Lore · Gods of the Pantheon
Karana, the Rainkeeper
The plains of Karana bear his name. If you ever crossed them in the rain on the long run between Qeynos and Highpass, you were walking in his country.
The power of storms
Karana’s faithful worship the life-giving rain and respect the destruction of sandstorms and hurricanes, for storms destroy, revive and allow fresh starts. They are mostly country people: farmers, ranchers, herders and hunters, druids and rangers, and nomads who go where the wind takes them. They are known for sheltering strangers from the weather, and they believe only Karana’s wisdom and kindness keep Norrath from being swallowed by an eternal tempest.
The Rainkeeper
He is the discordant good god of rain and storms, and he appears as a hunched old human in long robes, leaning heavily on his staff, which is also his weapon. No orderly or evil soul may follow him. Mithaniel Marr, Tunare and Rodcet Nife are his allies, and his great enemy is Bertoxxulous.
The plains of Karana
When the Combine fell, the survivors of humanity settled mostly on his fertile plains, and there villages became towns and two of them became cities, Qeynos and Freeport. In Rivervale nearby, the Storm Reapers train halfling paladins devoted to “The Rainlord, Karana.”
The Rainkeeper’s temper
The halflings learned to fear him too. When they held a picnic in the Misty Thicket, thunder rumbled down from above: “How dare you honor another with the fruits of fields nourished by my rains? … Do you think yourselves better fed by thieves?” The halflings fled to their burrows in shame. A run of in-game verse books, the RWTL series, describes giving Karana “our customary dish” and the other gifts his faithful bring.
The Plane of Storms
His plane is governed and shaped by his will and consciousness. Storm giants live in every part of it except Mount Grenidor, and above the silver blanket of perpetual storm, inside an immense volcanic mountain, hovers Torden, the Bastion of Thunder, a snow-covered fortress whose highest towers vanish into the upper storms.
Later ages
His faith kept turning up. In Secrets of Faydwer he was one of the gods Tunare enlisted to send adventurers back into the Elddar Forest. In 2014 the tale of Tempest Temple told how a charismatic priest of Karana converted a band of powerful kedge wizards at Coral Keep, and how together they planned to open a gateway to the Plane of Storms. In EverQuest II’s Council of the Gods, Karana warns the others that “any one of us alone can be overcome by the mortals.”
The Downpour
His later legend belongs to the Storm Shepherds, a former Freeport militiaman, an elven tracker and an old druid who take up his cause against a spreading blight. In The Downpour, three heroes meet to fight a darkness spreading over an enchanted land. A halfling druid learns of the Storm Father from Danalithenis, who calls him by his old name, Karana. As the tales go on, a hardened warrior named Gremius realises what has been missing from his life: belief. He draws his sword, a single tear falls onto a stone at his feet, and he throws the sword down and repents.
Where the sources disagree
The Storm Shepherd books appear to be later, EverQuest II-era texts, not part of the 1999 game.
Sources
[1] Allakhazam: Karana · [2] Library of Erudin: Karana · [3] Library of Erudin: “The History of Norrath” (original EverQuest manual text) · [4] Library of Erudin: Elddar Forest · [5] Library of Erudin: EverQuest RPG Player’s Handbook — Karana (White Wolf, 2002)
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Retold in our own words from the sources listed on this page; short quotes are marked and sourced. The illustration is an original AI-generated painting made for this page alone, not from the game.