Nicole Dupré

Nicole Dupré is a primary character in the Weather Makers Universe. She is Princess Sophie’s lady in waiting and the heir to the Windmill Kingdom’s economically powerful Pasture Lands Duchy. However, her true passion is weather, and so she works closely with the Drop Kingdom engineers and Windmill Kingdom workers as well.

Identity Information
Gender:......Female

Race:..........Half-Doggle

Age:............18*

Hair Color:..Blond

Eye Color:..Blue

Height:........165cm

* As of five years after the Blessing of the Sun was restored.

Life History
Nicole is the only child of Georgette Dupré, the sister of the Duke of the Pasture Lands Duchy at the time. Nicole came relatively late in Georgette’s life after her previous two pregnancies ended in miscarriages. Having lost two children, Georgette raised Nicole strictly as a lady of Windmill Kingdom nobility. Despite only being a niece of a Duke, she was expected to represent her family.

Nicole’s position changed drastically when her uncle died under mysterious circumstances not long before the onset of the Crisis of the Sunny Kingdom. King Randa issued a decree allowing females to inherit noble positions, meaning Georgette became Duchess and Nicole was her sole heir. Georgette only became more strict with Nicole expected to become Duchess after her.

However, Nicole’s true passion was the weather. Growing up in the Windmill Kingdom, which produces the wind for the Wonder Planet, she was surrounded by people who worked on the duchy’s windmills. She would constantly ask them about their jobs and would sneak away watch the Ministry of Windmill Operations engineers maintain work on the motors of nearby windmills. One time, she tried to personally install a weather vane and anemometer on the roof of the family manor to the distress of the staff and disapproval of her mother.

During the Crisis, when the Blessing of the Sun weakening caused periodic malfunction of windmills across the kingdom, and afterward, when operations returned to normal but the weather patterns remained unstable, Nicole’s interest in weather only grew. As she approached the age when she could enlist in the Ministry, she was going to announce her intentions to her mother. However, before she could act, her mother told she was being sent to the Royal Province to become part of Queen Elena’s court. Nicole wanted to protest, but did not since such an opportunity was a boon for Windmill Kingdom ladies and expected of the daughter of such a powerful Duke/Duchess.

Nicole became a demoiselle d'honneur (maid of honor or simply maiden) in the royal court. She was at first dejected at being forced into a position meant for learning noble etiquette and husband hunting. She found her peers to be frivolous and had little interest in the gossip that passed through the court. She tried to spend time with workers of the Ministry working in the castle, but her duties took up much of her time.

She caught the attention of Princess Sophie who decided one of her royal duties was cheering up the newcomer and making her feel welcome. They developed a friendship. When Sophie turned sixteen, and had to select a maiden as her personal lady in waiting, she asked Nicole. Nicole happily accepted and accompanies Sophie at formal events and on trips abroad.

Personality
Nicole is considered aloof by many in court since her mind always seems to be on the weather. She often tries to strike up conversation about weather as a scientific study only to get confused expressions. She would often lament for a kingdom so involved in creating the planet’s weather, the nobility had a distressing lack of interest in it.

She is also naturally shy. She had few friends growing up as an only child and literally outranking everyone around her. Perhaps, along with no one sharing the same interests, the court was overwhelming to her. She finds it easy to be a wallflower and retreat into her own little world.

Aside from her interest in the atmospheric sciences (which is considered unbecoming of a lady), Nicole is the image of ladylike. Having spent years under the tutelage of her mother, she knows noble etiquette forwards and backwards. She tries to be as polite and gracious as possible.

Her time with Sophie has allowed her to open up a little, and her position as the Princess’s personal companion has made her close with the Royal Family and upper echelons of the Queen’s court. She has also become to meet the royal families. Some even consider her an addition to the princess crew since she is always with Sophie.

Relationships
Her time with Sophie has allowed her to open up a little, and her position as the Princess’s personal companion has made her close with the Royal Family and upper echelons of the Queen’s court. She has also become to meet the royal families. Some even consider her an addition to the princess crew since she is always with Sophie.

Nicole obviously has a close friendship with Sophie who made her feel at home in court. As she began traveling, she met Princess Milro of the Drop Kingdom and found a kindred spirit as the shy Princess has doubts of her ability to be queen like Nicole wonders about her future as a duchess.

Nicole looks up to Queen Elena as a mentor, often seeking her advice. Elena, having been the lady in waiting of a princess herself, is always willing to provide wisdom and the occasional shoulder to cry on. In a way, she is almost a second mother to Nicole.

As for her actual mother, Nicole’s relationship with Georgette has become more strained as she enters adulthood. Her mother has always kept her under her thumb, filling her life with lessons and discouraging her unladylike pursuits. Her father, Michael, was more willing to encourage her interest in science, but usually left raising their daughter to Georgette. Although there is tension, Nicole still pays attention to how her mother runs of the Pasture Lands Duchy knowing this is her future.

On the more romantic side, she met a young Drop Kingdom engineer named Lee Pryor. Although a commoner, she grew close to him as a fellow fan of weather and secretly envies his kingdom appreciates and encourages his study of atmospheric science. However, between their mutual shyness, and worries of her mother’s reaction, their relationship is slow to develop. There is chemistry there and would probably be on a faster track if not for this monumental hurtles.

Nicole has some friends within the castle. She had a short-lived relationship with Otto Jäger which did not go anywhere due to Otto’s rigidness and Nicole’s distaste for it. Although they broke it off and Otto has sought companionship more tolerant of a military life, the two remain friends and Nicole has helped him meet other ladies in court. She has a more casual friendship with Alex Ljungqvist and especially Bonnie Hofer who are always willing to chat. And as the Windmill Kingdom and Drop Kingdom work more closely, Nicole spends more time with Lee’s small circle of friends.

Trivia
Nicole is named for the 14th named storm of the 2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season and the first subtropical storm to be given a name from the season’s standard list and never develop fully tropical characteristics.