Drefan Rahl was Richard Rahl's half brother, and a supposed Raug'Moss High Priest, who married Kahlan Amnell, allowing Richard to gain entry into the Temple of the Winds.
Biography
Drefan's mother was a D'Haran prostitute who wished to gain favor with Darken Rahl by presenting him with a gifted heir. But when she had Drefan tested, she was horrified to find that he was ungifted. She took him to the Raug'Moss healers, with the charge of caring for him, raising him, and protecting him should Rahl come looking for him to kill him, as he desired to ungifted heirs roaming the world unknown to him. She then took the poison henbane, and left Drefan with the healers.
Drefan was taught to manipulate a person's aura in order to heal... or to hurt. When the Raug'Moss learned of his dangerous disposition, they kept him confined. He listened to the voices of the Keeper that taunted Oba and Jennsen, liking the things that they promised. They told him that he was worthy of the station of Lord Rahl, just as they tempted Oba. They told him that he deserved Kahlan as his.
Under the guise of Raug'Moss High Priest, he arrived at Aydindril at the same time as Marlin Pickard, Sister Amelia, and Nadine Brighton. After Marlin was killed, Drefan helped Cara by using her aura to fix the damage done by Marlin.
As the plague advanced, he helped many people in the city and the palace, all the while attacking and killing prostitutes in Aydindril, causing them to flee to the army camps, further spreading the plague.
When the Andolians arrived with the message from the Temple of the Winds, Drefan was chosen to be the one to marry Kahlan. When Cara lead Nadine and Kahlan to the wrecked outbuildings on the edge of Mount Kymermosst, she switched where the brides were to go, and sent Nadine to Drefan instead of Richard. When the lightning began, he saw that it was not Kahlan, and threw a screaming Nadine over the edge of the cliff. When Richard left with the Temple, he told Kahlan that Nadine had run off of it herself.
With Richard gone, a part of Drefan's dark side was revealed. He took Berdine and Cara's Agiels, and wore them not out of respect for the Mord-Sith they belonged to but as a "symbol of authority." He pretended to be the Lord Rahl, even though he could be no such thing without the gift. As Richard had given the Sword of Truth to him so that he would have a way to protect Kahlan, he called himself the Seeker of Truth. He figured out how Kahlan had betrayed Richard, and never ceased to berate her about it, trying to get her to do the same for him, telling her that he knew she wanted it. If Kahlan did anything at all to provoke him in the slightest, he would hit her, becoming aroused at the sight of her blood.
When Kahlan left to retrieve the book stolen from the Winds, Drefan tried to convince Cara to tell him where Kahlan and Richard were, knowing that Kahlan was gone and having heard from the soldiers that the bond was once more functioning. When Cara would not tell him, he tied her wrists to stakes in the floor of the sliph's room. He used a heavy chain to tie a cauldron to her stomach, then shoved rats under the rim of the pot. He put hot coals on the top, causing the rats to claw at Cara to try and get away from the rising temperature inside the pot. When Kahlan arrived back at the Wizard's Keep, Drefan tried to make her tell him where Richard was. She wouldn't tell him, and tried to blind him with canin pepper, but missed most of his face, so he used his ability to manipulate auras to overcome the effects of the powder. He cut Kahlan's spine, paralyzing her, telling her to wait until he found Richard, then he would deal with her. He then threw the book into the sliph's well.
As Drefan tried to convince Cara to tell him where Richard was, Richard walked in, half delirious with the fever of the plague, wanting to know "what in the name of all that's good" was going on. When he saw Kahlan on the ground he called upon the magic in the Sword of Truth and gathered the strength to punch through Drefan's abdomen and to tear out his spinal column.
After Richard healed Kahlan and Cara, and the sliph returned the book, he passed out, and when Kahlan wasn't looking and Cara was out of the room, Drefan grabbed the Sword of Truth, and having prevented his death using his power to influence auras to stop his bloodloss. As he stood over Richard getting ready to make the final blow, the Sliph called out to him, using what she knew of his nature to get him to breathe into him her quicksilver being. Drefan, having neither Additive nor Subtractive magic, was killed in this encounter with the Sliph.
Personality and traits
Drefan's looks were somewhere between those of his father, Darken Rahl, and his half-brother, Richard, but leaned more towards those of their father. He and Richard were the same size, with the same muscular build. His hands were as large and as powerful, but less calloused. His hair was blond like his father's, but shorter and less straight, whereas Richard's was darker and coarser. His eyes bore the same "cutting, raptor rake" as Richard's, but were the piercing blue color of Darken Rahl's. His features possessed the impossibly handsome cruel perfection of his father, rather than Richard's more rugged look. He wore a ruffled white shirt that opened to his mid-chest as well as tight dark trousers.
Drefan Rahl hated all women and believed them to be whores. He would go to whorehouses and brutally kill them. He would become aroused by their screams. He always said it wasn't rape because they wanted to give him pleasure, and would allow them to live throughout the torture because of their screams and begs for mercy, before ending their lives.
Appearances
- Temple of the Winds (First appearance)