Du Chaillu was the spirit woman and therefore leader of the Baka Tau Mana, formerly known as the Baka Ban Mana. She was rescued from her people's enemies, the Majendi, by Richard Rahl and after he defeated thirty of Du Chaillu's greatest blade masters, she named him the Caharin of her people. She had the power to annul certain forms of magic.
Biography[]
Du Chaillu is captured by the Majendie, who have repeatedly raped her, when she meets Richard Rahl, who saves her. She leads Richard and Verna Sauventreen to the grounds of her people, where she orders 30 of her people's swordmasters, including her five husbands, to attack him. Richard is forced to use a, to him previously unknown, part of the Sword of Truth's magic and 'dance with the spirits,' essentially using the knowledge and experience of every Seeker before him to defeat the swordmasters, a feat never done before. After he kills the swordmasters Du Chaillu reveals that this was a test prepared for by her people for the last 3000 years. That he passed the test showed that he was the Caharin, the leader of her people and her husband. Richard rejected their marriage, but it was valid in the eyes of the spirits. Richard's title as Caharin also meant that the name of Du Chaillu's people was changed from Baka Ban Mana, those without masters, to Baka Tau Mana, those with a master. Du Chaillu told Richard that the true home of her people, the Valley of the Lost was destroyed by wizards and that only he could return them there. Before Richard left he left a gift from the Bird Man of the Mud People, a whistle which attracts birds, for Du Chaillu to use to make peace with the Majendi. She would offer them peace, and when they declined she would make birds eat their crops, making the Majendi believe the spirits were angry at them, and accept peace to please the spirits. He also asked her to keep the baby she had got because of the rape she had endured in the Majendi village. He argued that she should not blame the child for the actions of the father, comparing it to him and his father Darken Rahl (who also conceived Richard by raping his mother), a tyrant who caused the death of thousands.
Later on Richard returns and, helped by Du Chaillu's ability to nullify magic, destroys the Towers of Perdition, effectively returning the Valley of the Lost to its former glory, a prosperous area with forests and fields.
Du Chaillu travels with Richard and Kahlan in Soul of the Fire while she is with child. During this she is attacked by one of the Chimes which drowns her. Luckily she is found by the others and is saved by Cara using the Breath of Life. At the end of the book, she gives birth to her daughter (insisting that she is Richard's daughter as well) and names her Cara, after the Mord-Sith who saved her life.
Personality and traits[]
Du Chaillu had a thick mass of long black hair that framed her lovely face. Her features, especially her dark eyes, had a certain edginess.
Du Chaillu would often wear her spirit woman prayer dress; a knee length dress of finely woven flax, dyed a rich earth color and gathered at the waist with a buckskin belt. The ends of her belt were decorated with roughly cut gemstones. Up the outside and across the shoulders of the dress there would be little stripes of different colored cloth, meant to represent the prayers of her people. They would be carried off to the good spirits when the wind blew, fluttering the colored strips out behind her.
She is married to Richard Rahl. Her people are extremely adept warriors capable of defeating almost any adversary in combat. She informs Richard Rahl that he is the subject of a prophecy of the Baku Tau Mana and is destined to lead them in battle. This subplot is never resolved, and despite the immense help her warrior clan could have been against Jagang they are never mentioned again.
Appearances[]
- Stone of Tears (First appearance)
- Soul of the Fire
- Legend of the Seeker- "Light" (2:8)
Behind the Scenes[]
- Du Chaillu is not married to Richard in the television series, but they do become acquainted after Richard saves the remaining number of her people as seen in "Light."