Reborn Phoenix Empress in the 18th Phoenix reign, Daughter of Lord Vernoi and Princess Loudin.
History[]
Vernoi and the pregnant Loudin fled Dragaera City just hours before Adron's Disaster on the timely advice of Khaavren.
Their child, Zerika, was raised in anonymity by two Dragonlords in Adrilankha, under the orders of Sethra Lavode. She was called "Zivra" for the first two hundred years of her life, and while growing up, befriended Piro, the Viscount of Adrilankha, as well as others of approximately her age. This small group of friends joined together to form the Porker Poker Society.
She had an Easterner lover while growing up, although she kept this fact secret from her Dragaeran friends (see Brimford). He is still her lover in Vlad's time.
When Sethra determined the time to be right, "Zivra" was summoned and told that her real name was "Zerika", and that she was the Phoenix Heir. Zerika was tutored in the ways of the Paths of the Dead, in order to restore the Dragaeran Empire and end The Interregnum by retrieving the Orb, which Sethra Lavode had sent there shortly before Adron's Disaster. These events are recounted in The Viscount of Adrilankha, beginning with The Paths of the Dead.
Zerika was officially confirmed as Empress by the Council of Princes shortly after the Battle of Adrilankha
Current Events[]
At the time of Vlad Taltos, Zerika is still the Empress of Dragaera, although Paarfi's histories reveal that she later resigned the position in favor of the Dragon Heir, Norathar e'Lanya, marking a turn in the Cycle.
Relations[]
In Taltos, Vlad (mis)quotes Aliera and Morrolan to the effect that that Vernoi was Zerika's mother and Loudin her father. Cracks and Shards discusses this contradiction and hypothesizes a resolution for it, which the author has accepted as canonical.