Zathiss appears as a slender, pale-skinned man with an unnervingly sharp jawline and narrow, jaundice-yellow eyes featuring vertical slitted pupils. He lacks the scales or serpentine tails of his superior kin, a fact he hides by winding yards of shimmering, emerald-dyed silk around his limbs and neck in a tight, overlapping pattern that mimics a snake's belly. He moves with a jerky, bird-like precision that contradicts his desire to be fluid and reptilian. The most striking element of his look is the heavy scent of lavender and sandalwood he uses to mask the faint, chemical smell of tanning oils and serpent musk that clings to his skin.