"In an age when nature and magic rule the world, there is an extraordinary legend. The story of a warrior who communicates with animals, who fights sorcery and the unnatural. His name is Dar, last of his tribe. He is also called the BeastMaster." -----King Zad (Steven Grives)
Zad can always be seen in his long flowing black robe, with his necklace of animal teeth and skull adorning his broad chest. Just how did he come by all those teeth? Do they signify something special?
Gravelly voiced, power hungry, and merciless to his enemies, King Zad is leader of the Terron people. He has ruled the Territories for decades with an iron fist, taking what he wants with total abandon and disregard for human life.
He truly enjoys his conquests, with a zest for life that belies his advancing years. Tatooed and scarred, his heart appears to be made of stone, yet Zad yearns for a woman that can be his equal. But Zad is evil incarnate, not above slaughtering hundreds of innocent babies when a nightmare foretold his demise at the hands of a child.
However, Zad continues to use Kyra as a tool to torment and manipulate Dar, who is unaware of her true fate.
Captured during a Terron raid and enslaved, Kyra, one of the last of the Sula tribe and Dar's true love, eventually attracted the amorous attentions of King Zad.
Charmed by her ethereal beauty and spirit, Zad attempted to woo Kyra and win her heart. Unfortunately for Zad, Kyra was repulsed by his attempts at seduction. After blackmailing Kyra into his bed, she tried to poison him! Kyra escaped that night, but after a brief reunion with Dar, was recaptured by the Sorceress. Kyra currently is a prisoner inside the Ancient One's crystals.
The two strong personalities sometimes clash when their goals are at odds, but there is a definite mutual admiration and attraction. Sparks fly when these two are together!
The Sorceress and Zad are a puzzling pair. Zad is obviously drawn to the Sorceress because of her mystical abilities and her beauty, but mostly I think because of what he can gain from her; an advantage over his enemies. The Sorceress, in turn, also uses Zad as an
amusing plaything when the mood suits her, although she is not above betraying him on a whim. The Sorceress uses the King to learn about human emotions, as he attempts to learn more about her background.
But Zad's plan backfired as Atlantia (the true ruler whom Zad had been searching for) outsmarted the crafty Zad at his own game, and
ultimately escaped back to her undersea world.
King Zad initially captured the amphibian-like woman Atlantia because it was rumored that
she could lead him to the prince of an undersea empire, who was supposedly readying an army to lead against Zad.
Convinced that Atlantia was more animal than woman, and thus could not speak, Zad lured Dar into a trap in hopes that
Dar could be forced to use his telepathic ability to communicate with her.
The Ancient One is a contradictory creature, bestowing the gift of the Minotaur onto Zad, yet at the same time, stealing away his most prized possession, Kyra.
The question remains about this enigmatic wizard: just what are the Ancient One's true intentions?
Another mysterious alliance. A timeless being and powerful Sorcerer, the Ancient One seems to bear no great love for Zad, seemingly
to find him at times annoying and crass. And yet, the Ancient One begrudgingly allows his protege, the Sorceress,
to aid Zad in his quest for more power and grant his many desires.
King Zad and the Chancellor faced off in "The Last Unicorns". The
power grubbing Chancellor
was working behind the scenes with Zad to betray his Princess and steal the throne. By offering Zad
what he could not deliver, he was himself betrayed by Zad and eventually
murdered with the very horn he helped steal from the Unicorns. That will teach him to trust the untrustable!
After Zad calls Baha's Prince "filthy",
Baha exits the King's tent. But he doesn't let the evil Terron King
intimidate him. He quickly sets a plan in motion to steal the Minotaur from
King Zad. Both men are ruthless, and go after what they want... but Baha is
the weaker of the two. Baha and his men are the terror of the Downs... but
King Zad is the Terror where ever he goes.
When Zad aquires a Beast that Baha's prince has offered a "princely" sum of shiny
stones for, Baha goes to King Zad. Zad doesn't fall for any of Baha's flattery, and calls Baha "a peddler of flesh, and not a whole one at that." Baha didn't
realize that bargaining with Zad wouldn't get him what he wanted. The King
takes what he wants.. he doesn't trade. But King Zad does say that if Baha
could get him something he has never seen before, "an Angel from the sky",
or "me", he might consider.
Tao again stumbled into Zad's clutches when the Eiron was unfortunate enough to be selected as one of Zad's sacrifices to his newly acquired
half-man, half-beast Minotaur. After narrowly escaping death yet again, Tao finally met face to face with Zad in a violent confrontation
in "A Devil's Deal." Although obviously intimidated, Tao stood his ground and faced the Terron King. The next meeting should be very interesting!
The paths of King Zad and Tao first crossed when the Eiron was also captured
in a Terron raid and enslaved in the same prison camp as Kyra. Tao escaped during Dar's unsuccessful attempted rescue of Kyra, when a tiger
(in communication with Dar) refused to kill him. Tao still carries a healthy fear of his time while in the Terron camp.
In "A Devil's Deal", Dar is finally captured by Zad, and the two meet for the first time face to face. It's a bloody battle, as Zad tries to goad Dar into fighting him on his terms.
With Kyra and Tao's life at stake, Dar keeps his cool and shows his utter contempt for Zad and his evil ways. Dar outwitted Zad and escaped, but this won't be the last time the two strong personalities will clash.
King Zad and Dar, the BeastMaster, have a long and tumultuous relationship, which began when Zad captured Kyra, the love of Dar's life.
Zad would also love to possess Dar's telepathic ability to speak with animals.
Ruthless and brutal, Qord was King Zad's chief warrior and right hand man. But he had been stealing from Zad, and plotting behind his back to wrest
control of the Terron kingdom away from Zad. Suspicious, Zad had been watching Qord carefully, even going so far as to disguise himself as a donkey
(with the help of the Sorceress) to spy on his men. Qord staged an unsuccessful coup, and outcast from the camp..watches and waits for his next opportunity. Rejected by Dar as a possible ally, Qord
is now alone.
Text © 2000 by Lori Swanson. All Rights Reserved.
All screen captures found on this site are courtesy of Starman and SapphireMage
All BeastMaster: The Legend Continues characters and images found on this site are © 2000 by Tribune Entertainment Co. All Rights Reserved.