Elora Whiterose

Lady Elora Whiterose, member of the Artan Order of Dikaios is a human paladin of Dikaios and a minor noblewoman of Arta.

Early Life
Elora was born in Arlaria. She is the oldest and only child of Jaffrey Whiterose and Ilene Hopewell, the latter of whom died in childbirth. As the only child of a noble family, she was well taken care of by her protective father, a well-respected paladin of Dikaios, and was left in the hands of loyal servants and retainers when her father was called away on order business. She has never been sick a day in her life.

At the age of 12, Elora joined the Artan Order of Dikaios, law-keeping paladin order. As her family had had ties to the order for generations, Elora was given little choice in the matter, but she took well to her training. She proved to be skilled in combat, and the idea of healing and buffing allies appealed to her. However, as she got older, she started to have doubts about performing her duties as a paladin. She began to wonder whether it was right to always prioritize justice over mercy and whether harsh punishment was always the right response to crime.

Arrival in the Feywild
At the age of 18, Elora aided in the preparations for Arta Dochas's coronation procession, traveling through the cities of Arta with her order to check security before Dochas's arrival. After visiting the second city, during a short rest while traveling, Elora decided to take a walk on her own, feeling the need for a brief separation from her order, due to her doubts about her duties. She soon found a group of beautiful tidepools and she decided to investigate them. However, as she did so, she stumbled and fell through one of the tidepools, landing in the Feywild.

On the other side, Elora was greeted by Thalo, the guardian of the fey crossing. Thalo informed Elora that the crossing she had fallen through was not supposed to be open. They allowed Elora to stay with them and contacted the Seelie Court in return for an unspecified favor from Elora that has yet to be redeemed. A few days later, Kimber and Enderbite arrived to escort Elora to the Seelie Court. Kimber explained that the Seelie Queen would be able to help Elora return home but that it would take some time, as she was quite busy.

In the meantime, Elora was provided with comfortable lodging at the Seelie Court. It did not take long before Elora met the others staying in the same lodging, Surrak and, very shortly after, Carric (whose presence was required to explain the large bear). Happy to meet a fellow paladin, Elora began a friendship of sorts with Carric, and the two explored the Seelie Court together. This friendship was only tempered by the fact that, the more she got to know him, the more Elora began to feel intensely jealous of Carric. After all, he was the chosen of a god and had a holy purpose in being in the Feywild, whereas Elora had never felt a strong connection with her own god and was only in the Feywild because she was lost in every sense of the word.

Team Discourse
After about a week in the Seelie Court, the original members of Team Discourse arrived, staying in the same lodgings as Elora and Carric. As there were few other individuals from the Material Plane, Elora chose to spend time with the group, although at first, their interactions were rather tentative. In particular, Sparrow seemed unhappy that Elora was from Arta, and Elora questioned whether she should continue interacting with Koroviev (or even allow them to live) after finding out they were a murder, as she had always been taught that murderers should be punished severely. Nevertheless, Elora formed strong enough ties to the party that they explained some of what they had gone through and why they were in the Feywild. She went with the group when they received an audience with the Seelie Queen, a meeting that was unsuccessful due to Koroviev's poor attempts at diplomacy and, more importantly, the Unseelie Court's intrusion and helped the party question Queen Mab later that day. Overwhelmed from the day, that evening, Elora asked Vodrik to drink with her, something she had never been allowed to do previously as a young paladin in training. Elora got very drunk on fey liquor and confessed her doubts to Vodrik, who encouraged her to break up with her god and remains the only person who Elora has explicitly told about her doubts.

Two days later, the party attended a party with both fey queens. At this party, Titania approached Elora and asked her to be the leader of the mortal faction in an alliance that would soon be made, claiming that she trusted Elora above the others to make difficult choices. Elora was flattered and accepted, although she questioned why she was chosen and wondered whether her leadership position had less to do with her qualifications and more to do with her lack of ties to the Unseelie Court. Nevertheless, she led negotiations the next day as the party made an alliance to fight Lolth.

Arrival in Themne
After arriving in Themne, Elora traveled with the party to Cantisum, hoping to help tell people there about the situation in Trava. As a noblewoman, she was able to secure an audience with Prince Eton to discuss the situation, and she was able to move the meeting earlier by promising to share information about Arta. However, after learning that Cantisum was preparing for war with Arta, Elora realized that providing Cantisum's nobility with information could be dangerous and promptly canceled the meeting and left town.

Appearance
Elora is markedly average looking for a young human woman. She is of average height and weight, although she is notably muscular due to many years of combat training. She has long brown hair, which is frequently tied back. She is usually found wearing a well-crafted and well-polished set of chain mail, which is prominently emblazoned with her family's crest, the seal of Arta, and the symbol of Dikaios.

Personality
As the youngest member of the party, Elora is often very uncertain and often has trouble expressing her own beliefs. Deep down, she just wants to do the right thing, but since the principles she was raised with, the beliefs of her party members, and her own gut feelings are often in conflict, she often isn't sure what the right thing is. Nevertheless, there are certain values that Elora tries to prioritize. She values kindness, and she tries to express herself gently and kindly even when she disagrees with people. She also believes deeply in the principles of redemption and personal agency, both of which are somewhat at odds with the tenets of her order.

Despite her uncertainty, Elora actually can be poised and polished when need be. Although she tends to be quite awkward in her personal interactions, Elora was raised as a noblewoman and knows how to act like a person of importance. She can also be quite intimidating if need be, as she is very physically powerful and has been taught to interrogate suspects, although deep down, she doesn't particularly like either pulling rank or threatening people. Of course, most of the situations she's in with the party aren't quite what she's trained for, so she's just as likely to panic and cast Bless as she is to be charismatic and handle things well.

On her bad days, Elora has a tendency toward jealousy and pettiness. These tendencies are exacerbated by the fact that she is traveling with two gods' chosen ones. Elora's connection to her own god is somewhat tenuous, and until meeting Carric, Elora did not truly believe that anyone had a significant connection to the gods. Upon learning that Carric and Sparrow have very deep connections to a god, Elora became jealous to the point where, briefly, she could barely interact with either of them, as she wanted some semblance of that connection to her own god. Just as she feels she has failed as a paladin, she also feels that she has failed as leader, as she feels that she has no influence over the party. Therefore, when her party members ignore her or go behind her back, she tends to get snippy with them and stay annoyed at them.

In battle, Elora is a strong fighter, making heavy use of her shield, both offensively and defensively, along with a longsword. She tends to fight on the front lines, hoping to take hits for her fellow party members, but she also backs off to heal and buff her allies when needed, as her magical abilities are almost all defensive, and she especially prioritizes healing her party, since the last time she didn't, Zarria died.

Quotes

 * "You offer up your caveated sword." - Verticellata to Elora.