She soon realizes that these soldiers are much younger than she might expect. Kahlan and three of the Mud People race to catch up with a band of some five thousand troops that are trailing the enemy. Along the way they come across a sacked city, Ebinissia, with the inhabitants' corpses filling the streets and the surrounding countryside. Kahlan embarks on a long trek back to her home of Aydindril along with three Mud People. Nathan Rahl himself is close to one thousand years old. Richard also realizes belatedly that the Palace of the Prophets is the trap in time foretold by Shota the witch woman the palace is spelled so that those within its walls age at a much slower rate.
Richard also finds out that it was the Prelate and Nathan that helped Richard's step father, George Cypher, retrieve The Book of Counted Shadows, containing instructions on how to correctly open the Boxes of Orden. As the Prelate herself says, "When your house is overrun with rats the only thing you can do is bring in a cat. It is revealed that the Prelate took Richard to the Palace to flush out the Sisters of the Dark, a secret society within the Sisters of the Light dedicated to the task of unleashing the Keeper into the world of the living. Later, he learns from Nathan Rahl, another wizard in the Palace of the Prophets, that he is the first to be born with such power in three thousand years. Float on the wind of the storm is the first tactical advice he receives from the Sword's magic.ĭuring his stay at the palace Richard comes to terms with the fact that he has the gift of magic and moreover discovers he is a War Wizard, one who has the gift of both additive and subtractive magic. The Sisters see their job as spreading knowledge of the Creator to the world via their trained wizards.īefore reaching the palace Richard is forced into a battle with thirty Baka Ban Mana blademasters, whose job it is to teach the Seeker to dance with the spirits - using The Sword of Truth's magic to access the collective knowledge of all previous users of it.
Richard travels with Sister Verna, the last of the three Sisters, to the Palace of the Prophets, which is located in the Old World. Completely devastated, Richard submits to the Sisters, and leaves with them in search of a cure for his headaches. Richard misinterprets Kahlan's intentions, believing that she no longer loves him. Two of the Sisters commit suicide, trying to convince Richard of the need for him to accompany them, yet he still resists. After having a surprise meeting with Denna's spirit Kahlan comes to understand that if she wants Richard to live, she must convince him to put the collar on, whatever the cost. Having been collared before in Wizard's First Rule by the Mord-Sith Denna, Richard is extremely reluctant to have another around his neck, let alone voluntarily putting it there himself. The Sisters tell him that he must go with them and wear a Rada'Han, a magical collar, in order to control his headaches and the gift.
Richard later gets a visit from three Sisters of the Light, who inform him that his headaches are caused by the awakening of the gift within him and are fatal and unstoppable, unless Richard receives magical training. This allows him to continue his task of bringing the Keeper into the world. While trying to receive guidance on how to repair the veil, Richard violates the second rule again, inadvertently bringing his father Darken Rahl through the veil and back into the world of the living.
He also learns from Shota of his lineage as the bastard son of Darken Rahl and the grandson (on his mother's side) of Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander.Īfter having mastered the Wizard's First Rule, Richard learns that the opening of the boxes of Orden has torn the veil between the world of the living and the underworld and thus, he has made a grave mistake the violation of the Wizard's Second Rule, namely, that "The greatest harm can result from the best intentions".
After the death of Darken Rahl, Richard is afflicted by a series of painful headaches.