Elarys (Ee-lar-is)
A woman of the Lyranian race (Lyranians), but from a tribe with a reputation for being backward-thinking. She was trained as a weaver but enjoyed reading more. As a child, she constantly pestered her Elders with her questions and refused to accept life as it was because that was the way it had always been.
She has no last name because she was cast out and disowned by her family, and is therefore banned from having a last name. Sometime after her Rite of Adulthood, she went to her tribe’s Elders seeking guidance, she confessed she was in love with another Lyranian woman. Instead of guidance, the Elders had her whipped and cast out of the tribe, and that only because she came from a respected family. If she had been of a different family, she would have been killed outright.
She has made the best of her life since then by settling into the life of an Assistant Librarian-Scholar in the Emperor's court. She's afraid to let anyone get too close, and falling in love is definitely out of the question. She's certain she doesn't deserve love, the actions of her tribe have really sent that point home.
Elarys is intelligent, analytical, and organized but seems incapable of making emotional connections with people around her. (She isn’t really incapable, just afraid of letting anyone else get close enough to hurt her) Having access to books, scrolls, and maps in the Emperor’s library, she is very well-read. She has an exceptional memory and is curious, although afraid to ask questions. Annoyingly, she has a bad habit of reading into the things people say and misunderstanding body language.
When one of the Emperor’s visitors recognizes who she is and threatens to reveal her scandalous past to the Emperor, Elarys volunteers to go North to accompany a shipment of books intended for Count Aran.
Elarys will be Naledi's love interest.
As Elarys gets more comfortable in her relationship with Naledi, she always wonders why Naledi cares so deeply for her. Why is she so special? She is only emotionally demonstrative with Naledi, and eventually Peregrine, but to everyone else, she comes across as unemotional. She struggles at social events and tries her best to avoid them.
In time, she and Peregrine open up to each other and bond over their common backgrounds, eventually becoming good friends.
First, it's always a pleasure to read your lore. I like this character, probably because I see something of myself in her. I tend to overthink and over analyze what others say, and that makes for some awkward situations. Nicely done.