Zhai'a Nelhah

Zhai'a Nelhah

Title

the White Mind

Gender

Male ♂

Race

Miqo'te (Keeper of the Moon)

Zone

Ul'dah - Steps of Thal (12.9,13.5)

Organization

Gridania

Services

Quest NPC

Patch

3.0

“

Hm? What do you want? ...Wait. This aura.

— In-game description

Zhai'a Nelhah is a Miqo'te found in Ul'dah - Steps of Thal.

Quests Started

Quest	Type	Level	Quest Giver

Quests Involved In

Quest	Type	Level	Quest Giver
An Unexpected Journey		52	Lalai
A Cunning Plan		54	Lalai
Black Squawk Down		56	Lalai
Destruction in the Name of Justice		58	Lalai
The Defiant Ones		60	Lalai
Golems Gone Wild		63	Lalai
When the Golems Get Tough		65	Lalai
Unnatural Selection		68	Lalai
One Golem to Rule Them All		70	Lalai
A Home for a Tome		80	Lalai

Additional Information

Lore

a Hearer of the Conjurer's Guild, Zhai'a crossed paths with the Warrior of Light while searching for Waldeve, the leader of The Defiant, a cult of Black Mages who intend to use Black Magic purely for destructive purposes. Believing that Black Magic and its users are evil beings wielding destruction to suit their own desires, he was loathe to trust the Warrior of Light, and even moreso Lalai, but realized that they must work together to recover the lost Book of Nald'thal before it was too late.

Later, Zhai'a arrived in Bronze Lake where the Warrior of Light was attacked by members of The Defiant and had slain them. Berating them for not leaving any of them alive to be questioned, he returned back to Ul'dah and demanded that the Warrior of Light and Lalai stop meddling in his investigation, and continued to demean the use of Black Magic, calling it nothing more than a tool for uncontrolled destruction, citing the War of the Magi as the type of damage that could be done. After his lecture, he stormed off to continue his investigation into Waldeve.

When Zhai'a next crossed with the Warrior of Light standing over the bodies of yet more Defiant members, he began to berate them once again before realizing that they had not been killed by external forces, but rather destroyed from within. Dozol Meloc explained that the Thaumaturges before them had read from the Book of Thal and attempted to wield incredibly powerful magicks, but did not carry the Gem of Shatotto, a gem overflowing with powerful aether, and a necessary tool to use such spells. Without it, the Defiant mages simply ignited their own aether and died. With this knowledge, Zhai'a apologized for accusing the Warrior of Light, and left to ponder what he had learned.

Some time later, Zhai'a called the Warrior of Light and Lalai to The Quicksand and asked for their assistance in tracking Waldeve into the Holy See. Lalai questioned Zhai'a about his acceptance of Black Mages, to which he half-heartedly replied that he had. With that, the pair set off for Ishgard.

After learning that the Defiant had been sighted around The Convictory, the Warrior of Light and Zhai'a questioned the soldiers about what they had heard and been told. While the Warrior was occupied, Zhai'a slipped off on his own to confront the Defiant, but ended up needing to be rescued by the Warrior. After the enemies were dispatched, Zhai'a apologized for acting alone, stating that when the enemy fights, they have to give it their all, and they are guaranteed to die, something he wants to avoid. He understood now that it was foolish to assume all Black Magic was evil, and that when it is used responsibly, it can be a powerful tool. He returned to Gridania to reflect on what took place.

Some time later, he learned that Waldeve had made his base at the Burning Wall. He quickly informed Lalai of this, then rushed off to gather the three Beast Tribe thaumaturges. He arrived just in time to see Waldeve opening a portal to The Void and summoning a Voidsent named Barghest. after the voidsent knocked Waldeve out, it attacked the group. After a tense battle, the voidsent was defeated. Zhai'a healed Waldeve's wounds, and took him to Gridania who placed him under arrest to await sentencing by the Padjals. He returned to Ul'dah to thank Lalai and the Warrior of Light for opening his eyes to the values of Black Magic.

When a horde of magicked golems appears out of nowhere and begins to attack the Twelveswood, Zhai'a asked Lalai and the Warrior of Light for help subduing them, only to learn that Shatotto's memories had implanted themselves within Lalai and would occasionally posess her body. Much to Zhai'a's dismay, Shatotto holds just as much chagrin for him as Lalai does. She and the Warrior of Light assist in defeating the golems, and informs Zhai'a of the impending threat of a meteor packed with great aetheric power, and that if it should collide with the planet, all life would be destroyed. She also states that the golems are made of shards of the meteor, and they are attracted to one another. If enough of them gather in one place, they will surely pull the meteor directly to them. Zhai'a sets off after returning to Ul'dah to garner support for stopping the golems as well as speaking to the Astrologians about the trajectory of the meteor.

In the meantime, the trio move about Eorzea, destroying the golems wherever they appear, but eventually their numbers quickly increase, and they begin discussing a plan to eradicate them all. Shatotto pokes fun at Zhai'a about his burgeoning feelings for Lalai, which cause him to immediately become flustered and vehemently deny any such thing before swiftly departing back to Gridania to continue tracking the meteor.

Eventually, it becomes clear that the meteor is on a direct course with Eorzea, and the golems begin tearing eachother apart to claim more soulstone shards to prolong their life, which is beckoning the meteor ever closer. With this they devise a plan: instead of destroying hundreds of golems that constantly rebuild and are reborn, let them destroy each other until only one is left, then destroy it to prevent the meteor from colliding with the planet. Agreeing to this course of action, the trio waited until the appointed hour.

When finally a massive golem appears at the top of Sohm Al, Zhai'a, Shatotto and the Warrior of Light head to the top of the mountain and defeat it in an intense battle of magic. With the disaster averted, Shatotto's memory finally fades from Lalai. Zhai'a admits that his opinion of Shatotto, the "Handmaiden of Death" had changed significantly, and he and Lalai go back to chiding one another. He takes his leave to deliver a report on all that has transpired, and heads back to Gridania.

Over the next while, Zhai'a and Lalai communicated from time to time, with the latter penning several works covering everything they had witnessed and learned about Black Magic. Zhai'a encouraged her to seek having the tomes placed in the archives of the Thaumaturge's Guild, but the guild was hesitant to have tomes about forbidden magick housed within their walls. Zhai'a encouraged the Warrior of Light to vouch for her and plead their case. They do just so, and manage to arrange a meeting with Dewlala, prioress of the guild. However, Zhai'a noticed that Lalai's aether seemed to be unbalanced, and raised the issue with her. Lalai briefly falls unconscious and they take her back to Milvaneth Sacrarium, where Zhai'a gives her a full examination. He learns that her aether has shifted slightly to astral most likely due to Shatotto's memories forcing themselves into her, causing her health issues. He eventually convinced her to entrust the Warrior of Light with her hearing while he heals her, promising that she will be healed in time to say her piece.

After Lalai is healed, Zhai'a congratulates her on her success, to which she thanked him for everything he did as well. He returned to Gridania, promising to introduce her to the scholars at the Observatorium now that she was "no longer a pariah".