Lorgalis

Lorgalis the White ("The White Mage") was a very powerful warlord in the Shadow World history, implicitly important as the background villain for several stories in the I.C.E. Age of GemStone III. Lorgalis was half Dark Elven, half Lord of Essaence by birth. His father was a surviving servant of the Empress Kadaena who was not slain until 450 Second Era, which caused Lorgalis to become the blood nemesis of Andraax and his Loremasters. Lorgalis is thought to have been born in the First Era, surviving the purge by appearing to be Elven. Following the death of his father at the hands of Andraax, he would eventually take up his mantle by forming his own hordes of evil monsters in his bid to conquer the world. His ire was always the conquest or waste of Jaiman as it was the favorite of Andraax.

Behind the Scenes

Lorgalis was the purely implicit background factor in several stories and areas of the I.C.E. Age period of GemStone III, which lasted between the years 1990 and 1995, using a different historical timeline and world setting. In some cases such as the stories of Bandur Etrevion and Uthex Kathiasas this is indisputable, while others such as the Shadow Valley story are less clear without sufficient logs.

(1) The Graveyard

Lorgalis controlled the peninsula of Xa'ar at the start of the Wars of Dominion, which was the time period of "The Legend of the Necropolis of Etrevion". Xa'ar was located immediately west of what is called the Coastal Cliffs, not existing as a land mass in the modern history of Elanthia. Consequently, Lorgalis controlled the flow of access in and out of Claedesbrim Bay (Darkstone Bay) at the time of these wars, just as he had controlled the Bay of Ulor for centuries which was most of the west coast of Jaiman. Roughly 70 years into the wars he conquered Saralis, whose northern edge is the foothills by Zeltoph.

These factors necessitate Lorgalis being the warlord of the Unlife whom Kestrel Etrevion had sworn fealty, and who would have given Kestrel the fiefdom along the Bay to serve as his viceroy. Kestrel Etrevion is implied as having led a failed invasion of Saralis from the north, which was guarded by a powerful essence barrier formed from the crown worn by its king. This was the nearly catastrophic defeat which was avoided only by the sorcerous intervention of his brother. These forces were run under the Cult of Yarthraak, who were subjugated to Lorgalis, which is represented in the game with black sea drake symbols.

These occur in the burial mound with his battle throne of ebon and bellacorn ivory, as well as the cemetery on the Coastal Cliffs which has a mausoleum of the same style as the crypt in The Graveyard. The underground stronghold nearby is implicitly one of the dark cults Bandur purged in the formation of his theocracy, and seemingly may have been run by one of Kestrel's sons, who would have had likely found his fealty to Klysus (Luukos) through their service to Lorgalis. The leapers in this area were used as hunting hounds by Dark Elves, which may in this case be a poetic transformation curse by Bandur.

Bandur Etrevion helped his brother ascend through the ranks of "the warriors of the Unlife" through shadowy interventions, while acquiring understanding of these forces from behind the lines. When he was recognized by the Loremasters at the College of Karilon for his book "Servants of the Shadow: Power through Thralldom", it was because he was illustrating the methods of Lorgalis for them. "Servants of the Shadow" is a very specific phrase which refers to the former followers of the Empress Kadaena who were wielding Great Demons. When Bandur Etrevion usurped the fiefdom his brother and forming his theocracy of Kadaena, he was effectively executing a coup against Lorgalis, who in turn would have conquered the whole region after the fall of Saralis under the Ordainer Kharuugh in 6521 Second Era.

(2) The Broken Lands

Uthex Kathiasas was killed by his fellow Loremasters in 6521 Second Era. Loremasters who conducted field research would often go a whole year at a time without reporting back to their order. However, his refusal at this point would have made it clear to them that something had gone horribly wrong, as he was now known to be residing in a region controlled by the forces of the Unlife. His corruption is implied to have been at the hands of theocracy of Bandur Etrevion, whom he would have known through Karilon and shared research interests in the Lords of Essaence and the methods of Empress Kadaena.

The Broken Lands was particularly about the relationship between the Dark Gods and forces of the Unlife, as well as seemingly the artificial fabrication of extra-planar entities, including the dark gods or spirits and the demonic. Lorgalis controlled a branch of the Priests Arnak, had some relationship with the Dark God Klysus (Luukos), wielded an Ordainer servant, and had several Heralds of Night as body guards. It is worth noting that he used the influence of Klysus to secure control over the site of the sarcophagus of the dead Empress Kadaena which clearly influenced the design of the crypt in The Graveyard.

(3) Shadow Valley

While the story of Muylari is now poorly documented, it was said the lives of his wife and himself were saved by a Dark Elven rider. Muylari was forced to become his servant, running silver mining in what would eventually become Shadow Valley. When the dormant serpent demon was awoken by the miners and cursed the lands, Muylari fled but was cursed with immortality for what is said to have been thousands of years. When he returned to tell his story there was a wolf familiar who was speaking on behalf of his master. This might have been implying the master of Muylari was Lorgalis.

Lorgalis had designs on this region in both the Second and Third Eras. The journal of Selias Jodame refers to the region as "northern Jaiman" rather than Quellbourne, implying the story of Jaron Galarn took place prior to the Wars of Dominion. This journal may have even been the motivation for Bandur Etrevion to discover the portal to the Broken Lands under what is now called the Lysierian Hills.

(4) The Council of Light

The Council of Light was clearly a front organization for one of the Orders of the Priests Arnak, most likely the Cult of Gaath which controls what we call Upper Trollfang and the Red Forest. The High Priest of Gaath was subverting Lorgalis in Xa'ar, while Lorgalis exerted direct control over the High Priest of Yarthraak, and interacted with the High Priest of Dansart in the guise of their false identities with mutual suspicion. In principle, this would make Lorgalis the most obvious identity for the "adversary" of the Grand Poohbah, where Kelfour's Landing was the staging ground for the invasion of Saralis.

This would have been a collision of Lorgalis from Xa'ar in the west, the forces of Gaath and the Dragonlord Oran Jatar from the northwest, and the Dragonlord Sulthon Ni'shaang from the east. However, the Council of Light is only very loosely inspired by the cults of the Iron Wind, and the "adversary" may not refer to the strategic situation. This messaging may refer instead to the Lord High Cleric of the local temple, putting adventurers beyond his reach because of soul corruption through the Unlife. Similarly, Bandur Etrevion plays off this as the "Lord High Sorceror" of his theocracy, where the spelling "sorceror" refers to Rolemaster conversion tables for the Necromancer profession. The "Grand Poohbah" name and spelling originates in a Gilbert & Sullivan character who was "Lord High Everything Else".

(5) The Vvrael

Lorgalis was a nemesis of Schrek and Ondoval in the Jerak Ahrenreth, who in composite form are partial bases of the Vvrael quest character Terate, where the Vvrael is an analog of the Unlife. Lorgalis wielded a powerful sword called the Blade of the Void, which is the obvious inspiration behind the void blade of Terate. There was no information given on the deceased father of Terate, but his kingdom of Castle Anwyn in principle would have been part of the conquered lands of Lorgalis several thousand years ago, except for the fact that Wars of Dominion never happened in the modern history.

The void blade of Terate was apparently influenced by other things, such as the Knife of the Void held by Ondoval, and the Grail sword of Arthurian knights such as Perceval and Gawain which seemingly was also an influence on the Griffin Sword. The Griffin Sword in turn was clearly inspired by the Gryphon sword of Shadow World, which had special powers of slaying constructs such as the Shards and what we call Vruul, and had assorted history in the wrecking of Jaiman by Lorgalis and the Priests Arnak. Thus, while Lorgalis is not immediately relevant to the Vvrael quest, he is a proxy influence on it.