Zola Malfeazium

Zola "Heterodyne" joined the story in an attempt to take over Castle Heterodyne. She's very much the anti- Agatha: she's flashy, where Agatha is subdued; she's overdressed, where Agatha dresses practically; she plays to the crowd, where Agatha causes the crowd to play to her. And, above all,, whereas Agatha most definitely is a Heterodyne. That by itself would justify labeling her as a villain, but there's more.

Zola makes her first appearance in Mechanicsburg after descending from a pink, very pink airship, of modern design and adorned with a Heterodyne trilobite sigil. (Some quiet detective work by Vanamonde von Mekkhan establishes that it was built in Stockholm and can change color at will.) Zola catches the eye of the crowd in a flamboyant pink outfit that matches the airship. She delivers a bombastic oration (nauseating Agatha and Krosp), summarily banishes the Black Squad that tries to stop her (with the help of her only named minion, one Herr Vikel), and begins a grandiose procession to Castle Heterodyne.

Inside the castle, she shows another face. She's a, where Agatha is kind-hearted and heroic; she plans to subdue Mechanicsburg by force, where Agatha intends to defend it; she is part of a plot to seize power over Europa for its own sake, where Agatha struggles to survive and to protect Europa and the world from the Other.

History
"Her name was Zola... she was a ...." from when he was a university student in Paris, where apparently he helped her out with unknown... stuff, and in return she warned him he was due for a bad end. Undoubtedly more detail is forthcoming. We can, however, infer that for all her currently implied cleverness, she back in old Paree. She is also unaware that Gil is the son of Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (which was, after all, a secret at the time.)

The Conspiracy
Zola is the public face of a conspiracy involving. Professor Tiktoffen, the prisoner who ostensibly oversees the other prisoners for Baron Wulfenbach and the Castle, also works for the conspirators. House Sturmvoraus is also involved; Tarvek Sturmvoraus has been reading the conspirator's reports on the castle. They are apparently of House Valois. The conspirators have a great deal of backing, including from Duke Strinbeck and Baron Oublenmach. Duke Strinbeck was recently ejected from the pink airship when he ordered the crew to fight the Torchmen of Mechanicsburg, rather than flee its airspace.

Zola came to Mechanicsburg  Vienna, probably speaking to the conspirators' Council there.

The basic goal of the conspiracy is to throw off the Wulfenbach yoke and take control of some or all of the empire. The conspirators see Castle Heterodyne as a key to legitimacy and the Baron's injuries as an opportunity to good to pass up. This has led Oublenmach (despite some hesitancy by Strinbeck) to push up the schedule for Zola's takeover of the castle. The public revelation in Sturmhalten of another 'Heterodyne heir' (Agatha) threatens to undo all their years of preparation.

Inside Castle Heterodyne
Where Agatha refused to place her friends in danger by having them enter Castle Heterodyne with her, Zola that all her minions follow her, resulting in at least one death. Inside, Zola with Professor Tiktoffen and starts to issue orders — not to reclaim the castle, as she had told the Mechanicsburg crowds, but to kill it.

Recognizing Agatha as a threat, she promises to any prisoner who manages to kill her. Just to show everyone she's serious, she blows away the Woman With the Veil Hat when the latter sensibly objects to chasing Agatha and Moloch von Zinzer into unexplored parts of the castle. When last seen, she was following Agatha deeper into the Castle. The part of the Castle that Agatha now controls is, and has accepted Agatha's orders to 'contain' her and her minions. Thanks to Agatha's orders, she should remain alive. Having the opportunity to remain trouble, however, will take some luck.

After Gil entered the Castle, he encountered Zola who immediately recognized him, but was unaware that Gil is the young heir of House Wulfenbach, instead assuming that he had been sentenced there like the other prisoners. To cover up oddities in his companions and his own motives, he convinced her that he was actually a pirate who entered the castle for reasons he hasn't lied about yet.