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{{Description=The green-haired warrior from (v4, p15) Skifander, "the Warror Queen's Hidden Jewel". She has been with the [[Circus]] for two years (v4, p19), and apparently was wandering for a year before that (v4, p58). Note that, while she's been a fairly minor character to date, she is listed in the GG cast list as one of the eight main characters, so there is *clearly* more to her than we know so far. That seems to be starting to unfold even now in the comic.

She admires strength, wit, friendship (v4, p15) and other good warrior qualities. Also sneakiness (v4, p65).

Zeetha has a headband, which *appears* to just have a smiley face on it. But if you look closely (v4, p15), it's a sort of mood ring -- the expression on the smiley face seems to reflect her mood. (Or is it separately sentient? It's hard to tell.)

[[Agatha]] is one of the only people who has ever even *heard* of Skifander. That gives her a bond to Zeetha right off the bat. But [[Klaus]] clearly not only knows who she is, he [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/ggmain.cgi?date=20061201 speaks her language]!

She is training [[Agatha]] as a warrior. This is *very* big deal: she is only permitted to train one person other than her own daughters, and she chooses Agatha (v4, p63). The term for the relationship is "Kolee-dok-zumil", and is hard to translate (v4, p64). She initiates the relationship on (v4, p59), specifically because she feels that Agatha needs to be able to protect herself. She is a pretty hard-assed sensei, though, and is constantly abusing Agatha in a variety of ways. She has little patience with self-pity or overconfidence.

She carries a pair of Big Ass Blades, and is extremely skillful in their use. When *extremely* frustrated (v4, p16), she chops things up, but she doesn't lose control like that often -- attacking out of anger is specifically something she doesn't respect (v4, p64). Some of her philosophy of combat is implicitly spelled out on that page.

She is an extrordinary combatant, capable of wiping out an entire army on her own (v4, p18). But as shown on the same page, she sometimes doesn't think consequences through. She is stealthy enough to be able to sneak up on [[Krosp]] (v4, p58), which he does not appreciate -- she may well be at special-ability level of stealth. (Although we should be cautious of having *too* many characters with stealth skill: it's actually pretty common here.)

Her story is told on (v4, p17-18). She is apparently of the Royal Family of the hidden city of Skifander, which is "in the jungle or something". She was sent as an emissary from the city; getting permanently lost was a surprise.

Skifander's patron goddess is Ashtara, goddess of Love (among other things -- one would be surprised if she wasn't also goddess of War). Zeetha is *not* prudish, and she likes good dish.

She understands the essence of the warrior's code -- that the soldiers exist to protect everyone else. When push comes to shove, she's the one who holds the pass so that others can get away (v5, p14).

Zeetha needs a plot, and it almost *has* to involve Skifander. Combining that with the general "hidden Castle" storyline and [[Amagog]]'s skills, and a remote-viewing device of some sort seems like a plausible idea.

The short story [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/ggmain.cgi?date=20060515 Personal Trainer], set some time in the future, seems to imply that Zeetha will still be around, and will still be training Agatha every morning, after the current arc ends.

Zeetha always wakes Agatha by [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/ggmain.cgi?date=20060517 beeping her nose]; that scene is from the future, but we see it in the current stories as well. This *has* to be written in as some sort of Skifander ritual thing.

Zeetha is the best hand-to-hand combatant in the game *if* she has her blades. Her base combat ability is a bit below that of the Jaegers and [[Von Pinn]], but she's superlative when she has her weapons.}}

{{Special Ability=Stealth}}
{{Special Ability=Super-Stealth}}
{{Special Ability=Resist Intimidation}}
{{Special Ability=Two Swords}}

{{Blurb=You are Zeetha, Princess of Skifander and one of the more dangerous people around. You are a warrior born and bred, and are slowly teaching your slightly talented Kolee-dok-zumil, Agatha Clay. Someday you will find a way to get back to your lost homeland; you crave that dearly, but for now you make do as best you can.}}

{{Costume=You can be seen on this page and some subsequent ones: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/ggmain.cgi?date=20050629 . Note that you have long green hair, and medallions that reflect your mood.}}

{{Text=You are '''Zeetha''', third daughter of Queen Safina, of the Royal House of the Hidden City of Skifander. Skifander means "The Queen's Hidden Jewel", and your time out in the wider world has taught you much of what a jewel it truly is. Someday, you *will* see it again.

You were raised as befits a daughter of the Royal House: trained first and foremost as a warrior, skilled both in individual combat and in leading her people. You learned the principles that a warrior should exemplify and prize: not just mindless skill, but things like strength, wit, friendship, and (not least) sneakiness. You learned the sort of moderation that every true warrior must prize -- that righteous fury is a tool to be wielded, not a force that should ever allow to overwhelm you. That sense of inner calm has been all that has gotten you through the past few years, and it has been often tested.

Not that you were just a warrior, of course. You enjoy good gossip as much as anyone; indeed, you had to learn not to do so to excess, given all of the information available to you in the Royal Palace. And you were taught the ways of the Goddess Ashtara, patroness of Skifander, goddess of Love and War (the two most important principles of life, which always seem to be intertwined).

Life as a princess was good, orderly and understandable until several years ago, when the Expedition arrived. A great airship -- what you now know as a blimp -- appeared in the sky, and men came down from it. They explained that they were here to open relations between the outside world and Skifander. They weren't the first outsiders to find the Hidden City, but they were the first in many years, and there was considerable discussion of whether to have anything to do with them. Princess Magraita, your aunt, argued bitterly against it. (Magraita was said to have taken an outland husband many years before, who abandoned and disgraced her; you took that as a lesson in being careful about trusting the outlanders too much.) But your mother the Queen decided that it would be wise to open a dialogue, and selected you to be her ambassador -- a great honor, and one that you fear you may have failed in.

The matter seemed exciting -- for about two days, and then you got incredibly ill. You have never felt anything like it, either before or (blessedly) since. The hallucinations were -- unpleasant, and went on for some rather long time. And just when you were recovering enough to talk cogently with people again, the expedition was attacked by raiders: several more blimps, far better-armed than the large one you were in. The ship was shot down, and the members of the expedition all killed. You were the only one spared, apparently as a curiosity: your green hair is unknown in the outside world, and they found your ferocity amusing. It was all you could do not to kill every one of the pirates who came near, but you had been taught how to deal with a situation like this: wait, seek your opportunity, and then strike without mercy.

Opportunity came a month or so later, after the pirate ship had returned to its home base. They began to get sloppy, as you knew they would -- you had stopped being quite so fierce, so they assumed that they had broken your spirit. Eventually, you were down to a single guard, and he stopped holding a weapon on you when he came into your cage. He did not live long enough to regret that error.

The next three days were a blur of glorious combat. First you made your way around the base, learning its ins and outs, and killing guards as seemed opportune. Once you were comfortable with that, you were able to truly open up. Within a day, you had killed all those on board the ship that had taken you; within two after that, you had taken out the entire fleet, using their own great guns against them. The feeling of satisfaction was immense -- until you realized that you had no idea where you were, or where you had been captured. You were utterly, totally lost, in a world that knew nothing of Skifander.

The following year was educational, but not enjoyable. You made your way around Europa, finding extraordinary (and almost universally violent) creatures around every corner. The towns weren't all that much better -- you were "exotic", and the small-minded townspeople mostly didn't trust anyone or anything exotic. And no one had even *heard* of Skifander, much less knew where it was. By the end of that year, you were tired of feeling hunted all the time, and your despair of finding a way home was becoming palpable.

That was when you encountered Master Payne's Circus of Adventure, outside one of the towns. The Circus was quite remarkable: a show as good as any the Royal Court had ever seen, and yet taken for granted by the people of the towns. You were enthralled by your first show, and followed them to their next. Eventually you summoned the nerve to introduce yourself to them, and while they were slightly suspicious, they agreed that you had something to offer each other. You could provide a measure of protection to them from the creatures that haunted the woods, as well as providing one of their "acts". Using your warrior's skills as entertainment for the masses was a bit unseemly, but you told yourself that it was not that much different from the rituals that you learned to do as part of your training, which were often performed for the court to show your skill.

After a month or two of traveling together, the members of the Circus confided in you their secret: many of them were "Sparks", the strange people with particular inventive abilities that seem to crop up here in the outer world. This particular phenomenon was not known in Skifander. Although, from the descriptions, you suspect your aunt Magraita's outland husband was one of them -- people spoke quietly of his gift for invention, as well as his occasional mad rages. The Sparks of the Circus were not powerful Sparks like that, though: they were simply people with a bit of an extra gift. And for it, they were feared and shunned by the populace. Utter foolishness: if you had people like that at home, they would be trained and used appropriately for the good of the land.

Since then, you have traveled with the Circus for about two years. You miss your home greatly, but it hasn't been an entirely bad time. The Wilderness that you are traveling through provides ample opportunity for combat -- indeed, far moreso than the relatively pampered life at home, where the combat was mainly theoretical. And the people of the Circus are good folk. Especially Agatha, who has really shaken things up since she arrived.

A few months ago, Agatha Clay wandered in from the forest, with a big gun on her shoulder and a talking cat by her side. Now *there* was someone with a sense of adventure! Payne turned her away, though -- she was on the run from Baron Wulfenbach, the ruler of these lands, and Payne didn't want the Circus getting involved with any dangerous complications. But Agatha showed her mettle that day: when the Circus was threatened by a great wandering Clank a little while later, she rushed right in to help despite the rejection. She killed the creature, nearly getting herself killed in the process. At that point, there was no more turning her away: she had probably saved half the lives in the Circus, and demonstrated that she was good in a scrap. She was trained to replace Olga (the Circus' fortune-teller, who was killed in the attack), and fit in reasonably quickly.

And moreover, she knew of Skifander! She didn't know much about it -- just stories that she had heard from her uncle in childhood -- but she could even speak a few words of your language! Your frustration at how *little* she knew was immense, but you felt a bond to her nonetheless: finally, someone who could demonstrate to you that you hadn't simply imagined your life.

Shortly after, of course, the Wulfenbachs came after her -- Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, son of the Baron, arrived with one bodyguard: a woman apparently named "DuPree". You only caught a glimpse of *her* at the time: Payne was very clear that they were going to pull a subterfuge on the Wulfenbachs, and you were not part of the act. But that glimpse was enough to excite your curiosity hellishly -- you would swear that that tattoo on her forehead was the same death's-head as the one on the pirate fleet you wiped out. At some point, you will find her again, and you will have a nice long talk about whether she knows anything of that fleet. It's a long shot, but any possible clue to your path home must be followed up.

Regardless, everyone played their part perfectly, and young Wulfenbach went away with what he believed were Agatha's remains. Poor boy was clearly dejected, and it's obvious that Agatha isn't entirely happy about it herself -- she has strong feelings for him. You sympathize greatly, but the prisoner on the run can't afford involvements with her jailor.

Neither can she afford to be soft and flabby. You were very impressed by Agatha's spirit and spunk, but less so with her basic combat ability. So you made a fateful decision: she would become your pupil.

Every warrior of Skifander is expected to train her own daughters -- it is a sacred duty, passed down along the family lines. But in rare cases, such as when a girl is orphaned before her training is complete, another is allowed to take her in and teach her the ways of a proper warrior. To keep the teaching within bloodlines, it is specifically an exception: each woman is allowed to teach at most one girl who is not her own daughter. But this seemed like the time to make that exception. It is clear that Agatha is meant for greatness, and no one is ever *truly* great without knowing how to defend herself.

And so you became Kolee-dok-zumil. You've searched for a proper translation in this uncivilized tongue, and there really isn't one. It has strong connotations of "teacher and student", but that doesn't imply nearly tight enough a bond. "Cause and effect" is better -- your task is to make her into what she should become. But you really prefer "grindstone and knife": you will sharpen her to the edge she must have. The process isn't always especially pleasant for the knife, of course, but that doesn't make it any less necessary.

Ever since then, you have woken her each morning with the ritual nose-beeping. (A gesture of intimacy and friendship among the Skifander, which seems oddly unknown here. They know how to kiss; how can they not know how to beep?) You then spend several hours training her, in everything from basic weapons use to proper exercise. And you must admit, she has improved. When she started, she was at the level of a Skifander three-year-old. It was really a bit pathetic: you simply kept hitting her over the head, and she couldn't even get out of the way. Now, she is *much* better -- perhaps as fit as a halfway-competent six-year-old. Not as fast as you might wish, but it's a start. She's still prone to bouts of whining, or of over-confidence (neither of them fit qualities for a warrior), but she seems to be gradually learning better.

In the time you have been with the Circus, though, things have never been quite as grim as they are now. You are down to half-strength, and time is drawing short.

Three weeks ago, the Circus passed through the town of Middleburg, a place that is rather uncouth even by the standards of these uncivilized lands. The Circus hadn't been there in many years -- it wasn't on your usual route any more -- but with the bridge at Passholdt out of commission (and you all having barely gotten away from the creatures there with your lives), it was the obvious way to go.

Middleburg, it transpires, was now run by a corrupt nobleman named Hugo von Markheim. Von Markheim is quite a creature, the sort of wretched excuse for nobility that seems to be all too common around here. He runs Middleburg as his own private little fief, and he makes up the rules arbitrarily. By all accounts, he is exceptionally harsh, and likes to extort from everyone who passes through.

So Payne and Countess Marie were very clear with the members of the Circus: everyone was to stay strictly on the up-and-up. For all you know, they might have done so -- reports were very muddled. All you know for sure is that, late on that first night, a rider came from Middleburg, telling you that all the Circus members in town had been arrested, on the serious grounds of "theft". That was out of character (although a bit of basic grifting wouldn't have been surprising), but Payne treated the matter at face value. He asked how to get them out of jail, and was cited a price that was clearly a bribe. A bribe far beyond the Circus' means.

Payne and Marie pleaded with the herald -- everything but outright exposing their own Sparkiness to the herald. You quietly asked Payne if you should go deal with the problem, but he didn't want the number of deaths that would undoubtedly result. And the herald was implacable. Either the Circus coughed up the money within three weeks, or von Markheim would begin to execute members of the show. Finally, Payne asked whether fair exchange would be accepted, and the herald agreed that a gift of suitable value would be considered a proper bail.

Well, you clearly couldn't raise the money in Middleheim, and risk having more members of the Circus taken hostage. So you have spent the past two weeks on the road, doing everything you could to raise the funds. It has been hard, though, especially with half the group behind bars. As of a week ago, you were nowhere near having the needed money. But you did hear about one desperate option. The Hidden Castle of Amagog had recently reappeared.

It all tied into a famous local legend. Two centuries ago, the Great Spark Amagog had been terrorizing the countryside, with his "Perfect Construct" (some sort of monster -- accounts vary) by his side. And then, one day, he simply vanished: he, his monster, even his Castle, just disappeared one night. No one knew where they had gone, but the legend had it that he would return one day. And that day seems to be now -- a few weeks ago, the Castle reappeared, fully intact.

Of course, every adventurer in the region has been coming around and trying to enter the Castle, and none of them have come back out as far as you know. The Castle is fully functional, including all of its deathtraps. It sounds like a rather delightful challenge, and you gather that abandoned Castles like these often have treasure in them.

And so you all camped out here. Embi beat you to going inside the Castle. You aren't sure precisely what he did, but he apparently has friends out in the forest, and the bunch of them went into the Castle several days ago. Embi hasn't told you exactly what they found there, but when you ask about the ransom, he smiles and tells you that he has a plan. You hope he is right -- von Markheim's herald is supposed to rendezvous with the Circus here tonight, and he expects you all to be able to give him his money then. You might well take a wander into the Castle yourself, and see if there is more in there to be had.

Meanwhile, Agatha has been quite a disappointment these past couple of days. She wandered into the woods a couple of days ago, and came back out with yet *another* talking-animal sidekick, a gerbil who is apparently named "Artie". He's quite a personable sort, with a real sense of humor (better than her cat Krosp), but you have no idea how she keeps accumulating these things. And she was completely useless in training yesterday -- back to as bad as she was in the beginning, maybe even worse, and she keeps *complaining* about it. You expect better of her. She clearly came upon something in the forest that has put her out of sorts, and that's understandable, but it's no excuse for being lax about training. You're going to have to push her twice as hard today, to shake her out of her funk.

And then, there is the mysterious figure who has been lurking around the Circus the past day or two. You've only seen him from across the glade a couple of times, and it was simply dismissed as imagination, but you don't imagine things like that. A tall black man, fairly fit -- and buck-naked. Both times, you gave chase, and he somehow eluded you: simply disappeared, as if into thin air. *Nobody* is that good around here. Who is he, and what is he doing here? It's a mystery, and you don't like mysteries...
}}

{{Personality=You have always striven to be the warrior you were bred to be. Passionate about her friends, unforgiving to her enemies, but never losing that fundamental calm and control that belongs at the center of the warrior's heart. There is some amusing to be found in almost everything in the world, and that which isn't amusing is at least educational. You don't hide your feelings -- you love hard, battle hard, and when you are frustrated no one really wants to be near you. But you don't let those feelings control you: when the moment comes, you are utterly focused on the moment.}}

{{Contacts='''Queen Safina''': Monarch of Skifander, your mother. One of these days, you will get to see her again.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/agatha-icon.jpg http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/helen-icon.jpg http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/baroness-icon.jpg
'''Agatha Clay''': Your student, a Spark of clearly considerable talent, but still far too weak in the body. But she's improving gradually, under your ministrations each day. Yes, the training seems a bit harsh to the novice, but she'll thank you one day when it saves her life and that of those around her.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/payne-icon.jpg
'''Master Payne''': The owner of the Circus, he is a minor Spark who does illusions that you still don't understand. A good man, albeit a tad pompous in a typically male way. Mostly fun to be around, though, and he has respected your skill from the beginning. Too many of the people in these lands treat you as either a threat or a curiosity, so coming across someone who simply took you as you are and used you *as* a warrior was quite a comfort.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/marie-icon.jpg
'''Countess Marie''': Payne's wife, the co-owner of the Circus. A very nice lady -- really not much for combat, but she wields a remarkably effective frying pan, and has shown herself quite gutsy in a scrap, in her own way. She is a Spark whose focus is potions, and she puts even the finest Court Physicians of Skifander to shame in that respect. She is, like you, a noble removed from her lands, and you have developed an odd sort of friendship over that. Still, you don't entirely understand her: she left her home voluntarily, because Sparks like her aren't respected there. If you were in her position, you would simply stake your claim, and challenge the fools to dispute it. She is a far more *noble* noble than most of the ones you find in these lands, and really ought to be home doing her job: taking care of her people and seeing that they are well-tended.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/abner-icon.jpg
'''Abner''': Payne's second-in-command, a normal human with a good head for business. He was captured with most of the Circus, but they apparently convinced the jailers to let him go somehow. You're still not quite clear on how that happened; you really need to find out sometime. He's sweet on Pix, the Circus' best actress, who is still rotting in the prison back in Middleburg.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/krosp-icon.jpg
'''Emperor Krosp''': Agatha's pet cat. He's really quite a lot of fun -- terribly full of himself, but smarter than most people around here. He fancies himself the King of Cats: he can apparently command them, for what that's worth. He is a cunning strategist, and his nose is a formidable weapon in its own right -- he can smell emotion with an accuracy close to that of your own Gems, and it is impossible to hide most things from him. And he is the one person who respects what you are doing for Agatha. So the two of you have developed a curious sort of bond: you wouldn't precisely call him an honorable warrior, but he understands command, and that is something to be respected.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/dingbot-icon.jpg
'''Dingbot Prime''': Agatha is always constructing little Clanks, to do little jobs around the Circus. But this one, who arrived with her, seems to be special. The thing seems *alive* in a way that you've never seen any other Clank be. It's only six inches tall, so it can't do much in a fight, but it's shown itself to be fairly clever, and it is often useful having someone around who is only six inches tall. It is devoted to Agatha, and can often be found on her shoulder. It's hard to talk to -- it doesn't speak any normal sort of language -- but you've been slowly learning how to interpret it.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/artie-gerbil-icon.jpg
'''Artie''': Agatha's new pet, a talking gerbil. Nice enough sort, but no kind of warrior. Still, given how well you get along with Krosp, you've decided to give him a chance. Besides, it lets you keep an eye on him -- you never know what Wilderness creatures are going to turn into.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/embi-icon.jpg 
'''Embi''': A little black man who travels with the Circus nowadays. He's a curiosity: he denies being a warrior, but you can tell that he *is* one in most of the important respects. Certainly he's an adventurer of no small skill, and he is remarkably talented with his hands: he juggles better than anyone else you've ever seen. He's traveled much of the world (he claims to be 130 years old!), but says he's never seen any sign of Skifander. Sometimes being from a Hidden City has its drawbacks.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/dimo-icon.jpg http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/oggie-icon.jpg http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/maxim-icon.jpg
'''Dimo, Oggie and Maxim''': A trio of Jaegermonsters who have, for reasons unknown, decided to travel with the Circus. They have some sort of agenda, and it clearly involves Agatha -- you've seen them sneaking into her cabin more than once. So you need to keep an eye on them, and figure out what they are up to. Still, they clearly aren't planning to eat her, and while she was a bit disturbed by them at first, she seems to have warmed to them. They seem to be well-intentioned: even you wouldn't have survived the attack at the Pass without their help. And they are remarkable fighters, if wretchedly undisciplined. Outside of your fellows from Skifander, they may be the people you'd most want guarding your back.

'''Lars''': The Circus' advance man, a normal human who is very talented at negotiating with towns and arranging spots for the Circus. He's off arranging the next route, so he wasn't captured with the rest of the Circus. You don't know where he is, but hopefully he's safe -- the poor lad has a terrible crush on Agatha, and might not be a half-bad match for her. He's a bit thick sometimes, but has a very good heart, and seems to be content with a man's proper place in the world: doing business while the women are out protecting the place.

'''Yeti''': Your boyfriend, one of the few men you've found in the outer world who is neither confused nor intimidated by a female warrior. Big, strong, well-centered and quite a bit smarter than people usually assume -- no one ever guesses that he's a minor Spark. He's currently one of the captives in Middleburg, and you're going to give him a stern lecture on how *not* to get captured like that again once he is out. And one of these days, you will find a chance to get back to Hugo von Markheim and teach him that locking up your lover is *not* a good idea.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/maria-icon.jpg
'''Maria''': A girl who joined the Circus a week or so ago, in search of adventure. Really, she doesn't know anything about what the word means, nor how dangerous adventure can really be. But you are thinking about teaching her a bit about it -- letting her sit in on one of Agatha's training sessions, to see how hard a warrior needs to work before she is ready for "adventure".

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/gil-icon.jpg
'''Gilgamesh von Wulfenbach''': Son of Baron von Wulfenbach, who rules pretty much all the lands you've been in since leaving Skifander. You only saw him the once, and it was clear that he felt passionately about Agatha, but it isn't clear whether those feelings were at all honorable. Agatha's sweet on him, but it's probably a bad idea.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/dupree-icon.jpg
'''DuPree''': Wulfenbach's bodyguard when he came to pay a visit on the Circus. *Not* a nice sort -- she's the sort of cold-blooded killer who is just the opposite of a real warrior. But what you really want to know is whether she is somehow associated with the pirates who captured you three years ago.

http://jducoeur.org/GirlGenius/othar-icon.jpg
'''Othar Tryggvassen''': A Spark who tends to show up for the Circus' performance. He *is* a real warrior, in a sense: not just strong, but smart and fairly cunning in his own way. But he seems to occupy his own little world -- the times you've talked to him, you've always sort of felt like you were talking past him.
}}

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