What has happened in the Great Illuminary and the Inklands? How did the Floodborn come to be? Well now we know!!
This article is put together with help from the Disney Lorcana’s website, TheGamer and IGN!
– Story (Disney Lorcana)
– The First Chapter – Player’s Guide (Disney Lorcana)
– Disney Lorcana’s Story, Explained (TheGamer)
– Disney Lorcana’s Story Overflows With Mystery in Rise of the Floodborn (IGN)
The realm of Lorcana
The magical realm of Lorcana is made up of vast regions called the Inklands. At the center of it all lies the Great Illuminary, a place where Illumineers first wielded magical inks to create countless versions of Disney characters and items which are summoned in this world as glimmers.
The Great Illuminary houses enormous whirling contraptions that capture story stars – fragments of Disney stories. An immense reservoir of magical ink, the source of Lorcana’s power, fills the lower reaches of the Great Illuminary where glowing lines of color flow.
These wonders were created by the Curator, who sought to collect and reimagine stories by harnessing the power of story stars and pairing them with magical ink onto the pages of a lorebook, allowing him to create glimmers.
The curator called upon a small group of imaginative apprentices to assist him and named them Illumineers. Together they filled the halls with glimmers and the lorebooks they are inkcast out of, all treasured lore in Lorcana.
Ages passed and the Curator and original Illumineers are now gone but a great power deep within the Great Illuminary awakened and called upon extraordinary and creative people to master the power of Lorcana as Illumineers. These new Illumineers must resume the great work of the Curator to collect and preserve lore, so that glimmers could roam the Illuminary once again.
The story begins
The story begins with The First Chapter, where people from different walks of life found themselves magically transported into the Great Illuminary.
Shanzay is leaving a bar as she stumbles onto a magic circle that brings her into the Great Illuminary.
Upon entering the Great Illuminary, Shanzay is led to an open hall with a giant mechanism towering overhead which captures story stars. where she meets two other Illumineers, Venturo and Martin.
A stream of story stars flows from the mechanism, leading them to a nearby open book and a staff known as an inkcaster.
When Shanzay wields the inkcaster, magical ink flows into the book, and combined with the story stars pours into the lorebook, which forms an image of a Disney character. With the power of the inkcaster, the image rises off the page and forms into a glimmer, a new version of the character that only exists in this world of Lorcana.
Other Illumineers across the globe will similarly be called upon to the aid of Lorcana. As an Illumineer, you will need to summon glimmers to quest with you as you search for missing lore in a race against time. Together, your task is to protect this realm from threats.
Rise of the Floodborn
But how did the Floodborn came to be? It turns out that Martin made an unexpected discovery while exploring the Great Illuminary. He found a secluded room that was covered in seaweed and what appears to be black ink.
In the middle of the room lay a mysterious locked lorebook, locked by an ornament that called out to Martin and his inkcaster. Mesmerized, Martin played musical notes with his inkcaster in response, which resulted in the opening of the locked lorebook.
When the lorebook opened, it unleashed a power that damaged the Great Illuminary and released a mixed-up chaotic wave of all six Inks, sweeping away treasured lore with it, including King Triton’s powerful trident.
The wave crashed out of the lorebook, through the Great Illuminary and into the Inklands, leaving damage in its wake and the six magical inks flowing out of the Great Illuminary shifted Storyborn and Dreamborn glimmers into Floodborn while also changing the Inklands in unusual ways.
With the help of the glimmers, the Illumineers must now head into the Inklands on a quest to collect the treasured lore.
So what happened?
But what exactly was released from that mysterious locked lorebook? And how has it affected the citizens of Lorcana?
The ink flood has transformed many of the characters, such as Cinderella – Ballroom Sensation seen here shifting into Cinderella – Stouthearted after she encountered the ink flood.
Many characters are currently handling and investigating the situation, like Chief Bogo – Respected Officer and Judy Hopps – Optimistic Officer featured here making public statements on the ink flood.
Even Mickey Mouse – Detective and the Duke of Weselton – Opportunistic Official have joined in the investigation, confirming that it is indeed seaweed that was found, and that sorcery was involved.
The incident has affected everyone in various ways, such as the Queen of Hearts – Impulsive Ruler who has found a spellbook caught in the flood and has sent her Card Soldiers after it. Meanwhile, Alice and Cheshire Cat – Always Grinning find out the Inklands are still changing even after the flood has passed.
Many more clues can be found on the characters themselves as their flavor text often share how they have been affected by the explosion, so make sure to check out the cards!
The different types of Characters
But what are glimmers, and how did the Floodborn glimmers come to be? There are three types of glimmers in Lorcana.
- Storyborn glimmers appear exactly the same as the world they originated from that everyone is familiar with.
- Dreamborn glimmers are inkcast from story stars, but with a touch of an Illumineer’s imagination, altered and reimagined in various ways.
- Floodborn glimmers started off as Storyborn or Dreamborn, but when they encountered the magical ink flood, they changed in surprising and unpredictable ways.
Disney Lorcana Narrative Lead Samantha McFerrin explains further, sharing that the Floodborn glimmers changes “could mean they become more powerful, but it doesn’t have to. They could become smarter or wiser, for example.”
“Here’s an example of how it all works: Stitch – Carefree Surfer is Dreamborn, so he looks a little different than he did in the film, thanks to an Illumineer’s imagination. Stitch – Rock Star is Floodborn, which means the magical flood enhanced a trait or talent of a Storyborn or Dreamborn version of him—he always liked music, but now he’s a modern rock star playing to crowds of adoring fans! The change to Floodborn is unpredictable, but the seeds are already present in the Storyborn or Dreamborn glimmer.”
Lorcana Unique Creations
The characters are not the only things that are different from what you may remember from the original Disney stories. Take for example, Launch!
Launch is an original creation from the world of Lorcana which seemingly looks like nothing you have seen before, until you look at the bottom left and notice something very familiar. Plasma Blaster, which is wielded by Stitch from the original show!
(However in Lorcana, Lilo – Galactic Hero has been seen wielding it as well!)
McFerrin explains “Launch is an action card with a strong mechanic and an illustration of a whimsical contraption. Lorcana is a magical realm with a distinct style, and we will reveal more exciting things connected to the realm in future sets. We always want narrative and game design to align, so we do plan to bring the details from the realm into cards,”
