Obkhar is an influential moredhel in Betrayal at Krondor. He can first be encountered in Chapter 4 and also figures in the game's novelization, Krondor: The Betrayal.
Overview
Obkhar is a balding man from an extremely wealthy moredhel clan. He speaks the language of the Kingdom of the Isles fairly well, explaining his skill as necessary to trade with Kingdom merchants who refuse to learn the moredhel tongue. His name is familiar to Gorath, who describes him as his kin in irritation to Delekhan.
When Obkhar refused to submit to Delekhan, he was targeted for elimination. Liallan secretly misdirected Delekhan's soldiers elsewhere so that Obkhar's family could flee to safety, but the Six captured Obkhar and delivered him to Venutrier of Lan, who imprisoned him in the Naphtha Mines several weeks before the party arrives in the Northlands.
Chapter 4
The party learns of Obkhar's imprisonment from Irmelyn, who promises "half the boy's weight in gold or the equivalent" for his rescue, stating that only Obkhar's tribe would agree to such a ransom. When Owyn asks why they are not focusing on their own escape from the Northlands, Gorath explains that Obkhar is worth rescuing for the vengeance he will wreak on his persecutors.
In the mines, Obkhar approaches the party silently and taps Gorath on the shoulder, astonished to meet a friend whom he had thought dead. The two concur on the bloody cause they share against Delekhan, and Obkhar confirms rumors that prisoners can escape through an underground river, but that the river's fumes can lay men low and it can only be approached using masks made of bone and cloth.
The party can encounter him around same place as long as they remain in the mine, appearing more hopeful than he had upon first meeting them. If they do not yet have the masks, they advise him to stay where he is rather than risking a suspicious absence during their search, and he quips that they will soon grow used to the darkness that surrounds them here.
Once the masks are recovered, Obkhar takes one and speaks hopefully about the tribes making amends to Gorath after Delekhan is dealt with, expressing regret that Gorath has no wish to take the throne and see the Northlands to better days and remarking that those who most should lead seldom wish to do so. The two exchange mutual hopes for each other's success against Delekhan and separate to attempt their escape.
If the party encounters Obkhar again before escaping the mines, they are surprised to find him still in the caverns, and he explains that he has mislaid a bauble which is irrelevant to them but which he wishes to find before leaving.
They later learn that Obkhar preceded them to their next meeting with Irmelyn, described their role in his escape, and insisted that they be given the 200 sovereigns they were promised.
Chapter 7
Duke Martin tells the party that while escaping from moredhel troops in the Dimwood, he learned that a rebel moredhel chieftain came through the Dimwood Rift Gate, caused Delekhan's troops a great deal of grief, then headed south toward gathering of Morealf's forces against Sethanon. Martin hopes to find the rebel chieftain and ask him some questions.
Further south, Obkhar approaches the party after pelting them with small stones to demonstrate that although they were at his mercy, he bears no ill intent. He informs them that Delekhan is using a nearby device, the Rift Gate, to invade the Dimwood, and tells them where to find it: a peninsula where the rivers meet, behind an illusory mountain created by the Six. He also describes the Waani, a magical artifact used in constructing rift gates, relating that before slaying a magician who was guarding the gate, he discovered that the magician's Waani artifact could be thrown into the gate to collapse it. He suggests that there are probably more, and that they would be held by Moraeulf, who is preparing troops near the southern tip of the wood. He approves of James's risky plan to get close to Moraeulf by posing as Quegians, and they part.
When the party, in their guise as mercenaries, claim that there is a hostile force nearby, Moraeulf theorizes that Obkhar might have reached allies and raised the alarm.
Krondor: The Betrayal
Trivia
- Despite stating earlier that Haseth was the last of his kin, Gorath explained his second escape from Sar-Sargoth to Obkhar by claiming that a guard posted outside his cell was a close cousin who sympathized with his situation and bought time for him to flee. However, dialog with Owyn and Liallan elsewhere indicate that this is not true.