Zoya is an extremely powerful wild mage (though she prefers the term "chaos mage") and a priestess of Erdian. She grew up apprenticed to Vasiliy Antonov, a member of a legendary brotherhood of chaos mages called The Chained. It was through her master that she met her two closest friends, the thief Darin Silkfingers and the bard Kevil Talarin. When her master was slain by a mind flayer, the three of them banded together on a mission of revenge, eventually becoming lovers and forming a magical bond that allowed them to share their life's energies.

Although they ultimately they caught up with and killed Vasiliy's slayer, Darin was killed in the ensuing battle. When they had recovered from the shock and their own wounds, Zoya and Kevil took the illithid's spelljammer and went into space. After a time their differing goals drove a wedge between them, and they parted ways. Not long after this parting, Zoya stumbled onto Torril and the Tower of Erdian in Marsember.

Eventually she made it past the Tower's defenses and bargained with Erdian himself, becoming his first priestess. As a sign of his mark on her, he turned her hair white, except for one lock which remained its original shade of purple.

Her magical specialty on her homeworld was scrying spells. But as a spelljammer, she was forced to develop magical shields against psionic attacks, and so her most impressive work to date has been in breaching the magical/psionic barrier.

On Torril, Zoya has a number of friends. Her two closest friends are probably Tyl'gania Nightstorm, an elven psionic (and sometime thief) who founded a school for psionics; and Lisl Ferrinsdottir, a werewolf-born warrior whose loyalty is as strong as it is hard-won.

In addition, Zoya has an apprentice and adopted daughter, Glossaria Anobium, who was transformed into a human (from a bookworm) by the Tower's magic in order to care for the extensive Library. Also occasionally to be found in the Tower is Zoya's lover, Marten. (Marten suffers from a bad case of wanderlust, which actually suits Zoya's hectic schedule.)

Kevil's recent appearance in Marsember caused Zoya no small amount of consternation - although she is overjoyed to see her old friend again, her feelings for him have changed over time, and she was sorry to have to tell him that they could not be reconciled as lovers. She hates watching him struggle with his emotions, and hopes that soon he will adjust to the situation and accept the sister's love she is willing to give him.