An entertainer and songs-smith, as well as a great beauty, Zeshalla was in many ways the Soul of Del Roh in the dark days after the Great Contagion. Siash chose her because he knew that the city would need a reason to recover and grow strong once again, and because he knew that she would devote all of her will toward the people of the Golden City.
While hardly the most powerful or influential of the Immortals, Zeshalla was perhaps the most important in those early days. It was her rousing speeches that gave the populace hope, enabling them to work through the hard days. While she was mostly remembered for the many little things she did to try to raise spirits, Zeshalla also organized work parties and oversaw many of the early efforts to deal with the dead and tend to the living. There were many times when it seemed like the city would never recover; the remains of the dead outnumbered the living, and conditions across the city were simply abyssmal -- yet Zeshalla and those who she gathered under her never flagged in their duties and worked unceasingly to return Del Roh to some semblance of normalcy. After the city finally began to recover from the Great Contagion, the Zeshalla found themselves both charismatic leaders and holding much of the approval of the city as a whole. Many of the cities priests hailed from the Zeshalla, and the family had extensive inroads into the various industries necessary for the well-being of the city -- everything from medicine, to fresh linens and clothing for the citizens of the Golden City. While Zeshalla never quite gave up her love of the art, there is no doubt that her experiences after the Great Contagion changed her utterly.
She might also have been the most strong willed of the Immortals. No one ever saw Zeshalla at less than her strongest, and if she was ever overly affected by the tragedies that she lived through no one else saw this weakness. Instead, she always seemed willing to smile at diaster and lend a laugh in the face of adversity. She was often called upon to lend her strength to the other Immortals when their own resolves dulled, and was responcible for making some of the most difficult decisions in the cities history. It was Zeshalla that first proposed the idea of strict rationing of food, and she that informed the citizens of Del Roh of the necessity for such herself.
The third most powerful Family by the time the Circle arrived in Del Roh, Zeshalla herself was one of the few immortals to have actually survived into the modern day (escaping accident and assassination). Unlike some of the other families, however, she'd prepared her Family for the event of her death and the Zeshalla recovered from their "decapitation" faster than any of the others. Azenath Zeshalla, a young niece of the Immortal, was in many ways like her aunt and naturally found her way into a role of leadership.
In the months after the Exodus, the Zeshalla stepped firmly into the role their founder had once taken so long ago after the Great Contagion. Within an hour of the opening of the golden doors into the South, the Zeshalla were on position assisting the Lady Schuyler with the actual mechanics of the Exodus. Azenaths private guards helped to maintain order, and the family arranged for the transport of numerous wonders and items of import through the Golden Doors.
Once the Rohani arrived at the site of Nei Roh itself, the leadership of the city did not end. The initial "Tent City" was assembled within the week; the Zeshalla had sufficient cloth on hand to house the entirety of the cities population. Numerous small expendable artifacts (heat orbs, light gems, and other such items) were handed out for the safety and comfort of the refugees, though the family was careful to ration these as well. The Circle didn't even have to deal with keeping the peace among the refugees; the Zeshalla's small guard contingent just took control over a few Talons of the Zintoban Legions and formed the crux of the Home Guard. Nor was this slight usurpation alone; the Zeshalla's leadership largely directed the other families for the first two weeks after the Exodus as they found their feet. It is unlikely, without the Zeshallas aid and leadership, that the Rohani would have survived the Exodus -- much less emerged as powerful and potent a force in the south as they currently are.
All of this points to one little secret: Azenath Zeshalla had been planning for the Exodus, or something very much like it, almost since the Circle arrived in Del Roh if not before. Yet despite this few really pay much attention to it. Most instead assume that the Zeshalla are naturally adapatable, or that Balthasar simply used the family as his tool to help the Rohans recover as quickly as possible. Even the Circle tends to overlook the role of Azenath unless she's right in front of them and as far as most of the city is concerned she's only faintly an individual at all. Most of the Rohani view her, instead, as "the head of House Zeshalla, Balthasar's Wife..."
More than any other Family, the Zeshalla have tried to reestablish and stabilize the ecnomy of Nei Roh as a whole. They view this as, currently, their most important task -- the demands for tents are steadily decreasing as construction starts to get underway, and the people are beginning to adapt to their new enviroment. However, self-sufficiency still evades Nei Roh and the city does not engage in trade so much as get robbed for most of its wonders and treasures. The citizens themselves are even worse off: except for what the government itself gives away, most citizens have to rely entirely on barter.
So far the Zeshalla have not had a lot of success. The Chit is the strongest coin native to the city, but its not even accepted throughout all of Nei Roh and has little value at all elsewhere. The current trade routes, that the Zeshalla worked extensively with Admiral Sand to keep open, have closed and the family doubts they will reopen soon. However, if this task seems difficult, the family has great confidence in their ability to pull it off.
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