Lydia Nightgold
Description
There is an exquisite doll-like quality to Lydia. She is tiny and graceful, with understated curves and a deliberate care to her movements, as if a strong wind could carry her off at any moment. With her intense red-orange ringlets, freckled complexion, and wide, expressive eyes, nothing quite lights up her face like those moments in which she finds herself at the center of attention. She has a voice as pretty as a songbird's and can easily captivate an audience. Often, her ivy green eyes sparkle with mischief. The corners of her rosebud lips can as easily curve up into a bewitching smile as they could turn downward into a heart-wrenching pout. Her expressions can play with people's emotions like a well-tuned fiddle.
Personality
The youngest of four siblings, Lydia is the baby and it's shaped much of her personality. She's cunning and entirely without scruples when it comes to getting her way, she will pout and sulk and giggle sweetly to achieve her aims. Never in the very best of health, Lydia's fragile disposition makes it easy to want to protect her, and though she's perfectly capable of holding her own, she is nevertheless adept at surrounding herself with champions that will further her causes, of which there are many. Fashion, gossip, who will marry whom - it's important for Lydia that she be in the know on all of these topics, even if she has to make up the details herself.
Background
Living in the mountains never bothered Lydia the way it rankled her older sister. Northern pride is important after all, and if it's not necessary to play up the barbarian stereotypes after so long, it's still quite charming to watch men wrestle bears and one another for the attentions and admiration of their ladies. Growing up in the rugged opulence of Stonedeep, Lydia had a marked appreciation for the beautiful things in life, and while she didn't care as much about the picturesque scenery of the mountain vistas, she was always quite the ardent fan of what came from the mountains - rose gold and champagne silver, wealth and elegance even in the icy north.
If the loss of her father and subsequent murder of her brother taught her anything though, it was that life is fleeting, and if she meant to make anything of it, she'd best start early. With her sister's blessing, Lydia left Stonedeep for Farhaven, where she could represent her family and duchy among those loyal to the Redrain. As a lady in waiting to the Great House, she served Princess Drea, blissfully arranging twigs in the hair of the Duchess herself, as well as skillfully avoiding bothering Princess Deva enough to draw her ire, while still making sure that her furs were cleaned and dresses kept in beautiful repair. So too did she serve Princess Valencia when she married into the family, taking pride in anticipating the needs of the foreign royal.
With the tragedy of King's Rest, she too traveled to Arx, curiosity drawing her almost as much as the opportunity to advance her family's name and prestige among the southern houses. All that glitters isn't gold, but sometimes it is Nightgold after all, and she means to glitter brightly, disproving the notions that the North cannot be as refined or beautiful as any southern land.
