List of Quest For Glory Characters - Rasha Rakeesh SahTarna

Rasha Rakeesh SahTarna

Rasha Rakeesh SahTarna (or Rakeesh Sah Tarna) is a liontaur: a centaur-like creature with the torso and arms of a human and the hindquarters, head and claws of a lion. He is also a Paladin: a warrior who gains mystical powers from his great honor. He first introduces the Hero to the concept of honor and becomes his guide in the ways of the Paladin in the city of Shapeir.

He is a former ruler of his homeland of Tarna. While he was king, Rakeesh led the liontaurs to victory over an invading army of Demons, but he suffered a permanent injury to one of his hind legs in the process. After vanquishing the Demons, he forfeited the throne in favour of his proud brother Rajah Sah Tarna. (The relationship between the two brothers is rather strained, though they profess to respect each other; in Quest for Glory III, Rajah is seen to scoff at Rakeesh's paladinhood and desire to help humanity.)

After leaving Tarna, Rakeesh traveled to Gaza on a quest to hunt down any remaining Demons in the world. In one of the city's bazaars, he was mistaken for a monster by the locals and nearly killed, but he was saved from the mob by a female Paladin who later became his mentor (this backstory is established during an optional conversation segment in Quest for Glory III). Throughout his subsequent career as a Paladin, Rakeesh's duties often took him far away from his magic-using wife Kreesha Mar Asha and his homeland.

In Quest for Glory II, the Hero and Rakeesh meet after they are both summoned to the desert city of Shapeir to deal with a crisis in Shapeir's sister city, Raseir. In Shapeir, Rakeesh helps run the Adventurers' Guild with his friend Uhura, the Simbani warrior woman; he also valiantly but unsuccessfully battles an Earth Elemental that attacks the city.

After the Hero saves Shapeir and Raseir, Rakeesh and Uhura return to Tarna with the Hero in Quest for Glory III; their mission is to prevent a war that is brewing between their two peoples and the shape-shifting Leopardmen. Rakeesh is reunited with his wife, Kreesha, and learns their daughter, Reeshaka, is missing following a peace mission she led that was seemingly ambushed by the Leopardmen. Rakeesh never believes she is dead, however. Rakeesh pledges on his honor to prevent war and his oath is honored by King Rajah and the Council of Elders ruling Tarna by being granted time to fulfill it. He sets out with the Hero to the Simbani village to start their efforts, but soon has to return to Tarna because of the great pain caused by his injured leg. Kreesha theorizes that the Demon Wizard is still linked to Rakeesh through the injury and is intensifying the pain to disrupt the peace process. The link also allows the Wizard to spy on Rakeesh whenever he is away from Kreesha's house. Eventually, the Hero, Rakeesh and their allies vanquish the Demon Wizard who is inciting the war, and in the process rescue Reeshaka from the Demon's clutches. Before they can celebrate, however, the Hero is transported away through dark magic.

In Quest for Glory V, the Hero arrives in Silmaria, where Rakeesh is helping to oversee the Rites of Rulership that will determine the land's next king. Rakeesh was asked to come by his old friend, Logos, and is discouraged that there is so little he can do (as his fighting days are mostly behind him). Rakeesh, along with Minos, helps coordinate and establish what the Rites of Rulership will involve. He returns some of the Hero's equipment lost when the Hero was brought to Mordavia. Rakeesh's son, Shakra, runs the local magic shop. During the Rites, Rakeesh is poisoned by an assassin, but he is revived thanks to the Hero's efforts and the talents of Salim the apothecary. If the Hero is a Paladin, Rakeesh also prompts him into creating a Ring of Truth.

Throughout his various appearances in the games, Rakeesh demonstrates mystical abilities connected to his status as a Paladin. In Quest for Glory II, he has the ability to make his magical sword, Soulforge, burst into flame. In Quest for Glory III, he uses magical powers to heal his daughter's injuries and, somewhat more mysteriously, has the ability to disintegrate an entire mound of rubble through apparent force of will. Though a formidable fighter, Rakeesh rarely engages in combat during the games, partly because he is a pacifist and partly because his advanced age and his leg injury hamper his fighting abilities. His fights (off screen) the Earth Elemental in the second game, but his leg prevented him from defeating the magical construct. Rakeesh is portrayed one of the Hero's closest friends.