Panis Rahl

Panis Rahl appears in Debt of Bones, a prequel to The Sword of Truth series, as 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, killing thousands and wiping out whole villages, towns, and cities. He used Mord-Sith to capture wizards and sorceresses, and extract everything they knew about his enemies' plans. 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. Enraged by Zedd, Rahl sent a quad after Zedd's wife, Erilyn, and eventually captured 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 groomed his son Darken Rahl to take and open the Boxes of Orden. Panis Rahl died from a blast of Zedd's Wizard's 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.