Zhen

Overview

Zhen, born 330 AC, is an Ordis Exalt and Rear Admiral bonded with Zephyr, a swan Chimera. A decorated military officer who rose through the Tagmata to command the elite Raptors platoon, Zhen underwent The Musubi to save her dying childhood companion after her father’s death. Through the bonding, she gained fragmentary memories revealing a conspiracy behind the Mesektet crash that killed her mother. Zhen is a practitioner of Heka, capable of summoning Eidolons such as Nike and Ugly Duckling, creating constructs like doppelgängers through written verse, and constructing origami-style paper wings for flight.

Appearance

Zhen has white hair and skin lined with wrinkles, physical traits she shared with her father in his final years.

Background

Origins

Zhen was born in 330 AC in Hadera, Caer Esvander, to Bai Shan-shu, an Ordis lieutenant, and Madelyn Moss, a scientist specializing in Chimera research. Her parents met at The Cebir in 327 AC, where her mother conducted studies on Chimeras while her father began his military career. When the outpost was abandoned in 329 AC, Madelyn was permitted to keep one Chimera specimen — a swan that would become Zephyr. At Zhen’s birth, Zephyr wrapped its wings around the infant to keep her warm. Zhen spent her free time with Zephyr rather than pursuing studies, and enjoyed long hikes with her father across the heights around Hadera.

The Mesektet Tragedy

When Zhen was approximately ten years old, her mother was ordered aboard Mesektet to test an invention while her father’s Tagmata squadron escorted the mothership. Only Shan-shu and Zephyr returned. The crash was officially attributed to Cingula, and Madelyn died in an explosion on the ship’s scientific bridge. Shan-shu received the Purple Star for saving crew members using Zephyr’s abilities, but remained distant from Zhen in the years that followed. The full circumstances are detailed in the Mesektet Conspiracy entry.

Path to the Tagmata

Zhen patterned her career on her father’s trajectory. She underwent physical training and survival courses in the mountains of Caer Esvander, and studied military manuals and books recommended by the officers’ academy. She took the entrance competition upon reaching legal age and excelled in every subject — obstacle courses, survival camps, resistance to extreme conditions, and orientation. She graduated top of her class, earning the privilege of choosing her posting, and requested the Tagmata. Her father did not congratulate her.

Military Career

Zhen rose through the ranks by merit, volunteering for the most difficult missions. She obtained her first command: The Raptors, a Tagmata platoon she pushed to excellence. Their motto was “I am your shield, you are my spear.” She accompanied the Raptors in all training, shared their bivouacs, and led assaults alongside them.

The distinction Zhen earned with the Raptors led to her promotion to Commodore under Rear Admiral Gaj, then to Rear Admiral upon succeeding her superior.

Father’s Decline and Confession

In 364 AC, Basileus Avkan requested that Shan-shu undergo The Musubi with Zephyr, making him one of the first Exalts. His health declined afterward. On his deathbed, Shan-shu confessed to Zhen that he had caused the fall of the Mesektet and was responsible for all the deaths. His last words expressed pride in Zhen, though he acknowledged never knowing how to show it.

Discovering the Conspiracy

After Shan-shu’s death, Zephyr began weakening from the broken Musubi bond. Zhen performed a second Musubi to save the Chimera, and through the bonding, Zephyr’s fragmentary memories revealed the faces of those who had participated in the Mesektet Conspiracy: de Graaf, Falani, Singh — all visitors to her family home. Zhen applied to become an Exalt and join the Rediscovery Endeavor to investigate, positioning herself near Singh and de Graaf. She also visited the Mesektet wreck once to pay her respects and recover what remained of her mother’s body.

Timeline

393 AC, January - Expeditionary Fleet Launch

Zhen stood aboard Mandjet as The Asterion authorized the Expeditionary Corps to investigate a pillar of light signal after weeks of deliberation. Land approaches had been abandoned due to mutagenic currents deemed too dangerous, requiring the fleet to bypass The Tumult from above. Zhen sensed Zephyr’s presence before seeing him breach the clouds leading The Raptors home from reconnaissance. She ordered the squadron to signal the all-clear to the bridge after Osoyo reported stable Tumult winds. She issued the fleet-wide command to proceed through The Gestalt, with Mesektet leading under Amiens’ command, followed by The Ouroboros, The Wayfarer, and Mandjet bringing up the rear.

393 AC - Gargoyle Sentinels on Mandjet

Zephyr’s Chimera deployed gargoyle lookouts—blue marble with white veins—sculpted along the deck of Mandjet, constantly scanning the sky as silent sentinels with movement restricted to turning their heads.

393 AC - Questioning the Mandjet’s Delayed Repairs

Zhen noted that Mandjet sat in a Sadracca shipyard for thirty-five years after the Cingula engagement before repairs officially began in 375 AC, a suspicious delay given the flagship’s importance to Asgarthan air defense. She also noted that despite her Rear Admiral rank, many areas on Mandjet remained restricted to her authorization level.

393 AC - Investigating the Prison Guard

Zhen visited the Mandjet brig to interrogate a prison officer—a man of about forty to forty-five years old—who had previously served as de Graaf’s personal assistant before becoming a prison officer. She probed his subconscious through The Gestalt and discovered the man had been trained as a mental strongbox to filter, encrypt, and protect secret information.

393 AC - Second Assassination Attempt

After surviving the first attack on her life, Zhen was targeted a second time through a poisoned drink via a butler, unknowingly thwarted by Yanna using a mind impulse to make the butler trip.

393 AC - Heightened Security After Assassination Attempts

Following two attacks on her life, Zhen remained confined to Mandjet’s interior under Raptor escort, reasoning that her probe of the prison guard’s mind had triggered a hidden warning system alerting the conspiracy’s architect. She concluded that Gulrang and Tocsin were unlikely to be behind the attacks, as she could not imagine them betraying her.

393 AC - Ambush by Melusine

While scouting between floating water spheres, Zhen was struck by a lance of boiling water that destroyed one of her paper wings, an attack by the Eidolon Melusine, apparently summoned in retaliation for her investigation into de Graaf’s former assistant.

393 AC - Escape Using a Doppelgänger

Pursued by Melusine and water dragons the Eidolon conjured from burst spheres, Zhen used Heka to create a doppelgänger from water, gave it her appearance through Alteration, and sent it as a decoy while she dove to safety.

393 AC - Sagitta Encounter

When the Leviathan Sagitta threatened Expeditionary Corps transport barges, Zhen assembled The Raptors and led the intervention squad while senior command held off on launching a barrage.

393 AC - Raptors Paper Wing Distribution

Zhen provided feathers from Zephyr’s wings to her Raptors, who translated them into paper wings via Heka glyphs—letters becoming words, words becoming sentences inscribed on sheets of paper that unfolded into functional origami wings.

393 AC - Summoning Nike to Divert Sagitta

Zhen dove toward Sagitta’s head and used Heka to summon Nike, whose blazing radiance drew the Leviathan into pursuit away from the endangered transport ships.

393 AC - Summoning the Ugly Duckling

Unable to concentrate, Zhen set aside her book of tales and used Heka to summon the Ugly Duckling Eidolon, identifying with its story of rejection as she waited for election results from the City of Scholars.

393 AC - Scouting Ahead of the Mandjet

Zhen and The Raptors served as forward scouts for Mandjet during the fleet’s journey toward the pillar of light, with the floating archipelagos providing water and sustenance while Zhen deferred further conspiracy investigation until the expedition’s return.

393 AC - Distress Signal from Pelagonian Quadrant

While on alert aboard Mandjet, Zhen detected a distress call from a mining station in the Pelagonian Quadrant through The Gestalt, with the AES Sune responding first to the signal.

Relationships

• Aedyt: Member of The Raptors and Alterer; uses Zephyr feathers to construct paper wings (393 AC)
• Amiens: Rear Admiral commanding Mesektet; Gaj could request authorization from Amiens for Zhen to access the ship (393 AC)
• Avkan ruun-Heshkari: Basileus who requested Shan-shu undergo Musubi (364 AC)
• Bai Shan-shu: Father, Ordis officer and first-generation Exalt with Zephyr; died after deathbed confession
• Basem Falani: Guildmaster; visited Zhen’s family home as part of conspiracy; received a letter from Zhen bearing Ordis and Tagmata seals (393 AC)
• Cingula: Leviathan blamed for Mesektet crash
• de Graaf: General; visited Zhen’s family home as part of conspiracy
• Gaj: Former mentor as Commodore, now peer as fellow Rear Admiral (393 AC)
• Gulrang Oduro: Exalt whom Zhen ruled out as suspect behind assassination attempts (393 AC)
• Madelyn Moss: Mother, scientist who died in Mesektet crash
• Mandjet: Flagship where Zhen serves; station during fleet launch (393 AC)
• Melusine: Eidolon that ambushed Zhen in retaliation for her investigation (393 AC)
• Mesektet: Ship whose crash killed her mother; wreck now discovered
• Nike: Eidolon goddess of victory summoned by Zhen via Heka to divert Sagitta (393 AC)
• Osoyo: Member of The Raptors who reported reconnaissance results (393 AC)
• Sagitta: Leviathan that Zhen’s squad diverted from transport barges (393 AC)
• Suha: Qorgan operative who destroyed a letter from Avkan addressed to Bai Shan-shu to protect Zhen from its dangerous contents (393 AC)
• Temera Singh: Grand Admiral; visited Zhen’s family home as part of conspiracy
• The Raptors: Tagmata platoon Zhen commanded; motto “I am your shield, you are my spear”
• Tocsin: Exalt whom Zhen ruled out as suspect behind assassination attempts (393 AC)
• Ugly Duckling: Eidolon Zhen summoned via Heka, identifying with its story (393 AC)
• Yanna: Qorgan operative who secretly saved Zhen from a poisoned drink assassination attempt without her knowledge (393 AC)
• Zephyr: Swan Chimera Alter Ego bonded through The Musubi; deploys gargoyle sentinels and provides feathers for Raptor paper wings