Thor of Riglan

Not to be confused with Thor 51, a Super-Driver clone who serves Frost and appears in booklets 090--093.

Thor von Riglan (often referred to simply as Thor) is a young clansman from the volcanic world Lagund who possesses the precognitive ability known as the "Light of Realization." His story arc spans booklets 080--082, during which he transforms from a restless youth confined to his clan's settlement into a fully fledged Driver and member of the Terranauts. His journey is defined by unwavering determination, the tragic loss of his Clan Brother Falk von Riglan, and his eventual role in exposing the Mistel Syndicate and the schemes of the resurrected Edison Tontor.

Biography

Early Life on Lagund

Thor grows up as a member of the Riglan Clan on Lagund, a desolate world shrouded in perpetual cloud cover and plagued by volcanic activity. His clan lives a simple, labor-driven existence, and Thor's temperament -- preferring to play Synth rather than work -- frequently puts him at odds with the clan's elders, including his skeptical Clan Brother Garss and the Clan Educator Brother Curd. Unknown to most of the clan, Thor possesses a latent psionic gift he calls the "Light of Realization": the ability to receive visions of past and future events. This gift marks him as a potential Driver, though on isolated Lagund there is no framework for understanding or cultivating such abilities.

Thor's Clan Sister Jelina von Riglan, who shares his precognitive gift, disappeared a year before the events of booklet 080 and was presumed dead by the clan. Her fate -- capture by the Sky Watchers, a fanatical cult dwelling in the Sky City atop the volcano Krakata -- sets the entire arc in motion.

The Rescue Mission (Booklet 080)

Thor's story begins in earnest when he hears a telepathic cry for help from Jelina, shattering the assumption of her death. Despite Garss's skepticism, Thor is certain that Jelina is alive and in mortal danger. He experiences a vision of her held captive in the Sky City, prepared for sacrifice by the Sky Watchers -- madmen who worship spacefaring ancestors and believe that ritual killing will summon the "Sons of Heaven" back to Lagund.

After being punished for neglecting his duties and confined to the clan's Punishment House, Thor escapes with the help of his Clan Brother Falk von Riglan, a loyal and resourceful companion. Together, they embark on a perilous overland journey toward Krakata. The route is fraught with danger: their wagon is wrecked in an accident, they are attacked by Pruuts (scaly predators native to Lagund), Thor is injured, and a volcanic eruption forces them to abandon their path and flee on foot. Exhausted and on the verge of collapse, Thor is revived by Falk and receives a new vision -- Jelina is about to be sacrificed. The urgency of this revelation drives them onward despite their broken condition.

The Sky City and Falk's Sacrifice (Booklet 081)

Approaching the Sky City, Thor and Falk are overcome by the "Breath of Death" (Etnon gas), a volcanic poison that accumulates at high altitudes near Krakata. They collapse -- fulfilling one of Thor's own precognitive visions, which he had tried and failed to circumvent by avoiding the main road. The Sky Watchers discover them and bring them into the city, initially treating them as converts. When Thor attempts to explore and is caught, the Sky Watchers imprison both clansmen.

Thor and Falk break free from their imprisonment and confront the Sky Watchers in a desperate attempt to reach Jelina before her execution on the sacrificial pyre. During the confrontation, Falk von Riglan is killed by the Sky Watchers -- sacrificing himself to protect Thor and Jelina. Thor reaches the pyre and rescues Jelina, aided by the timely arrival of the Ringo crew from the starship STORTIS, who have landed on Heinlein IV (the planet on which Lagund is located) in search of replacement Drivers for their depleted Driver Lodge.

The STORTIS crew -- including Laacon Merlander, Siri Lankard, and Ain Lavalle -- recognize the latent Driver abilities in both Thor and Jelina. Captain Artuur Morgh reveals the ship's true mission: delivering urgently needed medicine to the plague-stricken planet Parisienne. The STORTIS's Driver Lodge has been crippled by the psycho-epileptic attack of Kirju Haapala (whose body has been possessed by the Id of Edison Tontor), and they need new Drivers to navigate through Space II.

Thor and Jelina reluctantly agree to become Drivers. During their first transition through Space II, they experience a terrifying shared vision of the STORTIS being torn apart by amorphous phantoms -- a premonition of the ship's eventual destruction. Despite this omen, they successfully guide the STORTIS through the transition, proving their psionic potential.

The Mistletoe Conspiracy and Joining the Terranauts (Booklet 082)

Aboard the STORTIS, Thor and Jelina join the ship's Driver Lodge alongside Laacon Merlander, Oona Karf, Ain Lavalle, Siri Lankard, and Zeus Alpha. As the ship approaches the Gallia System, they discover that the STORTIS is not merely delivering medicine but smuggling mistletoes -- precious offshoots of Yggdrasil essential for Driver space travel -- to a group on Parisienne planning to overthrow the planetary government.

When Parisienne space surveillance pursues the STORTIS, the Driver Lodge erects a PSI Shield to protect the ship from laser fire -- a draining collective effort that tests the newcomers' abilities. The STORTIS escapes into Space II, but there Kirju Haapala reveals himself to be Edison Tontor, the former GeneralManag and co-founder of the League of Free Worlds, resurrected from death. Tontor sabotages the STORTIS, abandons it with Captain Morgh and the mistletoes, and leaves the ship to be destroyed by the monsters of Space II.

Posing as "Ulan terHara" and claiming to represent the Driver Assistance, Tontor manipulates Thor and Jelina into joining him. However, Thor's precognitive abilities prove decisive: he receives a vision of himself imprisoned by Tontor, revealing the deception. Thor and Jelina attempt to warn others but are captured. When Llewellyn 709, investigating the mistletoe thefts from Parisienne, intercepts Tontor's ships, Tontor escapes to a ConTon Satellite with the stolen mistletoes.

In the arc's climactic moment, Thor tricks Tontor into surrendering to the Driver Assistance, exposing his identity, his connection to the Mistel Syndicate, and the involvement of the Duke of Britt as the syndicate's mastermind. Tontor -- still inhabiting Haapala's body -- is taken for mental evaluation. Thor and Jelina, freed from manipulation and proven in their abilities, officially join the Terranauts, embarking on a new chapter in their lives.

Key Actions

• Hears Jelina von Riglan's telepathic cry for help and resolves to rescue her from the Sky Watchers (080)
• Escapes the Punishment House with the help of Falk von Riglan (080)
• Survives a Pruut attack, a wagon accident, and a volcanic eruption during the journey to Krakata (080)
• Receives repeated precognitive visions of Jelina's captivity and impending sacrifice (080)
• Overcomes Etnon gas poisoning and infiltrates the Sky City (081)
• Rescues Jelina from the sacrificial pyre with the aid of the Ringo crew (081)
• Agrees to become a Driver to help the STORTIS reach Parisienne (081)
• Successfully navigates the STORTIS through Space II on his first transition as a Driver, despite a vision of the ship's destruction (081)
• Participates in erecting a PSI Shield to defend the STORTIS from Parisienne surveillance (082)
• Uncovers Edison Tontor's true identity and deception through precognitive visions (082)
• Tricks Edison Tontor into surrendering to the Driver Assistance, exposing the Mistel Syndicate and the Duke of Britt (082)
• Joins the Terranauts alongside Jelina von Riglan (082)

Relationships

Appearances

Notes

• Thor von Riglan should not be confused with Thor 51, a Super-Driver clone created by Max von Valdec's regime, who appears in booklets 090--093 aboard the JAMES COOK. The two characters share only a first name and have no narrative connection. The existing Thor.md file covers both characters in a combined entry; this page is dedicated solely to Thor of Riglan.
• Thor's precognitive ability, which he calls the "Light of Realization," functions similarly to other psionic gifts in the saga but is presented as an innate, untrained talent rather than a product of formal Driver education. This raw, unrefined quality distinguishes Thor and Jelina from more established Drivers.
• The fate of Thor von Riglan after joining the Terranauts in booklet 082 is not explored further in the saga's remaining booklets. He and Jelina effectively exit the narrative after this point, leaving their integration into the broader Terranaut movement as an open thread.
• The STORTIS, the ship on which Thor serves as a Driver, is ultimately destroyed by the monsters of Space II -- fulfilling the terrifying vision Thor and Jelina experienced during their first transition (081). However, Thor and Jelina are no longer aboard when this occurs (082).
• Thor's arc serves as a compact hero's journey within the larger saga: from ignorant youth to tested survivor to Driver to Terranaut, accomplished across just three booklets. His story also provides the narrative vehicle for introducing Edison Tontor's posthumous machinations and the Mistel Syndicate conspiracy.
• The setting of Thor's origin -- the volcanic world of Lagund with its primitive clan society, Sky Watchers cult, and dangerous fauna -- is one of the saga's most vivid examples of contrast between technologically advanced space-faring civilization and the isolated, feudal worlds that exist at the empire's periphery.