Two weeks prior to the Pack arriving at the orphanage in Curse Of Strahd, Zaharia was killed, falling from his second-story window. The adventurers eventually found out that he had been thrown from the window by Felix, possessed by a Shadow Demon.
A rambunctious boy in Saint Andral's Orphanage, Zaharia had a reputation for being a bully, being one of the few orphans who never knew his parents. Nonetheless, he was kind to many of the building's girls, especially Tessa Nicoleva, who he was teased for having a crush on. He was known to have bad relations with a newer orphan, Felix Zsoldos.