Ishak

Ishak †
Biographical Information
Died	438 HE (accidental suicide)
Race	Bazhir
Nationality	Tortallan
Magical Information
Gift Color	Red
Specialization	Fire and Light
Physical Description
Gender	Male
Family Information
Grandparents	Unnamed grandfather
Affilliation
Residence	Great Southern Desert
Bazhir Tribe	Bloody Hawk
Teacher(s)	Alanna of Trebond
Affiliation	Kara Kourrem
Bibliographical Information
Universe	[[Tortallan Universe Universe]] character
Only Appearance	The Woman Who Rides Like a Man

Ishak was a young Bazhir and member of the Bloody Hawk tribe. He died in 438 HE after stealing Duke Roger's sword from Alanna of Trebond's tent and trying to harness its power.

Biography

Early Life

Ishak had a strong gift for fire and because of his gift, the tribe's shaman at that time Akhnan ibn Nazzir said that he, along with the two gifted girls, Kara and Kourrem, were cursed. Ishak’s family left him to the care of his grandfather. Halef Seif, the headman, would not allow his tribe to abandon its young members and several tribe members clothe and feed the three children.

Alanna's Arrival

When Alanna of Trebond joined the tribe and became its new shaman, she adopted the three young people as her students and trained them so they could take over as shamans and learn to control their gift.

Out of the three, he was the most impatient, always wanting to go ahead and do more powerful spells and incantations. He was also arrogant and thought, like most Bazhir men, very little of women and their daily tasks. Of the three, however, he had the most control and mastered the lessons Alanna gave them more quickly. Often, he would become bored, eager to learn more advanced material without learning the patience required for such spells. He would often ask Alanna if he could wield the Crystal sword, arrogantly thinking he could control what she could not. In some ways, Ishak foreshadowed what would happen to Thom of Trebond—arrogant in magic and thus destroying himself.

Death

The night after an attack on the village by Hillmen and their shaman, Ishak took the sword from the sleeping Alanna and tried to wield it. When he took it out of the scabbard to shout a spell at Alanna, the shield she had summoned to protect herself reflected the spell back at him. The power consumed him and the scabbard he had thrown aside. Alanna speaks of how the death of Ishak taught her not to dwell on things she could not control, helping her get over her killing of Duke Roger.

Personality and Traits

Ishak was arrogant, adventurous, proud, and full of hubris. Although he was the one who was most willing to try new things and spells, his hubris and complacency led to his ultimate downfall. Ishak was very power motivated and lacked diplomacy, as seen in his derogatory words about his fellow students' gender. Although he was surely the most outgoing and certain out of all three of them, his personality would make it so he would be a very ineffective shaman, especially when dealing with other tribes. Although he had the magical strength to potentially become quite powerful, he lacked the personality to wield this power in any sort of way that would benefit the tribe.

Appearances

Ishak only appears in The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, the third installment of The Song of the Lioness quartet, and he dies during the course of the novel.