Erna Lula

> "I command in the name of King Gerald, and I will not fail."
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Lady Erna Lula is the matriarch of House Lula, and the sovereign of Clearwich, Arrowshield, and Fayville.

## History

Erna Lula was born under a blazing sun on the 15th of Erastus in the year of 973 during the hottest day that Egronia had seen in a decade. It is unknown whether it was fate or mere coincedence, but that burning heat rooted deep into Erna's heart and continues to burn brightly to this very day. From a young age, Lady Lula took naturally to equestranism and spent much of her early life in the stables, to the dismay of her mother and to the pride of her cavalier father. At the age of eight, with fire in her heart and the support of her father, Lord Marcus Lula, she began the long, difficult martial training required to become a cavalier in the King's armies. In duality, she learned the ways of the Egronian court. Lady Lula took to the lance as if she had been born for it, and despite how blatant the young woman was ,she quickly developed a gray eminence that marked her as a very skilled diplomat. Between her natural skill with the Cavalier's lance and her silver tongue, Heir-Apparent Lula silenced all doubts that one of her younger brothers needed to be called forth to lead the house. Iomedae was kind in his blessing, and gave them an heir worthy of jealousy.

On Lady Lula's 15th year she took the oath of the Order of the Lion, and swore her fealty to the King of Egronia. Between the strict upbringing she was given, and her fierce integrity in which she held her oaths to family and king, many found the young, charming woman to be a natural authoritarian. After a year of service in the King's military, she took leave to return home as the usual disputes between House Lula and House Bladewrath began to grow more and more aggressive. The House's would never outwardly war with one another, but in drastic times like this two houses might arrange forces for a skirmish. This is exactly what happened on Lady Lula's 16th year.

The skirmish was to be a light show of might, with House Lula's cavalry having a hefty advantage over House Bladewrath's force of foot soldiers. She rode alongside her aged father, who demanded to ride despite the warnings of many of his closest advisors, as well as most of his family. The skirmish went as each side expected, the cavalry attacked with dulled lances and the footmen retaliated with blunted blades. The aggression between the houses was true, but their disputes would never be enough to draw killing blows. Yet even dulled blades can take have deadly effects on the bodies of the worn, and with a well-placed, albeit accidentally so, blow the aging patriarch of House Lula was removed from his mount. Field medics from either side could not tell whether it was the blow or the fall that had killed him, but whatever the case, on Lady Lula's 16th year she became the matriarch of House Lula.

The former matriarch of House Lula, Erna's mother, became a recluse, even to her many children. With the death of her father, Erna's world had changed and she with it. Always protective of those she cared about, it became almost a weakness, comraded who fell in even mock battles would cause the Lady to slip in her combat prowess. Yet, she only grew more determined to serve in the memory of her father, Erna's fire burning only brighter and hotter in the shadow of the loss of her father. In the 11 years following his passing, she had became a well-known commander of the King's forces, leading Lulan cavalry to steal victory from the jaws of defeat in many encounters during the Third Orc War.

> "You shall follow me into battle and you shall not falter! Advance, together to victory!"
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*Lady Lula to a routed Egronian unit during one of the many battles against the Orcs of Londorwin.*

Lady Erna Lula's command was valuable during the war, from it's earliest beginnings to even a time after it's end. She led many of the parties that would find and rout any Orc parties that either had lost communication with their commander's, or were simply too barbaric or stupid to care about the call to retreat. House Lula's claim to fame, their famed heavy cavalry, had a bright streak under the command of Erna, their fame growing exponentially. Even after the war, with House Lula's proximity to the forests of Londorwin, she keeps her forces in top shape as to foil any Orc plans. Whether they're roving warbands, or the beginning of another war, whatever crosses into her realm will be met with swift hooves and piercing lances. Yet the Orcs are not the only enemies Lady Lula keeps her constant gaze on. Her father's death my have been an accident, but she would never forgive House Bladewrath for the insult they casted when taking her father from her. Her gaze rests on the Londorwin forests and House Bladewrath, and any perceived risk to the Kingdom of Egronia would be met with bloodshed, and her lances would not be dulled this time.

## Physical Description

Standing at 5'6 and 155 lbs, the lithe young woman boasts a great mane of bright red hair and deep emerald eyes. The Matriarch of House Lula wears nobles clothing befitting her station, the fine clothing a mix of gold and red, just the same as her banner. When not in her noble's garments, she is wearing well-worn and highly maintained field-plate, her helm carrying a deep red plume matching her hair. The easy life of being a noblewoman never sank it's teeth into her, she has always kept in fair shape, both mentally and physically, via constant visits to the courts and hours upon her mount, bearing the weight of armor that some men have diffuclty handling.

## Personality

Erna Lula, the unwed matriarch of House Lula, is a fiery and wrathful woman whose skill with diplomacy and charm is as deft as her skill in the use of intimidation. The only thing sharper than the young matriarch's tongue is the lance that she wields so naturally. Her fierceness hides a charming interior that is a warm echo of her hot fury, a charm that is reserved for the courts or for those who grow close to the heart of the young matriarch. Erna is a reserved woman, whether in the calm of her home, the poise of the courts or the heat of battle. To gain her ire is to earn an enemy that does not forgive grudges easily, but to gain her friendship is to gain a loyal ally that would cross the world to lay her lance into those who would dare call her allies to battle.