Loren Lannock
| Biological | |
| Full name: | Loren Lannock |
|---|---|
| Born: | |
| Birthplace: | Winterhold, Faxanadu, Light Dimension |
| Sex: | Male |
| Race: | Hylian |
| Hair: | Red |
| Eyes: | Blue |
| Height: | 5'11" |
| Weight: | |
| Personal | |
| Marital Status: | Divorced |
| Family/Relationships: | Forgon Lannock (Older Brother), Iain Lannock (Father, deceased), Moll Lannock (Mother, deceased), Chiara Dalton (ex-wife) |
| Religion: | |
| Title: | President of the Socialist Republic of Hyliagrad (former) |
| Nicknames: | |
| Hobbies: | |
| Known skills: | Swordsmanship, Horseback Riding, Archery, Hookshotsmanship |
| Favorite color: | |
| Inspiration: | Marcus Goldmoon |
| Motto: | "The North remembers." |
Loren Lannock is a former Hylian noble from the kingdom of Faxanadu. In the early 30s, he lead a socialist revolution that toppled the governments of Faxanadu and Arcana, and formed those former kingdoms' territories into the Socialist Republic of Hyliagrad.
Contents
Faxanadan Nobility
Loren and his older brother, Forgon, were born the sons of the Lannock Clan. For generations the Lannocks had been the Lords of Winterhold, the cold coastal fortress in the far north of Faxanadu. As the second child in the family, not much was expected of Loren, but nevertheless he trained in the traditional Hylian arts of swordsmanship, archery, horseback riding and hookshotsmanship. In time he became an accomplished knight; if all had gone as planned, he would have made an excellent steward in service to his elder brother Forgon when he inherited the lordship.
The Great War
A man of action, Loren joined the Hyrulean Army as a cavalier, and served with distinction in the Great War. His service culminated in the Transbaron Campaign, where he commanded a division of Hyrulean cavalry, alongside other Hyrulean and Carrionese units along the Western front. Though he was never officially a Grand Army officer, he was awarded several medals for valor by Celiose and the Soldierly Council.
Return Home
After the war, Loren returned home to a hero's welcome, but found that his place in the scheme of things was no longer to his liking. Having served in battle, in an army where one's merit yielded advancement, Loren had difficulty adjusting to the fact that no matter how many accolades he earned, how valorous he had been in combat, he would always be second to Forgon, the heir.
Fortunately for the two Lannock brothers, a jealous rivalry was not in the offing. The two spoke at length about the future, about what was expected of them, and they agreed more than they didn't. Forgon didn't want the mantle of Lord, and he certainly didn't want to stymie his younger brother's ambitions to be more than just a second son. They weren't sure what form it would take, but the two brothers pledged that they would somehow engage in an act of defiant rebellion against their aristocratic fates.
Forgon's Abdication
After the death of Iain Lannock, Lord of Winterhold, the sons made their move. At first intending nothing so much as pure defiance of the succession, Forgon refused the mantle of lordship. This outraged the Winterhold Chamberlain, who had both Forgon and Loren imprisoned. The Chamberlain had hoped to publicly shame Forgon and thereby advance his own ambition to assume the Lordship, but the effect was opposite from what he'd intended: the people rallied around Loren Lannock the war hero and demanded his release.
Abroad, there were others who were paying close attention to the events in Winterhold. Both Ticondera and Scande had noticed the dust-up, as well as the personal magnetism of the younger Lannock brother. Hoping to capitalize on Lannock's popularity, Chiara Dalton was dispatched to make contact with the brothers and try to foment a revolution in Northern Hyrule.
The Socialist Republic of Hyliagrad
With Chiara's help, the Lannock brothers became communist revolutionaries. Agreeing, in principle, that the institution of Hylian nobility was both archaic and corrupt, the Lannocks willingly accepted the aid and support of Scandian and Ticonderan agents. Loren Lannock may not have been a dyed-in-the-wool communist, but Chiara was okay with that. Exhibiting the pragmatism of her father, Dain Kordridge, Chiara knew that Loren's popularity among the masses was far more important than his ideological purity. All he needed to do was serve as a figurehead for the Revolution.
In time, through his own charisma and Chiara's strategizing, the revolution succeeded in toppling both the royal houses of Arcana and Faxanadu. Loren's revolutionaries seized control of both kingdoms, and from them created Hyliagrad. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Midori -- fearful that the Lannocks' revolution would spread, entered into talks to unite with the larger Kingdom of Hyrule, a move that would preserve Midori's royal family as part of greater Hyrule's petty aristocracy.
Thus, a battle line was drawn in the north: Hyrule, for the first time in anyone's memory, did not stand as one.
Hyliagrad in the Protectorate
It quickly became apparent that Loren was not the great revolutionary warrior the Protectorate hoped for. Together with Stantalias the Red, he espoused a decidedly moderate brand of socialism that did not explicitly call for the bloody overthrow of the petty bourgeoisie. During his time as President of Hyliagrad, Loren Lannock enacted social reforms aimed at addressing the massive wealth disparities between the Hylians' nobility and its middle and lower classes. He enacted a rather generous minimum wage, enforced the rights of workers to organize, and nationalized a number of industries (including mining and magilyte refineries). He also established a national system of healthcare and expanded the social safety net; for a brief time, Hyliagrad's quality of life for middle- and lower-class people was the highest in the Light Dimension.
Divorce
After Dain Kordridge's disappearance at the end of the OmniSent Crisis, Chiara Dalton left Hyliagrad. She had grown increasingly frustrated with her husband's unwillingness to toe the Protectorate line, and his insistence on governing his people with "honor." Her father's rumored demise was a breaking point: so she walked out, and it wasn't until months later that Loren received divorce papers in the mail.
The Leviathan War
When war broke out between the Fascist Pact and the Communist Protectorate, Hyliagrad felt relatively secure. This was, in part, because Lannock had pursued peace with the Kingdom of Hyrule, largely against the wishes of some of his Protectorate allies.
Of course, his friendly stance served to make Hyliagrad look weak. Several Hylians (not least among them the dispossessed nobles-in-exile who once held estates and titles in Faxanadu and Arcana) conspired to take advantage of this, along with aid and support from a shadowy network of foreigners whose cause was stymieing the spread of communism. This conspiracy engineered a border conflict between Hyrule and Hyliagrad, and this became a pretense for the noble classes of Hyrule to advocate for an invasion.
The Fall of Hyliagrad
The Hyrulean invasion of Hyliagrad was swift and near bloodless (thanks, in large part, to a number of turncoats within Lannocks' meager defense forces). Within a single day, a mixed force of Hyrulean soldiers and mercenaries paid for by the nobles crossed the border, entered Lannocksburg and seized control of the city.
Lannock himself, however, was tipped off several hours before the meeting, and so he and his brother managed to escape. But the country they had built together was effectively destroyed. In its place, Faxanadu and Arcana were re-born as "states" within a unified Hyland Republic. Which was just as well for the nobles who had agitated for Hyliagrad's fall; all they wanted was their estates and status returned to them.
After Hyliagrad
Though initially a fugitive with a bounty on his head, King Alexander Sylinas issued a pardon in recognition of Lannock's service in the Great War. While this shielded him from immediate reprisal, he chose not to fade away quietly. Instead, he took the Republic to task and became an advocate for the lower classes in Hyland, shining a light on the corruption that had survived the transition from monarchy to constitutional republic.
In time, Lannock came to realize that merely speaking out was not good enough. Perhaps his ex-wife Chiara had had the right of it all along: the only option, the only way to ensure that justice and equality reigned, was through revolution. Perhaps the only way that Loren could restore the dream that was taken away when Hyliagrad fell was through violence.
So it was that Loren Lannock once again became a revolutionary: a rebel within this new Hyland Republic. He has robbed banks, assaulted corporate offices and publicly humiliated corrupt officials. His exploits since the fall of Hyliagrad have captured the imagination and adoration of the common Hylian, and despite his newfound status as a rebel and criminal, he is beloved as a hero throughout Hyland.
