Lorn, the game world
Legends of Lorn is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, played in the 3.5 Edition.Set in the original setting of Lorn, an island continent, the campaign follows an unlikely group of travelers who are forced into working together to overcome various obstacles in their own personal quests for peace, adventure, and revenge.
At the onset of the campaign, the party includes:
- Thran'duin Lo Fey: A stoic Elven Ranger and aspiring folk hero, on a quest to right what wrongs he can and snuff out corruption and evil wherever he sees it. The only survivor of a goblin attack on his village when he was younger, he is a cold and skilled warrior - and while easily the most straightforwardly heroic of the party, is no less shrouded in moral ambiguity.
- Victarion Fairfax: A Human Rogue and a former nobleman. Quick-witted and charming, he is a master of disguise and something of a trickster with a lighthearted but selfish attitude. Despite his flamboyance, there is a dark past that he keeps hidden - and even though his out-of-combat abilities tend to prevail - he's easily the group's weak link in a fight.
- Astrid "The World Hammer": A Human Fighter, raised by a dark Cult. She is supposedly a demigod and a daughter of the God of Evil Erythnul himself. Armed with a fiery temper and a massive warhammer, Astrid is a manipulative temptress - as quick to seduce a man as she is to kill him. While her current ambitions are lost in shadow, she is still a force to be reckoned with, as she seeks out the other children of Erythnul to defeat them and live up to her title as the "World Hammer."
- Kars: A Gnome Sorcerer, who is very mysterious, quiet, and generally practical. Neutral to a fault, Kars is usually content to follow along with the rest of the party, making decisions on a whim, and generally enjoying a life of travel and adventure - hoping to see all that he can in the great big world. Yet even Kars has a past of darkness, having lost many of his people and his whole country when he was but a child to tyrannical invaders. A powerful sorcerer in his own right, Kars is easily one of the most versatile members of the party.
The campaign features a rotating cast, with other party members coming and going with each new story arc. Some of these later additions to the party include:
- Rastoss: A human wizard and member of the wizardly council of Karthmoore and adviser to King Honre. He is betrayed by the other wizards and aids the party in restoring order to Karthmoore in the wake of a necromantic conspiracy.
- Xyphyra: An elf ranger and the Princess of the elven kingdom of Veres-Kar. Betrothed to her brother, she escapes her royal life for one of temporary adventure, joining with the party to put an end to the unrest in her kingdom caused by an invading orc army from the Wildlands and learning from her experiences to become the ruler her kingdom needs in the process.
- Zook: A gnomish wizard and cloistered cleric with a mysterious past. Obsessed with uncovering hidden knowledge of any and all kinds, he joins the party seemingly for the sake of simply accumulating more worldly experiences, but he seems equally interested in outrunning his own mistakes.
- Quan: A human druid, accompanied by his animal companion, an albino wolf named Nix. A gruff and determined man, Quan is secretly a werewolf, and joins up with the party during their voyage to Tempest Rock after hearing a rumor that the cure for his lycanthropy can be found on the island of Erythnul-worshipers.
- Preston Peragram: A human warmage, and idealistic young man who grew up in the sheltered country of the ASL, and as such has a lot to learn about the other conflicts and people that await him in the greater world of Lorn.
- Gushnak: A half-orc crusader of Berna, the Goddess of Forgiveness and Redemption. Formerly a raider from the Wildlands, Gushnak came to repent his mistakes and take up a holy cause, founding the Church of Berna in the ASL. He joins the party to help expose and rid the ASL of a corrupt underground group of rebels in league with a demonic power, with grim and righteous determination.
Springing forth from the same prison, the group sets out on an adventure seeking to reclaim a series of items of sentimental value that were lost to them during their imprisonment. Bound together only by this common goal, the party faces many challenges on their ever-growing road.
Legends Of Lorn Includes Examples Of:
- Always Chaotic Evil: The goblins that killed Thran'duin's family are this - as is the Cult of Avandr from which Astrid hails.
- Anti-Hero Team: The party are definitely one of these as opposed to a group of wandering do-gooders.
- Because Destiny Says So: As her name implies, Astrid is said to one day conquer the world.
- The Empire: Describes a lot of the nations in Lorn, but Ursa Rumora is the most straightforward one.
- God of Evil: Erythnul, the God of Slaughter, features heavily in the campaign's lore.
- The Good Kingdom: Karthmoore used to be one of these under King Shephard. His son, Honre, however, has setback his father's developments a good deal.
- Greater-Scope Villain: For this campaign specifically, Erythnul, the God of Slaughter. He's directly responsible for Astrid's birth - as well as that of her rivals, who have been heavily foreshadowed. Erythnul himself, however, is more of a presence than a character proper.
- Grim Up North: Ursa Rumora is the mosth northerly nation in Lorn, and it's easily the worst to live, ruled by a villainous King and a society based on Might Makes Right. It's no wonder Fairfax didn't entirely mind running away.
- The Horde: The various tribes of orcs and goblins and other creatures in the Wildlands.
- Iconic Item: The first half of the first arc deals with the party working together to recover various items of great importance to them.
- A familial pendent for Thran'duin, a signet ring for Fairfax, a human heart (her sister's) for Astrid, and a double-headed coin for Kars.
- It May Help You on Your Quest: Lord Nigel performs some kind of magic on Thran'duin's pendant, that initially has no real effect but it implied to be something greater.
- MacGuffin: Shephard's Heart - a gem of great importance in Karthmoore - is an item that both Thran'duin and Fairfax are seeking to steal. The group's other trinkets also serve this purpose.
- Masquerade Ball: The party infiltrate one of these held by Lord Nigel to retrieve their taken items, and steal Shephard's Heart.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Dragons are all but extinct in Lorn due to ancient wars waged between them and the other races. Now their remain only two in deep hibernation on opposite sides of the continent.
- Proud Warrior Race: The people of Ursa Rumora.
- Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits: The party is definitely one of these.
- Religion of Evil: The Cult of Avandr, who inhabit Tempest Rock and worship Erythnul. Astrid was raised by them.
- The Republic: What the Allied Sentients of Lorn (ASL) are trying to be, with some success.
- Savage South: The Wildlands.
- Standard Fantasy Setting: Naturally, being a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Lorn, however, is marked by a more political atmosphere rather than invading monsters or the armies of Dark Lords.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The entire party operates on this to some extent, never entirely trusting each other, but this goes doubly so for Thran'duin and Astrid.
- You All Meet in a Cell: The party meet trying to escape the same prison in the town of Dunmire in Karthmoore.
