Zahia is a somewhat meek, but determined engineer, researcher, rider and jack-of-all-trades who tends to travel wherever help is needed.

Zahia is a young curio wit short, coarse fur and coily hair always worn in braids. She has a round jaw with large round eyes, a large loosely heart-shaped nose with no nose bridge, full wo-toned lips, a small chin and short thin ears that are able to swivel in every direction. She is slightly shorter and heavier than an average curio,

Design Notes

• Hair is always in braids and often in a low ponytail, but can sometimes be loose or in a bun
• Wears flowy clothing, long skirts and lots of layers of fabric, often with geometric r sun-themed patterns, in shades of yellow, green and red.
• wears headscarves occasionally

Determined . Solitary . Compassionate . Flighty

Born under the Night and Day, Zahia has always been a curious child, chasing after many different things at once. While her curiosity makes her skilled in a variety of subjects, it also makes her fickle: She often struggles sticking with something for long periods of time. That being said, she is no quitter and holds all of her interests and ideas close, often going back and forth between one thing and another
Despite her apparent distaste for society, as she tends to hide from people and much prefers the company of her pets, Zahia is compassionate to her core, even to a fault: wherever there is a need for help she is sure to be there... No matter the cost for herself.

I SPENT SO LONG WITH MY HEAD BURIED IN THE SAND

Zahia was born in Paydo Moga, and at least at first she rejected the city's fierce indipendence. She saw the Guilds as a way to bring prosperity to the desert city and enrolled in the Archeologists' guild as soon as she was able to, eventually moving to Rumba Sumba at the age of 16 to attend school at the archeo HQ.

Her years in the guild were good, but ultimately uneventful, up unti the party at Jay Warlowes' in Seajewel.
To this day she can't understand what brought her guid's leader to poison the attendants and pin the blame on her student. But that trust was broken.
She stayed on her mentor's side during the mess, unsure of what to think. She bottled her feelings and carried on...

I'LL SEND A POSTCARD FROM WHEREVER I MAY LAND

... Until it happened again.
What she thought would be a fun outing at a tech fair in the newly discovered Tonpelli ended up in a failed government coup, and then a cyborg invasion. She ran away with the first ferry aivable- back to her parents in Paydo Moga.

Guilt ate at her for a long time as she wished to able to do something to help. Eventually, she grew restless and decided to travel to offer help to whoever needs it. This caused a falling out with her family, as they worried she might run into danger- She left anyways and hasn't spoken to them since.

I SEE THE WORLD SO DIFFERENTLY

The following years saw Zahia grow into her own: She formed a caravan, adventured and joined the expedition to the North, where she met Marsa again- But most importantly, where she witnessed the World Engine.
Once again, a new problem too large or any one curio to fix.
Still, this time she was there, and she could help. She helped find the egine, helped dig it out, tried to do all she could to understand it. It ended well.

But that wouldn't last. Finding out the Hive lied to is citizens and put everyone in jeopardy was the straw that broke the candle's back in Zahia's eyes- it was clear that people in power can't be trusted, and it's up to the People to work towards their best interests.

EVENT TIMELINE HERE

Zahia is a jack of all trades, and such she knows bits and pieces of many things, but her main talents still lie in building and fixing things.

• Mostly trained to be a civil engineer, but generally able to operate and build tech.
• Adept at riding and good at caring for mounts, Nyk-Nykas especially so.
• Skilled carpenter.
• Her blueprints are really neat and understandable.
• Not a survivalist, definitely not a fighter.

Morgan

An engineering coursemate and fellow tech enthusiast (Though with vastly different styles). Zahia thinks of Morgan as a friend, thought her perception of them has changed quite a bit after they stayed behind to help in the tech wars, and she now struggles to compare herself to them.

Bellamy

A fellow Archeologist and friend, Zahia and Bellamy don't actually know each other too well, but often cross paths due to their assignments. Zahia is sometimes exausted by the reporter's enthusiasm, but can't help but be captivated by his personality, and overall considers him fun to be around

Loreley

Comfort is the first thing Zahia thinks of whenever she is asked to describe Loreley. Very similar in their soft spoken and skittish nature, the two are plenty close, and enjoy long afternoons spent talking or sitting together, each doing their own thing in quiet. While not necessarily a productive bond- The two are way too avoidant to really change each other, they are a listening ear and a soft shoulder, and often it's enough.

Anya

While not a deeply close relationship (especially after Marsa's betrayal), the bond between Anya and Zahia is still present as master and apprentice. Anya's rise to leadership made their relationship somewhat strained, as Anya no longer finds the time to hang with her apprentices. Still, Zahia thinks highly of her leader, and looks back fondly at her lessons.

Theolonius

While not a close relationship in any way, Zahia finds Theolonius interesting and decently fun to hang with. She has no idea of his vigilante persona, and it would probably hurt their relationship if she did- to have yet another friend to measure herself to.

Theta

Theta and Zahia's relationship is strange, but close. Both solitary and driven in their own ways, Zahia has agreed to help her in their efforts to start restoring the Sector, and thus the two of them now travel together- Only time will tell if it will last however.

Pearl

Zahia's riding student during the preparation for the raid to Ancients Fall, Zahia sees a little of herself in the energetic undyre and is in general somewhat protective of her, wherever she is in earshot. Her feelings are somewhat accompanied by the guilt she feels for not being there during e Tech war, and she hopes to do right by her one day.

Mumia

A childhood friend/rival of Zahia and fellow paydo mogan, their opinions were opposite for a long time, and they often butted heads on the topic of the Guilds. After many years apart, Zahia feels like she owes him an apoogy: They were right, after all.

Pets

• Salil, Mech Pillbug: One of Zahia's first pets, he was given to her by her parents and was later buffed and painted by her to look like ancient tech. he doesn't have much of a personality, and just sort of bumbles around, but his silence is often whatever Zahia needs to work out a problem.
• Ziya, F Nyk-Nyka: Mild mannered domestic Nyka from Paydo Moga, Ziya is plenty bonded to her owner, and has been for several years at this point. Zahia worked hard to buy her, and eventually managed to, and has treasured her even since- Though, she sometimes struggles with Ziya's jealous stints.
• Zaman, M Nyk-Nyka: A wild Nyka from the Bone Flats herd, him and Zahia had a rough start- Zahia had to catch him for the Windchasers race, and while he proved easy to surprise he was decidedly less so to tame. Zaman is fast and lithe, but pays that in brain- He's easily spooked, dumb and single-minded, but he has one job and by the saints he's going to do it.
• Zahra, F Woolly Nyka: Calm, quiet and collected, Zahra is the newest of Zahia's nyk-nykas, purchased in preparation for the expedition to the north. Zahra is more or less indifferent about most things, and is quite lazy- Convincing her to work is a chore in itself.
• Zayn, Stage III Praeon: Zayn is... A mystery. Eager to help and somewhat of a jokester, but unable to express themselves in any way, Zayn sort of... Decided to follow Zahia around. Zahia however, thinks that they're cute, so she took it in stride!
• Zahir, M Renjor: Zahir is a new arrival, but he took to his role in the caravan incredibly well. While somewhat of a hard headed renjor, he is calm and generally obedient.
• Nine, Nanonine: Zahia has neverbeen religiuous, but meeting her home saint has definitely done an impression. While she knows the Nanonin is not technically Nine, she still talks to it as if it were her, especially whe in need of guidance.

Family

• Zafir, Father: A Paydo Mogan builder and one of the peple responsible for keeping the anti-sandstorm blinds working. A stubborn but caring man, though overbearing, He cast Zahia out of his home after she refused to stay home as he said- And while he didn't mean it, he keeps up his silence.
• Zineb, Mother: A stay-at-home mother and somewhat of a meek personality, she is often the one mediating between her much more stubborn daughter and husband...But couldn't deal with the current situation. She worries still, and wishes Zahia woul come home.

• Zahia grew up in Paydo Moga, so I imagine she'd grew up eating a lot of corn, beans and a good deal of spicy food. In general she isn't picky!
• really loves paydo mogan music, and has in general very traditional tastes- she likes acoustic instruments and long, drawn out vocals I think.
• rarely ever really relaxes, but when she feels the need to have a break she'll unhook her carts and have a ride around on one of her nyk-nykas or occasionally on her Renjor. Nyk-nykkas are a major hobby of her so she also likes grooming and takimg care of them. If the weather is unfavorable, then she'll sew a bit! She makes most of her clothes by hand whenever she's stationed.
• is very good at technical drawing and is decently creative, but doesn't really draw for fun or for the sake of art. Most of her works are very pragmatic, and if she needs some pizazz she will prefer to collab with someone. She is capable of drawing from life, but doesn't particularly enjoy it, nor finds a use for it most of the time. She can and will however pull up some bomb schematics and blueprints. She also enjoys painting fabric and drawing geometric patterns, especially so when she's anxious
• doesn't really tend to get outwardly angry, she instead prefers to either keep it in, direct it towards herself, or try to work it out on some kind of project. She can also become very passive aggressive and venomous if she really has it in her, but so far it hasn't really happened. She's the type of person that looks really sad when angry