Lyrasa I Shiroko

Empress Lyrasa I Shiroko

Lyrasa I, also known as Lyrasa the Builder, was the first and only child of Krystanya I Shiroko. She had a strong compulsion around the number six that fluctuated over the course of her reign. However, she is most remembered for the many building projects she undertook, including the Kuden Taliri Shigochi, and the establishment of the competition held there to determine the theater troupe who would receive imperial sponsorship.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

The third baejan (emperor/empress) of what became known as the 'Era of Heat', Lyrasa was born to Krystanya I Shiroko in 724. She was the first and only child of the empress, a strange situation given that most monarchs had between four and seven children. This was done in accordance with the Doctrine of Dea-an Heritage so that there would be enough siblings to marry around. As Lyrasa was an only child, she was placed under a great deal of pressure to become a competent empress as there were not siblings who could act as support, which would have been normal.
She was educated by her mother and grandfather, Vasyl II Shiroko. After her Attunement Test revealed that she was a pyr-esh, magical education was added to her curriculum. From her mother, she learned history, international politics, law, military strategy, and many other important subjects that she would need in order to rule, including how to create the Ilyannoi. She was also the first generation of monarchs to grow up in the expanded Doctrine of Dea-an Heritage, stating that the imperial family was to be worshiped, not just the founder, Ilya Shiroko. From her grandfather, she learned more about heat magic and he helped her with some of the lessons she received from tutors.
Throughout her childhood, she found that she was fascinated by the number six. At first, she thought it was because of the six essences of magic and spent a great deal of time in the Gandenye temple with the priests. However, the obsession expanded from a fixation on the essences to the number itself. She would only wear a number of robes or hair ornaments in numbers that either were six, multiples of six, or could be combined in some way to make six. Most of the time, this was not an issue, except when only certain things could be worn, in particular for certain ceremonies. In these instances, she often hid jewelry in her sleeves to finish off the 'correct' number. She found that if six was not followed, she began to panic.
Krystanya and Vasyl II had her see the High Physician, but by this point, the instability of the dynasty was well established in the culture of the imperial family and wider court. As long as the issue did not lead to violence or distortions in reality, Lyrasa was left to her numbers.
Through the years, Lyrasa developed an interest in theater and other entertainments, often going with her grandfather, mother, father, or other relative when they were not busy with matters of the empire. Stage productions in particular captured her interest and she often wondered why there was no grand theater in Niuus. During her teen years, she spent a great deal of time the Department of Architecture learning from the workers there and then sketching her own designs for temples, stadiums, and theaters.
In 759, after the retirement of Krystanya I, Lyrasa ascended the throne and created a Tsirin as all baejan had done before her. Unlike others of the species, hers had three pairs of horns and six claws on each foot, making it more overtly aggressive looking than her mother's and grandfather's.
Before her ascension, she married one of her cousins to secure an heir. After the disaster of her mother and father's failure to have more than one child, she would not allow the family to die out or the line to move to a branch. Over the course of her life, she and her cousin, Andriy, had a total of seven children: Zora III (751), Boraye (753), Kuza (754), Yavar (754), Galyna (756), Rosalaf (757), and Natalay (759).
Her first act as baejan was to begin the construction of the grand theater she had always thought the capital was missing. She used the sketches she had made during her youth, along with assistance from the Department of Architecture, in order to construct the Kuden Taliri Shigochi. The building would become the most luxurious theater in the empire and a landmark across the continent for both its construction technique and the eventual performances held there. Even while it was being built, Lyrasa auditioned troupes there and began the tradition of the royal family sponsoring a group. Whoever won the competition for patronage could call the new theater their home. Over time, this competition came to be informally known as 'selecting Lyrasa's guests'.
Lyrasa also worked on many other projects, including race tracks, other theaters, meeting halls, and assorted entertainment venues financed by the money her mother and grandfather had gathered into the treasury. The populace loved her for the new construction, which brought thousands of jobs into the major cities along with places to watch entertainment once they were complete. These projects led her to gaining the moniker 'the Builder'. However, over the years, her compulsions grew worse.
She was constantly working on six projects at once. If one was completed, she had to start something else or would go into panic attacks. Her obsessions led to many started, but unfinished projects, along with a great deal of anxiety. A few nobles attempted to manipulate her into or out of plans by hiding or 'forgetting' certain ones. However, her husband, the tsudaeba (royal consort) was quick to punish those who would hurt the baejan, acting in his role as support.
In total, sixty-three venues were constructed throughout the empire during her reign. When she retired, she was disappointed that she was unable to complete sixty-six and spent the days before her daughter's coronation becoming increasingly frantic about finished three more buildings. In the end, Zora III helped her mother complete three small birdhouses to finish off the work, which temporarily alleviated her panic enough to get through the coronation.
Once her daughter was crowned, Lyrasa stayed on as an advisor. However, her compulsions became more insistent and she left that role after only three months. Instead, she and her husband spent the later years of their life traveling the empire to visit the various sites of her building projects and spent time with one another. Lyrasa died of heart failure in her sleep at the age of eighty while back in the Gandenye. Like the baejan before her, she was buried in the family mausoleum on the grounds of the Gandenye temple.

Life

724 804 80 years old

Birthplace

Parishi

Place of Death

Gandenye

Parents

Krystanya I Shiroko

Children

• Zora III Shiroko

Gender

female

Eyes

wide, slightly turned down, violet

Hair

long, 3/4 braided, bright white

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

pale

Height

5'4"