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A History of Magic
Topic Started: Jul 25 2010, 02:15 PM (643 Views)
Phil the Soul Eater
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Death Sladd
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A World Without Magic

In the Age of Starbirth, the gods imbued every living thing, every stone, every drop of water, with their power. As the gods created the world, they discovered that the stars in the heavens — the sparks from Reorx’s Forge — were filled with incredible potential. The gods warred over the star spirits — an All-Saints War lasting countless millennia. Eventually the High God put a stop to the war and allowed each family of gods to give the star spirits one gift. The Gods of Light gave the star spirits physical bodies; the Gods of Darkness gave the star spirits weakness, want, and mortality; while the Gods of Balance gave the spirits free will to choose their own destinies. To seal their “peace,” each family of gods created a child, and thus Solinari the Light, Nuitari the Dark, and Lunitari the Red were born, and three moons were placed in the heavens.

As the Gods of Magic gazed down upon the world, they were disturbed by what they saw. The only magic accessible to mortals was that which the gods gave them through prayers, miracles, and gifts. The ogres and the elves, in particular, seemed to benefit greatly from the gifts the Gods of Light and Darkness showered down upon them, leaving humans to be exploited by the others. During the Age of Starbirth, Reorx was tricked by the god Morgion into creating a gemstone that would help anchor Neutrality in the world. Within this gemstone, Reorx managed to capture a fragment of the great power known as Chaos (little realizing he had actually captured the god itself). This Graygem developed a sentience and a driving need to change the world and create chaos. Realizing he had perhaps gone too far, Reorx entreated Lunitari to hide the gemstone within her moon, to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Reorx believed that by placing the Graygem within Lunitari, the power of balance would imbue the stone and calm the chaos raging within.

Passage of the Graygem

In the Age of Dreams, during what has become known as the Time of Light, the gnomes built a great invention that was designed to take them off Krynn and out into the stars. The problem with this invention was that the gnomes did not have a suitable power source. As the gnomes searched for a power source, they saw the Graygem shining from the heart of Lunitari and knew that it could power their invention.

A young, extremely bright gnome gathered together a group of his compatriots and worked feverishly to create a ladder and net he had seen in his dreams. It took many years, but eventually the gnomes managed to create the Ladder to the Stars and activated the invention. The gnome caught the Graygem and brought it down to the world, but the Graygem escaped, for it could not be contained so easily. The gem sailed off and a band of gnomes followed it.

The Graygem traversed Krynn, traveling without any discernable pattern, leaving change in its wake. During this period of history, many of the stranger creatures that wander the world were born, transformed by the chaotic power of the god contained within the gemstone. Flora, fauna, and even mortals were transformed, spawning new races such as the minotaur. [It is important to note minotaurs passionately deny this claim; a wise man does not ever discuss this with a minotaur, even one who has joined the Orders – Ellis.] But the passage of the Graygem had another effect upon the world, one only the Three Cousins noted at first: the passage of the Graygem once more imbued the world with the power of change, the power that would become known as magic.

Like a riptide, this power seethed beneath the surface — an unseen energy that, prior to this time, only dragons could utilize. Unfortunately, this power was as chaotic as the Graygem itself. But, what was done was done. The Three Cousins began studying the flows of this energy, seeking a way to tame it before mortals learned to use it on their own. However, even they could not predict how quickly mortals would learn to tap into this power, for it was the same power of creation that filled everything upon the world since the Age of Starbirth.

First Dragon War & the Dragon Stones

When the followers of the first elven king, Silvanos, sought a new home in the east, the forest they chose was already inhabited by the children of the first chromatic dragons. As the elves sought to claim a new home away from humans and ogres, the dragons sought to defend their ancient homeland, and this was the cause of the First Dragon War.

This war raged for centuries between the long-lived elves and the longer-lived dragons. Although the elves had learned to tap into the power inherent within all living things and were blessed by the Gods of Light, they had yet to master the primal magic that came so easily to the dragons. The elves had the strength of numbers on their side, but they could not match the dragons for sheer power. Even with the aid of the metallic dragons, the elves could not gain a clear advantage.

Secretly, the Three Cousins decided to intervene, for they knew the elves were naturally attuned to the magic of the world. They sent visions to the elves of the most intimate connection to the world’s magic, imparting knowledge of how to create five magical rune stones — the dragon stones — one for each of the colors of the five chromatic dragons — white, black, red, blue, and green. The elves were able to defeat the chromatic dragons by absorbing their spirits with the dragon stones, and end the First Dragon War. Afterward, the elves buried the rune stones deep within the Khalkist Mountains, keeping the spirits and the bodies of the dragons separated, hoping the stones would remain hidden for eternity.

The Scions & Wild Magic

The origins of the Scions are wrapped in something of a mystery. During the early Age of Dreams, Reorx took a group of his followers away from Ansalon to teach them the ways of creation and impart to them the knowledge of his crafting. Some three thousands years later, distressed at the arrogance and conceit of many of his chosen, Reorx cursed them with short bodies and the burning need to create, combined with the inability to ever be satisfied with their creations — thus the first gnomes were born.

When the Graygem was released by the gnomes, Reorx was shocked and horrified by the catastrophic results his creation was wrecking upon the world. He began organizing his gnomes, telling them they must hunt down the Graygem. As they were preparing to leave, however, the Graygem came to them. Two hundred gnomes were transformed by the power of the Graygem into beings with golden skin and silver hair, beings naturally able to tap into the powers of creation and chaos to shape it to their will. When the Graygem left, the gnomes followed it, hunting it passionately, while those who had been transformed began learning how to control their new abilities. The transformed gnomes called themselves the Scions.

When the gnomes failed to capture the Graygem in Gargath’s keep, the Scions were dismayed, yet knew they were not strong enough to intervene. The Graygem continued to wreak havoc wherever it went, until finally the Scions realized they could no longer wait to take action. Around 3100 P.C., the Scions left their homeland and crossed the sea, heading for Ansalon. Their journey took almost two hundred years to complete and only thirteen of the original two hundred Scions survived to step foot upon Ansalon. The surviving Scions begin to spread across Ansalon, disguising themselves with their magic and searching for the Graygem. Although they never found it, they did discover many people with the potential to harness the wild magic. Slowly, the Scions began to train these individuals in the use of the powers of creation, and the first sorcerers began to appear on Ansalon. Of all the races, the elves, with their patience and long life-spans, seemed to hold the most potential. Thus elves quickly began mastering the use of sorcery — or so they thought.

In the heavens, the Three Cousins watched. They realized the powers of creation were steeped in the magic of chaos and, if left unchecked, the power could go out of control and create more chaos than even the passage of the Graygem. The Scions were able to handle the magic because of the touch of Reorx and their transformation by the Graygem, but other mortals were not so “blessed.”

Second Dragon War & Uncontrolled Magic

When the dwarves delved their kingdom, Thorin, in the Khalkist Mountains, they eventually uncovered the dragon stones the elves had hidden there centuries before. With the chaos of the Graygem fresh in the long memories of the dwarves, they removed the obviously magic relics from their kingdom, for they had no desire to deal with anything so dangerous.

Unfortunately, once the dragon stones were removed from the depths of the earth, the spirits of the trapped chromatic dragons were able to escape and regain their physical bodies. Filled with a thirst for vengeance, the powerful dragons gathered together hordes of lizard men and ogres, building an army to strike back against the Silvanesti. Thus began the Second Dragon War.

This time, the elves were better prepared to face the chromatic dragons, for they, too, were armed with the primordial magic of sorcery. The war raged for decades, each side at a stalemate — the might of the chromatic dragons and their armies held in check by the arrayed forces of the metallic dragons and the elven sorcery. The casualties on both sides continued to mount, however, and the elves could not replace their losses as quickly as the ogres or lizard men.

In desperation, three powerful sorcerers combined their powers and caused the very earth itself to open, flinging up arms of wind and flame to drag the dragons into the bowels of the earth, crushing them beneath tons of stone. Unfortunately, the powerful magic proved to be too much for even the combined strength of the three sorcerers to control. The unchecked magic raged across the continent, causing earthquakes, creating volcanoes, tidal waves, and hurricanes. Unable to regain control of the magic, the three sorcerers cried out to the Three Cousins.

When the sorcerers called upon them, the Three Cousins acted immediately, in the only way they could — they swept the sorcerers from Ansalon, carrying them into the Beyond. For almost a century after the sorcerers and the tower had disappeared, the magic continued to ravage Ansalon. Perhaps it is the memory of this time that caused future generations to become so distrustful of magic and those who wielded it. Although the sorcerers ended the Second Dragon War, the aftermath of their magic caused the deaths of countless thousands — almost as many people died following the war as people died during it.

Establishment of the Orders of High Sorcery

During the century when the sorcerers dwelt in the Beyond, they and the Three Cousins worked together to learn to control the wild magic, to shape it into something far more useful and far less destructive. Each sorcerer decided to follow the path of one of the cousins, adopting either the White, Red, or Black colors of his own patron. These three sorcerers became the first Wizards of High Sorcery and the founders of the three Orders. Although the Three Cousins and their followers were divided by philosophical ideals, they held one truism as sacrosanct — a wizard’s first and only loyalty must be to magic.

Toward this end, the Three Cousins dictated the Foundations of Magic — three laws to be held true by all three Orders:
1. All wizards are brothers and sisters in their Order. All Orders are brothers and sisters in power.
2. The places of High Sorcery are held in common among all Orders and no magic is to be used in anger against fellow wizards in these places.
3. The world beyond the Towers may bring brother against sister and Order against Order, but such is the way of the universe.

Armed with the Foundations of Magic, and trained in how to properly use the powers of creation without endangering the world, the three wizards were returned to Ansalon. Their first task was to build Towers where they could train others who wanted to follow the path of magic, where Wizards of High Sorcery would be safe from persecution, and where their dedication could be tested. Slowly, the three wizards began to gather others who possessed the talent for magic to teach them how to control their magic. Together, these Wizards of High Sorcery formed the Orders of High Sorcery and began to build their Towers.

Originally, the Orders planned to build seven Towers. Only five were ever constructed. Each Tower was open to all three Orders, although each Tower was more strongly aligned with one Order over another. Each Tower was surrounded by a magical grove that would protect the Tower. Only those who were invited — or those who had already passed their Test and joined the Orders of High Sorcery — could pass through the groves unmolested.

Each Tower was built upon a location of natural power. It took the Orders many years to scry the perfect locations for their Towers. Most of them were built originally in isolated locations, except for the Tower in Daltigoth, which was located relatively close to the heart of the Ergothian Empire. In time, cities sprang up around the Tower of Palanthas (originally known as the Tower of Bright Hope), the Tower of Goodlund (originally the Tower of Losarcum), and the Tower of Istar. The Tower of Wayreth, the first Tower built, was in the most isolated location, and thus it became the center for the Orders of High Sorcery. Although the inhabitants of the Towers were not fully trusted by those who lived nearby, people came to see that the Towers policed their own, and generally did not trouble the outside world.

Third Dragon War & Magius

During the Age of Knights, when Ergoth’s star was descendant, and Solamnia and Istar began to rise in power, the Dark Queen began plotting her conquest of Ansalon. Very carefully, she had her followers seed the earth with the eggs of chromatic dragons she had been nurturing in the Abyss for thousands of years. When the eggs hatched, the chromatic dragons were unleashed in hordes led by a renegade wizard named Galan Dracos, known as the Queen’s Mortal Consort, and the Dark warlord, Crynus. This was the Third Dragon War.

It was supposed to be a quick war, for the Queen’s armies and dragons were powerful enough to sweep across all of Ansalon. Takhisis had not counted on the tenacity of the Knights of Solamnia, particularly Huma Dragonsbane, or on the Wizards of High Sorcery. Although the Black Robes did side with the Queen of Darkness, they and their god, Nuitari, eventually realized how disastrous the Dark Queen’s ambitions were. With their assistance, and the help of Huma’s childhood friend, Magius, the Knights of Solamnia and Huma Dragonsbane defeated the Queen of Darkness and bound her in the Abyss.

Magius was an arrogant young Solamnic wizard, who believed he had a great destiny. His potential was much greater than many of his peers, and he was indeed strong, but even he could not stand against the strength of the renegade Galan Dracos, whose forces captured, tortured, and killed Magius. His sacrifice provided Huma with the key necessary to defeat Dracos and the Dark Queen, for, through the visions granted Magius during his Test of High Sorcery, he was able to lead Huma to the place where the dragonlances would be found. It was because of Magius’s sacrifice that Wizards of High Sorcery are now able to carry daggers, which are representative of the dragonlances.

Magius is arguably one of the most legendary Wizards of High Sorcery, but there were many such sacrifices made by wizards during the Third Dragon War, and many triumphs as well. One triumph that cannot be overlooked is the creation of the dragon orbs.

It is not often the entire Conclave gathers together to work magic. Gathering together at the Tower of Palanthas, the combined magic of more than a thousand wizards captured and bound the raw essence of chromatic dragons within the crystal orbs. These dragon orbs were then taken to each of the five Towers, ensuring the safety of the Towers during the war. The orb for Palanthas was secured within the High Clerist’s Tower.

Age of Might & the Lost Battles

During the Age of Might, which began at the end of the Third Dragon War, the power of Istar and Solamnia continued to rise until the Glory of Istar covered nearly the entire continent. Unfortunately, this era would prove to be a dark one for the Orders of High Sorcery.

Istar was the most powerful empire on Ansalon during the Age of Might. It was a theocracy ruled by the head of the Church of Paladine, whose title was Kingpriest. The last Kingpriest was a stout follower of the good gods, but his goodness began to cloud his vision. To him, if a person or creature was not a follower of the Gods of Light, then they were the enemy and must be wiped out.

In the Kingpriest’s fanatic quest to wipe evil from the face of the world, he set into motion a series of events that would forever change the world. Beginning in 250 P.C., the Kingpriest began to institute a series of increasingly stricter measures restricting independence, particularly against anyone whose ideals were at odds with the preaching of the Kingpriest. The elves once more retreated into their forests as the list of those who were “guilty” of heresy grew increasingly longer.

The Kingpriest declared the Proclamation of Manifest Virtue in 118 P.C. It stated that Evil is an affront to both gods and mortals. Those found guilty of Evil were taken to the gladiatorial arenas, where the “gods” would decide their destinies. A little more than twenty-five years later, a clause was added to the Proclamation, stating certain races were naturally evil and thus had to either be “brought into the Light” (sold into slavery) or be exterminated, so their souls could be purified in the afterlife. It was inevitable that those who practiced High Sorcery would come under attack.

By 19 P.C., the edicts of the Kingpriest and the distrust most mortals had for arcane magic and those who practiced it caused the masses to start openly assaulting those who wore the Robes of High Sorcery. The Kingpriest’s armies massed to attack the Towers. In desperation, the Orders of High Sorcery began to plan for a retreat to the Tower of Wayreth—the most isolated of all the Towers and easily the most defensible.

The Kingpriest’s armies were able to penetrate the magical groves, which had proved to be the only effective barrier preventing prior conquest. Rather than see their Towers, and the powerful magics contained within, fall to the Kingpriest, the Conclave was willing to destroy the Towers.
The Towers of Daltigoth and Losarcum — the first Towers targeted by the forces of the Kingpriest — were destroyed by the Orders. The resulting destruction destroyed not only the Tower, but a wide area around each one. Thousands of innocents died in the blasts. Quelled by the disasters, the Kingpriest struck a deal with the Orders. The wizards would leave the Towers of Palanthas and Istar, and, in turn, the Orders would be allowed to remain in Wayreth unmolested by the Kingpriest’s forces. Realizing that even with their combined might the Orders were no match for the sheer numbers arrayed against them, the Conclave reluctantly agreed to the deal. Taking as much from the Towers as they could in the time allotted them, they turned the Tower of Istar over to the Kingpriest without incident. The transition in Palanthas did not go as smoothly.

Many know the legend behind the curse of the Tower of Palanthas, of the insane Black Robe who threw himself from the ramparts and, with his dying breath, cursed the Tower until it was entered by the “Master of Past and Present.” Recent details uncovered in the Great Library have revealed this Black Robe, one Andras Rannoch, may have been a puppet for the archmage Fistandantilus, and that the famed Black Robe may have been ultimately responsible for the cursing of the tower.

The Cataclysm

It was the blind arrogance of the Kingpriest, who believed himself equal, if not superior, to the gods, that called down the wrath of the gods. He was not solely to blame, however. The gods had given the people of Ansalon warnings against blind faith for more than one hundred years, but most people wanted to believe in the Kingpriest’s glorious vision.

Two of the original five Towers of High Sorcery were destroyed prior to the Cataclysm by the actions of the Orders, along with much knowledge and many artifacts. The dying curse of the Black Robe Andras Rannoch effectively sealed the Tower of Palanthas, and, when Istar sank beneath the waves of the Blood Sea, the Tower of Istar was also lost. Only the Tower of Wayreth remained, emerging from the Cataclysm relatively unscathed. When the Cataclysm struck, it completely reshaped the world. The geographical or meteorological changes that occurred are beyond the scope of this manuscript. But perhaps the greatest change brought about by the Cataclysm was the perceived abandonment of the true gods. The people believed the gods had destroyed the world in anger and then turned away from their children.

The relationship the Orders of High Sorcery had with the Gods of Magic did not work in the same way as the relationships of other gods and their followers. Wizards did not lose their spellcasting ability. The wizards of the time, as educated men and women, understood religion and the relationship of the moons, planets, and constellations to the gods, but matters of faith and divine magic were never their province. So, they, as an Order, never questioned the gods’ departure.

Age of Despair

The Gods of Magic have never asked to be worshipped, nor have they required the Orders to worship them. As the first Foundation states, a Wizard’s first and only loyalty is to the magic. Even after the gift of divine magic disappeared, arcane magic remained. The three moons shone in the sky and the Orders continued with their practices: finding and training young people gifted with magic, giving the Test to those wanting to pursue High Sorcery, all the while isolating themselves within the Tower of Wayreth, protected by its grove, the Wayreth Forest. The Orders made it a priority to hunt down renegades, to save those who were falsely tried and executed as witches, to keep an eye out for any sign of the return of the other gods, or to dispute any charlatans that either claimed false gods or lied about the return of the true gods.

Unfortunately, following the Cataclysm, the populace’s distrust of magic and its practitioners increased. Throughout what would become known as the Age of Despair, the Orders operated clandestinely. That is not to say wizards faded into obscurity: schools where young students could study magic still operated throughout Ansalon; the Orders still provided advice and counsel to those who asked it of them; and wizards did what they always have — studied and practiced their arts.

As the Age of Despair deepened, there was a sense of waiting, although many among the Orders did not know what they were waiting for. In the darkest places of Ansalon, Takhisis was once more gathering her forces to mount another war of conquest. Taking the sacred Foundation Stone from fallen Istar, she placed it in the wilds of Neraka, and used it as a gateway that allowed her to temporarily escape from the plane that had become her prison — the Abyss. She awakened the evil dragons that had been sleeping in the hidden places of the world since the Third Dragon War and, slowly but surely, she began laying the groundwork for her return. When the Everman stole the emerald from the Foundation Stone, his sister’s accidental death at his hands provided a key to the Dark Queen’s return to Krynn. Fortunately, the purity of his sister’s spirit blocked the Dark Queen’s return, forcing her to act through intermediaries. Thus began a hunt for the Everman, who was cursed with eternal life — a search that would last more than a century.

To prevent the metallic dragons of light from interfering, the Dark Queen had her minions steal the eggs of the sleeping good dragons. When the metallics awoke to find their eggs missing, the Dark Queen used the eggs as a ransom against the return of the good dragons. During this time, many Black Robes began to spend more and more time away from the Towers. Though many of the Red and White Robes may have secretly rejoiced at the absence of their evil brethren, most didn’t realize what was going on until it was too late.

A new darkness lurked on the horizon, one that threatened the world. The Three Cousins knew of the encroaching danger but were forbidden by the other gods to directly interfere. A “weapon” was needed, a wizard whose power had been refined in the forge of his soul, to whom the magic was his life. Solinari guided Par-Salian, then the Head of the White Robes and Master of the Tower of Wayreth, to this mage — a young man named Raistlin Majere.

While Raistlin Majere was still a child, the armies of the Dragon Queen began amassing, waiting for the right time to strike. Hoping to benefit from the war itself, Nuitari agreed to ally his Black Robes with the Dark Queen’s forces. The power of the Black Robes, combined with the power of the Dark Queen’s clerics and the chromatic dragons, created a dark magical ritual that corrupted the eggs of the good dragons. The unborn dragons were forever changed, and draconians were born.

The Fourth Dragon War

When the Dragonarmies of the Dark Queen, led by the evil genius of the Dragon Highlords, struck, the world was unprepared. The ranks of the Dragonarmies contained members of the evil races who had always served the Dark Queen, powerful Black Robes of Nuitari, skilled and brutal mercenaries, and dark clerics. But what truly gave the Dark Queen’s army a might that few could hope to stand against were the chromatic dragons. For the first time in centuries, the skies were filled with the leathery flap of dragonwings. However, the metallic dragons of light were nowhere to be seen.

Country after country fell swiftly before the unstoppable might of the Dragonarmies. It looked as though the world was doomed. In a small town of Solace, a group of heroes came together in the Inn of the Last Home. Though they did not realize it at the time, they would become the key to the world’s salvation, thanks a young Que’shu princess, who had been given a blue crystal staff by her beloved, and a young Red Robe mage, whose body was weak, but whose blood burned with magic.

The accounts of the War of the Lance have passed into legend across Ansalon, so I shall not go into detail about military tactics, the return of the good dragons, the rediscovery of the dragonlances, or any number of the other key elements of the war. Those interested in such a treatise should read a copy of The War of the Lance, which can be found in the Great Library. However, there are a few key elements to the War that I do plan to address. The first is the young Que’Shu princess, Goldmoon, who became the first cleric of the true Gods of Light since before the Cataclysm. In the ruins of Xak Tsaroth, she found faith, as she embraced the goddess Mishakal and was given the Disks of Mishakal — platinum disks containing the word of the Gods of Light. This would be pivotal in the return of other true clerics to the world, to fight against the clerics of the Dark Queen.

The second key, most important to the Orders of High Sorcery, is the young mage Raistlin Majere. Chosen by the Three Cousins and by Par-Salian as the “sword” to be used against the Dark Queen, Raistlin was summoned to Wayreth to take the Test. During his Test, Raistlin struck a deal with the spirit of Fistandantilus, one of the most powerful and evil wizards to walk Krynn, to exchange a small portion of his life force for the power to ensure he survived his Test. Although Raistlin wore the Red Robes of Neutrality at the war’s start, he assumed the Black Robes by the end. Without his magic, however, the Heroes of the Lance would not have succeeded against the Dark Queen. But, in creating a weapon against Takhisis, the Orders unleashed a greater threat to the world in the form of Raistlin Majere, Master of the Past and Present.

In his quest for power, Raistlin Majere decided to challenge the gods themselves. Claiming the Tower of Palanthas as his own, he researched the magic of Fistandantilus and the Portal to the Abyss, which he planned to use to enter the Abyss to challenge Takhisis. To access the Portal, however, he needed a powerful Cleric of Light, whose purity shone as brightly as the depths of the darkness within Raistlin. He found this purity in a Revered Daughter of Paladine, Crysania.

The story of Raistlin’s and Crysania’s travails, of their journeys through time itself, can be found in books in the Great Library. Raistlin traveled back in time to a period before the Cataclysm. In the process, he became Fistandantilus (a convoluted tangle of threads I am not qualified to untangle, so I shall simply state it as fact). He and his twin brother, Caramon; the Revered Daughter, Crysania and the now famous time-hopping kender, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, witnessed the Cataclysm firsthand. They fought their way through the Dwarfgate Wars. In Fistandantilus’s Tower (which would later become known as Skullcap), Raistlin and Crysania entered the Portal to the Abyss, thus completing the cycle of destiny.

Raistlin might have succeeded in becoming a god (he very nearly did), if not for his brother and the kender. In the end, Raistlin’s love for his brother won out over his desire for power. Raistlin sacrificed himself, allowing Caramon to leave the Abyss with Crysania, who had been blinded in the battle against the forces of the Dark Queen. For his sacrifice, and due to his brother’s love, Raistlin was granted peace in sleep and was spared the torment of the Abyss.

Summer of Chaos & the Gray Robes

The Summer of Chaos occurred thirty years following the end of the War of the Lance. It was a dark time in Krynn’s history, a time darker than any of the Dragon Wars, for the power of Chaos, a god of power nearly that of the High God, was unleashed upon the world.

The Irda, who were descended from true ogres of old and said to be the most beautiful race of all, were able to snare the Graygem after it had escaped into the world again. Not knowing it for what it truly was, the Irda broke open the Graygem, allowing Chaos to escape his prison.

The Council of Gods determined that the ironclad military might of the Dark Queen was needed to unite the world against Chaos. In a short time, the Dark Queen’s new knighthood, the Knights of Takhisis, swept across Ansalon, uniting the world in an iron grip. Part of the Dark Queen’s knighthood was an order known as the Knights of the Thorn — Gray Robed wizards whose magic came from all three moons and who were not bound by the Foundations of magic.

When the Dark Queen’s knighthood was still forming, rumors reached the Towers regarding these Gray Robed wizards, who wielded powerful magic as well as sword and armor. Believing them to be renegades, the Orders reacted by mounting an offensive led by Justarius, the Head of the Red Robes, and Dalamar the Dark, who had become the Master of the Tower of Palanthas, accompanied by numerous powerful members of the Orders. Dalamar barely escaped the subsequent battle with his life. Justarius was killed, along with many others.

The conquest of Ansalon by the Knights of Takhisis was brutal and swift; within a month after leaving their fortress in the northern seas, they had conquered Southern Ergoth, the Qualinesti Forest, and all the lands from Nordmaar southeast through the Khalkist Mountains (including Kendermore), south to the Plains of Dust, and west into Solamnia and Abanasinia. Northern Ergoth and the Silvanesti managed to hold off the Dark Knights, as did Thorbardin and some of the Khalkist Mountain hill dwarves.

When Chaos began his assault on creation, the Dark Knights had yet to completely solidify their control of Ansalon, but there was no more time. Dark Knights fought alongside Solamnic Knights, Gray Robes alongside the Wizards of High Sorcery, clerics of Light with clerics of Darkness; good and evil fought as allies against the creatures of Chaos. Eventually, the arrayed forces of mortals and the gods were able to defeat Chaos. Unfortunately, in that exact moment, the gods were betrayed by one of their own. The Dark Queen, Takhisis, seized that moment to steal the world away from where it had sat in the heavens. It would be decades before anyone realized what had happened, as the Dark Queen deceived everyone.

Early Fifth Age & the Last Conclave

When the world was stolen, people thought the gods had once again departed. No longer did the three moons hang in the heavens. Even the sun was different. Once more, men were in a world without gods, but this time, even the Orders had no gods to turn to. Magic was gone, at least the magics we had become used to. Palin Majere, who had been instrumental in the defeat of Chaos, had received a visitation from “Fizban” and “Raistlin” (later revealed to be visions induced by the Dark Queen) telling him that in this, the Age of Mortals, a different magic must be found to replace the old magic of High Sorcery and clerical magic. As wizards across Ansalon sought out magic items to use to fuel their lost magic and clerics lost faith in gods who seemed to constantly turn away from their children, this new magic was eagerly sought, yet without much success.

Less than a decade after the Chaos War, the former Chosen of Mishakal, Goldmoon, discovered a power resting deep within herself—a power that would come to be known as mysticism. She built a Citadel of Light on the Isle of Schallsea, where she taught others how to use the wondrous power within themselves. Meanwhile, Palin Majere (nephew to Raistlin Majere and son of Heroes of the Lance, Caramon and Tika Majere), became the Head of the White Robes — an empty position, for there still was no magic. Some abandoned the Art completely, embittered over the loss of the power they had once held. Palin continued his search for the “new” magic.

Almost immediately following the Chaos War, the great dragons began to appear. Stronger, larger, and more evil than any chromatic dragon ever seen before, these great dragons began hunting and slaughtering the native dragons, growing fat and powerful by consuming the souls of their victims. This “Dragon Purge” lasted for more than twenty-five years, with five great dragons emerging to conquer vast tracts of Ansalon — Malystryx the Red Marauder, Khellendros the Blue (formerly known as Skie), Onysablet the Black, Beryllinthranox the Green, and Gellidus the White. The devastation wrought by the Dragon Purge and by the evil terraforming of these Dragon Overlords was as great (if not even more extreme) as the changes wrought by the First Cataclysm.

Twenty years following the Chaos War, a mysterious individual emerged from the Desolation of Malystryx the Red. Known only as the Shadow Sorcerer, this being would eventually join with Palin Majere and the equally mysterious Master of the Tower (a manifestation of the defensive magics built into the Tower of Wayreth) and teach them how to use primal sorcery. Primal sorcery was, and is, a radically different type of magic than High Sorcery, yet it seemed to be what Palin had been looking for. Realizing the “new” magic required “new” methods and rituals, Palin, the Shadow Sorcerer, and the Master of the Tower convened the “Last Conclave” in 411 A.C. (28 years after the Chaos War), disbanding the Orders of High Sorcery completely and forever (or so they believed at the time).

Leaving the Tower of Wayreth to the Master of the Tower, Palin returned to Solace where he built an Academy of Sorcery. Like the Citadel of Light in Schallsea, this school of magic taught the ways of the “new” sorcery to those willing to learn it. Both the Citadel of Light and the Academy of Sorcery refused to teach those who would use the magics for evil ends. The Dark Knights, who had allied themselves, in many cases, with the Dragon Overlords, refused to allow this to deter them. Secret agents, guarded by artifacts from the Fourth Age, infiltrated both the Citadel and the Academy. Learning the magic, they returned with it to the Dark Knights.

Slowly but surely, it seemed that mortals were taking command of their own destinies. However, a few years after the establishment of the Academy, magic began to fade. Slowly at first, then more and more rapidly, both the magic of mystics and those of sorcerers began to fail. Magic held within items and artifacts began to act erratically or fail altogether. No one could trace the source of this magic drain. Many blamed the Dragon Overlords, whose own magic seemed untouched.

The War of Souls

In the year 419 A.C. (38 years following the Chaos War), a massive storm swept across all of Ansalon. For one night, the sea of Tarsis returned, carrying the broken hulks of ships beached for more than four hundred years. Many of the surviving metallic dragons disappeared during this time as a young woman named Mina emerged from the Great Storm, proclaiming herself the servant of the One God.

That same night, a kender found himself locked in the Tomb of Last Heroes in Solace. This kender proclaimed himself to be the legendary Tasslehoff Burrfoot. He held the device of time journeying in his hands. The kender stated he had come from the past, using magic to travel forward in time, so he could attend the funeral of his best friend, Caramon Majere. At first, no one believed the kender’s wild claims (not many people believe any claims, wild or otherwise, made by a kender). But when the kender was brought before Palin Majere and Goldmoon, the Revered Mother of the Citadel of Light, both recognized him as the true Tasslehoff Burrfoot, who had died many years ago.

When Palin and Tasslehoff met with Goldmoon, they discovered that the aged woman had been restored to youthful mien — a transformation that occurred during the night of the Great Storm. It was Tasslehoff and Goldmoon who were truly the first to notice the spirits of the dead lingering in the world; spirits who had been unable to travel along the River of Souls; spirits who were the cause of the fading magic.

When Takhisis stole the world, she broke the connection between the River of Time and the River of Souls, leaving the spirits of all those who died following the Chaos War unable to progress to the next life. These spirits became the Dark Queen’s slaves, siphoning away the magic in the world — the primal magic and the magic within every living thing — using the energy to restore her power. Mina was the Dark Queen’s herald, her Chosen Prophet, who would unite the world once more through war, bringing both the living and the dead to bow before the One God, Takhisis.

Tasslehoff Burrfoot, a kender who had traversed the River of Time at the exact moment the Dark Queen stole the world, threatened to destroy everything the Dark Queen had planned. Even the Dragon Overlords, as powerful as they were, fell before the Dark Queen one by one. Capturing the kender became a priority for the Dark Queen and for Mina.

Tasslehoff managed to evade the Dark Queen’s forces time and time again. His time traveling caught the attention of a certain spirit dwelling in the realm where Krynn once stood — the spirit of Raistlin Majere. Using the guidance of Raistlin Majere, and the device of time journeying, the kender was able to “stitch” time back together, allowing the other gods to rediscover the world that had been stolen from them.

In the aftermath of the War of Souls, Takhisis was killed and Paladine sacrificed his immortality and godhood. But, most important to the Orders, the Three Cousins once more shone in the sky and, with their return, High Sorcery returned. Resurrecting Palin and Dalamar, who had been killed and their spirits bound by Mina, the Three Cousins offered to return their magic. Palin declined the offer, choosing instead to return to his family. Dalamar the Dark eagerly accepted. As a price for giving his assistance to the Dark Queen during the War of Souls, Dalamar was forbidden from ever entering the Tower of Palanthas (which now resided in Nightlund). He was tasked with the onerous duty of reforming the Orders of High Sorcery — a task Dalamar readily accepted.

Though details have not been fully revealed, Dalamar and Jenna were able to reclaim to the Tower of Wayreth with the assistance of a mysterious young wizard. The three founded a new Conclave with the blessing of the Master of the Tower, ushering in a new era of magic. Jenna now presides as the new Highmage and head of the Order of Red Robes, Dalamar leads the Black Robes, and the enigmatic new wizard sits as the head of the Order of White Robes. The Tower of Wayreth has regained its place as the central stronghold of magic, and wizards — new and old — are journeying daily to the ancient forest to take their place among the Orders.

Lord Ellis Lorey
Historian of the Red Robes
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