Lord Zhayin was a Vallista architect from Housetown whose ambition was to build a structure that allowed a person to move between different points in time.
He apparently made many attempts to design and build such a structure, starting well before The Interregnum, but never succeeded.
Finally, he came up with a different plan, and arranged for his daughter Tethia to be born in the Paths of the Dead. This gave her a link to the paths, and access to the unique properties of the place; especially those related to the passage of time.
Tethia subsequently designed Precipice Manor, which acted as a platform, and succeeded in achieving where Zahyin had failed so many times before.
In order to complete the manor, however, it was necessary to bind his daughter's soul into the structure, which prompted Zahyin to murder his own daughter in order to complete realize his vision.
Once constructed, the nature of the Manor ended up inadvertently ensnaring Devera (who was also born in the Paths) and holding her in the same manor (sic) as Tethia. Desperate to escape, Devera contacted Vlad Taltos to investigate the manor. During his investigation, Vlad ended up killing Lord Zhayin, which released Devera and Tethia's souls from their confinement.