Dori, her siblings and a solitary grandmother survived a plague which ripped through the Shire before they were tweens. Their grandmother brought them up, and is still a guiding presence in their lives. Ever since she was a little, she could sing in perfect tune, and started to teach herself how to play the lute. Gammie Bramblehop saw this, and made sure there were always a few coppers for the Music master who taught in the Shire every week. 

Dori has heightened intuition, and is able to read picture cards for herself, and others, with  a high degree of accuracy. She learned early on that she could earn some good coin by sitting in a tavern with her deck of cards, and sure enough, someone who needed some help, advice, and discretion, would sit down at her table and ask her to read for them. She's helped out many a Hobbit in distress with those cards, but some Shire folk are frightened of her because she can do it.  She's been called a witch more than once, and  is not above using that reputation to her advantage, especially if she sees someone bullying someone else. 

She prefers to be called Dori, instead of Dorilydian, because she is fascinated by Dwarves, and all things Dwarven, and Dori is also a Dwarven name. She has a deep and enduring respect for Dwarven folk, and admires their ingenuity,  craftsmanship, and magnificent buildings.

She likes Elves, and is impressed by their beauty, grace, and musical ability.  She is sad that they're leaving Middle Earth, and wants them to stay. She will often mistake a particularly beautiful Human for an Elf, but as far as most Humans go, they don't pass any remark, because too many of them are dismissive of Hobbits. So she's usually suspicious  of " Big Folk". In the Shire, they're mainly ruffians and brigands, but she likes the Rangers that she meets. 

Her self confidence is formidable, but she has a fear of failure. She like the ocean, but is terrified of drowning.  She can keep  secrets more securely than a locked iron box. Including her own. She has a tendency to do the wrong thing for the right reason. Her brother says she is "Morally Ambiguous."She disagrees, but doesn't rule out the possibility that it could be true.

She loves all things magical. Charms, runes,  picture cards, folk magic, wizardry, sorcery, she wants to know how it works, and how she can use it. She is a hopeless romantic, but avoids marriage at all costs. Anyone who would be accepted as her beau would have to be a adventurer. A person who loves her for who she is, not who they want her to be, and would go anywhere with, and for, her. He would fight by her side, drink to their victory, and bring her the best local baked goods he could find in any land they roamed. She would stay with a love like that until the end of time....as long as he didn't propose marriage!