Panis Rahl

Panis Rahl was a ruthless ruler of D'Hara. Using power and treachery he turned his attention to seizing control of the Midlands. Panis Rahl threw the might of D'Hara against the Midlands and war raged for many years. As his legions were finally slowed and halted, Panis became more ruthless and brutal in his use of magic, using trickery, sickness, fevers, blindness, and the shadow people. His armies killed thousands and wiped out whole villages, towns, and cities. He used Mord'Sith to capture wizards and sorceresses and extract everything they knew about his enemies' plans. One of the notable commanders under his command was Anargo. At that time, the great wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander sided with the Midlands against Rahl and was able to hold Rahl's magic in check. Zedd cast a spell that held Panis Rahl in his palace in D'Hara, blunting his magic. Panis Rahl was enraged by Zedd and tried to kill him, but couldn't. Instead, he sent a quad after Zedd's wife, Erilyn, and eventually capturing Zedd's daughter. Rahl continued to send all kinds of vile people to kill Zedd, even Mord'Sith. Rahl's legions were driven back into D'Hara. An impassable boundary was put up by Zedd between the Midlands and D'Hara to keep the forces of D'Hara at bay.

Panis Rahl knew of the boxes of Orden and the Book of Counted Shadows but was not well enough studied to use them. Instead, he was grooming his son Darken Rahl to take and open the Boxes of Orden.

Panis Rahl died from a blast of Zedd's wizard fire infused with the underworld when he was fifty-seven years old, just as the boundary was going up. His son, Darken Rahl, who was also injured in the blast, succeeded him on the throne of D'Hara.

The body of Panis Rahl was placed in an elaborate crypt in the People's Palace in D'Hara. Torches set in ornate gold brackets lit the walls of the crypt with a constant flickering light that reflected off the polished pink granite of the huge, vaulted room, lending their smell of pitch to the frangrance of roses in the dead, still air. Fifty-seven gold vases set in the wall beneath fifty-seven torches that represented each year in the life of the deceased. The white roses in the vases were replaced every morning without fail for 3 decades. The floor was white marble, so that any white rose petal that fell would not be a distraction before it could be whisked away. A large staff saw to it that no torch was allowed to go spent for longer than a few moments, and that rose petals were not allowed to rest long upon the floor. The staff was attentive and devoted to their tasks. Failure to do so resulted in an immediate beheading. Guards watched the tomb day and night to be sure the torches burned, the flowers were fresh, and no rose petal sat too long on the floor and to carry out the executions.

Staff positions were filled from the surrounding D'Haran countryside and being a member of the staff was an honor, by law, which brought with it the promise of a quick death if an execution was in order (a rare and greatly valued thing in D'Hara at that time). Before beginning service, new recruits would have their tongues cut out, to be sure they would not speak ill of the dead king while in the crypt.

A short pillar in the center of the immense room supported the coffin itself, giving it the effect of floating in the air. The gold-enshrouded coffin glowed in the torchlight. Carved symbols covered its sides, and continued in a ring around the room, cut into the granite beneath the torches and gold vases. The symbols were instructions in ancient D'Haran from Panis Rahl to his son, Darken Rahl, on the process of going to the underworld, and returning. The door to the crypt was massive and elaborately carved and polished.