Lorn

Within the realm of the dead there lies the Valley of Lost Voices, a home for the wayward-but-not-wicked souls. Unable to find their way to paradise, but undeserving of punishment, the spirits of the dead wander in an endless, moonless night.
Theirs is a lonely existence, for while they may hear voices echoing across the vale, they are unable to see or touch another for all eternity.

Such was the fate of Farlan, brother of the hero Lorn, who took his own life in the summer of his eighteenth year.
Stricken with grief, Lorn journeyed far to the throne of Death, through the many trials of the Underworld and its fierce guardians. And there, he begged for his brother's passage into paradise.
"If you could find him within the Valley and lead him back again," Death offered, "then he could surely cross over to the land of the blessed."

But as the young hero bowed to offer his thanks, Death held out a hand to stop him.
"If you could find him," the spirit repeated. "There is only one light that can pierce the Valley's gloom, and that is the light of a pure soul. But yours, I'm afraid, is trapped within your mortal body... it lets off no light at all."

Despairing, Lorn traveled to the edge of the Valley and gazed into its shadowy depths, knowing that he would never make it back again without something to light his way. Death came to join him, and they stood a while in silence before the spirit reached into his robes and produced a beautiful lantern.
"I have thought of a solution to your problem," he announced. "This lantern will illuminate the Valley's darkest depths... if you are willing to offer your soul to be its light."

Although he was wary of Death's offer, as any wise mortal would be, Lorn knew there was no other way to retrieve his brother's soul; he threw his dread aside and reached out for the lantern. The instant he touched it, he felt an agony unlike anything the mortal world could offer - the sensation of the soul being ripped from the body. As Lorn's life-force poured into it, he could hear the spirit's mirthful laughter echoing around him.


But just as Death had promised, the lantern allowed him to journey safely through the Valley's endless night. The warm presence of a familiar soul was like a beacon to Farlan, and they soon reunited and began their journey back to the Valley's edge. They passed many sorrowed souls along the way, and though he longed to help them all, Lorn knew his quest was only for Farlan; to guide any others would surely anger Death and doom the both of them.
He left his brother at the gates of paradise, promising to return when his time was through.

His journey over, Lorn returned in triumph to the world of the living... but try as he might, he could not free his soul from the lantern. He traveled the earth, seeking the greatest of its wizards and alchemists, but none of them could break his terrible curse.
A hundred years came and went, and yet his body did not age or change. With his soul safely locked away inside the lantern, he was unable to die... but nor was he really alive.


Lorn had paid the ultimate price for bargaining with Death. He would never reunite with his brother in paradise.

I can feel you falling away.
No longer the lost,
No longer the same
And I can see you starting to break...

I'll keep you alive,
If you show me the way.
Forever, and ever...