Zahan

Village Zahan
The island of mourning Japanese ザハン Romaji Zahan Game Dragon Quest II
Dragon Quest II HD-2D Remake Old localization Same

Zahan is an isolated fishing village located on a small island in the southeastern seas of Greater Alefgard in Dragon Quest II.

It is the very first island village in the series, as well as the first tropical location.

Appearances

Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line

Zahan is located in the southeastern most corner of the world map. It is east of Burrowell and northwest of Rippleport. It is nearly adjacent to the Shrine West of Zahan, which players can enter immediately after taking control and exploring Middenhall. Two important treasures are on the island, being the golden key and the subtle shuttle.

Visiting Zahan is necessary in order to retrieve the golden key, which is a critical item from completing the game. The town is populated almost entirely by women and small children as their husbands and fathers are participating in a seasonal fishing voyage, with the exceptions being a travelling Merchant and a lecherous old man. Speaking to a young lady in the village will inform the player that the men are due back the following Spring, including her boyfriend Luke. Unfortunately, speaking to the Merchant in the inn will reveal that the fishermen were attacked by sea monsters and their vessel lies in the black abyss, with the peddler being unable to bring himself to deliver the terrible news to the women and children. Luke is the sole survivor of this tragedy, having washed ashore near Burrowell and is being nursed back to health in the subterranean town's church, albeit suffering from amnesia.

The golden key was owned and hidden by one of the late fisherman, Taliesin, and his dog will pull the Scions of Erdrick to where it is located after they speak to him. Searching in the specific tile yields the key. The mythical shuttle is also located in Zahan within the shrine to the Goddess Rubiss. In order to retrieve it, the heroes must possess the jailor's key and endure the pain of stepping on the damaging tiles that protect the loom from outsiders. Speaking to the women of Zahan will also yield hints alluding to the location of the Great Conflagration and the necessity of having the moonshard to reach it.

Shop & services

Item Shop 

Item	Price	Attributes
Medicinal herb	15	Heals a small amount of HP
Antidotal herb	8	Cures poison
Holy water	40	Repels monsters
Banishing bell	640	Protects against non-damaging spells

Nearby monsters

• Hawk man
• Miasma
• Treevil
• Walking corpse

Dragon Quest II HD-2D Remake

Zahan's location is one of several that is automatically marked on the player's map once the ship has been obtained in Rippleport, making it much easier for new players to find the tropical island. Additionally, players curious enough to have ventured through the teleportal that connects Midenhall to the Shipwright's Shrine can simply cast Zoom to the little temple and sail on over from there.

The village has been slightly redesigned to have rotunda buildings made of planks with thatched roofs, adding to the tropical theme. The exception is the temple on the north end, which remains a stone structure though the object of worship has been changed to a sea serpent that does not resemble any monster in the game. The temple still houses the subtle shuttle and also a magic bikini, requiring the magic key and ultimate key to access respectively. The nun stationed in the temple also states that having the ability to retrieve the items proves the Scions of Erdrick are worthy of possessing them, and encourages the children to claim the goods. Humorously, the temple also contains fighting instructions for me and women that illustrate culture and priorities of Zahan:

"If thou shouldst find thyself cornered by a slimy, slavering fiend of one description or another, the first step thou must take in its correction is to lull it into a false sense of security.

Begin they battle with a Soothing Song, mayhap even Blow a Kiss, then follow up by heaping Lashings of Love upon it. When the beast's savage heart is soothed, and it is as putty in they hands...lay it low with a Sobering Slap!

Thus shall the monster learn the error of its ways, and ne'er again dare to approach thee in the same, impudent manner. Ladies the realm wide, you need not fear the fiends!"

—Fight Like a Lady

"Wave thy sword about the place"

—Fight Like a Man

The culture of Zahan is also explored in the superstitions surrounding mermaids, which stem from an incident that took place decades prior where a fisherman was caught in the thrall of a siren. She had given the sailor a pearl earring that caused him to become obsessed over her until one day his vessel and crew were lost at sea, and his own corpse washed ashore on Zahan still clutching the earring. The villagers then set the earring in the Shipwright's Shrine along with a set of sacred claws in the hopes that their holy power would drive away the sea women, and the people of Zahan have regarded the mermaids as voracious man-eaters ever since.

The Scions of Erdrick learn of these superstitions first-hand upon entering the village. They are informed that the crew which set sail several days ago has yet to return by the troubled wife expecting a newborn of one of the leading fishermen, Sylvester, who is being crushed with the uncertainty of not knowing what has befallen her husband. The Princess of Moonbrooke is immediately sympathetic to the potential widow's plight, knowing too well what it is like to have loved ones taken from oneself without warning, and the Prince of Cannock volunteers the group to search for the lost crew as he asserts their mission is to bring peace to people's hearts. Sylvester's Wife then directs them to the sole fisherman who stayed behind while the others voyaged, having come down with an illness that prevented his participation. This mournful fishermen informs the children of where the crew sailed to hunt, and warns them of the danger of the mermaids by regaling them the tale of the cursed earring.

Armed with this knowledge the heroes set sail for the shoal outcropping marked on their map, and upon reaching it are attacked by a school of sea monsters. Turning the monsters into fish bait causes a pair of thankful mermaids to approach the group, revealing themselves to be quite chummy and nothing like the dreadful story. These mermaids, Elaine and Melinda, explain that they witnessed those same sea monsters attack the Zahan fishermen when their ship approached the shoal, wounding the crew and damaging the vessel. The pair successfully drove off the sea monsters and nursed the fishermen back to health, with Melinda developing an intense crush on a man named Sylvester in the process. Once the Zahans and their boat were fit to sail once more the duo escorted them back to their home at the same time as when the Scions departed from the island village themselves, only to find themselves being attacked by the same school of monsters when they returned to their favorite rock.

The heroes thank the mermaids for saving the lives of the fishermen and depart for the island, but not before the Prince of Cannock lets it slip that Sylvester is a married man and accidentally breaks Melinda's heart. The sailor had simply failed to mention his wife in passing to Melinda, likely too bewildered by the monster attack and the shock of mythical beings that proved his village's superstitions dead wrong. Melinda puts on a brave face, but asks the Scions to tell Sylvester that there is no need to reward her and Elaine for their help as he adamantly insisted―the sailor won't hear a word of it when the party returns to Zahan, however. He insists the pair be properly thanked for saving the lives of himself and his crew by asking the Scions to deliver the curious pearl earring to Melinda as a sign of the new friendship between their races, using his authority as one of the chief fishermen of the village.

In this iteration of the game Taliesin is part of Sylvester's crew and has survived the ill-fated voyage, with Luke being temporarily lost at sea due to an unrelated incident. Due to the silver key, gold key, & jailor's key being replaced with the standard thief's key, magic key, & ultimate keys, Taliesin's dog now pulls the player towards a gold tray it dug up instead. Should the player return to Zahan during the game's ending, Sylvester's Wife will have birthed a healthy baby girl and a humorous scene will depict the Prince and Princess of Cannock giving advice to Sylvester's children as their age gap matches the islanders' own.

Shops & services

Travelling merchant 

Item	Price	Attributes
Medicinal herb	8	Heals 35~45 HP Restores 45~53 HP with the water sigil
Antidotal herb	10	Cures poison Cures party with water sigil
Angel bell	90	Cures confusion Cures party with water sigil
Moonwort bulb	30	Cures paralysis Cures party with water sigil
Holy water	20	Repels weaker monsters for 64 steps Deals 15~32 damage to one foe Deals 30~64 damage with water sigil
Oaken club	40	Attack +4
Iron lance	660	Attack +17
Iron axe	2,700	Attack +27
Shell armour	350	Defence +14
Fizzle-retardant suit	4,400	Defence +46 +33% Fizzle resistance
Feathered cap	300	Defence +7
Hermes' hat	2,500	Defence +28 +25% Wind resistance
Shell shield	600	Defence +14

Treasures

	Subtle shuttle	x1	Magic key
	Mini medal	x1	N/A
	Strong medicine	x2	N/A
	Moonwort bulb	x1	N/A
	Unsealant	x1	N/A
	Tangleweb	x1	N/A
	Chimaera wing	x1	N/A
	Seed of agility	x1	N/A
	Seed of stamina	x1	N/A
	Watermaul wand	x1	N/A
	Magic bikini	x1	Ultimate key
	Gold platter	x1	Follow the dog

Nearby monsters

Trivia

• The men of the village being gone for long stretches of time in order to retrieve fish for the village may have been the inspiration for the annual fishing voyage of Pilchard Bay.
• Zahan is the first instance of a town being occupied almost exclusively by women in the series, a theme used more prominently in Femiscyra.

Gallery

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  NES map

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  SNES map

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  HD map

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  Temple HD map

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  Entering Zahan. (GBC)

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  The nearby shrine and Zahan. (Cell phone)

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  Hidden secret on Zahan. (Cell phone)

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  Finding the Golden Key. (Cell phone)

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  Zahan Temple. (Cell phone)