The Great Illuminary

# Great Illuminary

The Great Illuminary is a giant floating structure located in the middle of the realm Lorcana.[1.1] It is a "repository of all stories ever told." [6.2.1. See Note 8]

## **History** of The Great Illuminary

The *original illumineers* who resided within the Great Illuminary "mysteriously abandoned" it; "disappearing" altogether. [6.2.1] Eventually, the Illuminary begins summoning *new illumineers* from an unidentified world. [6.2.1, See Note 7]

### Events With **Unknown** Timeline Placement

In the inkcasting room, an unknown illumineer used amethyst ink to summon a glimmer of Mickey Mouse (Wayward Sorcerer).[4.3, 6.1.1] Right as an unknown darkness suddenly began to surround the Illuminary, Mickey's happy demeanor shifted to one of battle.[6.1.1. See Note 6]

### **Residents** of The Great Illuminary

* Glimmers
	+ Mickey Mouse (True Friend) [4.1]
	+ Tinker Bell (Most Helpful) [4.4]
	+ Minnie Mouse (Always Classy) [4.5]
	+ Hercules (True Hero) [4.6]
	+ Lilo (Galactic Hero) [4.7]
* .

#### **Locations** Within The Great Illuminary

* Inkcasting Station(s)[3]
* Center[3. See Note 3]

#### **Physical & Magical** Properties of The Great Illuminary

The exterior, or "outer shell," of the Great Illuminary is either made of or is the color of the metals bronze & gold.[3] This *outer shell* does not always cover the whole of the building (if it could) as its components are constantly turning about.[3] Within the building are "flowing lines, or grooves"[See Note 1] that *conduct* "the power of the inks" to support the most, if not all, of the Illuminary's power needs.[3]

The top of the Great Illuminary attracts & gathers nearby story stars that are eventually transferred to the inkcasting station(s) near[See Note 2] the Illuminary's center.[3] The inkcasting stations are supported up by *ink columns* that are filled with 'ink *grooves*,' that might be considered *representational* of the birth of new glimmers via ink.[3]

The Great Illuminary is a "respository of all stories ever told." [6.2.1] If the Illuminary doesn't live up to this function, "the people first start to forget them." [6.2.1. See Note 8.1]

#### **Internal Functions** of The Great Illuminary

The Great Illuminary is staffed by numerous beings acting in either official or unofficial capacities.

Many of the staff are glimmers. The storyborn Mickey Mouse (True Friend) greets "newcomers to the Great Illuminary,"[4.1] presumably with a focus on new or potential illumineers and possibly glimmers. There is also at least one *bucket brigade* of Magic Brooms (at least seven dreamborn members) that seem to serve in a number of functions such as *sweeping*, and a possible military capacity and/or fire control role.[4.2. See Note 4] These Brooms are known to use buckets of amethyst ink in a unknown (presumably magical) way.[4.2] There are also at least three Magic Brooms (possibly outside of, but still working in conjunction with the *bucket brigade*) who carry mysterious pale (magical) spheres.[4.3] However, the Magic Brooms may not always be acting in as official capacity as they have been known to follow the *wayward* sorcerer Mickey Mouse.[4.3] Granted, it is also possible that this dreamborn Mickey is also the *bucket brigade*'s official recruiter as be is known to have *animated brooms*[See Note 5] to assist him.[4.3]

## References

1. Official Website of Lorcana by Ravensburger (disneylorcana.com)
	1. Story --> Magic of Lorcana
2. EXCLUSIVE: Disney Lorcana Narrative Lead Answers Our Biggest Story Questions (thegamer.com)
3. We Go Behind the Scenes of DISNEY LORCANA's Art Design - Nerdist
4. Disney Lorcana TCG Companion: Official Disney Lorcana App (Ravensburger Verlag GmbH)
	1. MICKEY MOUSE True Friend ("The First Chapter," Card 12/204)
	2. MAGIC BROOM Bucket Brigade ("The First Chapter," Card 47/204)
	3. MICKEY MOUSE Wayward Sorcerer ("The First Chapter," Card 51/204)
	4. TINKER BELL Most Helpful ("The First Chapter," Card 93/204)
	5. MINNIE MOUSE Always Classy ("The First Chapter," Card 116/204)
	6. HERCULES True Hero ("The First Chapter," Card 181/204)
	7. LILO Galactic Hero ("The First Chapter," Card 184/204)
	8. A WHOLE NEW WORLD ("The First Chapter," Card 195/204)
	9. PLASMA BLASTER ("The First Chapter," Card 204/204)
	10. GRAND DUKE Advisor to the King ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 9/204)
	11. MICKEY MOUSE Friendly Face ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 13/204)
	12. RAPUNZEL Gifted Artist ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 19/204)
	13. CHIP THE TEACUP Gentle Soul ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 37/204)
	14. BELLE Bookworm ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 71/204)
	15. RING THE BELL ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 101/204)
	16. BASIL Of Baker Street ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 139/204)
	17. BASIL Perceptive Investigator ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 140/204)
	18. GASTON Intellectual Powerhouse ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 147/204)
	19. MOUSE ARMOR ("Rise of the Floodborn," Card 203/204)
5. Merriam-Webster
	1. Brigade
	2. Bucket Brigade
6. YouTube
	1. "Ravensburger North America" channel
		1. "Disney Lorcana Teaser Trailer - English" (13 Jan 2023)
		2. "The Story Begins (Disney Lorcana TCG Teaser)" (8 Aug 2023)
		3. "Disney Lorcana TCG: The Power of an Illumineer" (23 Aug 2023)
	2. "Comicbook.com" channel
		1. The Story Of Disney Lorcana! Revealing Lorcana's Lore With Designer Ryan Miller! (26 Jul 2023)
	3. "Dicebreaker" channel
		1. "We’re gonna get WONDERFUL!“: Disney Lorcana Interview with Co-Designer Ryan Miller (19 Aug 2023)

## Notes

1. The function of the 'ink *grooves'* seems to be a possible reference to an out-of-universe comment that Shane Hartley has said regarding art style for the cards of The First Chapter set, termed modern storybook.[3] The comment states "The modern storybook style we developed has visible line [possibly corresponding to *grooves*] work to align with animation as well as vibrant color washes that purposely break those lines, making each image come alive [possibly corresponding to *glimmers on a lorebook*]."[3] Furthermore, the modern storybook style has been *specifically* used for the "packaging" of The First Chapter's released boosters in the form of *ink columns* that contain the aforementioned ink grooves.[3]
2. It appears that the inkcasting stations are located *below* the Great Illuminary's center, as the newly collected story stars are *pulled* "through the top and down through the center before" being transferred to the stations.[3] By travelling through such a delivery system, the story stars are implied to be travelling in a straight & vertical direction that naturally concludes underneath the center.
3. It is possible that the center of the Great Illuminary contains a (massive) story star, as suggested by the logo of the *Disney's Lorcana TCG*.[3]
4. The exact *titular* role of an 'bucket brigade' in the Great Illuminary is, as of yet, unknown. According to the *Merriam-Webster* online dictionary, a *bucket brigade* is defined as "a chain of persons acting to put out a fire by passing buckets of water from hand to hand."[5.1] However, this is unlikely that the Illuminary's brigade functions in this manner as (1) the image on the MAGIC BROOM (Bucket Brigade) card does not show buckets being *passed* 'hand to hand,' (2) the buckets in the image are (apparently) carrying ink instead of water,[4.1] and (3) it seems unrealistic that fires would need to be put out frequently within the Illuminary. Assuming the *brigade* in 'bucket brigade' is not purely decorative, then it is possible that the brooms are functioning in a military capacity.[5.2]
5. Mickey's abilitiy to *animate brooms* seem to indicate that he is a glimmer who can summon other glimmers.[4.3]
6. As this in-universe event was shown in an out-of-universe teaser regarding "The First Chapter" set, it is likely that this event happens in the time period of that same set.[6.1.1] Also, the same teaser was followed (in order) by animated previews of the cards: Elsa (Snow Queen), Captain Hook (Forceful Duelist), Robin Hood (Unrivaled Archer), Stitch (Rock Star), Cruella De Vil (Miserable as Usual), and Maleficent (Monstrous Dragon). It could be loosely argued that these glimmers assist the same illumineer who summoned Mickey.[6.1.1]
7. The world that the Great Illuminary begins summoning *new illumineers* from is referred to (out-of-universe) as "our world." [6.2.1] While not directly confirmed to be the same world, Ryan Miller (out-of-universe) has stated that the "elevator pitch" (possibly apocryphal) shows that planet "Earth" does exist in the universe of Lorcana. [6.3.1]
8. In an out-of-universe interview, Ryan Miller said that, regarding the "elevator pitch," the Great Illuminary is a "library that contains every story ever told," [6.3.1] as opposed to a "repository of all stories ever told." [6.2.1]
	1. Ryan Miller (out-of-universe) has said that the "elevator pitch" involved, specifically, "the people of Earth forget[ing] the stories" if the Great Illuminary doesn't keep track of the stories it records. [6.3.1] Additionally, the *elevator pitch* protrays the first illumineers as "archiving and gathering the stories from our planet." [6.3.1]