The Darklands

This article is about the roleplaying guide. For the geographical location, see Darklands.

The Darklands (full name: Lone Wolf The Roleplaying Game: The Darklands or Lone Wolf, The Darklands) is a roleplaying guide authored by August Hahn and published in 2004 by Mongoose Publishing. It is a guide written in the style of Dungeons and Dragons for players who wish to roleplay within the Lone Wolf universe, with a specific focus on the eponymous Darklands, the land of the Darklords.

Setting

The Darklands is set during the time of Zagarna's rule as Archlord in MS 5000. It is narrated by a mysterious figure, who is guiding an imprisoned Kai Lord — the reader — to be transformed into a servant of evil. The narrator takes the reader on a "tour" of the Darklands, visiting all the lands of the Darklands and its leaders, eventually meeting Archlord Zagarna, with the intention of serving him. However, within Helgedad, the player's innate Kai powers began to overpower their conditioning, causing them to attack Zagarna with his own eating dagger. Zagarna nearly tore the reader apart in anger. Both the reader and narrator narrowly escape, where the narrator lamented the failure, and worried about their own fate. However, the narrator wonders whether experiments could be conducted on the reader's flesh to determine where this defiance came from, which ends the guide.

Sections

The Darklands contains much information about the Darklands and the Darklords, and is the most detailed guide for these topics. Sections include:

• Geography of the Darklands
• A detailed description of Helgedad, including a map as an appendix
• Denizens of the Darklands
• The Darklords (with limited information about Vashna as it is set in the time of Zagarna, his successor)
• Weapons and tools of evil
• Creatures of the Darklands

Publication

The Darklands was first published in 2004, and is out of print. A second edition was published in 2011, with extra information. Neither edition is available on Project Aon.

The first edition contains incorrectly-changed information that was considered canon. The second edition fixed several of these issues. Some of these changes include:

• The removal of the realms of Barazoth, Elgazaad, Galhiak and Ozdaraga
• The renaming of Fethmyre to Northern Skaror, and Orlo Taanak to Iznogdazokim
• The addition of Zutzinozaga, a missing realm that serves as the domain of Darklord Gnaag (and whose capital is Mozgôar, established as canon elsewhere)
• Tweaks to certain characters, such as a hint of Darklord Nhorg's extra powers, and Darklord Xog failing to establish Akku and Elgazaad