Editing Ledaal Cordelia (section)

==Backstory==


Ledaal Catala Cordelia was blessed with a pleasant if somewhat atypical childhood.  She was the third child born to Dekana and Thoan, and was raised in the Threshold as part of the Ledaal Catala family.  Cordelia's immediate family was unusually close compared to many Dragon Blooded families.  She and her siblings have many memories of spending time with their parents, receiving praise and hugs for minor accomplishments, and even accompanying them on some of the trips they made throughout the threshold.  Due to the physical distance between them, during her childhood she was less close with her older siblings, Myria and Ari.  Nevertheless, there were occasional visits, appealing gifts, and the exchange of lengthy letters.  The relationship between Cordelia and her siblings has continued to grow stronger over time.  A younger brother, Norren, was born the year Cordelia began primary school.  Unfortunately he never exalted, and has since died of old age.

Rather than send Cordelia back to the Blessed Isle for primary school, her parents instead decided to have her study at The Seeds of Wisdom School located in near Great Forks.  The Seeds of Wisdom School was established by a member Ledaal Catala family and the family retains a great deal of influence there.  While The Seeds of Wisdom was a good school, it was not as rigorous as many of those on the Blessed Isle and most of the other students were either Dragon Blooded members of the Ledaal Catala family, God blooded, or mortals.  All of which ultimately meant, Cordelia and cousins were large birds in a fairly small aviary.  

Cordelia's memories of her Exaltation will always be tinged with sadness.  It occurred during a spring storm during her twelfth year.  She was called from class into the Headmistress's office, and solemnly informed of her father's death.  He had unfortunately encountered a trap that was beyond his abilities to disarm.  As the thunder roared outside, it was matched by the storm of anguish that roared inside Cordelia.  

After she completed her time at The Seeds of Wisdom, the Ledaal family decided that Cordelia would be best able to serve the family's interests by attending the Spiral Academy.  Her time at the Spiral Academy was challenging for Cordelia.  The Seeds of Wisdom hadn’t prepared her as well as it could have for the rigors of the Academy.  Cordelia’s warm personality allowed her to quickly overcome the lack of bonds formed by attending primary school in the realm and may have been aided by the fact that while she had not started out as friends with may of the students, she also had not started out as enemies with them either.  Ultimately, she graduated in the middle of her class, with positive comments made about her skills in poetry, calligraphy, and linguistics, but with a far less impressive showing in accounting, finance, and political science.

An advantageous marriage that would strengthen the ties between House Ledaal and House Ragara was arranged shortly after Cordelia graduated from the Spiral Academy.  It was believed that Cordelia's skills as a hostess and with languages would complement her significantly older husband's career in the Ministry and that their bloodlines and aspects were an auspicious match.  In most ways, it was a very good match.  It consolidated certain trade agreements between Ledaal and Ragara.  It led to the gifting of a rather nice air-aspected manse on the Blessed Isle to the couple.  Cordelia and Joran had twins after being married for only two years, both of whom eventually exalted.  Cordelia since has had two additional children, one who has exalted and the other who is still a bit young to exalt.  

However, the marriage was most assuredly not a love match, and more importantly, the personalities of the two partners did not blend well.  As soon as the twins started primary school, Cordelia left the Blessed Isle and spent the majority of her time traveling throughout the Threshold on personal and family business, returning home infrequently and never remaining long.  Joran didn't particularly mind, he was well occupied with his career and his lover.  Or at least he was until ten years ago, when he passed away in a convenient "accident," that most people believe was arranged due to events happening in the Ministry.  Cordelia, who had been in Great Forks, at that time, still isn't entirely certain of the details, though she thinks it might have had something to do with tribute from the West.  Although she'd not admit it, since the death has rather benefited her, she hasn't investigated it all that thoroughly.

One of the areas where Cordelia and Joran disagreed was on the proper amount of attention to be paid to their children.  Cordelia had every intention of raising them the same way she had been raised.  Joran was convinced that she was spoiling them.  It was an issue that led to more than a few heated words, and never was properly resolved.  The twin sisters, Dalia and Mara, both remain quite close to their mother and treasure the assortment of exotic trinkets that were given to them on their mother’s visits.  Her middle son, Kasif, on the other hand, took after his father, perhaps because Cordelia spent the least amount of time with him, traveling for the majority of his childhood.  They get along well enough but aren't close and probably never will be.  Cordelia is probably closest to her youngest son, Seren.  Unlike his siblings, he and his nursemaids and tutors accompanied Cordelia in her travels.  He is currently attending one of the better primary schools in the Realm and while perhaps a bit spoiled, he has been doing quite well. 

Cordelia has spent the majority of her life traveling through the Threshold.  Travels that have been aided by the knowledge of the spell, Conjuring the Azure Chariot, which her sister Myria helped her learn.  Much of this time was spent assisting family members in locating and translating old texts, or acting as translator, messenger, and assistant in various political and business transactions.  However, Cordelia true skill is her ability as an author.  Those who have read her books, both fiction and non-fiction say that she has an eye for detail, a vividness of language, and the ability to make her words come alive.    Her name is associated with quite a few non-fiction books written about the many cultures and lands that make up the threshold, several others written about history and focusing on parts of the first age (restricted, second category), and one fairly basic but quite useful text about ways to make your journeys more comfortable (with a chapter discussing occult methods such useful talismans).  She has also written a series of fictional "travel log" type stories set throughout the threshold that are quite popular and several works of historical fiction.

However her most significant accomplishment is one that very few people are aware of.  Cordelia is also the notorious Passionate Rose author of a series of extremely popular "page-turner" type novels full of lust, love, and adventure.  One would be tempted to disregard these stories as insignificant (except for adding to her coffers), however, when they are looked at a bit more closely, it becomes clear that they also act as an effective form of propaganda, speaking out against anathema, death cults, Raksha and other enemies of the Realm and promoting the Realm and Dragon Blooded.  Quite a few of the books also subtly promotes the acceptance of Dragon Blooded sorcerers.  One entire series of these novels describe the adventures of '''Sesus Sikandi''', who Cordelia traveled with for a time and who she considers a friend. 

A few years after her husband's death, Cordelia returned to their home in the Realm, where she has remained and begun to properly establish herself in society.  She has once again taken up the role of hostess and her salons have become quite popular.  While her personality isn’t as vivid as Sesus Sikandi’s, she is currently seen as exotic and interesting.  In addition, her friendly and gentle manner tends to make for comfortable and relaxing affairs.  Her most popular salons are those relating to exotic locations and it is well known that her personal cook is quite skilled at producing delicacies from all over creation and that she has obtained an assortment of interesting objects during her travels.  Also, unlike some hosts and hostesses, Cordelia does not exclude sorcerers from her salons and treats them just as she would any other Dragon Blooded.  Although, some have noticed that she shows slight distaste for demons and appears more comfortable with elemental entourages.

With the encouragement of '''V'neef Somat''', Cordelia has also chosen this time to expand her artistic repertoire.  While she hasn’t stopped writing and is in fact collaborating with Somat on a series of epic poems, she has decided it is time to expand her talents in the ink stained arts and explore other artistic arenas as well.  She has currently moved into sepia-colored landscapes, and her works can be described as those of a skilled amateur, showing creativity and talent but still lacking the technical merit of a true expert.  She has demonstrated a few musical pieces she learned during her travels during some of her salons, and it has been said she is quite gifted on the sexton, flute, and a few other more exotic instruments.  Finally, inspired during her visit to the Chiaroscuro, Cordelia has begun experimenting with glass sculpture and decorative objects.  Thus far, she hasn’t shown her glass works to anyone but '''Somat''' and probably won’t until she feels her skills have improved a bit further.