Lera Nightingale

Lera Nightingale is a fellow patron at Olan's Inn. She's one of the first humans Phoenix encounters after his traumatic rebirth. Lera is a scholar and author that enjoys spending her time researching various topics and compiling her findings. On top of being a scholar Lera trys to assist phoenixes in need.

Personality:
Lera is a genuinely giving, accepting and warm person, who calms her inner fear of being unloved by helping others. She is personally involved with the person helped, looking for and finding an emotional connection, but tends to put aside what's best for herself, seeing wanting or needing as selfish. Self-love is conditional; Lera loves herself only when giving. This subtype is people-oriented, so she will focus her attention on a specific kind of person and for a reason. For instance, she may be a helper for an invalid or care about and help cancer patients because a close relative had cancer. There's more of a personal connection to what she is doing. She can also see the good in almost anyone (even when no one else can).

Flaws:
Lera's character flaw is based on the incorrect belief that personal fulfillment comes through giving to others. She tends to repress her own needs to do what she feels is the right thing: giving to others. During the story, she learns that the correct path to personal fulfillment, love and respect is through focusing on her own needs and learning to receive.

When she's under pressure, she can become angry and aggressive. When she's relaxed and secure, she gets in touch with her own needs and lets the world take care of her for a while.

Childhood:
Lera desperately wanted to connect to her protective father figure, but this figure was somehow inaccessible. She identified with the care-giving mother figure, seeing being a little nurturer as a way to fit in to the family structure and earn love from the protective figure. Putting aside self-love has always been the way for this type. She has always put the good of others above her own needs and, as such, may not have a lot of money or possessions and may have unfulfilled dreams. Lera feels good about what she has done, but wishes she could have achieved more personal growth and material accomplishments.

Education:
Having had a lot of education, Lera is more likely to focus her helping energy on societal problems. She’s likely to be involved in big projects. She also has diverse and esoteric tastes when it comes to causes she’s involved with.

Arc:
Helper/other characters generally don't change very much. But if there is a psychological change, Lera will move toward being more healthy, finding that she is worth something without being so giving of herself. She finds an unshakable self love that saves her from the trap she was in and, as a result, may finally open up to someone who is not so needy and willing to give to her The other option is for Lera to slip further into unhealthiness, becoming so desperate to be cared for that she becomes psychosomatically ill or injures herself, forcing the world to take care of her. This usually ends in giving up.

Dialogue examples:
Lera: “I know you don't remember anything of your past but do you know if you have a specific element alignment?” Phoenix: “A what?” Lera: “An element alignment. Most phoenixes I know of have an affinity to basic elements. You know like air, earth, fire, water, and so on. I’m just curious if you've felt an attraction to an element.”

Psychological Report:
Lera can be helpful and supportive in a relationship. Other characters are attracted to her giving nature, but eventually feel that there may be strings attached, something may be expected in return. She tends to be attracted to Type 4s (The Artist) for friends and generally avoids Type 8s (The Boss).