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Karnak was a Drenai general and ruler. He appears in the novel Waylander, and to a lesser extent in it's sequel In the Realm of the Wolf . He is depicted as a large, flamboyant man who favors bright, mismatched clothes and speaks in a booming voice. He seems friendly and affable, but is a consummate political operator uses any advantage to gain power. He enjoys being under estimated.
In Waylander, he gains notoriety as a leader during the desperate siege of Dros Purdol. He is able to rally the men again and again against the attacking Vagrians. In combat he favors a silver-bladed battle axe, and is capable of enormous acts of personal bravery. He jokes about being a man "pretending to be a hero," but his friends believe him to be a "hero pretending to be otherwise." When he learns of Waylander's quest for the Armour of Bronze he is eager to get his hands on it, although his motives as to why are ambiguous.
Following the war with Vagria, Karnak becomes very powerful politically. To preserve his power he takes many actions of dubious morality, if not outright evil. This includes using the guild of assassins to remove threats to his power. His later years are marked by increasing paranoia, and he dies under mysterious circumstances.
Trivia[]
In the novel Legend, "Karnak the One-eye" is known as a legendary warrior. This is quite different from how he is depicted in Waylander.
"Group Karnak" is one of the squads named by Druss in Legend.