Born into the Fogarty clan, Zaira grew up in a comfortable setting and enjoyed her time wandering the wilderness, reading books, and climbing the battlements of Castle Fogarty. In her teenage years, her mother passed away from illness. Zaira's father, struggling financially, married her off to an Ardachan nobleman. Eventually, she gave birth to a son.

Years later, she wrote to her brother, Dustin Fogarty, to take her son to shelter him from the ire of his abusive father. While he was away on campaign, Dustin was stripped of his lands and titles; her son was taken after the castle was seized. Zaira was devastated. Having learned of the treachery of her husband that lead to the downfall of the Fogarty clan, she poisoned him.

After his death, their manor was placed under foreclosure. Rather than live in squalor, Zaira decided to take matters into her own hands and ransacked her late husbands grave, stealing whatever trinkets lay with his corpse. She secured passage back to Prydonia and spent her most recent years leading a criminal life as a grave robber.