zeki (palia)

he talks in his sleep and has very intense dreams about carrots
zeki can pur and it’s a reason he hates being pet

Zed
Zed is Zeki's superior in the cartel. Zeki has a healthy mix of fear and respect for his boss, who has Palium-reinforced claws.

Zoraya
Zoraya was Zeki's apprentice. Like most Grimalkin apprentices, Zoraya often did the dirty work like testing booby traps or taking on the effects of magical items. She might have some resentment for Zeki, as she caused his ship and treasures to be lost to the ocean. She was later sent to apprentice under someone else.

Adder Cartel
This cartel is responsible for saddling Zeki with a debt that he was never meant to pay off. While they did teach him how to invent Flow products, Zeki intends to use his skills to overthrow the cartel's influence.

Zeki's Ma
Zeki and his mother are very close, writing each other regularly to check up on each other. His ma even addresses him as "kitten" in their letters and will send him her recipes when he is missing her cooking.

Zeki's Pa
Zeki remembers his father fondly, although they are not in touch anymore. Zeki's pa was a softie by Grimalkin standards, and would often give his children gifts or sneak them out at night.

Zarah
Zeki describes his oldest sibling, Zarah, as entitled, greedy, and pushy. She would often push he and his siblings around. Her selfish nature makes it likely that she is rich in the Grimalkin world.

Subira
As a member of the Order, Subira Profile.png Subira is suspicious and disapproving of Zeki's illicit activities at first, but eventually begins to trust him after discovering more about the Grimalkin cartel.

Hodari
Hodari Profile.png Hodari appreciates that Zeki bails him out when others are talking his ear off at the Inn, and that he is nice to his daughter. Although he worries Zeki will get her into dangerous situations.

Eshe
Eshe Profile.png Eshe is not fond of Zeki's sneaky, rule breaking tendencies and will do "random" inspections of his store. However, she respects Zeki for propping up Kilima Village's economy more than anyone else has.

Kenli
Kenli Profile.png Kenli is very fond of Zeki and will take time to show his appreciation for him.

Reth
Reth Profile.png Reth is Zeki's partner in crime. In order to pay off his debts for certain illegal shipments, Reth works for Zeki delivering packages, selling food in the Underground, and even meeting with members of the Grimalkin cartel. They also work together to improve the Underground experience, such as hauling hotpot pots from the Maji Market area. While it is hard work, Reth acknowledges that Zeki doesn't only care about himself and treats him well, he's even occasionally cheered up by the Grimalkin's humor.

Tish
Tish Profile.png Tish has a prickly relationship with Zeki. She is suspicious of Zeki's secrets - especially those relating to her brother, Reth - and even goes as far as to bug Zeki's bedroom to listen in on his conversations or get in the way of the Grimalkin's plans to earn fiscal freedom. She blames Zeki for Reth's cartel debt, although unbeknownst to her, Reth willingly entered into debt for her sake.

Delaila
Delaila Profile.png Delaila is a regular customer of Zeki's General Store and considers him a dear friend. They built their friendship through their chats at the sore. Zeki often gives her gifts for Auni and even carries her groceries sometimes.

Najuma
Najuma Profile.png Najuma considers Zeki to be a good friend of hers. As an inventor himself, Zeki enjoys and encourages her interest in inventions and often gives her gifts. Zeki was once a good friend of her late mother.

Kenyatta
Kenyatta Profile.png Kenyatta respects Zeki for getting on her mother's nerves, which is a hobby of hers as well.

Chayne
Chayne Profile.png Chayne and Zeki are on friendly terms. Chayne will often check on Zeki and find ways to cheer him up, while Zeki appreciates his care and hates making him worry. Zeki was especially touched when Chayne arranged a candy box with notes from friends for him.

When Caleri and Elouisa discover the Temple of Gales, Zeki tags along since they used his Flow battery to open it. He explores the ruins with the Player, examining the Flow devices and offering rewards for any ancient treasure the human finds.

When Subira arrives in Kilima Village to investigate rumors of cartels using old Palian trade routes to traffic Flow devices, Zeki is initially distrustful of her as she is a member of The Order and feigns ignorance regarding his involvement in the Underground or the cartel. However, once the Player helps Subira uncover a huge conspiracy about the cartels and the Order, Subira keeps Zeki's involvement to herself. Zeki hears of this and earns a little bit of respect for her.[4]

Eventually, Zeki requests the Player's help in retrieving a fallen meteorite that might enable the douplifier to duplicate larger, more valuable objects. However the Player discovers the meteorite has been taken from its landing spot in Bahari Bay. After speaking to a few Bahari villagers, the Player discovers that Tish took the fallen star and will not return it until Zeki has freed Reth from his cartel debts. Eventually, the Player and the three villagers meet in the Underground and discuss the situation.

During the discussion the three of them air their gripes about each other. Namely, Tish is upset that Reth secretly joined the cartel for her sake, blaming Zeki for his recruitment. Reth is upset that Tish found a possible cure for her sickness and didn't tell him. Zeki is miffed that Tish won't give him the falling star or trust his motivations for wanting it. However, with the help of the Player they come to an understanding, realising that they all want the same thing - to take down the cartel. So they agree to work together to make the douplifier.[5]

At the Maji Market, Zeki was originally not allowed to run a booth on the festival grounds, due to Eshe rejecting his vendor application.[3] The following Luna New Year, he earns his own booth to sell chances to spin a Prize wheel and an assortment of treats. During the event, Zeki talks to the player about his strange nightmares about Luna New Year. The dreams seem to be a symptom of regrets from the past, although Zeki denies it. With the help of Chayne and Zeki's friends, they figure out that the nightmares relate to Zeki's longing for his family. The player and Chayne put together a candy box with heart-felt notes from Zeki's friends to cheer him up. Zeki is touched at the surprise gift, even brought to tears for a moment. Zeki realizes that he is making a new family in Kilima and hangs up his wish on the Wish Tree.[1]

As a salesman of many wares, Zeki is often the source of help or item acquisition for the Player. He helps design Hassian's posters, accepts strange magical artifacts, and gives feedback on Najuma's designs at the Player's request.

Zeki is initially warm to the Player, glad to have someone to do business with. He sells them inventory expansions and encourages them to sell to or buy from his store. After a while, he notices the Player is uninterested in much of his wares and invites them to shop at his other business, only hinting at where it is. Once the Player discovers the Underground, he gives them a basement access key so that they can visit the market with ease. Zeki encourages the Player to keep the location and existence of the Underground a secret.

Once they are close enough, Zeki entrusts the Player with handing out fliers about a sale in the Underground, but only to the right villagers. His business increases thanks to the fliers and Zeki requests the Player's help in creating a douplifier to increase his supply. Once the douplifier is created, Zeki allows the Player to test it and plans to bring it to Badruu to help with duplicating his crops. However, Auni discovers the douplifier and breaks it duplicating butterflies. In order to get the Daiya family onboard with the douplifier again, the Player to helps Zeki curb Kilima's new bug problem. Afterwards, Zeki opens up to the player about his real motives behind the douplifier: to earn his fiscal freedom and disrupt the cartel's supply. However, he also shares his doubts about his ability to do either. The Player comforts him and Zeki appreciates their friendship.

Once weaned, his family sent him off on his own to start his own business, like all good Grimalkin. However, he secretly maintained contact with his mother through letters. Making his own living was tough, so he trained in Flow device invention under the Adder Cartel in exchange for a debt he was never meant to pay off. Since then, he has made it his goal to pave his way to fiscal freedom and upset the cartel hierarchy in the process. With the help of his apprentice, Zoraya, he sailed the seas in his ship, The Golden Catfish, in search of valuable Grimalkin Pirate treasure that would pay off his debt. However, his apprentice caused the ship to sink, sending all the treasures and crew into the sea. Zed, Zeki's boss, had to rescue them and as punishment sent Zeki to live in Kilima Valley and Zoraya to learn from a different mentor.[2]

After establishing himself in Kilima Village as the owner of the General Store, Zeki secretly founded The Underground, Kilima's own black market, to do business with the cartels. He recruited Reth once the cook started doing deals with the cartels, and was the one who tattooed cartel tracking runes on the Majiri's arm. Now they both operate out of Kilima with intentions to pay off their cartel debts. Over time he slowly built rapport with the residents of Kilima Village, by chatting with his customers during the day and socializing in the Tavern during the evenings

Zeki was born as one sibling in a litter of Grimalkin kittens to his ma and pa. In his childhood, he and his siblings would often get bossed about by the eldest child, Zarah. His mother was a hardworking Grimalkin who worked her way to second in command in the Mantis Cartel, and was very close to Zeki. Meanwhile his father was a rebellious bad boy but softie at heart. He would often spoil Zeki and his siblings, taking them out or sneaking them presents. One time their pa took them to look at the moon and celebrate Luna New Year. Even though Grimalkin don't believe in wishes, Zeki's father allowed them to make wishes on the tree, as long as their mother didn't find out. Zeki's father considered wishes to be promises someone makes to their self. Zeki fondly remembers sharing a candy box with his family, enjoying how beautiful Luna was, and making a wish to celebrate Luna New Year with his family again. Zeki never got to experience that again and wistfully wishes for simpler times.[1]

Zeki is a stout Grimalkin with long, orange fur and white on his face, neck, and palms. He has a pair of deep brown whiskers on his muzzle, and the skin on his nose and inside his ears is pink. He has two sets of ears; the pair on top is long and slender, and the pair on the side is shorter and fatter. His eyes are colored green, but his right eye is covered with a loupe goggle. His typical outfit is a long coat with a teal/brown gradient and bronze trims — with a glowing pin pinned to the left — a green ascot tie, a white high-collared vest with golden accents, deep brown pants, and rust-colored pointed-toe shoes. He adorns many golden rings on his fingers, as well as an earring in his bottom left ear and a golden molar on his left side

Zeki is a mischievous and charismatic Grimalkin. A businessman at heart, Zeki is often focused on increasing profits or achieving his fiscal freedom. He's also a natural rule breaker - not just of Palian rules but of Grimalkin rules, too. He breaks Flow laws by trafficking Flow inventions and running the Underground as a black market under Eshe's nose, but also regularly writes to his mother, which is a taboo in Grimalkin culture. As an associate of the Grimalkin cartels, he is very secretive about his thoughts and illicit business, often playing dumb or using his playful and lighthearted demeanor as a cover for his true feelings. While sneaky and ambitious, Zeki is not selfish. He will go out of his way to care for his friends or ensure their safety when he doesn't have to.

Zeki often experiments with Flow inventions and respects others who invent, such as Najuma or her mother. His inventions don't always work according to plan, though.

Zeki has a large knowledge of legendary Grimalkin pirate treasure, and often uses his apprentice to test them for curses or booby traps.

He has a luxurious taste in home decor, and is an expert in creating marketing materials for his shop or decorating the town for seasonal events.

Zeki is very fond of seafood