Social Rank: 3
Concept: Trailblazing Tomboy
Fealty: Thrax
Family: Thrax
Gender: female
Marital Status: married
Age: 19
Birthday: 6/19
Religion: Pantheon
Vocation: Soldier
Height: average height
Hair Color: golden brown
Eye Color: green
Skintone: fair

Titles: Knight of Thrax, Knight Grandmaster of the Order of East Light

Description: Light brown hair has been hacked short and tufts up by her ears and at the nap of her neck, hinting that her locks might have a bit of a curl to them when longer. In the summer months, her tresses become sun-kissed and a smattering of pale freckles appear across her nose. Despite her boyish haircut, she is unable to hide the femininity of her features: wide, clear green eyes fringed with dark lashes, soft lips and cheeks which still have the adorable roundness of youth. Her heart-shaped face is anchored by a determined little chin and, more often than not, there is a smudge of dirt somewhere upon her fair complexion. While her body is lightly curved, there is strength there too and one would be foolish to underestimate her just because of the pretty package she comes in.

Personality: Put a sword in Cora's hand and she is confident, comfortable, and joyful -- just one of the guys! She is doggedly determined: when she sets her sights on something, there is little that can stop her. Unwaveringly loyal once her trust has been earned, she is a steadfast and true friend. She's brave without being unnecessarily reckless, doesn't seek glory for glory's sake and would never leave a man behind. And despite her rejection of Thrax's views on proper female life, Cora is actually very Thraxian: a sailor and a warrior, somber in a face of battle, proud of her Thraxian heritage and abilities on the battlefield -- be them land or sea. Around the men of Thrax, she might take extra pains to prove her worth; she will never complain, never give up, never back down. Take the sword away though? Aaaaaawkward. She does enjoy the occasional party but she's definitely out of her element there. Cora certainly tries her best but those kind of occasions have her treading water just to keep her head above the surface in the deep end. She finds the politics of social maneuvering to be utterly confusing and cannot make small talk to save her life. Cora is perpetually overly honest in those scenarios, and has embarrassed herself in the courtly social scene more than once.

Background: The third of four daughters, Cora always felt out of place. A tomboy through and through, she did not quite fit in with either side if her family, no matter how much she loved them: she couldn't quite relate to her father's bookish Leary relatives and she most certainly did not conform to the feminine ideals expected of her from her Thrax family on her mother's side. Her parents wanted her to become a proper princess and pursue subjects that were deemed acceptable (diplomacy! law! academics!) but Cora wanted to learn how to fight. She didn't understand why her male cousins were allowed to train and she wasn't -- especially when she was often better than they were.

Like all the Thrax-Leary girls, she spent every summer in Leaholdt with her Leary relatives. While her sister, Caith, was given to reading and got along well with all their intellectual cousins, Cora spent her time hanging out with those who were more combat oriented. Increasingly, these summers spent with her more egalitarian relations would result in her returning to Maelstrom in the fall asking: why? Why couldn't she learn to fight? Why couldn't she be a soldier? Why couldn't she be a leader? Why? Why? WHY? The harder her Thrax family tried to shove her, a square peg, into a round hole, the more she resisted.

When Donella was named heir (before she married out, that is), she viewed that as a hopeful sign that times were changing. She idolizes Leona, how she saved the King and became the Lord Commander of the King's Own (although Cora wants to be able to achieve that kind of greatness within Thrax). She dreams of rising up through the ranks and becoming the Thrax Warlord someday. However, her mother (while she was still alive) and most of her sisters (ESPECIALLY Cassima) continually tried to push her down more traditional avenues. Caith was the more moderate exception; while she never quite full-on encouraged her aspirations, she would often fill her head with ideas by reading her stories of heroic female knights and adventurers. It was frustrating because Cora really loved -- and felt a connection to -- Thrax but never could find her place in it. Maybe she could marry out, chase her dreams in another house? But she did not want to be in another house. She is a Thrax. She wants to STAY Thrax. If only there was a way...

Well. Now Coraline is in Arx. How did she get here? That is an interesting story. See, she just couldn't stand being in a cage any longer and decided to take control of her own destiny. One of the benefits of being far removed from the line of succession is that no one pays too close attention to what you do. One night, she slipped her guards, lopped off her hair, stole some armor and a blade and snuck off to war. For the first time in her life, she felt comfortable. She felt like she fit in. She felt like the person she was meant to be: a warrior who was standing side by side with her fellow Thrax soldiers, fighting off the Gyre's forces. Did anyone realize at the time that the young male soldier was in fact one of their princesses? No, of course not.

When it was all over, she returned with the troops: bloody but unbowed. She decided that she was going to be the change she wanted to see and, with that in mind, she returned to the Thrax estate in Arx to face the music ... with her head held high.