Arakasi

Arakasi is a character from The Empire Trilogy by Janny Wurts and Raymond E. Feist.

Introduced first in Daughter of the Empire, Arakasi is a character well-used throughout the series. He is the Acoma spymaster and often saves Mara and her family from their enemies, the Minwanabi. He is able to transform into any guise and knows most of the empire's secret ties and twisted plots by heart.

Little is known about Arakasi's life before becoming Mara's spymaster. It is mentioned in Servant of the Empire that his mother was a prostitute and died from her trade (most likely from an unnamed disease) and that his sister, also a prostitute, was killed at the age of eighteen by one of her clients. Due to his mother's and sister's profession and the manner of their deaths, Arakasi has a fear of becoming attached to the opposite sex. Arakasi learns of a Minwanabi plot against the Tuscai and is recruited into their ranks as a reward for saving their Lord's life. He becomes the spymaster for the Tuscai, but the family was eradicated by the Minwanabi, leaving Arakasi masterless. After this incident, Arakasi swore to make every attempt to make the Minwanabi pay for their crimes.

While living in the hills with Lujan's band of grey warriors, Arakasi meets Mara and offers to become her spymaster with one condition: that his ultimate goal would be to bring down the Minwanabi. He becomes fiercely loyal to his mistress with time and has a very close relationship with her and her advisors.

Arakasi's personality is shaped by the early events in his life. He does not allow any emotion to control him and does not fear death. He is extremely intelligent and can gather knowledge from any minuscule fact. He is mostly serious and introverted, but sometimes he allows a bit of his personality and unique humor to shine through, especially when talking to Mara, who is one of the few characters that can understand and add to his elaborate thought processes.

In the first two books, he serves a small role by gathering information that Mara uses to raise her standing in the Empire. It is in the third book of the trilogy, Mistress of the Empire, that we truly begin to delve into the life of Arakasi.

Arakasi is sent on a mission to destroy the Hamoi Tong, an assassin group whose secrecy makes even finding their location a job only fit for one such as Arakasi. While learning more about the Hamoi Tong, he meets Kamlio, a young prostitute whose life is owned by a minor lord. She strikes him to his very core, reminding him of his long-dead mother. Considering this newfound feeling, he loses the side of him that allows him to risk his life without regret. Despite these revelations, he infiltrates the Hamoi Tong's compound and steals the scroll containing the information of the Tong's contracts, destroying their credibility. During the mission, Kamlio's sister is struck with a poisoned dart and dies in Arakasi's arms. The sisters were twins and Arakasi's conversion to a softer nature becomes unavoidable. After this great achievement, he uses Mara's funds to free Kamlio from her contract, with Mara's blessing, hoping that she will open up to him. Unfortunately, Kamlio is cynical from years of being used as a slave. Most of Arakasi's later appearances in the novel focus around his and Kamlio's developing relationship.

At the end of Mistress of the Empire, Arakasi helps put Justin, Mara's son, on the imperial throne and is named the First Imperial Advisor.