An evil, ethereal, shadowy, undead[1] entity who attacks his enemies psychically. He feeds on the psychic remains of the slain. On Magnamund, he takes the form of a whirling black tornado.
Powers[]
Zorkaan possesses formidable psychic skills. He is normally immune to Kai-surge, although he can be vulnerable to the discipline if weakened.[2] His psychic attacks also have a unique effect: they are capable of disabling a Kai discipline for the duration of the adventure.[3]
Appearances[]
Zorkaan appears only in Rune War and Trail of the Wolf. He is a major antagonist in both books.
Rune War[]
Zorkaan is summoned from the Plane of Darkness by the Eldenoran ruler Vandyan through ancient magical rune stones left by Agarash the Damned. He is Vandyan's most powerful servant and Grand Master's greatest adversary in the book. His psychic powers are revealed to be so powerful as to make Grand Master flee in terror.[4] Near the end of the book, Grand Master is given the option to destroy the rune binding Zorkaan to Vandyan. If Grand Master takes this option, then Zorkaan is freed from Vandyan's control and escapes into the night; otherwise Grand Master will be forced to fight Zorkaan.
In both scenarios, although Grand Master defeats Zorkaan, Zorkaan survives the encounter and escapes into the night. Grand Master mistakenly assumes Zorkaan has been destroyed, but destroying the rune only trapped Zorkaan on Magnamund. The Dark God Naar later teaches the necromancer Xaol a ritual to bind Zorkaan to his will. Zorkaan then attacks and kidnaps Lone Wolf as they return from the crusade to Eldenora.
Combat stats:
- Combat skill: 58 (first encounter), 48/46 (second encounter)
- Endurance points: 46 (first encounter), 38/35 (second encounter)
Zorkaan's 58 CS in the first encounter makes him extremely lethal, but Grand Master can acquire potions that boost his CS. Zorkaan interrupts the fight after three rounds to launch a massive psychic attack. If Grand Master survives, Zorkaan has expended so much energy that he is much-weakened during the second encounter, especially if Grand Master also uses magic to attack Zorkaan.
Trail of the Wolf[]
Grand Master encounters Zorkaan again in Trail of the Wolf. Zorkaan is now under Xaol's control, and he attacks Grand Master after the latter defeats Xaol. Zorkaan initially possesses Xaol's dead body and attempts to strangle Grand Master. After Grand Master cleaves Xaol's body in two, Zorkaan attacks Grand Master with his trademark psychic powers. This attack overwhelms Grand Master and disables one of his Kai disciplines, but before Zorkaan can deal a fatal blow, Lone Wolf kills Zorkaan by throwing the Sommerswerd at him.
Combat stats:
Grand Master does not directly fight Zorkaan in Trail of the Wolf, but he does fight Zorkaan indirectly when the latter possesses Xaol's corpse.
- Combat skill: 55
- Endurance points: 43
The Xaol-zombie is invulnerable to psychic attack, but is vulnerable to the Kai weapons 'Alema' and 'Valiance'. Zorkaan keeps up his psychic assault during this battle as well, reducing Grand Master's combat skill by 3 points unless the Kai-screen discipline is learned. Although the Xaol-zombie's CS is formidable, the decaying state of the body means the fight only lasts three rounds before Grand Master cleaves the corpse in two.