Zahra Hydris

Zahra Hydris is a tiefling warlock, a member of the Slayer's Take guild, and an ally of Vox Machina. Lillith Anioska Daturai is her cousin. In both Critical Role and The Legend of Vox Machina, Zahra is played by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.

Appearance
Zahra is a red tiefling with long curved horns, pointed incisors, white hair, and pale silver eyes (which can turn pale blue like Catha when casting a spell). She fights with an iron staff featuring four dragons carved at the end holding a moonstone planet in their mouths. When asked about the staff, Zahra mentioned that she made it herself.

Personality
During Zahra's first encounter with Vox Machina, she seemed cold and distant. She talked to Vex'ahlia in a passive-aggressive manner and was condescending to the rest of the group.

Over time she began to warm to Vox Machina and became much less distant, eventually becoming both an ally and a friend. Zahra is very sure-footed, passionate and quick-witted. She is easily moved by tragedy and holds empathy for those trapped or imprisoned.

Background
Zahra came from a dark, mountainous area far away from Vasselheim. She lived in a castle with her father, a dark wizard who kept her in a cage. Her father was eventually killed and Zahra was left alone in the woods.

Her first time being outside after her father died was at night and when she looked up at the moon it sang to her and saved her life, which she was in awe of. This was presumably her patron, who's heavily linked to the moon.

Slayer's Take trial
Zahra was assigned to work with half of Vox Machina: Scanlan, Percy, Grog, Vex, and Trinket. Lyra, a human woman already in the guild, was assigned to be the group leader. Together, they were required to find and slay an adult white dragon in order to gain entrance to the Slayer's Take, a hunting guild in Vasselheim.

Zahra was initially met with distrust by many members of the group, especially Vex'ahlia. Vex was extremely anxious and unhappy about being separated from her twin brother. When the party set up shifts for guarding their camp, Vex firmly insisted that she take the same watch as Zahra, not wanting the party to be left vulnerable. This led to a conversation where the two bonded over lost parents and hardships in their childhoods.

During the battle with the white dragon Rimefang, Zahra dealt the killing blow with her Hellish Rebuke ability.

Zahra sent her cousin Lillith to Vox Machina in order to seek refuge and help.

Zahra, who had just returned from slaying a doppelganger with Vanessa Cyndrial and Kashaw Vesh, was reunited with Vox Machina when the party traveled to the holy city of Vasselheim to find allies to aid them against the Chroma Conclave. She agreed to aid Vox Machina in their fight against the dragons and convinced Kashaw to aid as well.

Later on, at the Bellow's Respite Inn, she told Grog Strongjaw that she made a hammer with a full moon crest on it in honor of his victory at the Crucible. She mentioned that she liked to forge in her spare time and promised to give it to him before they leave Vasselheim. She was the only one to clap for Grog when a bartender announced him as the champion of the Crucible.

Kashaw and Zahra helped Vox Machina recover one of the Vestiges of the Divergence from the sunken tomb of Purvan Suul. Zahra was the one to land the final blow on the beholder. When Vex'ahlia died from a trap in the tomb, Zahra administered a healing potion, but it had no effect. During Kashaw's ritual to resurrect her, Zahra aided by calling on her patron.

After traveling through Keyleth's transportation spell to Whitestone, Zahra and Kashaw were given rooms in the castle to stay in.

In the aftermath of the surprise rakshasa attack, Vox Machina was relieved to find Zahra safe and undisturbed.

Vex visited Zahra in her room only to find her asleep at her desk, face buried in books. Zahra revealed that she'd been helping Allura in researching the Ziggurat beneath Whitestone, and the Siphon within it, but that it was all a little tiring. She had, however, managed to find time to create one Arrow of Dragon Slaying, though Vex wasn't entirely pleased with the discounted price of 12,000 gold.

With the final battle fast approaching, Vex'ahlia went to Zahra's room in Whitestone Castle to ask for her help. The two briefly reconnected and joked about getting matching tattoos for having both killed white dragons, Rimefang for Zahra and more recently Vorugal for Vex. In the end, Zahra agreed to come with them regardless of the danger.

Before setting off to meet their allies for the upcoming fight, Zahra pulled Vex aside to express her concerns about Raishan, revealing that she'd been keeping an eye on the disguised dragon during her stay in Whitestone but couldn't glean much, saying "I found out that I knew nothing about her. And she knows everything about me."

Later during the planning of the siege, she telepathically warned Kashaw to be wary of Raishan too, and afterward reminded Vex again that "If it comes to it, I'll go down taking her out." In the sewers beneath Emon, Zahra used her Beast Speech invocation to reassure Trinket, telling him how much Vex loves him.

At the entrance to the Cloudtop District, Zahra proposed she and Kash distract the fire giant guards and buy Vox Machina time to get to Thordak. After a brief goodbye and wishing the group good luck, Zahra cast Evard's Black Tentacles and ensnared the two giants, screaming for the group to go while Kash and herself "had some fun".

After their battle with Thordak and Raishan, Vox Machina was pleased to find that Zahra and Kash had survived to fend off reinforcements. While everyone took a rest to recover from their respective fights, the group noticed that Zahra had already been healed to full, likely by Kash who only had 'a little bit' of healing left in him. Zahra was among those who returned to Whitestone with Vox Machina and numerous allies.

Zahra and Kashaw, riding a pair of wyverns, arrived at Entropis during Vox Machina's battle against Vecna. The duo managed to help out a bit, with Zahra attacking the newly risen deity and Kashaw healing the wounded members of Vox Machina. However, Zahra, Kashaw, and their wyverns were soon targeted by one of Vecna's Hold Monster spells, paralyzing all four of them. They were last seen falling past the tower, down into the mist below and out of sight.

Kash and Zahra were revealed to have survived the fall and made a brief appearance in the final episode of Campaign 1. It was here that Kashaw revealed that he and Zahra were expecting. Zahra was convinced that it would be twins, since twins were unusually common in her family.

Kashaw Vesh
Kashaw developed a deep respect and familial love for Zahra. He said that she saved his life even though she didn't have to, and that she has shown him what it means to have family.

By the time of Vecna's attack on Vasselheim, the two had already been romantically involved for over a year. As of 812 PD they were expecting their first child together—or possibly children, as twins run in Zahra's family.

Notable items

 * Cloak of the Bat: In dim light or darkness, allows the wearer to fly and, once per day, polymorph oneself into a bat.
 * Dark Staff with four dragons at its top and an enchanted moonstone in their midsdt (the moonstone was a contribution from Zahra in Velora's resurrection ritual and Zahra let Vex take it afterwards)
 * Moonhammer (crafted by Zahra and gifted to Grog in .)
 * Arrows of Dragon-Slaying (one arrow was crafted for Vex after their fight with Rimefang and given to her in . Another one was crafted and given in )
 * Ring of protection

Tiefling abilities

 * Darkvision (60 ft)
 * Infernal Legacy
 * Thaumaturgy
 * Hellish Rebuke (as a 2nd-level spell)
 * Darkness

Warlock abilities

 * Eldritch Invocations (6)
 * Mystic Arcanum
 * Otherwordly Patron (The Great Old One)
 * Awakened Mind
 * Entropic Ward
 * Thought Shield
 * Pact Boon (Pact of the Tome)
 * Pact Magic (Charisma-based spellcasting)

Eldritch Invocations

 * Beast Speech
 * Sculptor of Flesh
 * Eyes of the Rune Keeper
 * Fiendish Vigor
 * Mask of Many Faces
 * Agonizing Blast

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign 1
 * One-shots
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Quotations

 * Zahra/Mary: "Welcome to hentai!" (Upon successfully grappling two fire giants with Evard's Black Tentacles)

Behind the scenes
Mary wanted to play a spell caster, and decided to play a warlock after looking at what classes were already in the party. She chose the tiefling race because the internet said tiefling warlocks were "the best". Mary wanted her character's name to start with a "Z", and saying the name Zahra helped her develop the voice for the character.

Trivia

 * Mary Elizabeth McGlynn said in a Q&A that Zahra feels attractiveness goes beyond the physical, that there is an "attraction to someone's soul".
 * As of May 2022, Zahra had the highest charisma score of any guest player character.
 * Zahra is the first guest player character (the next four being Kerrek, Tova, Shakaste, and Twiggy) to have achieved a How do you want to do this?, killing both Rimefang and the beholder in Purvan Suul's tomb.
 * Consequentially, Zahra was the first guest character who achieved an HDYWTDT twice, sharing her pedestal with Dorian Storm.
 * In the Critical Role Major Arcana Tarot Card Set, she represents XVIII - The Moon.