The Inquest was (or will be, depending on ones placement in time) an empire that stretched across the vast majority of the Milky Way galaxy, encompassing most - if not all - of the Dispersal of Man. It lasted roughly twenty millenia, allegedly beginning with mans discovery of the mythical "Uran S'Varek" at the center of the galaxy, and culminating with the Fall of the Inquest which plunged all of known civilization into a Dark Age that lasted several thousand years. During that period, all records of the Inquest were destroyed and most technological gains made by the government of the Inquest were lost.

With out any physical evidence to support its existence, The Inquest became a legend, and its key actors became legendary figures sometimes equated to Gods. The closer to the Fall an Inquestors reign fell, the more likely he or she was remembered and elevated. A thousand years after the Fall, only the key players involved in the Fall of the Inquest were remembed and their story codified into a series of plays called "The Darkling Wind".

One such player was Hokh'Ton Karakael z Karakit Karun. Within the myths surrounding the Inquest he is seen as an evil god figure, holding the power to destroy and corrupt. The Inquestoral Tarot places him in the position of "Future Despair" and his traits are those of Emotion and Concealment. The Darkling Wind paints a more human picture of this powerful man, while still ensuring to highlight his evil tendencies. It also included his background and logic behind his actions.

Karakael was born on the pleasure planet Karun to a family in complete destitution. Even as a child he was intent on becoming an Inquestor, much to the chagrin of his parents. After enduring some extreme trauma (the like of which cannot be fully described on such a public site) and accidentally melding his face with a burlap mask, the young Karakael was found by the Inquestrix Vara (commonly known as Mother Vara) and elevated to Inquestor status. It is said that her logic in choosing the traumatized and brutalized boy was that, as a broken individual, he would be better able to comprehend the High Compassion and find sympathy for humanity. Nothing could be further from the case. The necessary repression of emotion only further harmed the young man, and served to distance him from the Compassion he was supposed to learn. He grew into a ruthless Inquestor, one willing to go to most lengths to win a game of makrugh, uncaring of the human lives under his control. To his credit, he learned the Inquestoral teachings well, though never practiced them kindly. Generally, he was viewed as an arrogant and shallow man by his fellows.

Yet, as the Inquest began to Fall, he had been an Inquestor for five hundred years, slowly advancing through the ranks until he held one of the three northern Thrones of Power.

The War of the Inquest is said to have truly started at his palace of Kimiti, when his face and history was revealed by the Inquestor Vara to demonstraight what evil the Inquest could do. Her actions spurred the Inquestors to divide themselves into factions - those for or against the continuation of the Inquest. Spurred on by his hatred of his former Master, Karakael chose the side of the Inquest. Later, however, it was reveled that he chose this side with the awareness that his actions would only intensify the conflict, as his cruelty drove many worlds to side with the Shadow Government of the Darkling Wind, lead by Ton Kelver.

Karakael intentionally played the villain, wishing to destroy the society that hurt him and forced him to repress both his past and his emotions. Yet as the war intensified he was eventually stripped of his title as Inquestor for criticizing the leader of the side of the Inquest, Ton Arryk. While he was cruel and bitter, Karakael possessed an affinity for seeing the truth at the heart of things, and was often able to stare unflinching at great evils, whether they be those he created, or the results of actions of others. The Inquestor Sirriss recognized this quality, as well as his tactical genius and devotion to the true destruction of the Inquest and enlisted him in her final plan to end the war between the Gods.

To this end, Karakael sacrificed himself as an example of what the other Inquestors should do - namely remove themselves from the world and truly end the scourge that was the Inquest. His final act is generally interpreted as a form of redemption, though many argue that this one act - no matter the stunning consequences - does not forgive the life of evil he lead up until this point. Still, it should be remembered that Karakael was merely one of many Inquestors, and of them was perhaps not the most evil or depraved.

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The Canon

With in the series, Karakael is a relatively minor character, in comparison to the three main characters Kelver, Arryk and Sirriss. However, as a secondary character many of his actions are important to the plot of the books, and should be noted.

- The Light on the Sound -

The first book of the Inquest, and the one that introduces Kelver and many of the secondary characters. Karakael and Elloran are both mentioned in passing - Elloran as the cocky young Inquestor who attends Daveyush's party, and far more minor, Karakael's gardens are referred to in passing by a young Sirriss.

- The Throne of Madness -

The vast majority of the information on Karakael stems from this book. He is a major player in the plot, prompting many of Arryks actions and consistently interacting with Elloran. He and Elloran play with the child-Inquestors during their trip through Karakael's lands, and then he tempts Arryk into Utopia Hunting Stoma and turning his back upon his friends. The climax of the book (with the various Inquestors taking sides) takes place at a grand game of makrugh he hosts, and his actions afterwards directly affect Vara and Elloran.

- Utopia Hunters -

Karakael is a much more minor presence in this book, but then again, so are all the other characters. Utopia Hunters is mostly a collection of short stories centering around Ir JenJen and Elloran's household. Still, he is mentioned at least once, as it is one of his worlds that the Rememberer must persue Ellorans sister across.

- The Darkling Wind -

Karakael may be a minor character in this one, but he is probably one of the most enjoyable characters. He appears during Zalo's necro-drama performance of the Rainbow King, then again during most of the battles between the forces of Light and Shadow.  Most of the time he is portrayed as unbelieving and unable to accept defeat. By now he has given up his masks, and some of the coolest descriptions in the book come from describing his "mummy-like" face. He severely criticizes Arryk preceding the destruction of Stoma, leading to his loss of title and subsequent vow of silence and dropping out of the story until the final fight scene. Still, his and Sirriss's relationship is interesting to speculate on, as is his relationship with the heartbroken Elloran. His final act in the book is to light himself on fire and inspire the rest of the Inquestors to do the same.

The Fannon

Obviously, K-mun plays Hokh'Ton Karakael a bit differently than how he is portrayed in the books. Generally speaking, the Karakael of DDD is polite, studious and kind to children. How did he get from the arrogant young man to the older and wiser ex-Inquestor?

Well, DDD Karakael is taken post canon. Seriously post canon. Though no absolute dates exist (resulting both from the difficulty of telling time in a universe ruled by time dilatation and the muns difficulties with deciding on exact timelines) the community Karakael is taken at least 5,000 years after the Fall of the Inquest. He has been revived (more accurately: he was placed in suspended animation shortly following his suicide and repaired) by the Darkling Wind - the thinkhive (or bio-computer) that runs all of Uran S'Varek. The Darkling Wind uses him to catalogue the various worlds beyond its control, and to add a human touch to the understanding of the various civilizations that have sprung up since the fall of the Inquest. Basically, he's an Anthropologist. He is the one behind the loss of most artifacts involving the Inquest, and the suppression of some of the potentially harmful methods of space travel. (His own method of travel was learned at great cost from the Windbringers on the Light on the Sound. He still cannot travel the Overcosm without a mini-thinkhive/delphanoid-mind stashed in his shimmercloak)

He also has taken down various rogue Inquestors and Thinkhives, and has gained a cadre of Childsoldiers who were treated with the same age-defying drugs that he takes. They, however, had no choice in the matter. He cares for them until they begin to age again, where upon they are inserted into a 'good' society and allowed to live out their natural lifespan, often as informal ambassadors of between the Darkling Wind and their new homeplanets. Some of his children have been named on the community - most prominently K'viss and Tash. It should be emphasized that these characters are creations of the mun, and not characters from the original work - though they often share names (Zalo, Sen) and traits with major characters.

The personality that the Karakael of DDD is mostly drawn from inferences about the way his mind was working immediately prior to his death. Simply put, Karakael had "grown up" by then. He still has some similar tendencies - masks, sarcasm, interest in politics, overdramatics, ect - but many of his negative qualities have been tempered as a result of him coming to terms with himself and what happened to him. He has gotten the revenge he so desperately wanted, and has lost all of the people he had ever cared about. What is left when one takes revenge and the Inquest away from Hokh'Ton Karakael is the man portrayed on the community - someone who has grown and changed over the years, and has gained restraint and subtlety. (though it can be argued that he has little of either)

Finally, it is complete fabrication that Karakael and The Visitor have any connection other than that which has appeared or been implied on DDD. Both characters are played by the same Mun, but are from widely different book series. What they have in common is a long lifetime of experience, most of which has been in administration of societies. Both have coped with humanities stupidities far to often, and has grown a bit bitter about it. Their friendship was originally based on simply that, but it has grown over the two years they have interacted into something much closer - but still nebulous. It should emphasized that neither characters have any interest in intimacy, whether from disgust at human mating practices, or from a genuine fear of becoming that close to someone and thus becoming vulnerable.