- “"How many?'
'Four.'
The color drained from her face.” - ―Kahlan and Richard
A Quad was a specially trained group of four assassins from D'Hara assigned primarily to hunt down and kill Confessors. Richard was bigger than most men and members of a quad were much bigger than him. Quads often had the protection of a spell from the one who sent them (Panis or Darken Rahl). It was not only their assignment to kill the victim, but to make it unimaginably tortuous and brutal.
Panis and Darken Rahl always sent four men in a quad to capture a Confessor. It was expected that one will be touched by her power. It took the three left to kill the one and the Confessor. The reason it took three is because the one will fight so fiercely he usually killed one, often two, but that still left at least one to kill the Confessor. Sometimes only one was left, but that was enough after a Confessor had spent her power. On a rare occasion, the one would kill all three. A quad was the most economical unit to send. They almost always succeeded and if they did not, Rahl would simply send another. The members of a quad took great enjoyment from what they did to Confessors before they killed them.
The clothing worn by members of a quad could vary depending on the terrain, but typically they wore green hooded forest cloaks that shaded their face but could not conceal their heavily muscled bulk. They were typically armed to the teeth. Buckles and leather belts beneath their cloaks typically held an arsenal of weapons such as curved knives and short swords and they also typically wore leather gloves. They were the kind of men you tried not to look in the eye. Some may have had a scabbard with a short sword strapped across their back. Most had thick blond hair, a thick neck, and were fairly good-looking with rugged, handsome faces (typical features of D'Harans). Although larger than most men, they could move with stealth and quickness and stalk their prey without being detected, as well as cut down their enemies in a heartbeat. Their voices were typically deep, even friendly. Pain usually did not bother them. They were relentless. They would not stop, did not know the meaning of it, and never thought of anything but their objective.
They had been known to cut themselves (typically their forearm), accompanied by a depraved grin in an attempt to intimidate their opponent. They often attacked with the howling battle cry of men prepared to die in mortal combat. When victorious, death was usually the best part of the rest of their victim's life. One member of the quad was usually assigned as the leader and spokesperson for the group.