Duchess Amelia Ortez

> *“The secret to happiness? You gotta find one on your own, hun. Knowledge and experience are useful tools to find one, but I say it all comes down to how you use it. Btw, you better get ready to cough up some gold. I got a flush and you only got a pair. Wanna go another round?” ~Amelia Ortez~*
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**Duchess Amelia Leola Ortez** is the fraternal twin sister of Duchess Aurelia Ortez and the adoptive daughter of Countess Cleo Ortez. She is the niece of Queen Rosabella Clemente and Lord Marshall Danny Ortez. Also known as Amelia Goldskull, she was the former leader of the Goldskull Pirate Armada until the armada was dismantled by the EITC in 1750. She is currently the Matriarch of the Noble House of Ortez. She endeavors in the research of the Caribbean, as well as "privateering" during her spare time.

## **Biography**

(The full length lore of Amelia Ortez can be found here, starting from **Raised by Pirates**)

### **Separated**

Amelia was the firstborn of the twins born to Ellaria del Monico and Guillermo Ortez on December 8th, 1731.

Few days after the two were born, a group of pirates ransacked their home, killing Ellaria and kidnapping their siblings. Hearing the news, Guillermo embarks on a voyage to rescue the twins. Months go by with no leads, and Guillermo would never know the whereabouts of the twins.

Local nuns rescued Amelia's twin sister, Aurelia, when the pirates tried to flee the town. A different pirate clan finds Amelia washed ashore after the pirates lose the newborn during a storm.

From then on, the two were separated, with a pendant that resembling half of the Ortez emblem becoming the only proof of their heritage.

### **Raised by Pirates**

Amelia was rescued by Richard Goldskull; a pirate and the captain of the Goldskull Pirates. Goldskull raised Amelia as if she was his very own daughter, along with the crew who treated her as their youngest sibling.

Being a former successful merchant, Goldskull had a plethora of knowledge, thus Amelia learned many practical skills from the captain; from reading, writing, and especially arithmetic. Amelia was also taught myriads of tricks Goldskull had up his sleeve when it came to cards, which was his favorite pastime. The crew on the other hand, taught her physical tasks, from wielding a sword to shooting a cannon.

By the time she reached the age of 8, Amelia was assigned to be the book-keeper of the ship, along with the crew’s entertainer, learning how to dance and play the fiddle from the captain. However, this was also the time where she had her first killing, when she shot a navy cadet for self defense when he invaded the captains quarters during a battle. This initially scarred Amelia, but she overcame the event overtime as she got more involved with battles encountered by the pirates.

### **A Loss of a Father**

As Amelia joined each battle, she continuously tried to improve her combat skills through experimenting with different ways to use her weapons. Her experiments and research would always fascinate Captain Goldskull, as he would usually be eager to help Amelia test out her new ideas. For Amelia, the Captain was like a father to her; a father who was excited to see his daughter grow.

However, her life with the captain would not last forever, as he gets killed by a navy officer in 1747, during a battle between the pirates and the British navy. After mourning the captain's death, Amelia takes over the role as the captain of the Goldskull pirates, as willed by the former captain before his death. From then on, she would always cherish the memories she had with the deceased captain.

### **The Eris of the Sea**

For the next few years, Amelia would focus on growing her fleet through commandeering slave ships from the EITC. She would infiltrate enemy ships by disguising herself and the crew as EITC sailors, and tranquilize the sailors on board the ship using anesthetic-dosed rum. One time, she was able to capture a whole armada of EITC slave ships using a single Man O'War, while convincing the slaves aboard to join her crew.

Along with expanding her crew, Amelia would also start populating a remote island in the Caribbean with her crew and former slaves, in an attempt to turn it into a trade port. Due to Amelia posing low taxes on the commodities sold, the port flourished rapidly and soon became a goldmine for smugglers and traders across the Caribbean.

### **Captured**

 While Amelia continued to expand her fleet, the EITC did not appreciate her actions, and soon launched an assassination fleet to capture Amelia and destroy her fleet. Lord Cutler Beckett himself, initiated the search for the pirate and her crew on 1750. Through many interrogations of merchants and smugglers, he managed to find the hidden port, along with the Goldskull pirate armada. Amelia and her crew fought vigorously to protect the port against the EITC for five days, using all the stolen ships they had at their disposal. However, they were soon outnumbered by the reinforcements brought by Lord Cuter Beckett, and their flagship became the only barricade that stood between the port and the EITC.

 As Amelia and her crew prepared for their final stand against the EITC, Lord Cutler Beckett proposed a deal to Amelia, in which consisted of the retreat of his fleet in exchange for Amelia to offer herself in as hostage. Understanding it to be her only option to save her crew and the people at the port, Amelia inevitably accepts the offer, and orders her men to bring their flagship by the EITC flagship.

 At the moment the shackles were placed on Amelia, Lord Cutler Beckett ordered his fleet to open fire at Amelia's ship and the island. Amelia screamed in anger and pain, as she watched her crew and the people at the port being slaughtered by cannons and muskets from the EITC vessels. With tears flowing from her eyes, Amelia lunged at Lord Cutler Beckett, with a dagger clenched firmly between her teeth. Though Amelia fails to kill the lord with the dagger, the wound he got from her would always be visible on his stomach.

 Few weeks later, Amelia was incarcerated at the Port Royal Prison, where she was tortured by the EITC soldiers while they waited for her to be taken to the Turkish Prison.

### **An Unexpected Reunion**

A month passed by from Amelia's capture, as she continuously got tortured every week. The EITC wanted to know the whereabouts of a hidden treasure presumably known by Amelia, and were eager to force her to spill it out. Amelia on the other hand, was slowly starting to lose her will, as her face got paler by the day. She would soon start daydreaming about memories of the past, while looking at the pendant she always wore on her neck. Goldskull once told her that the pendant was a symbol of her former parents, but to her it was just a totem that held all the wonderful memories she had with the crew.

One day, a girl of Amelia's age came to visit the prison, insisting the guards to take her to Amelia. When the girl approached Amelia's cell, she saw Amelia, smiling with a dead fish's eyes, observing the pendant dangling by her hands. The girl asked Amelia if she could see the necklace. As Amelia turned herself to face the girl, she thought she started seeing things, as there standing in front of her was a girl with a similar face to hers. The girl's face lit up with joy, as she strongly insisted Amelia to show her the pendant. Hesitantly, Amelia gave her the pendant, and the girl brought out her own pendant on her neck, and fiddled with the two. She then showed Amelia the two pendants, which formed an emblem. She then introduced herself as Aurelia Ortez and claimed that Amelia was her lost twin sister.

While Amelia was trying to grasp the situation, two armed EITC guards came in front of her cell and shoved Aurelia away as they opened the cell door. As Aurelia insisted the guards to hand Amelia over, the guards ignored her as they directed Amelia out of the cell. Amelia was soon shipped to the Turkish Prison.

### **The Escape**

Three days passed since Amelia arrived at the prison. She remained still leaning at the cell wall, where she observed the prisoners in the cage outside being feasted by the ravens. As Amelia mindlessly watched the ravens, she suddenly heard someone calling her name from the ceiling. At first, she thought it was her first mate, calling her from the heavens above, encouraging her to join them. However, as she looked closely at the ceiling, she noticed one of the bricks in the wall wobbling.

Soon after, the wobbling brick disappeared to the ceiling, as she saw an eye, looking straight at her. The voice called her name, uttered a few words which Amelia couldn't hear clearly, and dropped a key in Amelia's open hands. She grabbed the key as she heard the voice loud and clear, telling her to start unlocking the cell door.

With her limited strength, Amelia dragged herself to the lock of the cell, and unlocked the door. As she went out of the cell, she heard the warden screaming in pain, as she saw a finely dressed man walking towards her, straightening his sleeve cuffs. He lent his shoulder to Amelia and helped her stand up. The man informed Amelia that he was here to take her back to Spain, so she can re-join her long lost family.

While still confused by what this was all about, she follows the man and boards a large ship, where she was given a large bed to sleep on. On the bed, Amelia had the greatest sleep she had in a long time.

### **Returning as a Nobility**

When the ship reached Spain, Amelia was transported on a luxurious carriage to a large mansion. There, she saw Aurelia, who ran up to her and hugged her really tight when Amelia got off the carriage. Aurelia then grabbed Amelia's hand and escorted her into the mansion. Inside the mansion, Amelia was introduced to Danny Ortez and Queen Rosabella Clemente, who claimed to be the older siblings of Amelia's father. The Queen then informed Amelia of her origins, and how she was one of the members of the Ortez family.

At first, Amelia was skeptical about the whole story, thinking the people were making a mistake. However, the more she looked at her identically-faced sister, she felt the story had truth in it. Thus, when the Queen asks Amelia to come back to them as a member of the family, Amelia agrees. After all, despite her rest aboard the ship, she was still too weak to go out on her own, due to her body deteriorating from months of torture and malnutrition.

Despite Amelia's constant efforts, it was hard for her to live a life as a nobility. Constant preaching of customs and rules stressed Amelia out, as she frequently threw a fit with the etiquette instructor. But whenever she felt like giving up and running off on her own, she would see Aurelia, timidly, but enthusiastically performing the tasks Amelia was struggling with. This pushed Amelia to do her best, as she felt it was not fair for Aurelia if she left Aurelia on her own.

### **Life in the Kingdom**

A year has passed since Amelia returned to the Ortez family. During the time, Amelia was able to contribute to the Spanish Kingdom by sharing her knowledge of the seas, further helping the growth and prosperity of the kingdom and the individuals in it.

On the night of August 21st, 1751, Amelia heard a rumor about the passing of her twin sister, in which she swiftly went to the scene in order to investigate. Finding the corpse of her sister when she got there, Amelia felt a feeling she had not felt in a long time. Her feeling of loss grew as she continued to embrace her sister in her arms, with her tears running down onto Aurelia's face. For a long time, Amelia thought she had overcame losing people close to her, after witnessing the departing of countless of lives; first her father, then her crew. But in that moment, she realized she had been lying to herself so she can keep moving forward. Understanding this, Amelia gave in to her sorrows, as she continued to embrace her sister, mourning until the royal guards arrived to carry Aurelia away.

Currently, Amelia is in charge of the Ortez family, given the title of Duchess by Lord Marshall Danny Ortez.

## **Amelia's Research**

Notoriety/Skill leveling

New Legendary Weapons

 SVS

PVP