Pyrah

Pyrah is the home village of the Fire Ashari. It is built in a volcanic area of Othanzia, in the Cindergrove forest of the Sunderpeak Mountains. The main purpose of the Fire Ashari is to guard a portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire, also known as the Rift of Flame.

Village description
Pyrah is settled on the outskirts of the Cindergrove forest. The trees here are long burned or petrified, with a lack of leaves among them. The village was mostly constructed from the materials people could scavenge in this inhospitable area.

The rebuilt version of the Pyrah was built to be less susceptible to fire. Most of the tents and dwellings of Pyrah are constructed from pieces of blackened, grey stone from the mountains. Elements of the stone have been fused with bits of glass to forge thick, sturdy walls.

Demographics
The Fire Ashari are made up of members of many different races. In particular, the scouting party, which captured Vox Machina on their first visit to Pyrah, had an elf-Calhoun, dwarves, halflings, humans, and about three half-elves among them.

Notable people

 * Calhoun: An elven member of the Fire Ashari and a leader of the patrol group.
 * Cerkonos: The human headmaster of the Fire Ashari, also called Flamespeaker.
 * Nastoen: A human member of the Fire Ashari.
 * Raishan (in disguise)

Background
The village of Pyrah was established centuries ago by the Ashari, built around the rift to the Plane of Fire located within the Cindergrove. The Fire Ashari have been keeping watch over the rift ever since. Around 800 PD, Vilya visited the tribe on her Aramenté and successfully completed the trial, staying for a few days before moving on. In 806 PD, Raishan infiltrated the village, posing as a young girl, and was welcomed into the tribe, where she studied the Plane of Fire.

Keyleth, along with the rest of Vox Machina, journeyed to Pyrah as part of her Aramenté. They were stopped on their way into the village by an envoy from the tribe, who raised stone walls around them to halt their progress. Keyleth explained who she was and the purpose of her arrival, and they were brought to meet their headmaster, Cerkonos, to determine the veracity of her claim. Cerkonos recognized her as a relative of Vilya, and confirmed that Vilya had completed her trial ten years ago. Cerkonos invited Keyleth to begin her own trial immediately, which she accepted. They left the village to pass through the rift to the Plane of Fire. Upon completing their trial and returning to the village, Cerkonos congratulated Keyleth on her success and gifted her a spark stone in celebration of the deed. Their mission complete, Vox Machina rested for a while in Pyrah before continuing on their journey.

Thordak's Release
On 20 Duscar, 810 PD, the day of Winter's Crest, Raishan widened the rift to the Plane of Fire, freeing Thordak from his prison. The ensuing destruction devastated the Fire Ashari, killing and injuring many of the villagers and leaving the buildings themselves in ruins.

Following the destruction of Emon, Keyleth briefly worried that she had freed Thordak herself by destroying the spark stone gifted to her by the Fire Ashari, but Allura Vysoren assured her that wasn't the case. Keyleth Scried on Pyrah, and was shocked to find it destroyed. Where the Fire Ashari village once stood, there was nothing but sundered wood, charred bodies, and trees flattened by an explosive blast. In the center, there was a large, ominous, flickering gash between the Elemental Plane of Fire and the Material Plane with magma pouring out of it. Wandering imps, elementals, and various entities continued to escape from the portal into the mountains as Keyleth watched.

and
Vox Machina returned to Pyrah to re-seal the rift and met with the surviving villagers, including Cerkonos. He informed the party that twenty-five villagers survived, and they were joined by a contingent from the Air Ashari, including their temporary leader Korrin. The allied groups journey to the rift itself and defeated or scared off the various elementals that had passed through. Through their combined efforts the group successfully re-sealed the rift. Korrin and the Air Ashari decided to stay in Pyrah for a while to help with the reconstruction.