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 followers worship the life-giving rain and respect the destruction of sandstorms and hurricanes. They are mostly country people: farmers, ranchers, hunters, nomads who go where the wind takes them. They are known for offering shelter from the weather to strangers, and they believe only Karana’s wisdom and kindness keep Norrath from being swallowed by an eternal tempest.
Sources: Allakhazam: Karana · Library of Erudin: Karana
The Downpour
In “The Downpour,” one of the Storm Shepherd books, three heroes meet to fight a darkness spreading over an enchanted land. A halfling druid learns about the Storm Father from Danalithenis, who calls him by his old name, Karana. As the tales go on, a hardened warrior named Gremius realizes 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 he appears
After the Combine fell, the survivors of humanity settled mostly on the fertile plains of Karana, where villages became towns and two became cities, Qeynos and Freeport. Karana is also one of the gods Tunare enlisted in Secrets of Faydwer to send adventurers back to the Elddar Forest.
Sources: Library of Erudin: “The History of Norrath” (original EverQuest manual text) · Library of Erudin: Elddar Forest
Who he is
The RPG Handbook calls Karana the discordant good god of rain and storms, the Rainkeeper. He appears as a hunched old human in long robes, leaning heavily on his staff, which is also his favored weapon. His followers are farmers, herders, druids and rangers who understand that storms destroy, revive and allow fresh starts, and they may not be orderly or evil. He is allied with Mithaniel Marr and Tunare (the Library of Erudin adds Rodcet Nife), and his prime enemy is Bertoxxulous.
Sources: Library of Erudin: EverQuest RPG Player’s Handbook — Karana (White Wolf, 2002) · Library of Erudin: Karana
The Plane of Storms
Official Planes of Power lore says the Plane of Storms is governed and shaped by Karana’s will and consciousness. Storm giants live in every part of it except Mount Grenidor. Above the silver blanket of perpetual storm, inside an immense volcanic mountain, hovers Torden, the Bastion of Thunder, a snow-covered fortress whose highest reaches disappear into the upper storms.
Sources: Library of Erudin: Karana (Fabled Planes of Power Lore, Parts 11 and 13)
The Rainkeeper’s temper
The halflings learned to fear him. An RPG retelling of the Misty Thicket picnic has thunder rumble 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 gifts the faithful bring him. In Rivervale, the Storm Reapers train halfling paladins devoted to “The Rainlord, Karana.”
Later ages
His faith keeps turning up. A 2014 official article on Tempest Temple tells how a charismatic priest of Karana converted a group of powerful kedge wizards at Coral Keep, and together they planned to open a gateway to the Plane of Storms. In EverQuest II’s Council of the Gods, Karana warns the other gods that “any one of us alone can be overcome by the mortals.” The Storm Shepherds, a former Freeport militiaman, an elven tracker and an old druid, take up his cause against a spreading blight.
Where the sources disagree
- The Storm Shepherd books appear to be later, EverQuest II-era texts, not part of the 1999 game.
Keep reading
Retold in our own words from the sources linked under each chapter; short quotes are marked and sourced. The illustration is an original AI-generated painting made for this page alone, not from the game.