Laura Pfieffer

Early Adventures

Laura Pfieffer was born in 1528 in Diamondheart to Bertram and Ismene Pfieffer. As a young woman in a well-to-do Een household, she was raised with the expectation of being a homemaker and bearing heirs to her husband, but her mother, an avid reader, also ensured that Laura was well-versed in history and literature and had a good head for numbers. Nevertheless, Laura lamented that she could not study alongside her brother, Marcus Pfieffer, who was sent to boarding school at the age of ten for a classical education.

The Thisaazhou love nothing more than to dance, which they do shuffling in a circle around a bonfire. Last night, they invited Marcus and I to join, and now they tell us we are their siblings.

— Laura Pfieffer

When Laura was nineteen, her parents arranged her marriage to Arman Del. Though her parents took into account Laura's academic interests, she dreaded the marriage, and told her brother as much when he came to visit. The two of them fled in the night, meeting with a Thisaazhou caravan, and spent a year traveling the Southern Continent together, both keeping journals  of their experiences. Fearing punishment upon her return, or worse, another suggestion of marriage, Laura settled amongst a cult in the city of Auras when the journey ended.

Though Laura did not make her journal public at the time, Marcus published and sold copies of his, collecting the money for another journey, and at the end of six months, invited his sister to the Major Continent. This second journey, during which Laura was kidnapped and spent several years traveling through Nideon searching for her brother, is the both the most famous and the most fantastic of the many travels the siblings took. Laura's journey from this time includes her travels through Linakra, her experiences with Ethite Cannibals, and her claims that she visited the Homeworld.

Marriage

I must be mad. I ran away from marriage only to return after nine years and marry the very same man I fled.

— Laura Pfieffer's journal

He must really love my sister. She's run off again, and he has neither tried to tie her down nor seek divorce.

— Marcus Pfieffer's journal

I suppose I always knew I could have part of her or none of her. If she is willing, I will take the part.

— letter from Arman Del to Bertram Pfieffer

CW: kidnapping

Species

human

Other Ethnicities/Cultures

• Thisaazhou

Life

1528 1589 61 years old

Birthplace

Diamondheart

Place of Death

Diamondheart

Parents

Bertram Pfieffer

Ismene Chandler

Pronouns

she/her

Sex

female

Gender

woman

Presentation

feminine/masculine

Eyes

brown

Hair

brown, curly

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

brown

Height

5'5"

Aligned Organization

Diamondheart

Shortly after returning home with Marcus in 1557, Laura was not surprised that her parents were still insisting on her marriage. She was surprised to discover Arman Del was still pursuing her hand. Driven by a sense of duty to her family, and also intriuged by the man who waited nine years for her, Laura finally married at age 28. Shortly thereafer, she and Arman had their first child, but within two years, she ventured out again, leaving both her husband and her baby behind.

For the next fifteen years, Laura's life followed this pattern, with every couple of years alternating between staying home with her family and traveling the world with her brother. She and Marcus both continued to keep journals of their travels, which they sold copies of upon their return home, usually to raise money for their next adventure. Laura's second child was born in 1564, but it was not until 1573 that she finally settled down permanantly. Though there is some speculation that she traveled with her family in her later years, this is not documented in her journals. There are some writings between herself and her husband, however, that indicate they grew closer in their later years, as they could match each other in intellectual discussion. These letters also indicate she loved her children, though she always struggled with her duties as a mother.

Lagacy

She may have died before me, but I in no way outlived her

— Arnan Del, Eulogy for Laura Pieffer

It is likely that Laura and Marcus ended their travels due to the death of their mother, after which Marcus could no longer put off taking on his father's business, which had already been suffering. He married a widow and adopted her two sons, naming them his heirs. Marcus also doted on Laura's children, and she developed a strong friendship with his wife. The two siblings remained close until Marcus's death in 1582.

Though she refused to arrange marriages for her children, Laura was determined to provide for them in some way, as well as Marcus's sons, who had inherited a struggling business. In 1587, she had her own journals, including her previously unpublished one, and her brother's journals compiled and sold as single volumes. She died two years later, with her husband following shortly thereafter.

I don't believe either Marcus or I were cut out for family, but perhaps we can still do right by them.

— Laura Pfieffer

At the time of publication, the journals were the most complete documents that could be found on certain subjects, including Linakra and the Thisaazhou. They have since been translated into many languages, and though the journals are clearly full of hyperbole and bias, they are still studied today, as they offer some insight into the world at the time. They are also frequently read for their adventures, and the Pfieffer journals remain the most widely published books in Nideon, aside from The Death Witch.

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