Dragon Rider Aurelia Durrandon

Young Aurelia

Her Famous Sword: Ophelia

Aurelia was born on the 18th of Wintercourt. Queen Justinia was thrilled to have an heir. She loved her daughter very much. She was bright and talented. She often wrote poetry, played piano, violin, and harp, sang beautifully, and was a great painter. Aurelia was often daydreaming and wanting to visit other children at the local schools. Naturally, this wasn’t allowed and her mother provided other means of friends for her.
Justinia ordered there to be a noble choir that Aurelia could be in to use her talent and be more social. This somewhat worked but Aurelia didn’t make many strong friendships with the other choir kids. Demetri Stirely (High Elf), the son of the Royal Advisor Hendrid Stirely and who is obviously a close friend of the queen was in this choir. Demetri and Aurelia had known each other since they were born. Hendrid suggested that the two would be a good pair one day so they were paired together for many trips and events to bond. While Aurelia never disliked Demetri she never had any romantic feelings for him. He was absolutely infatuated with her. Demetri was a mathematical thinker, while very smart he was rigid and stuck in a mental box. The ideas Aurelia’s mind would go to and her creativity was incomprehensible for him and he loved it. Her music and voice charmed his heart at the earliest age that he began to understand what attraction was.
For Aurelia, her first ever love was Duke De Pernal Ambrose. He is always kind to her and he’s a war hero. There’s something polarizing about him to her. She’s aware that he most definitely sees her just as the Queen’s daughter but that didn’t stop her from daydreaming about romantic fantasies with him. She admired him so much that she started training with different weapons and hoped to impress him while her skills improved.
Despite all the good young princess stuff that she wears at face value Aurelia still wanted more. Around age 16 she started to sneak out and she got wrapped up in some of the riff-raff of the local teens. There were 4 including her in the squad: Niko, an energetic tabaxi guitar player (bard), Aiden, a half-elf whose talent was graffiti (better watch out Fransi), and Danielle/Danny, a human who is basically a rogue for the squad. Danny and Aurelia became very close very fast. For years the squad went about the night messing around and being normal teens. None of them knew that Aurelia was the princess and she went by Lia when she snuck out. Niko and Lia would often perform in taverns and he perfected his bardic skills and she became quite charismatic. Over the years Aurelia began to notice that she was getting feelings for Danny. They would often flirt to each other when Niko and Aiden weren’t around or listening.
One fall night while Aurelia and Danny were sitting on the roof of one of the taller buildings Aurelia slowly took Danny’s hand and scooted closer to her. The two girls locked eyes and then Danny kissed her. This made Aurelia’s heart soar. She’s always been a romantic at heart and she wanted it so bad that she let herself be led on. Danny refused to be “tied down” and had many different relations while still “seeing” Aurelia. Aurelia did anything and everything for Danny who did very little in return. All the while this goes on Demetri kept trying to court Aurelia who avoided all his advances no matter what it took (jumping out the window of the tallest tower was worth it).
Justinia also kept reminding Aurelia of her duty to the kingdom, to one day be queen. Aurelia was always saddened with this thought because all she wanted to do was sing and travel the world with Danny. She wanted a life of adventure. Aurelia would play the role of being a princess and be who she desired to be at night. Ignoring the inevitable was the only strategy she could morally handle. While she didn’t want to be the queen she also didn’t want to disappoint those she cared for and loved. Aurelia just figured by the time she would have to be the queen she’d have lived out her youth and desire for adventure. Then she could marry Danny and live happily together. But first she’d have to tell Danny everything.
On Aurelia’s 18th birthday choir concert, there was a beautiful golden greatsword presented to her as a gift. That night she went to put the sword in her prized possessions safe that held many other priceless things. As she opened the door she saw Danny about to grab a ruby necklace. Both utterly shocked to see the other, Aurelia quickly tried to explain but Danny wouldn’t listen and left without saying a word. The next night Aurelia found Danny in the squad's normal meeting place. Aurelia apologized for lying all this time and that she loves Danny and wants to run away with her. Danny said that love is an idea all made up in our heads and that Aurelia has been living in an imaginary world where she could be someone that she would never be. Aurelia’s heart was shattered.
For a while after Aurelia longed for Danny to change her mind and come back to her. Aurelia stopped sneaking out at nights, rarely played music or sang, mostly just studied and practiced combat skills. She really started to sit in on important meetings with her mother and was astonished with her way with words. She started to realize that her happiness needs to come from her and not another person who clearly didn’t care. Aurelia slowly began to make music again and even paint. One very lovely morning she decided to paint the sunrise from her favorite balcony in the castle. Duke De Pernal noticed her and watched her paint while they spoke. Most people, including him, had noticed her low mood so seeing her painting was a good sign. They talked and laughed for a while but when the conversation slowed Aurelia asked the Duke if he believed that love was only something we imagine. Surprised by this he said that it’s the most real emotion in life and anyone who can’t feel or believe in it isn’t truly living. Aurelia smiled at this and said a quiet thank you to the Duke.
The princess struggled with trying to find meaning in her life. Was she just going to be a part of the formula set out for her? Or was she trying to run away and pretend to be someone she couldn’t be like before? She felt like she was running out of time with each passing year. One Day Duke De Pernal introduced her to her personal knight/guard, Wyott. She was a bit hurt by this and confused because he knew how much she’d been training already. Quite frustrated she snuck out that night to blow off some steam at a bar. She got pretty tipsy that night and was doing some performing like she used to do with the squad which made her remember all those good times. As she walked back that night a woman running from some people slammed into her. It was from Danny! They locked eyes and without a word, Danny handed her a bag then took off running again. Aurelia quickly hid while they chasers ran after Danny. Once it seemed clear Aurelia opened the bag and inside was a scale-covered egg. Aurelia was fascinated by this egg and kept it closer to her at all times. She even took it with her on the trip to Sloshdat (she also brought her favorite greatsword) where she had to be escorted by Wyott. He seemed nice but she was still bothered by the idea of being seen as a person needing protection. She could handle herself she’d done it for years.