Zhered-Na

Origin

Zhered-Na is a gifted and respected sorceress, her power so great that she would be revered by the people of pre Cataclysm Atlantis. Zhered-Na would be a proficient white magic user developing somewhat of a following. However, Zhered-Na would experience a vision of the future, a prophecy involving the sinking of Atlantis, a cataclysm striking the great nation. Disturbed by her vision and prophecy and her unwillingness to retract her words, the Emperor of Atlantis Kamuu and his Queen Zartra would banish Zhered-Na from Atlantis. Set adrift in a boat, Zhered-Na spent weeks in deep meditation. In the waves, her god Valka revealed to her the future of mankind, including wars and horrors, wonders and heroes that included Captain America and Spider-Man. Eventually, her craft beached on the Thurian continent which would later be known as Eurasia. There, Zhered-na continued having visions of the future, sent to her by Valka. Some Thurian colonists recognized this and started a cult devoted to her.

Zhered-Na taught her followers of the gods of Therea and the darkness of the demons of Sominus, but when quakes racked the city nearby, she was condemned again as a witch this time by the nearby townfolk, who set out to kill her. Foreseeing her own death Zhered-Na decided she needed a disciple to bestow her magic upon, so she chose one from amongst her cult. His name was Dakimh, who was enchanted by Zhered-Na to make him age slowly and learned everything from his mistress. During this time, Zhered-Na, in absence of a Sorcerer Supreme, became protector of the Earth dimension, and quite possibly that era’s Sorceress Supreme, battling several extradimensional entities such as the Dweller-in-Darkness. Zhered-Na asked for help from Valka and Agamotto so she could defeat the Dweller but, even with their help, she found out she was not powerful enough to destroy the Dweller. However, she figured out another option: trapping him in another dimension in suspended animation.

Creation

Zhered-Na is a Marvel comic book character created by the creative force of Steve Gerber, Val Mayerik and Frank McLaughlin, the sorceress character first appearing in Adventure into Fear #15 released in 1973.

Major Story Arcs

Final Prophecy

Zhered-Na often gave her cultist followers prophecies, some of them valid in the present yet. Her final prophecy was about a horde of demons invading the modern times Earth. The Dweller-In-Darkness, even being trapped in the pocket dimension, was still able to feed off the Atlanteans fear, giving life to a new entity known as D’Spayre, containing part of its own consciousness. D’Spayre started influencing the villagers below Zhered-Na’s temple, and when Atlantis began to sink the villagers blamed Zhered-Na and her prophecy and subsequently attacked her temple. Zhered-Na, knowing her fate, told her followers to escape but most of them were slain, sharing her destiny. However, Dakimh successfully escaped with some other cultists and several scrolls containing most of Zhered-Na’s knowledge. Dakimh took over where Zhered-Na left off and battled D’Spayre for centuries, finally taking his own disciple, Jennifer Kale. Jennifer’s ancestor, Illyana Kale (who was a descendant of the original cultist), compiled all the preserved scrolls into a powerful tome known as the Tome of Zhered-na, enchanting it with a spell which only allows her own descendants to retrieve the tome.

Powers and Abilities

A powerful and accomplished sorceress Zhered-Na possesses extremely high levels of mystical energy generation, manipulation and projection. Considered one of her eras’ greatest and most powerful magic users, she had an array of various powers including precognition, teleportation, life force manipulation as well as the ability to amplify her own power by invoking it from higher sources. She was a proficient white magic user and at one time was considered in line to be Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme.

Physical Characteristics

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 130 lbs

Hair: Platinum Blonde

Eyes: Blue