| “ | Shadows linger in Zha' ilathal like insects trapped in a cobweb. At its center, the spider lies in wait. | ” |
Zha’ilathal is a region in the Veil. The sky in Zha’ilathal is the outer limit of the threshold between the Veil and “black waves of truth” (which may be the Other World). Zha'ilathal also contains ruins that hold the access to the Last Threshold. I think that the Last Threshold is another name for the Last Door. On the other side of the threshold is the Other World. In the Other World, there is a place called Mount Qaf, which contains the Verb. The Verb is apparently part of the First Language, which grants the power of creation.
When Wakefield explored Zha'ilathal, he found that it was covered in mist. There was also a body of water, but it was not covered in mist, and a summit, but it was not a tall, snow-capped mountain.
According to Anthony's father’s journal, the Simurg is the Custodian of the threshold. It apparently lives in the Veil, not the Other World. It seeks to prevent people from getting too close to the Last Door. If a person enters the Veil and gets too close to the Door, the Custodian relentlessly pursues and destroys them. In a shrine in Zha’ilathal, there is a statue of a large creature that resembles a bird with the head of a wolf. A plaque below the statue reads, “Thirty Birds.” The plaque may suggest that the creature is somehow the combination of thirty birds. Near the shrine, Wakefield saw a vision of a flock of birds that merged together to form the Simurg. It probably wasn’t the actual Simurg, but it may imply that that Simurg can take the form of either a giant bird or a flock of ordinary birds.