Zeanel Dear'Clith, also called Zeanel Sunnyr and Yauntyrea, was an important Khali noble that marked her age in the Caverealm, primarily through the Gezneth-Sunell war and the ensuing Sunell Tyranny.

History

Zeanel was the daughter of Matron Dear'Clith, of the First House of Gezneth. She had a high status in the citadel, had great talent, and was often seen as Dear'Clith's brightest future. She was named heiress in 2'776, at only 14 years of age.

Heiress

Young Zeanel had a very strong authority and was given the best education as a priestess. However, her life at home was not a joyful one. She was forced to attend her mother as a symbol of the matron's power. Probably, the matron mother actually feared the charisma and budding holy power Zeanel was showing, and felt a need to humiliate and degrade her daughter to affirm her status. Zeanel was forced to wear nothing more than an iron slave's necklace, was occasionally whipped in the throne room to "harden her", and reportedly suffered sexual abuse from her mother and older sister, Danifae^[3].

When Zeanel reached 88 years of age, she was celebrated as the best to-be priestess of the decade and expected to pass the Ritual of Darkness, the final test of female Gezznyr, with flying colors. She was already promised the office of Head Priestess. It was also probable that Matron Dear'Clith, and possibly nobility of other houses, planned on assassinating the too-successful student during or after the Ritual.

To the surprise of everyone, Zeanel fled the citadel a day before the Ritual. She did so with the slave Treangeh De'Marno, a captured low male noble of the Sunnyr First House. A group of Dear'Clith hunters was sent after them to bring Zeanel back, but failed to keep her from reaching the citadel Sunell, 1'000 kilometers to the south.

Refugee in Sunell

In Sunell, Zeanel was given asylum and the protection of First House De'Marno. Its matron mother was mainly looking for a way to strike against her rival Matron Dear'Clith and to strengthen her house's position in Sunell.

In De'Marno's palace, Zeanel had very little free room. She was not allowed to leave her premises, and guarded by a detachment of elite soldiers. She was also not allowed to see anyone without the authorisation of the matron mother.

The War of Zeanel's Pleasure erupted, and Zeanel grew more important. She was a symbol for Matron De'Marno to affirm the allegiance of the other houses, and to unite them under her leadership in the fighting. Zeanel's charisma was put to full use, as she convinced the others of the fair fight and how they were proving themselves to Lolth and their superiority over the larger Gezneth. To De'Marno's displeasure, the influence of Zeanel grew a lot, and the other matrons requested to have free access to this "Lady of War". The fighting was not about De'Marno, but about Zeanel. Grudgingly, the matron had to relieve Zeanel's house arrest, grant her a personal guard and noble title (although Zeanel was still houseless), and allow anyone to come see her. Treangeh, the noble who had escaped Gezneth with Zeanel, became her lieutenant and guard captain, forfeiting his house and facing great danger in doing so.

Zeanel's power grew so much that she became the symbol of Sunnyr unity and the figurehead ruler of the coalition. Zeanel also gained the personal support of four powerful matrons.

The Four-Matron De'Marno Putsch. Towards the end of the war, a group of assassins gravely wounded Matron De'Marno. Zeanel and her four allies decided to move, deploying forces into the De'Marno compound by going through Zeanel's chambers. They exterminated the entire De'Marno nobility, including the matron and her weapons master. Zeanel, thanks to the support of the other four, became the new Matron De'Marno, subjugating the whole house.

Tyrana of Sunell

After becoming De'Marno, Zeanel moved to get rid of her two most powerful allies, subjugating the rest of Sunell and making all matron mothers swear allegiance to her. She became the single ruler, the Tyrana, of Sunell "for the good and security of the citadel". Open hostilities with Gezneth ended simultaneously, and Zeanel could turn towards rebuilding her city.

She was very successful as Tyrana. She formed a central elite army under Treangeh, revolutionized the economy, and vastly expanded fungal farms and surface raids on cling-clang.

She put great value in her appearance as "Tyrana"; she was so successful that she set a cultural precedent for ensuing authoritarian Khalis, such as Zann'Elth's Tyrana two centuries later. She forfeited the usual sleek style and flowing robes of matrons, instead going for a ruffled-hair look that intimidated the more traditional matrons. Her symbols of office were a red pearl spider, which represented Lolth's favour, and a cape of spiderwebs. She liked to use some deep red colors along with the black and silver, as an indication of holy power (head priestesses normally wore red). She also had relatively plain and little clothing, an artifact of her Dear'Clith culture.

In a reform of 2'401, Zeanel forbade individual houses to have full militias and formed a central army instead, taking away a huge power base of the matrons.

Yauntyr's Plight

Zeanel as Yauntyrae, 2398 b. OW

Her rule as Tyrana took a brutal end in 2'399, when she was overthrown. A group of disgruntled matrons, unhappy about their loss of power, had approached Danifae, Zeanel's older sister, who was houseless since Gezneth's civil turmoil after the war. Together, they hatched a plot to overthrow the Tyrana, which was validated by Lolth herself. A large force of elite soldiers attacked the palace by surprise, easily taking it as holy magic suddenly failed to work for Zeanel and her allies. The military's general, Treangeh, was captured, flayed, and executed. Zeanel herself was taken from her rooms and brought to a cave deep below city.

Danifae, thanks to a special gift of Lolth, bound Zeanel to a large flat stele with an everlasting web. The victorious sister spat on the naked breasts of the fallen Tyrana, proclaiming that Zeanel should now be called Yauntyrae, "she who Yauntyr", which could mean "she who suffers from blank stone". The imprisoned Zeanel served as a warning for the Sunnyr that too much open vanity was dangerous, and that the ruling matrons had Lolth's favor.

Zeanel, or Yauntyrae, remained bound to the slate for 42 years. Towards the end of this period, Danifae - who was turning mad from envy, after having failed at becoming more than a minor functionary - abused her more and more, using snake whips and psychic spells to inflict pain upon the sister who had reached so much more. Yauntyrae died from undernourishment and physical trauma.

Her legend, both in the ideal that her early life was for young females, in he folk tale of Yauntyrae, and in the form of Tyrana, survived for centuries thereafter and became an important element of late Khali culture.