Istya Alassea (Lila Bulge), of Hobbiton
As the sole daughter to Perewin and Rosie Bulge, her parents met long before they were tweens. They were close friends during their school days, and by the time they were of age, they married privately on the grounds of Perewin’s father’s farm with much celebration.
Yet they did not know that there were dark days ahead. Suddenly Mungo Bulge, Perewin’s father, was overcome by his love of traveling -- the Took and Baggins blood was in him! -- and he abandoned his thriving farm work until all his farms became weeds and his son, Perewin, was left penniless. He had no inheritance. But when Perewin and Rosie moved to the outer farthings of the Shire in order to maintain a sustenable income, Rosie grew steadily ill. None of the doctors could diagnose her, and for better or worse, they also discovered that she was pregnant with her first child. When it came time for the baby to give birth, Lila Bulge came into the world but Rosie died minutes later.
Lila’s father, Perewin, was heartbroken, and this pain stirred him to escape all that he had ever known. He knew he had to follow in the footsteps of his father to wander Middle Earth, and so he traveled to the forests of Lothlorien in search of help. He had one elven friend in particular there, and so he met with his dear acquaintance, Lenwe. She was alone and single, but willing to help him, and so she adopted Lila when she was barely a few months old.
As Lila grew up in the forests of Lothlorien, however, Lenwe noticed that she was not exactly the ordinary Hobbit. Lila was always inquisitive, easily excited at learning new things, and very creative and musical. When Lila was merely 6, Lenwe renamed her with a Quenya name that suited her foster daughter: Istya Alassea ("Joyful Knowledge"). Lenwe then made sure to raise Istya with a number of artistic and practical activities for her -- such as singing, writing, charades, piano playing, and the reading of ancient lore.
Istya took to reading like no other activity. At every new thing she learned, she would run to her foster mother and her friends to say, "I learned more about Alqualonde today! It was Feanor who burned the swan boats of the Teleri -- " But her love for music and theatre deepened just as much. In fact, Lenwe soon left Istya to enjoy Lothlorien on her own and Istya would hide behind the stage at concert rehearsals for Ann-Thennath or play rehearsals just to enjoy them.
But soon Istya reached her tweens, and by then she was well aware of the rest of Middle Earth around her. She also wondered about her true parents back in the Shire. So one day she gathered up her courage and she approached her foster mother. She wanted to go explore the lands she had learned so much about. Lenwe pretty much knew this was inevitable and so she let her go, and Istya traveled throughout Middle Earth for a time. At first, she just enjoyed the nature of Imladris, and she even met a Rivvy elf that she fell in love with. But when he married an elleth of high honor, she left and traveled from the outskirts of Minas Tirith to the footlands of the Riddermark. But as time went on, she finally knew she could no longer avoid it. She finally came to the Shire, and this was where she lived to the rest of her days.
But when she came, she heard the news. Her father had died while crossing to the Grey Havens. She was an orphan, for sure. She almost left the Shire again -- that is, until she met Rhianon Redmane and Bryony Took, two fellow writers such as herself. And due to their friendship and love and Istya’s explorations of the Shire, she soon fell in love with where she was from and she soon grew in the knowledge of her homeland and of the many and friendly Hobbits there. While she would take off every once in awhile to visit other realms, she always found herself back in the Shire.
Eventually, she joined organizations such as the Shire Players’ Theatrical Organization, the Shire Fire Orchestra, and the Strawberrystar Brewery. However, as expected, not everyone understood her --her neighbors didn’t quite understand her strong dislike for ales and pipeweed! -- and so when she reached her late tweens she traveled between the Shire and Lothlorien in hopes to find her foster mother again. The attempts failed but in the meantime she grew closer in friendship to one of her Shire Players’ co-workers: to Ecaps, the conductor of Ann-Thennath and well-respected elf of Lothlorien.
These days, Istya is leader of the Shire Party Planners Organization and of the Strawberrystar Brewery, scriptwriter and actress with the Shire Players, part of the Shire Poets’ Society, owner of the Middle Earth Social Center, gem cutting head for the Lothlorien Jewelry Association, deputy clan leader for the Burx Uzbans of Khazad-Dum, and journalist for Imladris’s Last Homely Herald and assistant editor for the local Tuckborough Tribune. But most of all, Ecaps and Istya are now engaged to be married ... and that has proven to be the happiest thing of all.
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