Jadelyn De Lauris

Jadelyn De Lauris was born Jade Laurel, the daughter of Nicole De Lauris and Varyn Welles. She was raised by her maternal grandparents, Deveia and Gerin De Lauris, whom she always knew as her parents. it was only on her eighteenth birthday that they revealed that she was not originally from the planet Earth and that she needed to return to her home planet in order to take her place in the De Lauris family. Shortly after high school graduation, she made the space journey to her home planet for the first time.

## Jade's Childhood

Jade had a happy childhood, raised by two people that loved her and instilled strong family values within her. They encouraged her to try everything so that she could find out what she loved and be the best at it. Her best skills were in dancing and the cheer squad, as well as debate club where she took the school team to state championships in consecutive years. She was the student body president her senior year and she won both Homecoming Queen and Prom Queen.

She was known to be an extroverted girl wise beyond her years. She loved feeling like she could help someone out, no matter what and that trait was one she carried through her teenage years. She didn't stand well for bullying and she was always a friend to someone in need. She was beloved by a majority of her classmates. She was also something of a party girl, attending plenty of teen parties and even a few college ones when she was checking out schools. She had a serious relationship her junior year of high school. She decided that once she went to college, she would study political science and business like her parents did.

This all changed on her eighteenth birthday. Her mother told her that she was, in reality, her maternal grandmother and that she, Jade, was not from the planet Earth. Despite not believing any of this, the proof her grandparents provided was enough to convince her otherwise. After her high school graduation where she finished second in a class of 304, she departed Earth for Avaala with her great aunts.

## Returning to Avaala

Jade arrived on a new planet after an extraordinary journey. Despite not knowing what to expect, she took things in stride, meeting her cousins Euryce De Lauris and Laurine De Lauris, both daughters of Nerina De Lauris. Aside from the questions about who her parents were, she was eager to see more of the zone that her family was from and to learn more about who she was. Assisted by her cousins, she was introduced during a large family gathering where hundreds of family members laid eyes on her for the first time. She was then shown to her familial table, which was empty and had been empty since Nicole De Lauris left the family. Despite sitting alone, she was joined by curious family members as well as men that had arrived for a bridal auction, part of the family gathering. Despite being eighteen, Jade learned that girls in her family married young and had many children, something she had never truly considered for herself.

After the dinner, she was shown into a suite by Nerina, who was keen to get Jade integrated into the zonal society, despite the younger girl not knowing a thing about it. She dispatched her personal valet to attend to Jade's needs, including showing her to the Grand Assembly and introducing her at the People's Assembly. Despite Nerina's desire for Nicole's daughter to humiliate herself, Jade managed to hold her head high and stood her ground.

She also made friends with her cousin Laurine as well as Matej Velloun where it was discovered that the De Lauris family and the Velloun family had been at war for hundreds of years. It was also discovered that no De Lauris and Velloun match had been recorded in modern history. Using the Vault of Antiquities, Jade discovered there had never been a De Lauris and Velloun match, despite many Velloun men (and some women) being offered up as marital choices to De Lauris offspring. Despite not wanting to get married at such a young age and pondering a career in the military, Jade and Matej began to secretly see one another. The culmination of their efforts was the Grand Ball where Jade was introduced to Avaala high society for the first time as the ball was held her in honor.

Utilizing the resources, including the valet, at the Vault of Antiquities, Jade also discovered her mother and found out she had a sister. She visited her sister in prison on the day of the Grand Ball, only to discover that her sister, Journey, had no knowledge of her and that she only wanted to get her life sentence over with. It was then that Jade decided to use what resources she had and dig into her mother's life a little more.

After the Ball, upon the threat of being forced into marriage, Jade made the ultimate decision to give that up and enter into military service. She did this knowing that she could lose Matej to another marital contract, but also knowing that they could see each other in secret.

## Military Service

Jade's military service began with a full year of training. She learned how to fight in the Space Force as well as trained with a variety of weapons and tactics, most she had never heard of. Her cousin, Leri De Lauris, was instrumental in helping her integrate into the new system. During this year, she didn't have a lot of personal leave, but was still able to see Matej and remain in contact with her grandmother, Deveia. Matej took the initiative to investigate Nicole and Hydra further and discovered Nicole had been killed in prison riots thirteen years earlier. Jade used her military contacts to look up actual footage of the riot and laid eyes on her mother's image for the first time in her life.

Before she could investigate further, their entire unit was sent across space to battle. It was there that Jade realized the price of her military service and she was forced to use tactics she was not comfortable with, including assassinating an entire diplomatic corps and then poisoning prison guards to help fellow Avaala prisoners of war escape.