[ooc] application
Ricahrd Rahl Application
User Name/Nick: Cri
User LJ: lecri
AIM/IM: n/a
E-mail: nicartstar at gmail dot com
Other Characters: Olwman
Character Name: Richard Rahl
Series: Sword of Truth series
Age: 30 (It doesn’t really specify, but at the point I’m taking him from, I’d say that’s about right.)
From When?: Post “Soul of the Fire” (book 5 in the series)
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Richard is the protagonist - and hero - of the series, and he believes in freedom and strives to bring peace and to protect.
Item: A Journey Book - a journal that, when one writes in it, the message is received by it’s twin, and vice versa. When Richard uses it as his Item, it will scrawl messages to him as to where his inmate might be, and will scrawl things to open Warden-only places.
Abilities/Powers: Richard is what is called a War Wizard, which means that his magical ability specializes in the blade - this is anything from a sword to a carving knife. His powers are made known when he has great need or great anger. Richard doesn’t consciously know how to summon his magic, as he’s still learning about it, though it can surface in small things, like shooting an arrow directly at a target, or big things, like striking a bolt of lightening on a foe, sometimes, though the latter is very rare.
Personality: Richard has a strong since of justice, and values the truth above all else. This, coupled with his curiosity, makes him sometimes come off as harsh, relentless in his search for truth. When he senses someone is lying or being unjust, Richard puts compassion behind him and often faces the problem head-on, sometimes letting his anger rule him. When he is angry, he often strikes out verbally at those he believes are his tormentors, though he does feel a level of guilt for this, which fluctuates depending of the person and how they react to it and what his relationship with them is.
Richard, in his value of truth, hates anything that hides the truth - such as puzzles, riddles, con-men, or people who dance around the truth. He is angered when the truth is not given, or hidden, and works hard to uncover it. He knows that the truth of something can be hurtful, but in his mind, it is better to know the truth - hurtful or not - than believe a lie. As far as lashing out at his perceived tormentors, if one were close to Richard, he would feel guilt at his lashing out, though that wouldn’t stop him from lashing out, just make him sugarcoat his displeasure. If the person were an enemy or a stranger, Richard would not feel much guilt at all, and would not sugarcoat his anger.
Despite this, Richard is a compassionate man off the battlefield. When someone becomes dear to him, he will do anything to help him or her. His loyalties are strong. He has a tendency to give out his trust a bit blindly, and is hurt if that trust proves to have been a bad idea. If he makes a mistake, he will be sure to be the one to fix it - in that, Richard tends to carry the troubles of many with him, whether he was directly responsible or not.
Richard is drawn to helping people, trying to get them to a place where they could live a better life. He believes that in doing things to help yourself - say, fixing stairs that lead to your house - you’re not only helping yourself, but anyone else who uses, in this case, the fixed stairs. While Richard doesn’t believe in living your life to please others, he does want to help others, even if it means some discomfort for him, though not if it means sacrificing his own health and happiness.
Richard wishes to believe people have the commonsense and will to live a good life and accept truth, but he knows that isn’t true for everyone. Still, he wishes. In this, he gives his trust to those he hopes and or perceives as ‘good’. This has proven to be a problem in the past, as his trust is sometimes bent and shown to be a bad idea. To that extent, Richard tries to be careful with his trust, but sometimes lets his hope cloud his reason.
While Richard is not completely set in his ways, when he makes his mind up on something, he is convicted in his beliefs. He is very stubborn. On some matters, he tries to keep an open mind, but some things and concepts are beyond him to completely accept. His idea is to acknowledge it, but not necessarily accept or reject it ,whether “it” is a relationship, worldview, or other concept.
His stubbornness makes him sometimes rebel against those he holds conflicting viewpoints with, though sometimes he tries to yield to their views. Even should the person be of great rank or wealth, Richard will hold true to what he believes and, if he feels necessary, order or force them to go with his beliefs. Say, he believes horse bits shouldn’t be used, but the person of rank believes they should. Richard, if he believes this strongly, would destroy the horse bits, thus forcing the other person to ride with no bits, as he wanted.
He looks down upon those who are disrespectful, or lazy. He believes that if you want something done, you should take the initiative and do it yourself. Richard wants to help others, and often strives to set an example for them and tries to encourage them to do things for themselves and the ones they love.
His confidence in himself to lead is very little, as he views himself as simply “Richard the Woods guide”. While he tries to accept that he is a wizard, he has a harder time accepting that he is a Lord of an Empire. He often takes on the opinions of others in his decisions as a Lord, especially those of who have experience leading, like his wife, Kahlan. Richard considers the opinions in his decisions, only discarding them if he has a strong stance on a subject. Otherwise, he is unsure of his decision as a leader. Richard has no ambition for power - be it political or magic. He dislikes being a leader, believing himself a “false lord”, and has little confidence in his knowledge of ruling a people. As for magic, he doesn’t like to depend on it, thinking it lazy to do so, sometimes going so far as to try and explain it away with reason. Richard believes that reason is the only sure thing in the world - the only thing he should allow to control him.
Freedom is extremely important to Richard, a cause he is devoted to, that he is willing to die fighting for. He is wary of anything that may suggest captivity. His hate of captivity is also a fear - Richard loathes being a slave, and is especially afraid of being chained or kept locked up. Having experienced said captivity in the past, twice, Richard reacts violently to captivity and chains; He will devote himself to getting out, even if he should have to use others in his escape plans. As far as how things are on the Barge, the conditions will not bother him too greatly, as he will see that the inmates are not complete prisoners, though he may not be able to fully reconcile some of his feels about prisoners. He most definitely would not like Zero, relying on it only if he sees a dire need to. As for interaction with an inmate, he would sympathize with a frustration of being kept on the Barge, and work that much harder with them so they can graduate and be free again.
Along with his fear and hate of captivity, Richard dislikes the idea of prophecy or destiny. He believes that everyone’s life is his or her own and they make their own paths, not that their life is planned out for them already. He sees prophecy as a kind of captivity, in that you are supposed to follow the path that others have chosen for you, and not be allowed to wander. Despite that prophecies have been made about him, and often comes true, though in vague ways, Richard denies that prophecies must be followed through with. He believes that his ‘destiny’ is his decision.
The Barge, itself, he would brush off as a thing of powerful magic. While he would be taken aback by traveling to new worlds, his curiosity would urge him to want to explore. The floods would not bother him too much, though his sense of suspicion would be roused, as he’d be convinced a powerful wizard is casting spells on the Barge, and may be inclined to search for the “why” of what happens on the Barge. All in all, Richard would take the Barge in stride, but his curiosity would be piqued. Interacting with other Wardens, Richard would defer to the senior warden’s experience and advice, again, discarding it if he is strong in his own viewpoint. He may disapprove of the disorganization among Wardens, but ultimately focus himself on working to help his Inmate, though if he sees a way to do this and help the general populace, he’d be eager to carry the action out. The Admiral, he’d be suspicious of, but give him respect, unless he does something that Richard cannot easily accept.
Path to Redemption: n/a
History: Richard was prophesied, long before his birth, to be a key person in the tides of many a battle. When he was born, he was taken across the border separating the magical world - the Midlands - from the non-magical world - the Westland - and lived in Westland for close to 20 years. He grew up believing he was “Richard Cypher”, thinking magic was a myth, and content to be a Woods guide. The day his mother died, Richard vowed to never let himself be taken over by anger, as he believed that was what killed her. However, when his stepfather, George Cypher, was killed, Richard began a ruthless search for the truth of his father’s murder. While searching for evidence, he met Kahlan, a woman who was being stalked by four soldiers in the woods. After helping her get rid of them, he then helped her find Zedd, his Grandfather, where it was revealed to him that he was “The Seeker of Truth”. After being rightfully named, and having received the Sword of Truth, Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd set off on a quest to save the Midlands from being conquered by Darken Rahl of D’Hara. During his quest, a Mord’Sith -a warrior from D’Hara - named Denna captured Richard. She tortured him for months, until Richard was broken of his spirit and all he believed. However, Denna fell in love with him, and he with her, and she let him kill her, knowing it was the only way he could escape. After Denna’s death, Richard began to unlock his magical ability, though this was unknown to him at he time. By pretending to be confessed - a state where the Confessor controls his soul, leaving only a dire need to make said Confessor happy - Richard tricked Darken Rahl into using dangerous magic to destroy himself. After the battle was won and D’Hara was defeated, Ricahrd and Kahlan rejoiced in the realization that they could be together without fear of Richard being actually confessed to her.
As consequence for the magic Darken Rahl unleashed, a tear in the veil separating the world of the living from the world of the dead appeared, and allowed the Keeper of the Underworld to wage war on the living. During this mess, Richard was forced to go with a group called the Sisters of the Light to a place beyond even the Midlands - the Palace of the Prophets in the Old World. There, Richard made a vow to escape his captivity and spent time integrating himself in Palace life, gaining trust from various people so as to assure they would stay out of the way, and perhaps help him, when he made his escape. Along the way, he learned of his magic and his linage - being from the Rahl family, Richard was rightful heir to the throne of D’Hara, and inherited the magic of the House of Rahl. He also learned that he was what was called a War Wizard - someone with both Additive magic - which creates - and Subtractive magic - which destroys - whereas all the wizards of his time had only Additive. Having both sides of the Gift, Richard was the only one who could use the Stone of Tears - a jewel said to be the key to the Underworld - to seal the veil. Learning, too, of the corruption in the Sister’s Order, in the form of the Sisters of the Dark - sorceresses who sold their souls and allegiance to the Keeper of the Underworld - Richard was too late to prevent them from being let loose on the world. After his successful escape from the Palace of the Prophets, Richard fulfilled yet another prophesy by bringing down the boundary between the Old World and the rest of the world. Eventually, the Palace of the Prophets was destroyed, and the Sisters made to flee. Racing back to the source of the tear in the veil, Richard used the Stone of Tears to seal the Underworld once more, but at the cost of being separated from his love, Kahlan.
With the boundary between the Old World and New World - the rest of the world - gone, a powerful new enemy - the Imperial Order - descends upon the Midlands. Taking up the throne of Lord Rahl, Richard used Mord’Sith Cara and her other Sisters of the Agiel - the weapon Mord’Sith use - as well as D’Haran troops to try and run the Order out of a capital city, Aydindril, of the Midlands. The leader of the Imperial Order, Jagang, is a Dreamwalker; he has the powers to enter a person’s mind. Learning this, Richard also learns that his ancestor, Alric Rahl, created a magic that could guard against a Dreamwalker’s powers - a magical bond passed on through the bloodlines of the House of Rahl, mentally linking the Lord Rahl to all those who swear true loyalty to him. With this knowledge, and the bond being passed down to him through bloodline, Richard is able to overthrow the Order troops in Aydinril. After this, he begins his plan to have the Midlands unified in the fight against the Order; He offered everyone a choice between joinig with the D’Haran Empire, or being left to the Order’s mercy.
Having been reunited with Kahlan along the way, Richard and she lived in Aydinril, overseeing the unification of the Midlands. Another attack by the Order came, however, in the form a plague sent by means of magic. It first struck among children, then slowly moved through the whole of the citizens of Aydinril. Learning of a prophesy that said Richard must enter the Temple of the Winds to stop the plague, Richard and Kahlan undergo a ritual that tears them apart, at the price of being able to save their people. Once in the Temple, Richard was trapped in a world between living and dead, but gained complete knowledge of magic in return. He learns how to stop the plague, and after much convincing from the spirits of the dearly departed, Richard strikes a bargain with the spirit of Darken Rahl, his true father. To return to the land of the living, Richard had to give up all knowledge of magic he learned in the Temple, and take the plague into his own body. Agreeing to the price, Richard returned to Aydindril, to find that Drefan, another son of Rahl, had usurped his throne and was intent on killing Kahlan. Using the last of his strength to stop Drefan, Richard was close to death, until Kahlan used a forbidden spell to bring him back.
As consequence of using the forbidden spell, Kahlan drew the chimes - beasts that devour magic from the world - into the world of the living, and unintentionally offered Ricahrd’s soul to them, as the price of reviving him from death. Having been deceived of this truth, Richard, Kahlan, Cara, and a troop of D’Harans travel to Anderith to win them over in the unification of the Midlands versus the conquer of the Order. While Richard went from block to block campaigning, the Rulers of Anderith made under-the-table deals with the Imperial Order and set out to sabotage Richard’s campaigning. In the midst of this, Richard found the origin story of the chimes, and came to know how they were defeated by the Wizard Joseph Anders, who then used them to power the terrible weapon bordering Anderith - the Dominie Dirtch. While the Order invaded Anderith, and Richard and the D’Harans leaving in shame of their loss of the alliance with the Anderith people, the Dominie Dirtch was activated, incapacitating Richard. Having to stay in the City until he recovered, Richard set off to defeat the chimes by going to the source, the Dominie Dirtch, and learning how to destroy it - He created a new type of spell to call the spirit of Wizard Anders and the chimes and seal them both together in the Underworld. However, while he triumphed over the chimes, Richard found out that Kahlan had been mugged to death. Using a magic called the Breath of Life, Richard brought her back, and then resolutely left Anderith behind to fall to the Order, taking Kahlan and Cara far away from the midlands so they could heal, turning his back on the war.
After the loss of Anderith, Richard became depressed, viewing himself as a “fallen leader”, and resolved to stay out of the war completely until the people could prove that they wanted freedom enough to die for it, until he could prove to himself that he could lead a people.
Sample Journal Entry: [Text]
My fellow Wardens, Inmates, and people upon this Barge,
Hello. I’m Richard, and I look forwards to the days where I may do good on this ship. While I am just a man, I wish to help those in need, and I shall devote myself to the cause. I’m new aboard, and am sure I’m missing a few details; I ask for help with anything that I should know about - how things work here, any rules not included in the briefing with the Admiral, and, of course, any personal advice would be a huge help.
I must admit that this Barge, this place of such powerful magic, has me a bit baffled at the moment. From what I gather, this device works as a Journey Book? That is, what is written in here is viewable to all who have a similar device? Anyhow, I shall have to sate my curiosity of this place soon, lest I let it distract me any more.
With the hopes of doing good,
Richard Rahl
Sample RP: Looking across the deck, Richard let the knowledge sink in; He was going through with this.
His decision to join this Barge - a place of very powerful magic - had been a struggle. There had been the issue of caring for Kahlan, looking out for Cara, but…something told him he needed this, for himself. The loss of the Anderith people to the Imperial Order had taken more of a blow to him than he had openly admitted. Ever since he took up the throne of D’Hara, Richard had felt like an imposter dressed in a Lord’s garb, leading a people to nothing. The loss of Anderith proved that he was not ready to lead anyone into a war, and especially not to lead an Empire into a war against one such as Jagang.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Richard roped in his thoughts.
This would be an opportunity to prove to himself that there was hope yet in the world. If he could help someone, just one person, even, then he could return home. He could return to Kahlan and Cara, Zedd and his people.
And so, Richard resolved to do his best.
Special Notes: This Richard Rahl is from the book series Sword of Truth, not the one from the TV show Legend of the Seeker, which is based on the books.
User Name/Nick: Cri
User LJ: lecri
AIM/IM: n/a
E-mail: nicartstar at gmail dot com
Other Characters: Olwman
Character Name: Richard Rahl
Series: Sword of Truth series
Age: 30 (It doesn’t really specify, but at the point I’m taking him from, I’d say that’s about right.)
From When?: Post “Soul of the Fire” (book 5 in the series)
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Richard is the protagonist - and hero - of the series, and he believes in freedom and strives to bring peace and to protect.
Item: A Journey Book - a journal that, when one writes in it, the message is received by it’s twin, and vice versa. When Richard uses it as his Item, it will scrawl messages to him as to where his inmate might be, and will scrawl things to open Warden-only places.
Abilities/Powers: Richard is what is called a War Wizard, which means that his magical ability specializes in the blade - this is anything from a sword to a carving knife. His powers are made known when he has great need or great anger. Richard doesn’t consciously know how to summon his magic, as he’s still learning about it, though it can surface in small things, like shooting an arrow directly at a target, or big things, like striking a bolt of lightening on a foe, sometimes, though the latter is very rare.
Personality: Richard has a strong since of justice, and values the truth above all else. This, coupled with his curiosity, makes him sometimes come off as harsh, relentless in his search for truth. When he senses someone is lying or being unjust, Richard puts compassion behind him and often faces the problem head-on, sometimes letting his anger rule him. When he is angry, he often strikes out verbally at those he believes are his tormentors, though he does feel a level of guilt for this, which fluctuates depending of the person and how they react to it and what his relationship with them is.
Richard, in his value of truth, hates anything that hides the truth - such as puzzles, riddles, con-men, or people who dance around the truth. He is angered when the truth is not given, or hidden, and works hard to uncover it. He knows that the truth of something can be hurtful, but in his mind, it is better to know the truth - hurtful or not - than believe a lie. As far as lashing out at his perceived tormentors, if one were close to Richard, he would feel guilt at his lashing out, though that wouldn’t stop him from lashing out, just make him sugarcoat his displeasure. If the person were an enemy or a stranger, Richard would not feel much guilt at all, and would not sugarcoat his anger.
Despite this, Richard is a compassionate man off the battlefield. When someone becomes dear to him, he will do anything to help him or her. His loyalties are strong. He has a tendency to give out his trust a bit blindly, and is hurt if that trust proves to have been a bad idea. If he makes a mistake, he will be sure to be the one to fix it - in that, Richard tends to carry the troubles of many with him, whether he was directly responsible or not.
Richard is drawn to helping people, trying to get them to a place where they could live a better life. He believes that in doing things to help yourself - say, fixing stairs that lead to your house - you’re not only helping yourself, but anyone else who uses, in this case, the fixed stairs. While Richard doesn’t believe in living your life to please others, he does want to help others, even if it means some discomfort for him, though not if it means sacrificing his own health and happiness.
Richard wishes to believe people have the commonsense and will to live a good life and accept truth, but he knows that isn’t true for everyone. Still, he wishes. In this, he gives his trust to those he hopes and or perceives as ‘good’. This has proven to be a problem in the past, as his trust is sometimes bent and shown to be a bad idea. To that extent, Richard tries to be careful with his trust, but sometimes lets his hope cloud his reason.
While Richard is not completely set in his ways, when he makes his mind up on something, he is convicted in his beliefs. He is very stubborn. On some matters, he tries to keep an open mind, but some things and concepts are beyond him to completely accept. His idea is to acknowledge it, but not necessarily accept or reject it ,whether “it” is a relationship, worldview, or other concept.
His stubbornness makes him sometimes rebel against those he holds conflicting viewpoints with, though sometimes he tries to yield to their views. Even should the person be of great rank or wealth, Richard will hold true to what he believes and, if he feels necessary, order or force them to go with his beliefs. Say, he believes horse bits shouldn’t be used, but the person of rank believes they should. Richard, if he believes this strongly, would destroy the horse bits, thus forcing the other person to ride with no bits, as he wanted.
He looks down upon those who are disrespectful, or lazy. He believes that if you want something done, you should take the initiative and do it yourself. Richard wants to help others, and often strives to set an example for them and tries to encourage them to do things for themselves and the ones they love.
His confidence in himself to lead is very little, as he views himself as simply “Richard the Woods guide”. While he tries to accept that he is a wizard, he has a harder time accepting that he is a Lord of an Empire. He often takes on the opinions of others in his decisions as a Lord, especially those of who have experience leading, like his wife, Kahlan. Richard considers the opinions in his decisions, only discarding them if he has a strong stance on a subject. Otherwise, he is unsure of his decision as a leader. Richard has no ambition for power - be it political or magic. He dislikes being a leader, believing himself a “false lord”, and has little confidence in his knowledge of ruling a people. As for magic, he doesn’t like to depend on it, thinking it lazy to do so, sometimes going so far as to try and explain it away with reason. Richard believes that reason is the only sure thing in the world - the only thing he should allow to control him.
Freedom is extremely important to Richard, a cause he is devoted to, that he is willing to die fighting for. He is wary of anything that may suggest captivity. His hate of captivity is also a fear - Richard loathes being a slave, and is especially afraid of being chained or kept locked up. Having experienced said captivity in the past, twice, Richard reacts violently to captivity and chains; He will devote himself to getting out, even if he should have to use others in his escape plans. As far as how things are on the Barge, the conditions will not bother him too greatly, as he will see that the inmates are not complete prisoners, though he may not be able to fully reconcile some of his feels about prisoners. He most definitely would not like Zero, relying on it only if he sees a dire need to. As for interaction with an inmate, he would sympathize with a frustration of being kept on the Barge, and work that much harder with them so they can graduate and be free again.
Along with his fear and hate of captivity, Richard dislikes the idea of prophecy or destiny. He believes that everyone’s life is his or her own and they make their own paths, not that their life is planned out for them already. He sees prophecy as a kind of captivity, in that you are supposed to follow the path that others have chosen for you, and not be allowed to wander. Despite that prophecies have been made about him, and often comes true, though in vague ways, Richard denies that prophecies must be followed through with. He believes that his ‘destiny’ is his decision.
The Barge, itself, he would brush off as a thing of powerful magic. While he would be taken aback by traveling to new worlds, his curiosity would urge him to want to explore. The floods would not bother him too much, though his sense of suspicion would be roused, as he’d be convinced a powerful wizard is casting spells on the Barge, and may be inclined to search for the “why” of what happens on the Barge. All in all, Richard would take the Barge in stride, but his curiosity would be piqued. Interacting with other Wardens, Richard would defer to the senior warden’s experience and advice, again, discarding it if he is strong in his own viewpoint. He may disapprove of the disorganization among Wardens, but ultimately focus himself on working to help his Inmate, though if he sees a way to do this and help the general populace, he’d be eager to carry the action out. The Admiral, he’d be suspicious of, but give him respect, unless he does something that Richard cannot easily accept.
Path to Redemption: n/a
History: Richard was prophesied, long before his birth, to be a key person in the tides of many a battle. When he was born, he was taken across the border separating the magical world - the Midlands - from the non-magical world - the Westland - and lived in Westland for close to 20 years. He grew up believing he was “Richard Cypher”, thinking magic was a myth, and content to be a Woods guide. The day his mother died, Richard vowed to never let himself be taken over by anger, as he believed that was what killed her. However, when his stepfather, George Cypher, was killed, Richard began a ruthless search for the truth of his father’s murder. While searching for evidence, he met Kahlan, a woman who was being stalked by four soldiers in the woods. After helping her get rid of them, he then helped her find Zedd, his Grandfather, where it was revealed to him that he was “The Seeker of Truth”. After being rightfully named, and having received the Sword of Truth, Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd set off on a quest to save the Midlands from being conquered by Darken Rahl of D’Hara. During his quest, a Mord’Sith -a warrior from D’Hara - named Denna captured Richard. She tortured him for months, until Richard was broken of his spirit and all he believed. However, Denna fell in love with him, and he with her, and she let him kill her, knowing it was the only way he could escape. After Denna’s death, Richard began to unlock his magical ability, though this was unknown to him at he time. By pretending to be confessed - a state where the Confessor controls his soul, leaving only a dire need to make said Confessor happy - Richard tricked Darken Rahl into using dangerous magic to destroy himself. After the battle was won and D’Hara was defeated, Ricahrd and Kahlan rejoiced in the realization that they could be together without fear of Richard being actually confessed to her.
As consequence for the magic Darken Rahl unleashed, a tear in the veil separating the world of the living from the world of the dead appeared, and allowed the Keeper of the Underworld to wage war on the living. During this mess, Richard was forced to go with a group called the Sisters of the Light to a place beyond even the Midlands - the Palace of the Prophets in the Old World. There, Richard made a vow to escape his captivity and spent time integrating himself in Palace life, gaining trust from various people so as to assure they would stay out of the way, and perhaps help him, when he made his escape. Along the way, he learned of his magic and his linage - being from the Rahl family, Richard was rightful heir to the throne of D’Hara, and inherited the magic of the House of Rahl. He also learned that he was what was called a War Wizard - someone with both Additive magic - which creates - and Subtractive magic - which destroys - whereas all the wizards of his time had only Additive. Having both sides of the Gift, Richard was the only one who could use the Stone of Tears - a jewel said to be the key to the Underworld - to seal the veil. Learning, too, of the corruption in the Sister’s Order, in the form of the Sisters of the Dark - sorceresses who sold their souls and allegiance to the Keeper of the Underworld - Richard was too late to prevent them from being let loose on the world. After his successful escape from the Palace of the Prophets, Richard fulfilled yet another prophesy by bringing down the boundary between the Old World and the rest of the world. Eventually, the Palace of the Prophets was destroyed, and the Sisters made to flee. Racing back to the source of the tear in the veil, Richard used the Stone of Tears to seal the Underworld once more, but at the cost of being separated from his love, Kahlan.
With the boundary between the Old World and New World - the rest of the world - gone, a powerful new enemy - the Imperial Order - descends upon the Midlands. Taking up the throne of Lord Rahl, Richard used Mord’Sith Cara and her other Sisters of the Agiel - the weapon Mord’Sith use - as well as D’Haran troops to try and run the Order out of a capital city, Aydindril, of the Midlands. The leader of the Imperial Order, Jagang, is a Dreamwalker; he has the powers to enter a person’s mind. Learning this, Richard also learns that his ancestor, Alric Rahl, created a magic that could guard against a Dreamwalker’s powers - a magical bond passed on through the bloodlines of the House of Rahl, mentally linking the Lord Rahl to all those who swear true loyalty to him. With this knowledge, and the bond being passed down to him through bloodline, Richard is able to overthrow the Order troops in Aydinril. After this, he begins his plan to have the Midlands unified in the fight against the Order; He offered everyone a choice between joinig with the D’Haran Empire, or being left to the Order’s mercy.
Having been reunited with Kahlan along the way, Richard and she lived in Aydinril, overseeing the unification of the Midlands. Another attack by the Order came, however, in the form a plague sent by means of magic. It first struck among children, then slowly moved through the whole of the citizens of Aydinril. Learning of a prophesy that said Richard must enter the Temple of the Winds to stop the plague, Richard and Kahlan undergo a ritual that tears them apart, at the price of being able to save their people. Once in the Temple, Richard was trapped in a world between living and dead, but gained complete knowledge of magic in return. He learns how to stop the plague, and after much convincing from the spirits of the dearly departed, Richard strikes a bargain with the spirit of Darken Rahl, his true father. To return to the land of the living, Richard had to give up all knowledge of magic he learned in the Temple, and take the plague into his own body. Agreeing to the price, Richard returned to Aydindril, to find that Drefan, another son of Rahl, had usurped his throne and was intent on killing Kahlan. Using the last of his strength to stop Drefan, Richard was close to death, until Kahlan used a forbidden spell to bring him back.
As consequence of using the forbidden spell, Kahlan drew the chimes - beasts that devour magic from the world - into the world of the living, and unintentionally offered Ricahrd’s soul to them, as the price of reviving him from death. Having been deceived of this truth, Richard, Kahlan, Cara, and a troop of D’Harans travel to Anderith to win them over in the unification of the Midlands versus the conquer of the Order. While Richard went from block to block campaigning, the Rulers of Anderith made under-the-table deals with the Imperial Order and set out to sabotage Richard’s campaigning. In the midst of this, Richard found the origin story of the chimes, and came to know how they were defeated by the Wizard Joseph Anders, who then used them to power the terrible weapon bordering Anderith - the Dominie Dirtch. While the Order invaded Anderith, and Richard and the D’Harans leaving in shame of their loss of the alliance with the Anderith people, the Dominie Dirtch was activated, incapacitating Richard. Having to stay in the City until he recovered, Richard set off to defeat the chimes by going to the source, the Dominie Dirtch, and learning how to destroy it - He created a new type of spell to call the spirit of Wizard Anders and the chimes and seal them both together in the Underworld. However, while he triumphed over the chimes, Richard found out that Kahlan had been mugged to death. Using a magic called the Breath of Life, Richard brought her back, and then resolutely left Anderith behind to fall to the Order, taking Kahlan and Cara far away from the midlands so they could heal, turning his back on the war.
After the loss of Anderith, Richard became depressed, viewing himself as a “fallen leader”, and resolved to stay out of the war completely until the people could prove that they wanted freedom enough to die for it, until he could prove to himself that he could lead a people.
Sample Journal Entry: [Text]
My fellow Wardens, Inmates, and people upon this Barge,
Hello. I’m Richard, and I look forwards to the days where I may do good on this ship. While I am just a man, I wish to help those in need, and I shall devote myself to the cause. I’m new aboard, and am sure I’m missing a few details; I ask for help with anything that I should know about - how things work here, any rules not included in the briefing with the Admiral, and, of course, any personal advice would be a huge help.
I must admit that this Barge, this place of such powerful magic, has me a bit baffled at the moment. From what I gather, this device works as a Journey Book? That is, what is written in here is viewable to all who have a similar device? Anyhow, I shall have to sate my curiosity of this place soon, lest I let it distract me any more.
With the hopes of doing good,
Richard Rahl
Sample RP: Looking across the deck, Richard let the knowledge sink in; He was going through with this.
His decision to join this Barge - a place of very powerful magic - had been a struggle. There had been the issue of caring for Kahlan, looking out for Cara, but…something told him he needed this, for himself. The loss of the Anderith people to the Imperial Order had taken more of a blow to him than he had openly admitted. Ever since he took up the throne of D’Hara, Richard had felt like an imposter dressed in a Lord’s garb, leading a people to nothing. The loss of Anderith proved that he was not ready to lead anyone into a war, and especially not to lead an Empire into a war against one such as Jagang.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Richard roped in his thoughts.
This would be an opportunity to prove to himself that there was hope yet in the world. If he could help someone, just one person, even, then he could return home. He could return to Kahlan and Cara, Zedd and his people.
And so, Richard resolved to do his best.
Special Notes: This Richard Rahl is from the book series Sword of Truth, not the one from the TV show Legend of the Seeker, which is based on the books.