Overview
Zain is a powerful mage of Ulzathir, a son of Ozaith, and the ruler who takes control of Ulzathir after Ozaith's death. He commands Ulzathir's failed invasion of Thalassai, kills Alistair Koss in the Council Citadel, and stages a public proclamation around Ozaith's false return.
Afterward, Zain forms a secret pact with Khauren, an ancient Malverand god. Publicly, he uses the flame shard to maintain Ozaith's false return. Under Zain, Ulzathir militarizes, conquers Solvarria, occupies Rimvold, and launches the surprise attack on Pyrenis.
Appearance
Zain has cosmic-blue hair and wears Ulzathir's black robes. As ruler, his formal robes carry cosmic silver trails, and his forces use the same black Ulzathir style. After the Khauren pact, he carries a fiery shard in his palm; when he draws deeply on that power, glyphs flare across his skin, his veins blaze blue or orange-white, and his eyes can burn red when Khauren takes control and unleashes origin-like attacks through him.
Personality
Zain is ambitious, proud, strategic, and intensely nationalistic. He wants Ulzathir stable and strong after Ozaith's fall, orders the council treasuries to provide riches to the people, and avoids needless destruction when conquest serves his goals better than slaughter. He also lies about Ozaith's return, militarizes the country, invades allied territory, and accepts dangerous bargains with Khauren, Raphael, and Gabriel for power and technology.
Abilities
Zain's original strengths are aether and cosmic magic: high-speed flight, gravity collapse, gravity waves, cosmic shields, cosmic beams, large detonations, and battlefield-scale force. He uses gravity magic for speed, defense, force redirection, and keeping his damaged body alive after the Siege of Rimvold nearly kills him.
Khauren's shard gives Zain fire magic and expands his destructive range. He produces blue fire large enough to burn across the ocean's surface, infuses cosmic attacks with heat, summons meteors, and draws enough power for city- and battlefield-scale combat.
When Zain is brought to the edge of death at Rimvold, Khauren takes control after Zain's essence is nearly exhausted. Khauren uses Zain's aether magic to keep the damaged body alive and unleashes origin-like power through him: red-line strikes, black lines, glasslike shields, spatial cracks, and prismatic effects.
History
After the failed Thalassai invasion, Zain returns to Ishtanur convinced that the campaign has been falsely dressed up as victory. He confronts Alistair Koss after finding him seated on Ozaith's throne. Alistair taunts him with the invasion's outcome, and Zain kills him with cosmic magic. A void-like interruption follows, red sparks cross Alistair's severed head, and Zain takes the throne. He stages a public proclamation that Ozaith was never truly gone and has evolved beyond mortal understanding.
Zain consolidates power by holding Ozaith's children and Ulzathir's council together, keeping Qadir over scouting, Khezriya over military matters, Ishqari over research, Zhulkar among his strongest commanders, and Archibald over conquered Solvarria. Anshar and Thea leave his command. Zain reorganizes the army, pushes engine and aethership research, targets Solvarria through separatist cooperation, and installs Archibald after Ulzathir captures the country.
After Solvarria falls, Zain reaches toward the God Realm and accepts a pact with Khauren. Khauren later names himself. He wants freedom from the God Realm and needs followers, belief, and essence through Zain and Ulzathir's people to achieve that freedom. Zain keeps the truth from the public and uses the shard to maintain Ozaith's false return. Khauren's deeper plan uses Zain as a permanent mortal foothold in the rival gods' origin-magic collapse of the God Realm.
Zain then accepts Raphael's offer of Malverand technology in exchange for action against Rimvold. He also allows Gabriel to teach Ishqari and give Qadir an unstable crystal enhancement. Khauren, Raphael, and Gabriel use Zain's rule for their own ends.
During the Siege of Rimvold, Zain fights Zayren, Lythariel, and Remus. Their combined gravity, darkness, and vector attacks nearly kill him and drain his essence low enough for Khauren to take over. The resulting origin-like attacks force the attackers to withdraw. Zain wakes in Ishtanur badly injured, missing clear memory of how the Siege of Rimvold ended.
After Thalassai retakes Solvarria, Zain leads a fast strike toward Pyrenis with Qadir, Zhulkar, and roughly ten Ulzathir aether mages. He opens with blue fire over the ocean. The rebuilt Abraxas intercepts him with voids, black rays, prismatic beams, and essence-less attacks. Zain retreats toward Ulzathir. Thalassai and its allies begin preparing a counterattack against him and Khauren.
Relationships
- Family: Zain is Ozaith's son and brother to Anshar, Thea, Khezriya, Ishqari, and Zhulkar. Alistair Koss ensures Ozaith chooses Maia/Ozaryn as his next wielder. Zain is considered Ulzathir's strongest candidate.
- Allies: Zain relies on Khauren, Qadir, Khezriya, Ishqari, Zhulkar, Archibald, Ulzathir's council and army, Solvarrian separatists, Raphael, and Gabriel. Khauren is also a danger to Zain because he can take control when Zain runs low enough on essence.
- Enemies: Zain opposes Cassian, Anshar, Virel, Zayren, Lythariel, Remus, Aelius, Hadrian, Jin, Abraxas, Thalassai, Haverloch, and the alliances resisting Ulzathir's expansion.