happened to her mother when she was away. People would say she doesn't know personal space, but inside she just wants to make sure they are alright.

❖Impatient- Elya always wants to take action at the first opportunity she gets. If her friends were in trouble, she would want to help them immediately, even if it meant having to do something the hard way.

❖Stubborn- Elya is determined and dedicated to any cause she finds just or right. That includes causes that seemingly have no hope. Even telling her how things are she will still believe in them because of her optimism. Her mindset is not easily changed unless something drastic happens.

Elya belongs to the house of Blaiddyd. Elya’s mother, Anabla Anton Blaiddyd, was one of two children born to the Blaiddyd family. She and her brother were both born with the minor crest of Blaiddyd, but since her brother was older, that made him the heir to the crown. However, she was given the title of Grand Duchess of Itha. Elya's mother is a very respected noblewoman in the surrounding area of house Blaiddyd. Her cheery and strong demeanor was like a warm fire in the frigid lands, one that inspired surrounding lands to stand up against the Sreng invaders, creating a good place to live for future generations. She married Luthais, a former high ranking soldier in the Knights of Seiros.

The frigid plains of Itha borders the Sreng territory. This leaves them open to foreign attacks. In addition to their defensive position, the cold barren terrain is the perfect environment for raising wyverns, and the area was known for breeding the strongest and fastest wyverns. Due to not being the direct ruling family, and also because of a shortage of crests in the family, the influence of the duchy has lowered greatly. That was, until, Elya was born. Her family praises her as a gift from the goddess and the one that will restore the former prestige of the duchy.

Elya has 5 siblings, Leitis, Lucien, Raoul, Charlot, and Solèneall. All of her siblings are older and bear no crests. Being the only child with a crest makes Elya the rightful heir to be duchess of Itha. It also puts her in the line for the Blaiddyd crown. Her becoming queen would mean both her uncle would have to die without first having a child, which she doubts will ever happen.

Childhood was very carefree for Elya. There was no sibling rivalry because of the strong values of family first instilled in them by their parents. She would go down to the Wyvern breeding houses and help out and would often get into schemes with her five siblings. Elya also enjoyed mundane tasks like gardening and cleaning despite having maids to do them for her. She would often visit the town and interact with the commoners. Getting to meet so many people like this increased Elya’s liking to making friends.

Elya’s father would train with her almost every day. Her father, being a former knight of Seiros, was very strict when it came to training. Elya would work very hard in her training because deep down she wanted to be able to protect her crestless siblings and aging parents. All her training combined with her crest of Blaiddyd left her with a very toned body and impressive upper body strength. Her weapons of choice are axes and lances, which she feels like she excels at using more than any other weapon. Elya would learn how to be a proper lady from her mother. This training included things like reading, fashion, and how to speak eloquently.

Her carefree life took a turn when Elya was 11. A very well timed and orchestrated foreign invasion from the Sreng took place. The same day, there was a hunting competition, causing many good soldiers and family members to be out of the duchy during the attack. Before Faerghus reinforcements could come, they had already done their damage, taking the life of Elya’s mother. Her father now acts as the Grand Duke of Itha until Elya becomes of age. Elya is determined to become a duchess as respected as her mother was.

The death of their mother left a hatred for outsiders with the family. When the Queen of Faerghus(Elya’s aunt-in-law) was assassinated by what seemed to be the people of ducur, all five of her siblings joined a war effort against the territory. Elya still being quite young at the time did not attend. Three of her siblings died during this massacre of the Duscur people. These series of events would be known as the Tragedy of Duscur. Elya’s distrust towards outsiders would further be developed.

Elya knew attending the Officer’s Academy will help her develop skills to be a good duchess. She wants to be a well respected ruler as her mother and all the people expect her to be, her death only putting more pressure on her. Even with her late mother's influence, she was not guaranteed entrance into the academy since they were not the ruling family, and unlike her mother, she had nothing under her name to prove her influence yet. Being of house Blaiddyd, they had no shortage of money, so the tuition was no problem. After some time, she got her acceptance notice and she was off for the monastery the next day.