The Lands of Arran

The universe of Elfes, Nains, Orcs et Gobelins series. Writers are mostly Jean-Luc Istin (Elfes) and Nicolas Jarry (Nains), lots of different artists (however, note that Dwarves have the same artist painting both issues for the same order: it's a good thing, since those have common characters). Published by Soleil.

The world of Arran has humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, ogres, dragons, ghouls and troubles. Mostly troubles.


 * Arc Welding
 * Archnemesis Dad: Dwarves seem prone to having daddy issues. Some (like Ordo) have better reasons for that than the others.
 * Bittersweet Ending: Usually. When it's not Downer Ending.
 * Blood Knight: There are arena fights, both wrestling and Blood Sport. While warriors of the Shield and Iron Legion are proud of their fighting ability, they act as organized armies fighting in formations first and foremost. But for Lords of the Runes it's all about single combat: the best forgemasters who work with battlerunes, especially violent and ambitious enough to crave this position embrace their rage and make metal an extension of that rage.
 * Ulrog Senior considered excess of violent temper a danger to the entire dwarvenkind, and figured that since the battlerunes are clearly one of the main reasons for this, he would rather not contribute. And the dwarves are stubborn.
 * Body Surf: Possessing demons (at least some) can switch the host.
 * The Caper: Ordo vs. Fort Draz.
 * Character Title: Straightforward in the later 2 series.
 * Combat by Champion: "Settling the matters" on arena is a dwarven tradition. Lord of the Runes as a master of dwarven martial/runesmithing art is the champion of the Order of the Forge. Or to look at it differently, it's a safety valve that prevents large scale bloodshed, at the cost of letting the dwarves most prone to wrath chop each other to bits… and making this path attractive for less bright and more ambitious ones.
 * Demonic Possession: Possessions happen often enough that there's a special sub-Order of Exorcists to deal with this. Protagonist of Nains #8 (Sriza of the Temple) is an exorcist, so that's where they are shown.
 * Dragon Rider
 * The Dreaded: Redwin got quite a reputation, and he earned it the hard way.
 * Empathic Weapon: The battlerunes are not self-sufficient, they interact with the wielder. Thus some weapons are harder to use.
 * Redwin has gone over the top with hate and despair so much that his blade was near-impossible to wield for anyone who isn't as tough and messed up as he was when he made it. But it's pretty much unstoppable.
 * Jorun specifically mentioned he discerned his father's and his grandfather's swords silently "calling to him" at different times, depending on his attitude. Oh, and Redwin is good enough at his craft that.
 * Epiphany Therapy: Redwin and Jorun had to deal with being consumed by rage. They succumbed to it, but were taught to survive and eventually outgrew the madness, and were stuck in a very unsatisfying state until something shook them out of it.
 * Fantastic Caste System: Dwarven society is divided into orders: the Forge, the Retribution, the Temple, and the Shield; there are also the Wanderers (exiles and their descendants). There used to be Order of the Dragon; according to the Temple's old chronicles, it was created for subversive purpose and destroyed in the civil war its founder started, and supposedly it was the reason responsibilities and power were divided this way.
 * The dwarves of Ufgrim kingdom are remnants of the other side.
 * Fiery Redhead: Seems common in Ulrog's clan.
 * Gladiator Games: "Anything goes" style in Rama. Also, the dwarves use arena to settle the disputes.
 * Grimdark: Mixed with Nobledark, but grimness is distinct.
 * Hate Plague: The "Mad-Rage". Abu'Kazan turns out to be not the first city hit by this. Eventually Aral found out the reason, but it's not yet known if and when this will save anyone.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Happens now and then.
 * Hybrid Monster: Ogrelins, ogre-goblin hybrids suposedly created as a Servant Race.
 * Horse of a Different Color: Dwarves ride boars. Some ride bears.
 * I See Dead People: Sriza, at least after the incident with the possessed. Also, Jarel who recruited him.
 * Legend Fades to Myth: The civil war time, especially what exactly magic Order of the Dragon could do, is at best very obscure. King Ufgrim opened the mountains up with a single blow of his hammer, and so on. They were quite powerful, but even the details relevant to present threats are largely unknown.
 * Like Father, Like Son: Redwin, son of Ulrog. It Got Worse (or did it?) with his sons, since one of them inherited his talent, and the other his rage.
 * One-Man Army: When Redwin took his best sword again and had no reason to stop anymore.
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Stubborn, violent, good at crafts.
 * The Power of Hate: When Redwin walked down the "path of suffering" enough that he began to shape his own runes just to better express what's in his heart. His greatest achievement was a bit too ghastly even for himself. And while Jorun inherited his rage, that sword felt like it's inimical to all life and left burns on his hands, even from a single swing at an inanimate object.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guys: For the dwarves it's normal to be eager to fight just to prove they aren't second rate warriors. And then there are orcs.
 * Rated M For Manly: Dwarves!
 * Reassigned to Antarctica: Arkar'um has Talas-Kadrum, or the Raven's Rampart, or "a place even the vultures avoid": a fortification chain stretched 130 miles long in cold mountains on the border. Which serves as a penal garrison, because despite all the crazy things we have seen the dwarves doing, even they as a rule don't go crazy enough to volunteer there, which leaves "it's the gallows or Talas-Kadrum" method of filling it with warm bodies, even though there are as few as about two hundred of them in the quiet time when the only action is hunting moles.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: A bunch of possessed and undead sorcerers. Also, the possessed clay heads.
 * Sink-or-Swim Mentor: Uncle Jarsen to Redwin. The assassins of Black Lodge.
 * Spin Offspring: Jorun, son of Redwin. Dröh, son of Oösram.
 * Taking You with Me: 's solution to a terminal disease is to Face Death with Dignity by leading an attack on the enemy warlord, which he doesn't expect to survive.
 * Wax On, Wax Off: The lute lessons for Redwin turned out to be very useful.
 * Who You Gonna Call?: A master exorcist is renowned. And greatly respected even by those who don't know of him personally.
 * Whole-Episode Flashback: Aral of the Temple.
 * Wretched Hive: There are a few places like Rama, though even Ordo's city is only nice in some parts and at day.
 * You Can't Fight Fate:.