Tag: DragonLance

DragonLance Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapters 20, 21 & 22

Chapter 20

The Highbulp’s map.

A spellbook of Fistandantilus

As we continue the adventure at Xak Tsaroth we discover that Caramon does not trust the Gully Dwarves at all. But as Tanis points out they really don’t have a choice.

We learn a bit about Raistlin’s enthusiasm is due to the rumors that a spellbook of the nightly Fistandantilus to be kept there. He assumes the dragon will have it. This is a point of contention with Sturm, but they go along anyway.

They plot a way to fight the dragon, the party is going to split up, Raistlin will distract the dragon (could that be a suicide mission?) but then the rest of the companions will be able to raid the dragon’s lair for the Disks of Mishakal and the spellbook without fear of being killed.

Is it a suicide mission for all of them? Or can they get through this intact? They are, after all, about to invade a Dragon’s lair! Is that really the smartest thing to do?

Chapter 21

The sacrifice.

The twice dead city.

As normal Tanis has a plan. As they all get in position he suffers from a moment of self doubt. Has he planned it properly? Is he about to get all of his friends killed?

They crept into the lair assuming the dragon had gone off the deal with Raistlin only to find out the dragon was prepared for them and had Raistlin as it’s prisoner.

The dragon appears to believe the Blue Crystal Staff was stolen from it, and orders Goldmoon forward to return it!

Sturm spots the disks there in the lair amongst a giant treasure!

Goldmoon goes forward, and strikes the dragon with the staff! The staff explodes with a giant blue flash mortally wounding the dragon and making Goldmoon disappear, probably turned to ash!

The result of this explosion caused the entire underground lair to start to fall apart. The ceiling began to collapse in on the companions and it began to flood! They grabbed what they could, the disks and themselves and ran!

Chapter 22

Bupu’s gift. An ominous sight.

They all had to run out of the ruined city as it was being consumed again and filled with water. It was difficult, but they made it out alive and back to the surface.

Riverwind on the verge of ending his own life enters the temple and discovers Goldmoon! Her staff was gone but she had become a true cleric! Capable of healing through prayer and didn’t need the staff any longer.

As they evacuated the area they could hear the horns of the Draconian army on the move! Now where would they go? Off to Solace for supplies and information of course.

Of course they were exhausted and needed to rest for the night. Raistlin most of all. The mage woke before dawn to find Bupu crying, and in a very tender moment especially for the mage he tries to comfort her. Something you would never have thought from him.

He urges her to go back to her people, but before she departs she decides to give him a gift, a spellbook she had grabbed from inside the dragon’s lair. The very spellbook he had sought!

These chapters mark the end of the first of two books inside this novel. To me, this is the best setup for an epic adventure I have ever come across in the fantasy genre. It ranks up there with Tolkien in scale. Certainly it will not get the same critical acclaim or attention as Tolkien, but is that right? I think it should.

Weis and Hickman are an amazing writing team. Everything of theirs I have ever come across I have been sucked into and enjoy thoroughly. They really make me strive in my own writing to be better. Their pacing is just amazing. They make you feel what each character feels.

DragonLance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapters 18 & 19

Chapter 18

Fight at the lift.

Bupu’s cure for a cough.

The elevator we saw in order to get up and down without the use of modern day machinery uses the gully dwarves as weight to bring the Draconians up from far below in the ruined city. The result of this discovery is that there is a thrilling fight that takes place in a giant pot that is used as an elevator car.

It sways back and forth as weight gets thrown around inside, making things far more complex, it is a fight you just have to read. Fantastically written.

In the fight the group was temporarily separated resulting in two different melees taking place at once. It took some very innovative thinking on behalf of our companions to get out of this sticky situation.

A gully dwarf by the name of Bupu comes to the rescue and during a lull in the fight shows them another way to get down below.

Remember, the gully dwarves mean well but aren’t that smart. On top of that there is a fun loving Kender in the group, so their journey to the lower parts of the ruined city is…interesting.

Chapter 19

The broken city.

Highbulp Phudge I, The Great.

We get a little more backstory on what happened to Xak Tsaroth the night of the Cataclysm. Bupu leads the group along a pathway not taken by the Draconians for multiple reasons to go and see the leader of the gully dwarves, the Great Highbulp Phudge I.

It wasn’t the easiest path to traverse, but it did serve to avoid the Draconians.

One of the cool things in this chapter is that never before have I listened to a frustrated dragon complain. Now I have.

The gully dwarves lived in a part of the ruined city that neither the dragon, nor the draconian care about. Interestingly we learn more about the gully dwarves that will come back in future books. They are generally considered cowards, and will avoid a fight at all costs. However, when they are backed into a corner they are ferocious fighters.

Throughout the chapter we start to see questions arise. For instance, Sturm starts to ask questions about why Raistlin is so excited to have come to this destroyed city.

We find that the Great Phudge I does not like life with the dragons or the draconians and wants the companions to make them go away or kill them. He “knew” where the dragon lair is, and how to get there, but he is nervous that the companions are just here to steal from the dragon and run. So will he double cross them? We will find out in future chapters.

DragonLance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapters 16 & 17

One thing I love about these authors is that they bring to life the serious, dark moments, but also do manage to bring some light hearted things as well. That makes it much more realistic for me. Yes, life has dark times, but it also has funny things that happen, even in the dark times. It is part of the writing genius of the duo Weis and Hickman!

Chapter 16

A bitter choice.

The greatest gift.

The dragon attack in the previous chapter left Riverwind burned so badly his internal organs were exposed in places, but he was just outside an ancient temple to the gods.

During that attack Goldmoon was inside the temple, and learned many things including being given the gift of becoming a true healer, and learning that she and the companions are to recover the Disks of Mishakal. (more on those later).

She emerges after the attack and orders Riverwind, or what is left of him, brought inside. Somehow, during the attack, she gained enough powers that with the staff she manages to save Riverwind’s life and brings him back to virtually perfect health.

Now, they must rest and then go and find the dragon’s lair, where it is said the Disks of Mishakal are hidden, and recover them…from the dragon’s lair. What could go wrong?

Chapter 17

The Path of the Dead.

Raistlin’s new friends.

The companions managed to get a night of rest inside the temple. They finally were no longer facing exhaustion, but were preparing for a day when they knew they may have to face a dragon!

Sure the plan was to just find the lair and make off with the disks, but is anything ever that easy?

We find out many things in this chapter, and a little bit of the twin’s backstory is revealed. Something massive and likely disturbing happened in the Tower of High Sorcery when Raistlin took his test, and they are forbidden to speak of it. What happened does come out much later in the series, but for now, it is enough to know those two have an amazing bond for some reason that goes far beyond mere brothers.

They find their way deeper into the ruins of the city, and start on their trek to find the lair of the dragon. Along the way we finally meet gully dwarves! Flint, is not a fan of these guys. They are not very smart, can be stubborn, and are known to be generally cheerful, but Flint has a whole thing where in his opinion they all need to be exterminated. But, in this case they are needed to help the companions.

We meet the gully dwarves when they are being used as a counter weight to operate an elevator of sorts to bring Draconian forces, who they call the big bosses, up from deep below.

With a little help from Raistlin they enlist the gully dwarves to help them make their way below, and hopefully recover the disks!

DragonLance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapter 14 & 15

Chapter 14

Prisoners of the draconians.

When the majority of the traveling companions were taken prisoner by the Draconians Flint and Tasslehoff managed to remain unnoticed and free. They followed the trail in hopes of finding a way to rescue their friends.

They find a huge Draconian camp that was clearly celebrating some kind of victory, and therefore easy to sneak up on. They find, much to their surprise a Dragon in the camp! The Draconians were dancing and partying in front of the giant creature.

Flint is instantly scared, but Tasslehoff like all Kender are immune to fear. Tass notices something weird about the dragon.

The prisoners are indeed in the camp, all in a cell, but Raistlin poisoned and feverish, looks like he is about to die. Without the staff, there is nothing they can do for him.

It turns out the Dragon isn’t really a dragon, it is a little different, and while I won’t spoil it (warning the video below does spoil that bit). But I will say this, when you leave a Kender up to masterminding a prison break, it is both hilarious, and chaotic all at the same time.

Chapter 15

Escape. The well.

Death on black wings.

As they escape the camp the run through the swamp and find their way to Xak Tsaroth. They find a city in ruins and surprisingly Raistlin is the most excited at the thought of being here. We don’t know why but the mage is so secretive there has to be something in his quest for power involved.

They find a Draconian, the party attempts to stop it, but it escapes down a well. It alerts whatever is below and a huge, living, flying, breathing Black Dragon appears!

The dragon circles overhead, casts a magical spell that eliminates everyone sight, breaths fire before leaving, and turns Riverwind into a pile of charred flesh, with organs exposed and not long to live!

Is the staff powerful enough to save his life!

We find out in Chapter 16!

DragonLance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapters 12 & 13

Chapter 12

Winged Sleep. Smoke in the east.

Dark memories.

The Forestmaster took care of their travel problems with flying horses (aka Pegasus), or Pegasi for the plural version. Never thought about the plural version did you?

How else do you get someplace in a hurry? Now, because no one here has ever flown before, and the Pegasi don’t want anyone to get hurt the companions are put into a magic induced sleep for the length of the journey.

Once they landed and Tanis awoke the lead Pegasus informed him they had to stop before the final destination due to a great evil that had been awakened on Krynn, something he hadn’t felt since before the Cataclysm. So apparently he’s been around a very long time. Is he alive or dead? We don’t know.

The landed a half day journey from Goldmoon and Riverwind’s village, but close enough they could see great smoke clouds coming from their homeland. They rush to the village to find that it has been decimated in the worst battle anyone could recall. Fires burned so hot that even the stone had melted.

The only living being they could find was a dog.

The emotion of this chapter jumps off the page. The authors are so gifted at making you feel what the characters feel I say, if you are enchanted by the storyline you must experience for yourself. It is amazing.

They leave the city and continue on their path to Xak Tsaroth.

Chapter 13 

Chill down. Vince bridges.

Dark water.

The trip so far may have just been a little too easy. By all accounts they should still be able to make their destination by the deadline.

More emotion of the situation starts to leap off the page. Goldmoon has been told all along that this blue crystal staff is a gift from the Gods (maybe). But it is a gift, a staff of healing! Half of Krynn appears to be searching for this thing, so how can it not be an amazing gift.

A gift that got her entire family, all her friends and her home destroyed. What kind of gift is that?

Along the way they must travel through a swamp, across vine bridges, all to find the most valuable thing in the world. But who else might be in the area looking for this?

Draconians! This time they are magic users and Raistlin can’t solve the problem before they are all encased in magic spider webs!

Will they survive! Can they survive in there? We don’t know! We do know they can’t move, and are now captured by the Draconian lizard-men!

DragonLance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapters 10 & 11

Chapter 10

Darken Wood

The dead walk. Raistlin’s magic.

The traveling companions decide to take the risk and enter Darken Wood despite it meaning almost certain death (according to the mage click here for a reminder of that warning). They follow the trail into the woods for several hours without incident or fear. Then the sun starts to set.

They find a cleaning where they plan to rest and spend the night despite Raistlin’s objections to getting off the trail. His words, if you recall from the previous post  they should disturb, drink, consume nothing while inside Darken Wood. Don’t even cut down a tree. It could be bad.

The first sign of strange things inside the woods is when Tanis realizes his elven vision is no longer working. Normally he can see a red outline of living creatures in the dark, but it is gone, even from his companions.

As they set up camp for the night they notice they have been silently surrounded by an army of dead warriors. Each warrior has an eerie glow and appears with ancient armor and weapons. They were so ominous that terror set in! Should they run! Will the die before they get the first few steps? What do they do from here?

Raistlin gets the group to remain calm. He casts a spell that allows them to communicate with the dead, and learn that because of the blue crystal staff, they have been summoned, but by who or what?

Chapter 11

The Forestmaster

A peaceful interlude.

They had been summoned by the Forestmaster! A unicorn, at least by appearance, that has been on Krynn since the time of Huma, and could communicate in the common tongue.

The Forestmaster informs them that they know of the lizard men, they are called Draconians and claim to be part of the Order of Draco.

Sound a bit like Game of Thrones? Which were supposed to be gone from Krynn (this pre-dates Game of Thrones so George RR Martin borrowed it hahaha).

The Forestmaster informs them that they must be in Cat Tsaroth in 2 days, and if they can be they will receive the greatest gift in the world, but leaves it at that. But the only way to get there is to fly. How do you do that before airplanes? There will be more fantastic creatures in the next chapter!! So much more to come in this book.

DragonLance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapters 8 & 9

Chapter 8 

Search for truth

Unexpected answers

Goldmoon was last seen rushing to the back of the cart pulled by the Clerics to try to help the injured member of their group. In the process she tells the clerics that she did not steal the staff as she was being accused of but that it was gifted to her.

This really sets up a major conflict in the story. People have been looking for the staff, and now two official groups that are under orders to find it and report back have spotted it. People, ok goblins, have been killed over it.

Could this next fight be the one that kicks off the War? Is the staff just a symbol and devoid of any real power?

We quickly find out that the clerics don’t have an injured member they intend to take the staff by force, but they also are not human!

They are humanoid in form, but are some kind of lizard/human hybrid!

Could this be the work of the gods? Is it the doing of the Queen of Darkness? How is it that they are resistant to some forms of magic as Raistlin found out trying to fight them.

We see that Goldmoon wanted to do the right thing and heal someone, and that resulted in a fight the companions might have been able to talk their way out of had she not been ready to jump to the aid of a stranger! So much about her character is revealed in that moment. She is truly a good person or as an alignment probably lawful good (I should go look at that up but by her actions, we can probably say that).

Chapter 9

Flight! The white stag.

The party kills a few of the lizard men, Sturm suffers a head injury but they have to flee the area and get out of sight.

Sturm had a vicious head-wound during the fight with the lizard men, and is partially healed by the staff, but it apparently has some limits. Or Goldmoon has her limits while using it, we aren’t sure.

They flee the area. And we learn more of the legend of Huma who was a great Knight of Solamnia long ago before the Cataclysm.

As they are fleeing the area the delusional head injured Knight believes he sees a giant white stag. This was something that was supposed to happen to Huma to lead him out of danger. Strum is the only one in the group that can see it, yet the group follows him anyway.

There is some discussion about should the follow him or not, including some grumbling from Flint about first goblins, then boats, lizard men, now invisible stags, what could possibly go wrong.

But imagine living in a world with these kinds of wonders. It would be interesting, dangerous but interesting. I love the escape these books offer as a result of these sorts of things.

The stag did lead them away from the lizard men, but it has led them to Darken Wood, where the living are said to walk the surface of Krynn. It has said that of all the living beings that have entered Darken Wood, none have come out, at least alive!

 

 

DragonLance Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapter 6 & 7

Chapter 6

Night in a cave

Dissension. Tanis Decides.

I do love the simple sketches at the start of each chapter. It really sets the tone for what is to come.

As we continue into the book the personalities of our party of characters are really starting to come out. We can see how they compliment one another. Where one is strong another is weak. The interesting love of adventure and perhaps A.D.D. of Tasslehoff is one of those fantastic examples. We also are starting to get some of that backstory of the companions, but in small doses and only in ways that pertain to moving the story forward.

I feel one of the fantastic things that start to come forward is the motivations and fears of each of the characters. This is something that has influenced my own writing. I like to get inside a characters head so the reader (me or someone else) can really understand why they do what they do.

As a part of the story we learn that as our companions figure out how to get the Blue Crystal Staff to someone who can help them figure it out they will have to travel, but they are short on food and supplies. So this will be a tricky bit to deal with. But, in order to determine if the staff is a sign of the true gods, it could be totally worth the danger.

Chapter 7

The story of the staff

Strange clerics. Eerie Feelings.

The companions start to move out and try to figure out their order of march. They decide that sending Tasslehoff to scout ahead is the right choice, because no one will suspect a Kender traveling alone (they can be annoying to travel with), but they also tend to wander off and get distracted by whatever they find fun. So, risky but worth it.

It is revealed the Goldmoon is royalty in her tribe, and Riverwind is the exact opposite of that. But, they have been in love. They wanted to get married, but her father would not allow it unless he completed a quest. Her father attempted to find a quest he couldn’t possibly complete. He was to go find an object with holy properties that would prove the existence of ancient true gods.

When Riverwind returned with the staff they did not believe him. He was to be stoned to death for lying. Goldmoon got between him and those throwing the stones, and the staff saved them by transporting them far away.

As Riverwind is explaining all of this Tasslehoff returns from scouting and signaling danger! A party of eight clerics is coming this way, but not like any clerics the Kender has ever seen!

The clerics arrive. They are dressed strangely. Every square inch of skin is covered. They are looking for a blue crystal staff with healing powers.

Despite the possible danger Goldmoon rushes forward to help the injured Cleric with the staff!

Will she survive? Will she be hurt? We find out in the next chapter.

DragonLance Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapter 4, 5

Chapter 4

The Open Door

Flight into Darkness

When we last saw the party in Chapter 3 they were running out the back door of the Inn of the Last Home.

Here they are fleeing into the night’s they try to answer questions about what is going on. Can they trust Goldmoon? Can they trust Riverwind?

Is she and the staff really able to hear people or is it all a trick?

Can the barbarians trust the party of friends?

As they find a place to hold up for the night as the town is being searched they try to answer some of these questions. Is the staff blessed by the gods? Is it a sign of the true gods everyone has been looking for?

All is going well until their hiding spot is found and the party may have to run again because they may have accidentally killed a few more guards. While we don’t get many answers in this chapter it does move fast and it does make us try to figure a lot out, and make us want to turn a lot more pages!

Chapter 5

Farewell to Flint!

Arrows fly. Message in the stars.

They have to flee again. This time they have to get out quickly but all of the roads are blocked by guards searching for whomever is hiding with the blue crystal staff.

The answer is to go across the lake in a boat…except Flint really doesn’t like boats. He has a crippling fear of them thanks to that time Caramon almost accidentally drowned him.

As they are trying to get in the boat, and argue with flint a group of Goblins find them. Arrows fly in both directions! Will Flint go or will he stand his ground and fight?

Raistlin shocks everyone when he casts a spell to solve the problem in one shot. As they finally find safety they look up, and notice something missing.

There are two constellations of stars that are no longer in the sky. That of the Queen of Darkness, and the Valiant Warrior. Have the gods of evil and good come to Krynn to fight for control?

 

DragonLance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapter 3

Knight of Solamnia

The Old Man’s Party

We find that Kitiara (the twin’s sister) isn’t going to make the reunion but now we also know she is a mercenary and probably pledged to something she couldn’t get out of.

For the first time in the book we meet Sturm Brightblade, seen in the painting traveling with Flint, who walks in the Inn, and everyone instantly recognizes him as a Knight of Solamnia. Strum is oddly proud of being a Knight. The knights themselves have fallen out of popularity as they have corruption issues in the rank and file.

He is accompanies by two barbarians in clothes recognized as those of the Plainsmen.

These two characters are Goldmoon and Riverwind. They are very proud people that Sturm found tired and hungry on the side of the road.  He brought them into town so they could find food and rest.

Throughout the chapter we hear again about Armies massing to the North. But this time we learn they may not be made up of humans. But given the amount of chatter it is obvious something is going on and there is about to be a war, but what kind of war? A war against all living things or is it something else?

As we progress the old man comes back into the story, this time telling stories to kids around a fire. We learn that Dragons have long since left the world and children want to see them (DragonLance did that before Game of Thrones so hush!).

The action really starts when the High Theocrat starts a drunken argument about the old Gods not being true Gods, he gets hurt, the mysterious blue crystal staff shows up (Goldmoon had it). It has magical healing powers that everyone is afraid of! Now the real brawl starts, our companions leave quickly out of the back of the Inn through the kitchen as the local authorities start the search for whomever was responsible for injuring the theocrat and using dangerous evil powers to heal someone!

The real story starts here as the party escapes out the back of the Inn through the kitchen! The authors brilliantly rocketed through character introduction, and combining it with action in these first chapters and thrust us headlong into a story that we can’t wait to experience.