Nuru

Nuru - a Swahili name meaning 'born at night'.


Nuru is Durin III's firstborn child and has been spoiled by her father from the moment she was born. Her mother, an older lioness named Dark, warned Durin that his doting would come back to bite him one day. While he acknowledged it was good advice he just could't help himself. This led to Nuru being quite the spoiled brat in her cubhood, much to the disappointment of her mother and the annoyance of her elders. She would whine and beg and plead for the things she wanted and no matter what it was Durin would bend to her whims. When Durin marries Samar his new wife finally gets it through his skull that the way he treats his daughter isn't beneficial to the future of the pride or to Nuru herself. After that Durin manages to get his act together. With the help of Dark and Samar he learns to discipline the girl and how to stay strong in the face of her screaming and crocodile tears. Eventually Nuru learns that making demands gets her nowhere and starts to try a more diplomatic approach. Instead she asks politely for the things she wants, makes sure to say 'please' and 'thank you' when she gets them. Overall she finds this method is much more successful than her previous one and not only works on her father, but her mother and the rest of the pride as well!

As an adult Nuru has calmed down substantially. She's known to be a reasonable lioness and generally liked by her people. She wasn't the perfect princess; she still has trouble making requests instead of demands and has a stubborn streak a mile wide. Even at her age she's working on it and really that's all any of them can ask for. Nuru has much more of a backbone than her father and took to hunting - and fighting - like a natural. She spent a lot of time as an adolescent with Durin's second in command, Gallus, and often accompanied him on patrols as a young lioness. Now that her father has finally retired Nuru is hailed as High Queen of the Eternal Pride. While she and her siblings share the throne it is Nuru that often has the final say in things.