In an IGN interview with Disney Lorcana’s Narrative Lead, Samantha McFerrin, Illumineers can read more about the story behind Lorcana than ever before. With Rise of the Floodborn launching in local game shops this weekend (and mass markets in just a couple of weeks), the story helps drive the inky mystery around what, exactly, happened in the realm of Lorcana.
Glimmer Types in Disney Lorcana
As you play Disney Lorcana, the story of the game states that you have been summoned to the Great Illuminary, a sort of magical library containing all the Disney stories ever told. You take on the role of an Illumineer, a hero who uses magical ink to summon “glimmers” of the characters in these stories. Using these glimmers, you race to recover shards of lost Lore.
The first type of glimmer is a “Storyborn” glimmer. This type of glimmer is a version of the character much like we have read in their stories. For example, in the First Chapter set, you have Tinker Bell: Most Helpful as a Storyborn glimmer. This glimmer allows you to grant Evasive to other glimmers with her special skill, “Pixie Dust.” This aligns with the Tinker Bell we see in the “Peter Pan” animated film.
The second type of glimmer is a “Dreamborn” glimmer. These glimmers are similar to their original form, but take a little creative license as the Illumineer who summons the character may over- or under-emphasize certain character traits of the character from their original story. For example, the Dreamborn version of Tinker Bell focuses on her tinkering skills and emphasizes those in the art and card ability. Dreamborn Tinker Bell is Tinker Bell: Tiny Tactician.
On the art for this card, Tinker Bell is outfitted for battle in a thimble hat and holds a straight pin as a sword. She wears war paint made of chlorophyll on her cheeks and carries a button shield for protection. Her special ability “Battle Plans” allows her to draw an extra card, make a plan, and discard a card. Though we know Tinker Bell to be hotheaded, and the Disney Fairies films show Tinker Bell doing some tinkering, this warpath Tinker Bell with the ability to formulate a battle plan is a bit of a stretch of the imagination.
The third type of card is the “Floodborn” glimmer. Until now, very little has been shared about these Floodborn glimmers, but this interview revealed more story related to this card type.
The third type of card is the Floodborn; though we have a few of these from The First Chapter, many more are featured in the aptly-named Rise of the Floodborn.
The Floodborn can shift from other forms of the same glimmer. That means, if you have a Tinker Bell: Tiny Tactician already in play, you can Shift her into her Floodborn version for a lower Ink cost. Story-wise, these Floodborn glimmers have been washed in a magical flood of mixed ink, which distorts the Storyborn or Dreamborn characters in unexpected ways. The Floodborn version of Tinker Bell is Tinker Bell: Giant Fairy. The art depicts an impossibly large Tinker Bell holding Hook’s pirate ship, deciding exactly how to best deal with the pint-sized pirates. Her skills associated include “Rock the Boat” and “Puny Pirate!” These skills deal a giant-sized amount of damage to opposing glimmers, as their skill names suggest.
New Story Details: A Flood of Ink
The new interview with McFerrin details the flood of magical ink that led to the rise of the Floodborn glimmers. The story goes that an Illumineer, while exploring the Great Illuminary, discovered a locked lorebook in a secret area of the library. After opening the tome with a bit of music, an unknown magic was released that damaged part of the Great Illuminary, releasing a torrential, chaotic mixture of all six ink types and resulting in a wave that carried away important Disney artifacts, including King Triton’s trident.
When the Illumineer finds the locked lorebook in a somewhat hidden inkcasting room, it’s a complete mystery as to how it got there.
When it’s accidentally opened, the force that comes out of it is so big and explosive, it’s hard to know what it is. But it crashes out of the lorebook, through the Great Illuminary, and into the Inklands, leaving damage in its wake.
Essentially, the Great Illuminary has sprouted a big leak. The six magical inks are now flowing out of it, turning storyborn and dreamborn glimmers to floodborn and changing the Inklands in unusual ways.
Disney Lorcana Narrative Lead Samantha McFerrin, in an interview with IGN
With new clues to the magical plot and new glimmers to continue Illumineers’ quests for lore, Rise of the Floodborn will bring fresh new options and powerful changes to Disney Lorcana.
Are you looking forward to the new release, or are you still holding out to get some cards to play? Let us know in the comments where your Illumineer journey is taking you.
If you’re new to Disney Lorcana, check out our learn-to-play video:
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