Chester Rumbarahl

Chester Rumbarahl was a general or high-ranking military officer in one of the early incarnations of the Marcon Alliance. He was definitely a battling sorcerer, but not a wizard of any great note. Most of Rumbarahl's story is pieced together through supposition, though he is mentioned in at least three historical texts of known providence.

Early Life

Rumbarahl was most likely born during the [[Mage Wars#The Intermediate Period|Intermediate Period. He may not have been a Marcon at all, as the chief document that mentions him does not have a solid date for composition.

Later Life and Death

Perhaps his primary claim to fame, as it were, was not his life, but his death. The most important document that mentions him is a passage of the Mehi Codex which explains how, after living 96 or 97 years, he was able to magically reincarnate into a new body(perhaps, unintentionally), beginning his new life as a girl.

With reincarnation being not uncommon during the era, the Mehi codex treats this as nothing special, but it is one of the most well-known and historically proven accounts of reincarnation.

Later Lives

In A.Y. 6314, Emilie Sachen came forward claiming to be the reincarnation of Ester Wyoh, a well-known rocket scientist who'd died over a century before Emilie's birth. Her case was brought to the attention of the Foundation, who studied it, and declared her to be genuine.

Emilie claimed to be the seventh reincarnation of Chester Rumbarahl, having now lived three lives as a man and being on her fourth as a woman. She went on to write over a hundred books about the life and times of Rumbarahl, but was never given historical credence. Though her status as a reincarnation of the famous scientist was considered above reproach, her claims of also being the 7,500-year-old general were not.

"Diaries"

During the late Golden Age a book was released claiming to be a translation of Rumbarahl's diaries from his second life. They talked about hiw growing up as a girl, going through puberty, and struggling to earn the respect of his old lieutnants. For a while, the diaries received much acclaim as they were released several years before the discovery of the Mehi codex. However, it was eventually pointed out that Chester Rumbarahl's existence and reincarnation were well-known through secondary sources for centuries before the diaries were published. The Mehi Codex was merely the first primary source.

Though it would take nearly five decades, the author of the diaries was eventually determined, and the diaries declared a known fraud. The diaries were again derided by Emilie Sachen, who considered them to be laughable. In her book, The Beginning Anew', she addressed the diaries and her own recolections of that time in her life. She claimed that, since his first reincarnation had been well-planned, he was only gone about five years, and she came back, her lieutenants had no trouble following orders.

Rumbarahl's biggest problem after reincarnating(aside from the nuisance of being too short to mount a horse herself), was not boys(as the diaries claimed), but rather girls. In life, Chester Rumbarahl had been something of a womanizer, and found this vice to be nearly impossible as a prepubescent girl.