Zai Shei

**Zai Shei** was a junior officer with the Jotun Defense Force. She was stationed at the Cicero Manor black site when a unknown series of events led to her death at the hands of a wight lurking the manor. She was subsequently reanimated as the wight's servant and attacked a group of investigators that came upon it while exploring.

## Description

### Appearance

Zai Shei was a young human woman with long brown hair and light brown skin. She wore the blue padded armor of the Jotun Defense Force, consisting of a shardweave undershirt, a cuirass and pauldrons. After her death and raising as undead, her eyes went completely white and a large hole was visible in her chest through which the wight that killed her had been feeding on her organs.

### Personality

Nothing is known about Zai Shei's personality, given that she was dead by the time she was encountered.

## History

### Background

Almost nothing is known of Zai Shei's history. She was likely born and raised in Southern Ishtar, and eventually enrolled in the Jotun Defense Force. She held the ranking of rookie for some time, possibly doing normal patrols and other duties. Not long into her employment, she was assigned to patrol the Cicero Manor, an old chateau turned JDF black site, in the Prialor Region,.

## Phase 3 Story

### Death and Undeath

Zai Shei was stationed within the kitchen of the Cicero Manor. It is unknown why she was there and why she was by herself. In any case, something happened and Zai Shei was subsequently attacked by a wight that yet lurked in the halls. The expression frozen on her face was one of both terror and betrayal, implying that foul play was a contributing factor in her demise. The wight killed Zai Shei with ease, as she was unarmed at the time. With its prey down, the wight began to feast on her corpse, tearing through her armor to carve out her organs.

Shortly after Zai Shei's death, a group of fugitives, consisting of both prots and criminals, had entered the manor to search for what was suspected to be Façade's latest victim. One of the party, Detective Logan Horn tripped on a rug, alerting the wight, who stopped feasting on her corpse and went to assault its new prey. Due to the wight's inherent necromantic power, Zai Shei's corpse was reanimated upon her killer coming under attack. The zombie of Zai Shei then shuffled its way towards the fray, only to be intercepted by Dash Whiskers. Dash held her at bay using his towershield, but was reluctant to counterattack. He was greatly disturbed by the fate of Zai Shei, who held the same rank that he did in the XDF. He believe something of Zai Shei's spirit might still be present in the zombie and that something that could be done to save her. The party were unable to help, with the resident necromancer Dr. Piper Hellebore confessing his inability to command her.

Dash felt compelled to at least try and save Zai Shei. Using his own necromantic abilities, he attempted to bring the zombie prot under his control. However, due to his lack of familiarity with this skill, he was unable to do so, and the zombie kept attacking. Saddened by his failure, Dash and his allies began to attack in earnest and wore down the zombified prot, eventually laying it low. However, as with its master, Zai Shei's corpse arose once again to continue trying to kill the party. The fists of Keres Creed brought her down once more, and Eliphet Price's robotic companion Maggie began to tear the corpse apart, preventing her from rising again.

### Legacy

The death of Zai Shei revealed much to the investigators. Her status as a rookie supported Logan's suspicions that the entire JDF was compromised and complicit in covering up the Façade killing. The rogue detective also retrieved her badge learning her name in the process. Alarmingly, Logan also discovered Zai Shei had been unarmed and alone which he relayed to the group. Her expression of horror and betrayal added a further to the mystery. Eliphet theorized that the JDF had been taken unawares by the undead residents of the manor, which was why they had yet to encounter any other than Zai Shei. Keres also determined the corpse was relatively fresh, potentially meaning more prots may yet still be alive. Zai Shei's gruesome fate also deeply affected Dash Whiskers, who found still it difficult to understand why such a thing could be allowed to happen.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Slam:** Melee attack, 5ft range, one target. +4 to hit. Deals 1d8+ 2 bludgeoning damage.
* **Undead Fortitude:** If non-Radiant or non-critical hit damage reduces this creature to 0 hit points, it is considered unconscious. At the beginning of the next round, if the creature has destroyed (-10 hit points), it comes back to life with half its health.

## Etymology

"Zai" is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of a Chinese surname. The original character that the name stems from has several meaning depending on its usage, including "to slaughter" and "to govern".

"Shei" is the English transliteration of a Chinese surname. The orignal surname has a vareity of meanings, including "to thank", "to wither (of flowers, leaves etc)" and "to decline".

## Images

### Official art

The wight that killed and raised Zai Shei