Lorigo

Biodata

Name	Lorigo Starry
Original Name	洛里戈
Alias(es)	Young Master Lorigo; Lord Lorigo; New Baron Starry; retrospectively called the last lord of Starry City 703
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Starry Family; Starry City
Occupation/Role	Noble young master; employer of Ruger; later Baron Starry
Family Position	Second son of the old Baron Starry 96 121
Status	Alive at his succession as Baron Starry; later references do not establish his subsequent fate 136 703 920
First Appearance	Chapter 82

Background / History

Lorigo is introduced as a handsome young nobleman from Starry City who hires Ruger for a ruin exploration after hearing he is a wizard. He is older than his youthful appearance suggests, as nobles in Grotto Cities use potions that slow aging 82 91.

He has long yearned for both wizardry and the Surface World, but was found to lack wizard aptitude as a child 82. His dream is to become a wizard. The ruin expedition is based on old ancestral records describing a colossal tower that once appeared and vanished, leaving behind a vast flattened ground; one of Lorigo's ancestors entered it and became the Starry Family's first wizard apprentice 84.

Lorigo advances the expedition's departure for unspecified reasons, appearing unsettled despite greeting Ruger with a smile. Before departure, he delivers the promised ancestral spell notebook, which contains reflections on the Phantasmal Sound Spell 83.

During the expedition, Lorigo becomes the apparent target of an Atoner ambush. He asks Ruger whether he can trust him, and Ruger assigns Aisijin and Big Silly Hum to protect him 85. After the attack, the expedition is abandoned and Lorigo brings Ruger back to Starry City, offering him protection as a guest of the Starry Family 86 88.

Through Motier, Lorigo assures Ruger that his safety and judgment take precedence during the return journey. He permits Ruger to act directly against anything suspicious, undertakes to bear any resulting losses, and allows him to leave independently whenever he considers it necessary 87.

In Starry City, Lorigo hosts Ruger at his estate and hopes he will settle there as a long-term guest or even become the Starry Family's lifelong arcane consultant 89 90. Lorigo has lived primarily at this estate since youth, having found life in the family castle increasingly suffocating after his eldest brother's injury 109. He also promises to help Ruger obtain a blank ferry pass to the Wizard Domain 96.

After arriving in Starry City, Lorigo is confined for safety in a quiet chamber used to identify Faceless Ones. He returns to his estate on the tenth day of Ruger's stay and proposes an outing to the arena 94. There, Edgar Fendis exploits a visiting wizard apprentice's interest in Ruger's kobolds to challenge the Starry Family's standing. Lorigo defends Ruger's status as a family guest and rejects Edgar's right to challenge him 96.

Lorigo later reveals the source of his guilt: as a child, he and his brothers sneaked out together before his eldest brother was meant to leave for the Upper Domain. His eldest brother was injured saving him from a strange insect, eventually becoming bedridden for years 108. Motier later clarifies that their third brother's prank contributed to the accident, worsening the rift between the brothers 120.

Lorigo asks Laslot to help obtain Ruger's unrestricted passage ticket and promises to find another means if his brother cannot manage it 108. During Edgar's subsequent trap, Ruger suspects that Lorigo may have inadvertently exposed information about him while seeking the ticket; this remains Ruger's inference rather than an established betrayal by Lorigo 103.

Lorigo explains that some of his absences from the estate have been spent helping Laslot handle family matters that his poor health makes difficult to conduct in person. He apologizes for neglecting Ruger and their promised sightseeing, adding that he had hoped to study spells alongside him 108.

Although Laslot manages family affairs, Lorigo secretly uses family resources to support Dasoya after she severs contact with the Starry Family, an arrangement Laslot later exposes during their confrontation 108 123.

When Ruger chooses to move to a house at the junction of Starry City's inner and outer districts, Lorigo initially worries that his guest is dissatisfied with his hospitality. After Ruger explains his desire for a different environment, Lorigo accepts the decision and looks forward to visiting him. Lorigo and Motier arrange for Daisy to continue serving Ruger and offer to provide a cook as well 109.

During the Starry Festival, a marriage alliance is announced between Starry City and Twin Moon City, with Lorigo to marry Miss Curtis Twin Moon 115. Ruger expects to receive his unrestricted passage ticket around the wedding, although he recognizes that the alliance involves broader schemes and transactions between the cities 118.

After disappearing for several days, Lorigo returns amid the massacre of the Starry Family and reveals that his eldest brother, Laslot Starry, was responsible. Laslot had used the blood, flesh, and souls of close kin and powerful transcendents to sustain himself, with Fandier Starry secretly helping him 120 121. Forces acting under Laslot's authority subsequently accuse Lorigo of colluding with the Atoners and murdering the old baron, attempting to seize him at Ruger's residence 122.

Lorigo explains that Fandier released him and disclosed much of Laslot's scheme. Fandier willingly sacrificed himself to restore Laslot's transcendent prospects, but refused Lorigo's plea to save their fourth brother. According to Lorigo, Fandier spared him because he was not a transcendent and therefore less valuable to the ritual 121.

Lorigo brings in his sister Dasoya Starry, a powerful wizard apprentice, hoping she can resolve the crisis and preserve the family 121. He is the only family member still maintaining intermittent contact with her and is willing to support her becoming city lord if she chooses to remain in Starry City 121. Ruger protects Lorigo, Motier, and Daisy from the ambush at his residence by placing them in the Abyss Bedroom and escaping through a spatial gate 122. At the castle, Lorigo confronts Laslot and argues that Starry City should not be saved through deception or noble control, insisting that ordinary people can find their own way if given time 123.

During Dasoya's confrontation with Laslot, Lorigo explains her estrangement from the family. She was accepted into the Starry Family only after her wizard talent was discovered, then sent to the Upper Domain early because the family distrusted the city's nobles after Laslot's injury. She had scarcely experienced life as a noble daughter, and most of the family later assumed she had died when she stopped contacting them 124.

After Laslot's death, Lorigo seeks the full account of the Atoners' involvement and any possible accomplices. Believing Dasoya will clear his name, he turns to confirming the city's remaining time before Sun-Extinction and recovering the loyalty of family knights who had been deceived 125.

Lorigo welcomes Ruger and Old Drunkard at the secluded entrance to the Light Stone area and guides them down to Dasoya. He admits that he knows little about the place, having visited only once as a child for instruction and normally lacking permission to enter. At first, he accepts Dasoya's explanation that fluctuations from the Light Stone may affect the castle's teleportation array 129.

Lorigo later realizes Dasoya intends to use Starry City's Light Stone for her Ascension Ritual. He begs her to delay and later tries again to persuade her to stop, even standing injured in front of Ruger as Dasoya approaches 130 134. After Dasoya completes her ascension to a formal wizard and apparently kills Old Drunkard, Lorigo still intervenes in an effort to appeal to her remaining familial attachment 133 134.

His injuries result from Ruger's attempt to throw him to safety during the battle. Despite bleeding from the head and staggering, Lorigo places himself between Ruger and Dasoya and offers to describe her actions as an investigation of the Light Stones rather than expose her. Dasoya refuses to leave potential threats alive 130 133 134.

After Dasoya is taken away for investigation and Old Drunkard is executed, Lorigo accepts that Starry City's Sun-Extinction will likely arrive ten or twenty years earlier than expected and begins planning for the future. He acknowledges Ruger as a hero despite the family's devastation and his own inability to prevent the crisis 135. Ten days later, Ruger attends Lorigo's succession ceremony before leaving Starry City through the teleportation array 136. Lorigo gives him a chest of Sun Coins for his journey; although he knows Ruger intends to leave soon, he does not know that Ruger will depart on the day of the ceremony 136.

Much later, Ruger reflects that Lorigo's recruitment of him for the ruin expedition and subsequent invitation to Starry City may have inadvertently removed him from danger connected to Ka Liu and the figures searching for him 296.

When encountering the subject of Light-Loss again, Ruger remembers Lorigo as someone who had agonized over becoming an heir, only to be forced to become city lord at the worst possible moment 373.

Lorigo's financial support remains useful long after Ruger's departure. While buying supplies in the Upper Domain, Ruger silently thanks him again, noting that he is still spending the Sun Coins Lorigo gave him 476.

During a later visit to Kurt's island, Ruger observes the population gradually adapting to the aftermath of Light-Loss and recalls Lorigo's insistence that the people of the Cavern World can find their own way if given enough time. In this recollection, he calls Lorigo the last lord of Starry City, without explaining Lorigo's subsequent fate 703.

Still later, Ruger includes Lorigo among the acquaintances whose unusual lives make them seem suited to being protagonists in their own right 920.

Appearance

Lorigo appears as a handsome, youthful nobleman, though his retained youth is partly the result of noble anti-aging potions rather than actual age 82 91.

• Handsome face and noble bearing 82.
• Initially mistaken by Ruger for younger than he is 82 91.
• Often maintains propriety and composure even when exhausted or pale 90 94.
• Wears a cheerful public facade despite family troubles and Starry City's looming crisis 94.
• Maintains a ramrod-straight posture even after the Starry Family massacre, though his expression becomes haggard and markedly darker 121.

Personality

Lorigo is sincere, talkative, and unusually generous toward Ruger from their first meeting. He is fascinated by wizards and the surface world, and he treats Ruger's unusual appearance with excitement rather than fear 82.

He is kind but burdened by status. Motier describes him as someone who resists his noble duties yet still tries to fulfill them 110. His compassion becomes most visible during the Starry Family crisis, when he tries to protect Starry City rather than preserve noble control 123 130.

Lorigo is also deeply sentimental about family. Even after learning Laslot murdered much of the family, he hopes Dasoya can save the situation, and later pleads with her despite the danger she poses 121 134. Though physically frail and lacking transcendent strength, he is willing to place himself in danger to reason with Dasoya after her ascension 122 134.

His generosity toward Ruger includes respect for his independence: he explicitly allows Ruger to prioritize his own safety, act on his judgment, or abandon the return journey if necessary 87. He also admires Ruger's diligence in studying spells, contrasting it with the drinking and revelry of spellcasters he has encountered in large mercenary companies 84.

His attachment to etiquette can make him anxious about failing as a host. He repeatedly apologizes for his absences and initially interprets Ruger's decision to move out as possible dissatisfaction, but accepts his friend's wish for a more independent life 108 109.

Despite successive family catastrophes, Lorigo retains the ability to look toward the future. Ruger comes to regard him as tougher than he had imagined, noting that exhaustion has not extinguished the light in his eyes 135.

Lorigo's trust in ordinary people's resourcefulness leaves a lasting impression on Ruger. His argument that people need time to adapt, rather than noble deception or a sudden catastrophe, later provides Ruger with a point of comparison for Kurt's efforts to stabilize his island after Light-Loss 123 703.

Abilities & Skills

Noble Education and Political Awareness

Lorigo lacks transcendent talent and was determined to have no aptitude for wizardry, but he has read widely on Grotto Cities, their histories, and their inevitable Light-Loss disasters 82 94 123.

• Explains the fate of Grotto Cities and examples of cities reducing light or launching wars before destruction 94.
• Understands how sudden Light-Loss causes chaos through crop failure, trade collapse, population pressure, and loss of order 123.
• Argues that deception and the sudden arrival of Light-Loss cause the greatest casualties, making time for public adaptation more important than Laslot's promised conquests 123.
• Knows the Starry Family's teleportation array system and Wizard Domain talent-test customs 95.
• Assists Laslot with family matters that his brother's poor health makes inconvenient to handle publicly 108.
• Recognizes that Dasoya's return can be justified as intervention in an internal family matter despite restrictions on Upper Domain wizard apprentices interfering in Lower Domain Grotto Cities 121.
• Correctly recognizes the implications of Dasoya's activity around the Light Stone and deduces that she intends to use it for her advancement 129 130.

Resource Access

As a Starry Family noble, Lorigo can provide money, protection, contacts, and local authority.

• Hires Ruger and promises magic stones for the ruin expedition 82 84.
• Supplies Ruger with an ancestral notebook containing observations on the Phantasmal Sound Spell 82 83.
• Gives Ruger a Starry Family guest badge to reduce trouble caused by Ruger's distinctive appearance 88.
• Hosts Ruger at his estate and offers to help him purchase property 89 109.
• Supports arrangements for Ruger's independent home, including Daisy's continued service and the offer of a cook 109.
• Promises to search for a blank ferry pass to the Wizard Domain 96.
• Uses family resources to support Dasoya despite her separation from the family, drawing suspicion from Laslot 123.
• Gives Ruger a chest of Sun Coins minted to the wizard lords' unified standards and usable in the Upper Realm 136.
• Provides enough Sun Coins that Ruger continues using the gift for supplies much later in his travels 476.

Judgment Under Pressure

Lorigo can remain logical during emergencies, though he is emotionally vulnerable.

• Correctly believes the Atoner attack is connected to him and asks Ruger for protection 85.
• Infers that an attacker familiar with Motier must have prepared a hidden transcendent capable of contending with her 85.
• Survives after going missing during the Starry Family massacre and returns with key information about Laslot 120 121.
• Deduces Dasoya's plan to use Starry City's Light Stone for advancement 130.
• Accepts the shortened lifespan of Starry City's Light Stone and begins considering the city's future rather than clinging to impossible solutions 135.

Physical Limitations and Potion Effects

Lorigo is not a transcendent, and his pampered upbringing has left him without a sturdy physique. Hunger, poor sleep, and the ordeal of his disappearance leave him dependent on Motier's support when descending from the carriage 122.

• Noble potions slow his aging and preserve his youthful appearance 91.
• After regaining consciousness before Motier during the return journey, he suggests that potions administered by his family in childhood may have contributed 88.
• Remains physically vulnerable even after the crisis; a light pat from Ruger is enough to make him stagger 135.

Equipment / Items

• Starry Family guest badge — A metal badge engraved with starlight and a sword, given to Ruger as proof he is a guest of the Starry Family 88.
• Ancestral spell notebook — Delivered to Ruger as part of the expedition agreement. It contains reflections on reading spellbooks and using the Phantasmal Sound Spell 82 83.
• Flat stone / unrestricted ferry-ticket stone — Entrusted to Motier by Lorigo before his disappearance and delivered to Ruger; it points toward a distant linked place when spiritual power is sent into it. Ruger subsequently identifies it as his ferry-ticket stone 119 120.
• Storage pouch / magic stones — Motier brings Ruger a storage pouch of saved magic stones while asking him to help Lorigo 119.
• Wedding invitation — Lorigo's wedding invitation arrives during his disappearance, prompting Ruger and Motier to search the city 120.
• Recognition object — A delicate object Lorigo compares with one carried by Dasoya when they reunite in the tavern 122.
• Chest of Sun Coins — Given to Ruger before his departure for the Upper Realm; Ruger is still spending these coins on supplies much later 136 476.

Relationships

• Ruger — Friend, hired spellcaster, and key ally. Lorigo hires him for the ruin expedition, protects his position in Starry City, and later calls him a hero 82 88 95 119 135. Ruger shelters him in the Abyss Bedroom during Laslot's attempt to capture him, and Lorigo later stands between Ruger and Dasoya despite his injuries 122 134. Ruger later concludes that Lorigo's invitation to Starry City may have inadvertently saved him from dangers surrounding Ka Liu 296. He continues to appreciate Lorigo's financial generosity and remembers his faith in ordinary people's ability to adapt 476 703. Lorigo also appears among the acquaintances Ruger later considers to have lives worthy of protagonists 920.
• Motier — Loyal red-haired gem summoner and confidante. She protects Lorigo, worries over him, and asks Ruger for help when Lorigo disappears 82 85 99 119. Her long familiarity with him does not always allow her to understand his thoughts, particularly when news of Laslot's worsening condition leaves him silent and distant 99.
• Laslot Starry — Eldest brother and betrayer. Lorigo initially feels guilt over Laslot's injury, then learns Laslot murdered family members and used kin for a ritual 108 121 123. Before the truth emerges, Lorigo helps him conduct family business and seeks his assistance in obtaining Ruger's passage ticket 108.
• Fandier Starry — Younger brother. Motier suspects him of resenting Lorigo after the childhood accident; Lorigo later says Fandier secretly helped Laslot 120 121. Fandier releases Lorigo and informs him of the scheme, but willingly sacrifices himself and refuses to save their fourth brother 121.
• Dasoya Starry — Sister and wizard apprentice who later becomes a formal wizard. Lorigo calls her back to resolve the crisis, then pleads with her after learning she intends to sacrifice Starry City for advancement 121 124 130 133 134. He is the only family member who remains in intermittent contact with her after her separation from the family and secretly continues providing support 121 123. He understands that she had little opportunity to enjoy noble family life before being sent away and explains this history to Ruger 124.
• Old Baron Starry — Father. Lorigo attends to him during his illness, and the baron later dies during the Starry Family massacre 90 108 120. The old baron does not blame or punish Lorigo for the accident that injured Laslot, which only deepens Lorigo's guilt 109.
• Unnamed fourth brother — Younger brother killed during the massacre. Lorigo asks Fandier to save him, but Fandier refuses because close kin who are transcendents are more valuable to Laslot's ritual 121.
• Curtis Twin Moon — Intended bride in the marriage alliance between Starry City and Twin Moon City 115. The surviving account establishes the engagement and wedding preparations, but not a completed marriage 118 120.
• Longger — Stern knight in Lorigo's escort. Lorigo greets him familiarly and teases his rigid manner when they meet on the return to Starry City 89.
• Aisijin and Big Silly Hum — Ruger's kobold companions, assigned to protect Lorigo during the Atoner ambush 85.
• Old Drunkard — Former helper connected to Starry City's crisis; after his death, Lorigo and Ruger learn he had contracts with the entity behind the mysterious door 130 135.
• Daisy — Attendant at Lorigo's estate who becomes Ruger's personal attendant. Lorigo supports her continued service to Ruger after he moves out, and Ruger later shelters her alongside Lorigo and Motier during the ambush at his house 109 122.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Ruin Expedition

Lorigo hires Ruger to explore a ruin tied to old Starry Family records. The journey establishes Lorigo's dream of becoming a wizard and introduces the Atoner threat against him 82 84 85.

The expedition also establishes his trust in Ruger's judgment. After surviving the ambush, he invites Ruger to Starry City while giving him broad freedom to act against suspicious threats or leave the party for his own safety 86 87.

Starry City Patron

After the failed expedition, Lorigo brings Ruger to Starry City, gives him guest status, hosts him at his estate, and becomes a key bridge between Ruger and the city's noble world 88 89 90. His patronage also indirectly removes Ruger from the area where Ka Liu's pursuers may have found him 296.

His association with Ruger becomes politically useful as other nobles hesitate over the powerful spellcaster's uncertain background. Ruger recognizes that his presence and arena performance may have helped deter Lorigo's opponents even without deliberate political intervention 98 100.

Lorigo's patronage extends beyond the estate: he helps Ruger establish an independent home while preserving their friendship and provides money that remains useful long after Ruger leaves Starry City 109 136 476.

Starry Family Crisis

Lorigo's disappearance and return expose Laslot's massacre and the Starry Family's internal corruption. He brings Dasoya back, confronts Laslot, and argues against sacrificing ordinary people for noble ambition 119 121 123. He is then branded a collaborator by Laslot's faction and remains committed to understanding and stopping the disaster despite the danger 122 125.

The crisis overturns his hopes for a marriage alliance with Twin Moon City and forces him to confront the deaths of his father, younger brothers, and the delegation's powerful transcendents 115 120 121.

Light Stone and Succession

Lorigo fails to stop Dasoya's Ascension Ritual but survives the crisis. He accepts responsibility for Starry City's future, including the likelihood of Sun-Extinction arriving ten or twenty years early, and later succeeds as Baron Starry 130 134 135 136.

His succession concludes his transformation from a reluctant heir into the ruler responsible for a damaged city. Ruger later remembers him specifically as someone forced to assume the city lordship at the worst possible time 373.

Later Recollections

Lorigo continues to influence Ruger's understanding of rulers, families, and survival after his direct role in the story ends. When considering Layden's pursuit of freedom, Ruger uses the pre-crisis Starry Family as a comparison for the tangled interests and obligations of noble families in the Upper Domain 274.

His most enduring political argument resurfaces when Ruger observes Kurt's island adapting to Light-Loss. Kurt's efforts to maintain stability and give people time to recover recall Lorigo's insistence that the inhabitants of the Cavern World are capable of finding their own solutions. Ruger calls him the last lord of Starry City in this recollection, but gives no further account of his life or the city's eventual fate 703.

Lorigo later appears in Ruger's reflections on acquaintances whose personal histories seem worthy of protagonists, alongside Mona, Varin, and Layden 920.

Notable Quotes

"I want to become a wizard. That has always been my dream..." 84

"Wizard Ruger, can I trust you?" 85

"Wear it, and you will be a guest of the Starry Family. It will help you avoid certain foolish, reckless, and rude people." 88

"This is the fate every Grotto City is destined for." 94

"The people of the Grotto Cities—the people of the Grotto District and the Abyss Cavern District—would naturally find their own way out... They are all very clever... not as foolish as you think..." 123

"Are you really going to destroy this place? You're going to use Starry City's Light Stone to advance to wizard?" 130

"Your goal has already been achieved. Why won't you stop!" 134

"Sun-Extinction will probably come ten or twenty years earlier, but this is already far better than I expected..." 135

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