Loraphyra Estraloreth

Loraphyra Estraloreth

Loraphyra Estraloreth was the Queen of Suor Crithrûn in the time of the Divine Empire. She is well-known for her rivalry with Myrsael Stonebuster, fighting many personal duels with her in the mountains of the Treading Peaks.

### Youth

Loraphyra Estraloreth was born in 442 EC, in the palace of the Royal House Estraloreth. Her mother, Dacyne Estraloreth, was one of the leading members of the Sun Council in this time. Her father, Ianmaer Yeyvaeant, was of low noble birth, but extremely wealthy. The marriage of her parents had given her family control over several council members, resulting in a near majority. Loraphyra possessed her mother's tireless, ruthless and persistent nature from a young age, but inherited her father's beauty. Undoubtedly coached by her mother, she started building relations with all the Royal Families in Suor Crithrûn. She proved a charmer, gathering many young elves of different houses around her. Despite her being known for her ambition, her marriage seemed to be for love. The second son of the Royal House Xilesh was Daeric Xilesh, who was the only elf who could defeat her on the training grounds. The bards love to sing about their romance to varying levels of quality, Rivalentine, Daeric's Confession, and My Beloved Eclipse are some of the most well-known works based on the love between Loraphyra and Daeric. Infuriated by being defeated on the training grounds, Loraphyra sought to dominate Daeric in all other aspects. She chased him down in athletics, brought him to tears with her poems and stunned him with her tactical insight. This time spent together made the two fall in love, although it is debated which one realized their feelings first. Loraphyra and Daeric married on the day of the Summer Solstice in 343, the year Daeric turned 100. While the young Daeric seemed to be below her standing, the match gave her the favour of the patriarch of the Xilesh family. The two Royal Houses worked together closely from that point onwards.

### Rise and Sacrifice

In 287 EC, Loraphyra was leading a military campaign in the Treading Peaks, attempting to stop the dwarfs of Malthzanamondr from taking one of the mountains that the elves considered holy. While defending an aggressive attack, Loraphyra got injured. She had to fall back, handing over the command the Daeric. Daeric broke the lines of the dwarves, chasing them back off the mountain. He chased too quickly, falling in a trap set by the dwarfs. Only 500 feet away from the walls, Daeric Xilesh was killed in personal combat by the young Dwarf Queen Myrsael Stonebuster, his head split open by her legendary pickaxe. His body could only be collected in the night, he was stripped of all his valuables. Loraphyra was determined to get her revenge, planning to chase the dwarfs all the way back to their capital and kill them all. The timing of her next crushing blow might have saved her life, but it was no less tragic. She was called back to Crith Ennama for the death of her mother. Being the oldest in her family, it was now her task to fulfill the duties on the Sun Council.

### The Dawn of the Queen

Loraphyra had returned to her home, taking up the duties of Sun Councillor. She became highly determined to avenge her beloved husband, campaigning for the holy mountains to be retaken. With the support of the Royal House Xilesh, Loraphyra owned more than half of the votes. For a military campaign, three quarters of the council had to be in favour. This likely started Loraphyra's ambition to become Queen of Suor Crithrûn. She started with another unconventional marriage. She married Sarcan Xilesh, the older brother of Daeric. Sarcan was unwed, and Loraphyra already had several children. The marriage had no political upsides, but Loraphyra still made waves. Using her wealth, influence, and personal skills, Loraphyra convinced many of the lesser nobles and common sun elves to rise up in support of her. The Sun Council had allowed lesser beings to steal holy places from the mighty sun elves, and thus had to be declared useless. Loraphyra was the leader of this movement that wanted to declare her queen. In the end, the Sun Council succumbed to this pressure, crowning Loraphyra in 270 EC. The next year, the invasion started.

### The Endless Revenge

The invasion of the Treading Peaks started a war that would last nearly 250 years. The fighting would go up and down over the years, but never was there peace or even a truce, all the way until the end. The fighting was of course not continuous, instead the different nations would launch attacks towards different locations. Many glorious battles have been fought over these years. Since both elves and dwarfs live more than 250 years, several warriors survived all of these. The two leaders fought each other in many duels throughout the war. Eventually Myrsael Stonebuster, who had grown old in the years of war, proposed a peace. There was no clear reason for this, the war was no closer to being decided for either side than other points in the war. Loraphyra refused the peace, until Myrsael presented her with the armor of her fallen beloved, Daeric Xilesh, as well as a letter he had on his body. Loraphyra accepted the terms, which resulted in a compromise.

### The Divine Empire

Without this peace, the nations would never have agreed to unite within the Divine Empire. Loraphyra still intensely disliked the Dwarf Queen, who she had started calling the Grey Bullfrog in the years of the war. Eventually though, new husband had convinced her that her enemy would die within the next 50-100 years, while Loraphyra would live on. The Sun Queen was a proponent of the Divine Empire, mostly because of the financial incentive. She had great plans to build temples on the newly claimed mountains, as well as fortresses to defend from future armies. Loraphyra would also use this to establish small colonies of sun elves throughout the lands of Gilgander, ensuring her sources of information. Of the Nine Heroes, Loraphyra would only be outlived by Mordithas Shadowmantle. She died of a sudden sickness in 300 DC. Her son Elzumin inherited her throne, but would soon dissolve the monarchy.