Lánna Thálion

[Lánna Thálion]

Lánna Thálion

Age  154

Gender  Female

Origin  Melopelë, the Island of Alirycas

Occupation  Heir to House Thálion

Among the Houses of the Sea,
In order to understand history,
Remember when they served two masters or one,
but until recently, never none.
- The Song of the Sea, attribution unknown​

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First of the Houses of the Sea, the House of Thálion arrived on the island of Alirycas more than three thousand years ago during the Era of Chaos, as the claims of the High Houses grew in their greed. Nominally a vassal of then-High House Ralenin, they were the first, though not the last, to be forced west offshore from the Gardens. Not long after, other Houses arrived on the western islands, similarly driven out by their peers or simply wishing to seize an opportunity to live far from the gaze of and servitude to the High Houses.

Indeed, five hundred years ago, the saying was that all the Houses of the Sea served two masters in one, for Elármiel had claimed all the Houses of the Sea as vassal Houses from the spoils of war that had led to the fall of its cousin-House Riélisar, once greatest of the High Houses. And the Houses of the Sea had then hoped that because they all now were vassals to one High House and not two, that the yoke of vassalage might lighten upon them. But it never truly did, for Elármiel was born of betrayal and misfortune during the Fall of Riélisar, and desparate to recover the lost wealth of its predecessor, it laid upon the Houses of the Sea tithes that were twice as heavy as any of the High Houses that had come before.

After all, many of them had once had two masters. Why could one master not demand twice the tribute of before?

However, three hundred years after Elármiel's ascension, Warlord Latharion of Thálien secretly met with the other Houses of the Sea in Alirycas and gained promises from them to swear fealty to Thálien under spells of Heart-Seeing and True-Speech. In turn, Thálien would demand no yoke from them should they be successful in overthrowing the rule of Elármiel, only that Thálien would lead the Alliance if the battle was worn. United as a single force like no other group of Low Houses ever had before, the Houses of Alirycas stormed the ships and drove out komen of Elármiel from the shores of the island.

Retribution from Elármiel might have arrived swiftly, had High House Falwing in the north not sensed weakness and seized the opportunity to strike at Elármiel while it was distracted. Unable to fight a war on two fronts, Elármiel surrendered to the inevitable and relinquished its hold over the Houses of Alirycas, retreating back to Lorinan to nurse its grudge for the next two centuries. Thálion, in turn, was begrudgingly acknowledged as a High House, strong enough to challenge Elármiel and Ielheä, but wise enough not to push her luck any further.
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Such was the world that Lánna was born into more than a hundred years ago, where an uneasy peace reigned between the Houses of Alirycas and the High House Elármiel. A century of unity on the island, staring to the east, ever-watchful, ever-waiting, while the omens of war and discord grew ever stronger. It was only because every noble of Alirycas, knew in blood and bone that no prophecy could be altered that Lady Ladalia hadn't given the order for her daughter Lánna to be slain at the moment of her birth. The soothsayers had predicted a future of strife ahead for Lánna upon her birth, conflict that the Houses of Alirycas had desperately been trying to avoid over the last hundred years and more since the end of War for Alirycas, by staying neutral and distant from the Summer Wars of the Forests, preferring instead to concentrate their efforts on improving their trades instead of being swept up in endless battle.

But eventually Ladalia resigned herself to fate – Thálion, and by extension all the Houses of Alirycas – would eventually be caught up in the war, whether she liked it or no. If such was to be the fate of Thálion, then she would damn well do her best to prepare all of Alirycas for it, and to survive afterwards. Having already encouraged the commons to be educated in the basics of magic and martial arts that made the liberation of Alirycas from Elármiel possible, she began to push those efforts into overdrive, much to the chagrin of some of the more conservative nobles who believe she was being overreaching her authority as Warlord of House Thálion, for Ladalia gave few excuses and no answers at all for her actions.

Lánna found out about her mother’s actions later after her birth, for in the meantime she was being raised to put Thálion, and Alirycas, above her entire self, that her sense of duty to Alirycas was instrumental to its survival. While her peers were allowed to spend the first few years of their childhood roaming the island, or relaxing at their summer homes, Lánna was always … encouraged … to take along a scroll or two in order to fill her time. The privileges of nobility were on offer, true, but the responsibilities that came with it were made especially known to her. She and her elder siblings were raised with this mindset, though Ladalia was always the strictest on Lánna, only relenting when it began to show signs of straining her daughter's health.

In the beginning, Lánna resented her mother, and eventually, grew resigned. Only when she was older and Ladalia eventually confided in her once Lánna had become the Warlord of Thalien and her mother the Mistress of Alirycas, did Lánna truly understand. But those early years put strain on the relationship between mother and daughter, something she tried to avoid with her own Heir, her daughter Loësia, allowing her more freedom of thought and individuality. And for a time, it did indeed seem to work, for the Houses of Alirycas were stable despite the tensions with Elármiel (the occasional trading ship lost at seas, for example).

But a storm is coming for the Houses of the Sea, and Lánna only hopes that her family will be able to survive it.​