House Lyranai

House Lyranai is one of the great elven houses of Thel'Darion. House Lyranai is a house of primarily Astral Elves and the unique Aberrant Elves who are only found on the peak of The Great Tenzin. The capital of Yeor Lyranai is nestled at the foot of The Great Tenzin, the largest peak on Trea. Everyone in the lands under Lyranai control, and countless beyond their borders ultimately strive to summit the mountain that can be seen for hundreds of miles around.

Years of attempts to climb the Great Tenzin have left the denizens who live at the foot of The Great Tenzin greatly changed. The peak that reaches into the stars, has imbued those who have climbed high with great benefits, instilling the power of the cosmos within them. To anyone who has climbed beyond the clouds, the influence of the stars has transformed them into beings that mimicked the constellations. Their eyes became dark as the night sky and their pupils burned like a supernova. They usually lived much longer than regular elves and depending on how far they climbed they can reach upwards of 700 years.

Saensatra or The Great Climb is an event which occurs once per year on the 10th of Nimtar whereby every elven denizen in Yeor Lyranai is called to climb The Great Tenzin. Nobody is expected to actually summit the impossibly high mountain, but instead, they are challenged to see how far they can go. A typical person of reasonably fit physical capabilities is expected to summit the Peak of the Griffin, standing about one-tenth the actually height of the mountain (8000 feet). Beyond this, typically the fittest people who undertake the journey, typically reach the Peak of the Dragon, standing about (20,000 feet). Anything beyond this is a feat of amazing strength and those who reach this height usually receive impressive magical gifts from getting nearer the peak if they survive the descent that is. And anything beyond the even larger Peak of the Moons standing over 30,000 feet or one-third the total height is a mystery as those who surpass this height rarely return. However, those who have returned from the Peak of the Moons have achieved greatly increased lifespans and the ability to astrally project their spirit.

The struggle is unrelenting and not everyone is fit to overcome the Great Tenzin and its treacherous peaks. While some return after an attempt touched by the stars, some return touched by other beings who roam the cosmos. High above the clouds, the spirit is freed from the restraints of the planet and its soul is opened to the cosmos. Although this allows the radiant light of the heavens and the stars to enter their mortal forms, sometimes aberrant monstrosities from the cosmos find their way into the body. During Saensatra, those who fail the climb and give into weakness become vulnerable to the extraplanar beings who seek to corrupt those who grasp at the cosmos. These elves who collapse from exhaustion, seek shortcuts or desecrate The Great Tenzin become corrupted, their flesh sprouting horrible aberrant writhing limbs, snapping mouths, and oily eyeballs driving them to madness. These creatures are known as Aberrant Elves, or Ra'shayti and roam the peaks of The Great Tenzin and occasionally descend to wreak havoc on the Astral Elves down below.

To summit the peak is a task requiring legendary fortitude and resilience the likes of which Trea has very rarely ever seen. It is not simply enough to physically summit the Great Tenzin, but on the way lie great challenges that test every aspect of one's character. Overcoming all the challenges which the Great Tenzin provides is a deed worth divinity. To summit the Tenzin is to transcend mortality and flesh. After summiting The Great Tenzin the light of stars beam down and grant the conquerer divine powers akin to gods. No longer does one need flesh and blood, but from then on their form is made from the very essence of the stars. Once someone conquerers The Great Tenzin their old mortal form becomes immortalized in the stars as an individual constellation.

## House History

House Lyranai reached its position of power as one of the great elven houses when their ancestral founder Quann Anzan Lyranai summited the Tenzin in the year 312 5th Epoch. His constellation is referred to as The Leper, as Anzan began his journey to conquer the Tenzin after being exiled from his town due to his revolting sickness. Despite this Anzan summited the Tenzin, the first to do so since the 4th epoch. His immortal form of The Leper is prayed to by the sick and is a lesser deity who serves Nimtar, the Child of Health. Since then the descendant of House Lyranai have been blessed by Anzan's Astral heritage and have maintained the power of their familial capital of Yeor Lyranai beneath The Great Tenzin. The current head of the House, Caenn Cayha Lyranai is herself an outstanding climber who has reached the Peak of the Dragon several times.