Illumineer

Ilumineers in The Great Illuminary

Illumineers seek the power of knowledge‐but must be aware of the price.

The Sorcerer's Spellbook

Rise of the Floodborn 『68/204·EN·2』

An Illumineer is an extraordinary and creative person summoned by a power deep within The Great Illuminary to master the power of Lorcana. They are able to use an Inkcaster combining magical ink and the light of story stars on a lorebook to create Glimmers. Players take on the role of an Illumineer as they traverse the realm of Lorcana.

History

The origins of the Illumineers are intrinsically tied to the realm of Lorcana. When the stories of old ceased to be, they fragmented into pieces of magic called lore. An enigmatic figure known as the Curator was the first to reach out to these fragments and sought to collect and reimagine stories. Hand-picking a group of apprentices, he harvested these fragments as story stars. By combining the stars' light with magical ink drawn into a lorebook, he revived the figures of lore into living embodiments of their tale—an entity known as a glimmer. With this, he set to work learning to perfect the craft of summoning, or inkcasting and dubbed his apprentices as Illumineers. Inkcasting allowed the Illumineers to learn more about the stories from the glimmer's memory, and thus, they used the glimmers to record the events of these stories and keep them alive. With this knowledge, they went on to form the foundation of Lorcana.

As time went on, the Illumineers developed their craft further. The Curator would construct a special device called an inkcasting stations that would make collecting story stars easier, as well as specialized tools called Inkcasters to serve as a conduit for summoning. At some point, a magical forge known as the Hexwell was discovered, wherein the Illumineers used it to create magical artifacts to increase ink power, among them being the Hexwell Crown and the coils. They also created items of construction, such as machinery, structures, and vehicles, to better interact with the natural setting of Lorcana. The Curator would construct a colossal structure that served as both a hub for collecting story stars and a reservoir of magical ink, the Great Illuminary. Together, they filled the Great Illuminary with glimmers and lorebooks they came from.

At an unknown point, the Curator and original Illumineers vanished without a trace. With none to tend to the halls or its lore, the Great Illuminary awakened and called out to "creative and extraordinary" people from the real world to take their place. Humans who accepted to the call were then inducted as the newest generation of Illumineers, tasked with creating glimmers to help them preserver the lore of Lorcana.

Overview

Initiation

Nearby, a unique tool catches your eye. It's an inkcaster, and when you pick it up, it feels both exciting and familiar.

A person from the real world is selected to be an inkcaster by the Great Illuminary based on their artistic or creative endeavors. Should this person accept the call, they are brought to the Illuminary, where the candidate enters a room called an Inkcasting room, where story stars are collected and glimmers are made. Upon entering, the candidate is granted their primary tool, an inkcaster, attuned to the candidate's nature; and upon wielding it, they become connected to the inks flowing inside the Illuminary. The Illuminary subsequently activates the room's Starcatcher device and ley lines into a lorebook and creates an image of a Disney character. The final part of this ceremony is a test to see if the candidate can interpret the story star and inkcast the character to life. If the candidate succeeds in summoning the character as a glimmer, they pass the test and become official Illumineers as they are given the lorebook as their own.

Abilities

Illumineers possess the power of inkcasting, the ability to conjure the light of a story star with the six magical inks of Lorcana and channel them into the creation of a glimmer, a sentient manifestation of the stories of old. Illumineers create glimmers through a combination of an inkcaster, lore, and the light from a story star. Illumineers can conjure Glimmers of their choosing, be they hero or villain, character or item, among others. The main components of a successful casting are the Illumineer's imagination and the inks used to summon, both of which can influence the Glimmer's abilities and appearance. An Illumineer with a strong understanding of the story star can summon a Glimmer as an exact copy, or Storyborn, or they can use their imagination and tailor the Glimmer to their liking, creating a Dreamborn.

An Illumineer can banish their Glimmer to the lorebook from which they were created from and re-summon them again for future use. According to Archazia, the ability to generate powerful Glimmers relies on using the full potential of one's inkcaster and their imagination. The artistic skill of an Illumineer is not necessary for inkcasting, only their imagination and intent. With this, an Illumineer can accomplish more complex effects, such as a Shift to change out Glimmers or inkcasting Glimmers with dual-ink natures. As powerful as they are, however, their summoning is dependent on the availability of lore; the less lore available, the less effective their Glimmers become.

However, artifacts such as coils and chromicons can make up with these weaknesses by enhancing the qualities of Illumineers whose personalities resonate with specific inks.

Martin smiled as the coil snapped into place and he felt a surge of healing energy.

Amber Coil

Archazia's Island 『41/204·EN·7』

“Comfort the weak and weary.”
–Inscription

Amber Chromicon

Shimmering Skies 『32/204·EN·5』

Storyline-exclusive Illumineers

• Shanzay
• Venturo
• Martin
• Archazia

Original Illumineers

The Original Illumineers were the first group of apprentices trained by The Curator to summon glimmers using story stars, lorebooks, and ink. They once roamed the halls of The Great Illuminary, but are long gone by the time the storyline of Lorcana takes place. Long ago, an unknown Illumineer created a dangerous Ursula glimmer and had her sealed away in a seaweed-covered book inside the Great Illuminary. Whether the Illumineer was a member of the original group is unknown.

The only Illumineer of this group known thus far is Archazia.

Equipment

Inkcaster

Inkcaster found in The Great Illuminary

Inkcasters are the tool used by Illumineers to summon Glimmers. The colors of an inkcaster will generally indicate the preferred inks of the Illumineer. They seem to have different forms depending on their user's preferred way to express creativity, such as a giant pen-like inkcaster for a writer, a guitar-like inkcaster for a musician, and a gauntlet-like inkcaster for a software programmer. Apparently, inkcasters might be used for summoning other objects, such as edibles.

“I don't suppose y'all could whip up some more magical beignets with them inkcasters?”

Eli La Bouff - Big Daddy

Rise of the Floodborn 『179/204·EN·2』

Lorebook

Lorebook found in The Great Illuminary

Lorebook backside

Lorebooks are the medium needed to summon Glimmers. An Illumineer uses an Inkcaster with magical Ink and inspiration from Story Stars on a Lorebook to trace the outline of a character before these jump out of the page. Every Illumineer has their own Lorebook bespoken for them, where they record the types of Glimmers they draw and can summon; as such, a Glimmer incast from the lore book belonging to an individual Illumineer will be conjured and banished to this lorebook. A lorebook is bestowed to an Illumineer, along with their inkcaster, when they enter the Great Illuminary for the first time. There seems to be more than one Lorebook in The Great Illuminary; a particular locked Lorebook covered with seaweed and barnacles was hidden away in a somewhat hidden Inkcasting Station. When Martin used his Inkcaster to open it, he unleashed an unknown evil from within its pages, followed by a flood of ink.

“I'Il get to the bottom of what happened with that locked lorebook. You can count on me!”

Judy Hopps - Optimistic Officer

Rise of the Floodborn 『152/204·EN·2』

Hades: “Listen, kid. If I'm gettin’ banished back to the lorebook, you're going with me.”
Hercules: “We'll see about that.”

Glimmer vs Glimmer

Shimmering Skies 『130/204·EN·5』

Mysterious Lorebook found in The Great Illuminary

Trivia

• As revealed in the Player's Guide for Rise of the Floodborn, there are multiple Illumineers summoned to Lorcana by the time the story takes place and are all somewhere in the Illuminary. However, the main storyline follows the three Illumineers who were introduced in the first trailer, even they are not the only ones present in Lorcana.
  • It is unknown whether the trio knows much about the other Illumineers, although they might be generally aware of their existence.
  • From a gameplay standpoint, the player's role as an Illumineer is intended to be the game's main perspective, as they are building their own personal story and experience as an Illumineer.
• According to Chris Page, the existence of evil Glimmers that are deterring the main trio are likely being cast by the anonymous Illumineers located inside the Illuminary.