Canon:Dragonlance artifacts

This article is based on material by:  TSR, Inc./Wizards of the Coast  Sovereign Press

The following are artifacts from the Dragonlance universe.

Bloodstone of Fistandantilus

The bloodstone was created during the Age of Dreams. It is possible that the bloodstone had some intelligence. It was an artifact used by Fistandantilus to transfer his soul to an apprentice's body, allowing Fistandantilus to become young and powerful again. The bloodstone was used against Fistandantilus by Raistlin, who stole it from him after a battle. He took over Fistandantilus's body and his knowledge. The bloodstone was a powerful evil item from early days of magic. It is roughly three inches in diameter, and it is set in a silver setting attached to a silver chain. It is actually a green gemstone with flecks of red.

Blue Crystal Staff

The Blue Crystal Staff once resided in the arms of a statue of the goddess Mishakal in a temple to that goddess in the city of Xak Tsaroth. The staff has the power to heal wounds by summoning the power of Mishakal. It also strongly repels evil by shocking the evildoer with powerful lightning.

The Staff was lost to the world when the city was thrown down a mountainside during the Cataclysm. The Staff was discovered again when a barbarian named Riverwind was sent on a quest to find knowledge of the true gods by the chieftain of his people, the father of his beloved Goldmoon. Upon returning to his village, Riverwind was denounced as a charlatan, and ordered stoned to death. Goldmoon, staff in hand, ran to be with him. As the rocks hit them both, the staff flashed bright blue, and the two were transported to the outskirts of the town of Solace.

The Staff was sought by the forces of evil who feared that knowledge of the good gods could hurt their efforts to conquer the world, but the Heroes of the Lance protected Goldmoon and the Staff until they eventually came to Xak Tsaroth. There Goldmoon returned the Staff to its proper place (the staff fused with the statue and became rock) and was made a true cleric of Mishakal with the innate ability to heal without the use of the Staff.

The Staff also features in the film Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, where the companions become involved in a conflict over the legendary item. In the beginning of the story, healing magic was taken away when the gods left. When the mysterious blue crystal staff carried by Goldmoon is used to heal a man, this is taken as a sign that the gods may have returned, and the heroes must keep the villains from taking the staff to find out if the gods have returned.

Disks of Mishakal

The Disks of Mishakal contain the teachings of the gods of good, such as marriage rites. They also teach about the gods of evil and neutrality, since balance is needed throughout the world. They are thin, lightweight, and made of platinum. After the Cataclysm, the disks were hidden in the ruined city Xak Tsaroth. They were guarded by the black dragon, Khisanth (Onyx). The Disks were found by the companions in the first book in the Chronicles series called Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

The player characters in the computer game Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance must retrieve the Disks of Mishakal from the lair of Khisanth in the ruins of Xak Tsaroth. The characters must use the Disks to prevent Takhisis from creating her evil empire.

Dragon Orbs

The Dragon Orbs were powerful artifacts created by the Wizards of High Sorcery at the end of the Age of Dreams during the final desperate hours of the Third Dragon War. The Orbs were created by wizards of all three orders and contain the essence of all dragons, good and evil. All of the Orbs were believed to have perished in what are known as the Lost Battles, when the Kingpriest of Istar roused the populace against the magic-users, but in fact three of them have survived. One of them is in the care of Lorac, another in Icewall Castle and the third one lies forgotten in the High Clerist's Tower. What the Orbs actually do is give the user the ability to summon dragons, which the user will hopefully be strong enough to enslave or destroy. The Dragon Orbs are also highly intelligent and exhibit a strong instinct for self-preservation. They will easily take control of a weak-willed user's mind and this is exactly what happened to Lorac Caladon. Later during the War of the Lance, the Whitestone forces sought to use the Dragon Orbs. However, due to their risk, they were destroyed, one by Tasslehoff. Another was used by the infamous wizard Raistlin Majere, to help aid his escape from death in the Blood Sea. Although they cannot be harmed by magic, strong physical actions can break them.

Tracy Hickman explains that, with time, the Dragon Orbs grew their own minds.

Dragonlance

Main article: Dragonlances

According to the Dragonlance campaign setting, dragonlances are weapons first created in the Third Dragon War, designed with the purpose of killing evil dragons, and are the only weapons with which mortals can kill dragons. Dragonlances have this power because of the way in which they are created, which requires the use of "two god-blessed artifacts". The weapons clearly draw upon Christian iconography, as the two mythical figures shown defeating dragons, Archangel Michael and Saint George, are often portrayed wielding lances to do so. Huma Dragonbane, a character spoken of in many Dragonlance novels, uses one to defeat Takhisis, an evil goddess consistently causing strife in the novels. The dragonlances are rare and not commonly traded, according to the campaign setting. There are Lesser Dragonlances, which are made when only one of the artifacts are used to create them, and Greater Dragonlances, which are made when both artifacts (the Hammer of Kharas and the Silver Arm of Ergoth) are used to make them. Greater Dragonlances are blessed with the power of Good, unlike Lesser Dragonlances.

In the stories, the Heroes of the Lance flee to Thorbardin, the kingdom of the mountain dwarves, where the Dragonlance is being forged; the heroes are eventually able to use the Dragonlance to prevail over the villains.

Graygem of Gargath

The Graygem of Gargath is an artifact that contains the essence of the being Chaos. Reorx created it to contain actually a small part of the god Chaos but accidentally captured him in the gem, according to the campaign setting. The artifact is the Graygem, which he puts into the moon Lunitari. The common story is that the gnomes took the Graygem to power a Great Machine they had made from Reorx's designs. The gem escapes them, and the Chaos within changes the world and the things in it (pegasi, minotaurs, etc.). The gnomes chase the Graygem east from Taladas, until they reach Ansalon. Gargath, a powerful ancient wizard, traps the Graygem between two godstones and sets it in a tower. Two groups of gnomes, one seeking the Graygem for wealth and the other wanting to study it, attempt to capture the Graygem from Gargath, and it transforms them into dwarves and kender.

However, in the Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn module Songs of the Loremaster, which relates in extreme detail the true history of the dwarven peoples of Krynn, the tale is much different. It is told that the Smiths, the precursor peoples of the dwarves, once dwealt on the continent of Taladas, and were natural masters of elemental magic. Which they used to build and craft amazing things. They constructed a ladder from Krynn to the red moon Lunitari, where the Greygem was, and attempted to retrieve it. As the one carrying it descended to the ground, the gem flared its power, and flew off (wreaking the chaos as noted in the other tale). The circle of smiths at the base of the ladder were turned into the Scions (of which one is in fact narrating this story to the reader), golden skinned beings with great magical abilities, and the Smiths lost their elemental abilities and became known as dwarves. The dwarves were driven from Taladas and chased the greygem to Ansalon. Eventually the tale tells of the battle of Gargath, where armies vied for the Gem. An army of Dwarves was transformed by the gem's power into gnomes, and an army of elves was transformed into the first kender.

Palin Majere and his brothers attempt to capture the Graygem, and succeed, but their companion loses it again in a wager. The Irda find it and break it, accidentally bringing about the Chaos War.

Hammer of Kharas

The Hammer of Kharas or Hammer of Honor was one of the two artifacts originally required to forge the Dragonlance during the Third Dragon War. It can be used alone to forge a lesser dragonlance, or in combination with the Silver Arm of Ergoth to make a greater dragonlance. Legend stated that it was forged by Reorx, the patron God of the Dwarves and the Forger of the World. After the war, when Takhisis took her dragons from the world, it was kept by the Knights of Solamnia as a holy relic. Shortly before the Cataclysm, a young and heroic dwarven warrior fought with the Solamnics in one of the Kingpriest's wars to rid Ansalon of evil. The Solamnic knights were so impressed with this warrior that they named him Kharas or "knight" in Solamnic and they gave him the Hammer. Afterwards, Kharas returned to Thorbardin. Then the night of the Cataclysm came and the dwarves locked the gates to their kingdom and allowed no one, including their cousins the Hill Dwarves, to enter. The Hammer and Kharas stayed in Thorbardin until Fistandantilus and his army of humans and dwarves came to Zhaman. This became known as the Dwarfgate War. The pitting of dwarf against dwarf destroyed Kharas. He believed that all dwarves should get along in peace. However, Kharas was above all of a dwarf of honor and duty. So when High King Duncan gave orders to give battle, Kharas did not shirk his duty. The ensuing battle left both armies destroyed as Fistandantilus unleashed an unimaginable force of magic that shattered Zhaman turning it into Skullcap and ruining the Gate of Thorbardin. All were killed, except Kharas. The battle killed the heirs to the High King. So when High King Duncan passed, there was much fighting and bickering among the thanes over who would lead. Disgusted for the last time, Kharas took his hammer, declared that there would be no more true kings until his hammer was found, and left. The Hammer was found in the tomb of Duncan where the Heroes of the Lance recovered it. They used it as a bargaining chip to secure a place for the refugees of Pax Tharkas in Thorbardin.
The hammer itself multiplies the strength of the user. The dwarves revere the Hammer (an artifact of their god) in much the same way as healers would revere the Blue Crystal Staff (an artifact of Mishakal, goddess of healing).

Helm of Grallen

Originally found by Raistlin Majere inside Skullcap in Dragons of the Dwarven Depths by Weis and Hickman. Worn first by Sturm Brightblade, who became possessed by the spirit of Prince Grallen, a dwarven prince who died centuries before during the Dwarfgate Wars. Was later worn by Flint Fireforge before the Council of the Thanes in Thorbardin and was used to enter King Duncan's tomb. When placed on the stone statue of Grallen, whose tomb was empty, it turned to stone and became a part of the statue.

The Helm was also supposedly found around the same time by Chane Feldstone in The Gates of Thorbardin in the rubble of the Tower of Zhaman south of Skullcap and used to close the hidden entrance to Thorbardin. The Helm supposedly passed into the Dwarven realm after Chane returned to Thorbardin.

Honor's Face

Honor's Face is a double-edged battle axe created by a dwarven smith and given to Kaz the Minotaur by Sardal Crystalthorn, an elven mage. If the axe is lost, Kaz could call it into his hands immediately. The blade will only reflect the images of honorable individuals. Honorless individuals will not be able to see their reflection in its surface. Finally, the blade is able to repair itself after a time, the length of time varying on the amount of damage it has taken in combat. It was last seen during the Third Dragon War, its whereabouts are unknown today.

Lost Star

The Lost Star was a greatsword used in the War of Souls. Forged ages ago by an elven smith, the gem in the hilt is supposedly a fallen star. It was given to a great elven paladin and kept in the Tower of the Sun for centuries after his death. When seen by a foe's covetous eyes, the enemy would be drawn into the sword's beauty, unable to attack. This weapon was used to slay one of the great dragons in the second book of the War of Souls trilogy, Dragons of a Lost Star.

Medallion of Faith

Medallions of faith are worn by the members of the clergy of the true gods of Krynn, with the exception of the three gods of magic. These medallions are worn to serve two purposes; one is to proclaim the faith of the wearer, and, in the case of clerics, to provide an outlet to channel power from. Medallions of faith can be worn by the common citizenry, but they do not gain clerical power from the medal. The medallions are magical. The Medallions have a symbol of the god upon them. Medallions are used in conjunction with robes and vestments to display the nature and deity of the cleric.

Silver Arm of Ergoth

The Silver Arm is, as the name implies, a silver arm. It was attached to Theros Ironfeld, refugee smith from Solace, who then, using his great smithing skill, forged the dragonlances. The Silver Arm is one of two artifacts used in forging dragonlances. Alone, it makes lesser dragonlances. Combined with the Hammer of Kharas, it makes greater dragonlances.

Staff of Magius

The Staff of Magius is a magical staff created long before Magius obtained it. It was owned by the wizard Magius who fought alongside Huma. It came into Raistlin Majere's possession after he took his Test of High Sorcery. It was later sealed in the laboratory at the Tower of High Sorcery at Palanthas by Dalamar. Palin Majere received it after his own Test. The Staff contains great magical power, having been used several times to open doors and melt locks. The most notable spell cast from it is a light spell, activated by the spell word "Shirak" and deactivated by the spell word "Dulak." The staff also multiplies the strength of the user mentally, providing security and support to the user. Anyone wielding the staff can strike more powerful blows with it, as well as using the staff to descend gently from great heights. A powerful spell of protection has been laid from the staff, so anyone who attempts to touch the staff that is not its user becomes insane. Once the user is parted with the staff, all spells are negated unless the staff is handed over voluntarily. The Staff is wooden with a golden dragon's claw clutching an orb on top.

In her book Religious Concepts in Fantasy Literature, Nadine Wolf contrasts the innate power of the Staff, which is the same no matter who wields it, with the power of the Force from the Star Wars fictional universe, which is a skill that must be learned over time, and whose effectiveness depends on the ability of the individual using it.

Starjewel

The Starjewel is an artifact that connects two people by love. The only recorded one in Dragonlance was given to the Knight of the Crown Sturm Brightblade by Princess Alhana Starbreeze. The jewel glows when the other owner is alive. When the partner dies, the Starjewel's light goes out. Alhana's Starjewel was buried at the grave of her father, Lorac, when Sturm Brightblade died.

Originally Margaret Weis created the Starjewel for the Star of the Guardians, a fantasy series of galactic novels she was writing. However, since the series did not have a publisher yet, she decided to use it in Dragonlance.

Tobril

The Tobril is a book held by Gilean. It was presented to him by the High God and it contains the true plan for the universe.

Wyrmsbane

Wyrmsbane is a longsword that was forged by elves during the Age of Might, also known as "Redeemer". It was lost after the Third Dragon War. Wyrmsbane is a weapon that easily kills Baaz draconians, as it cannot be encased in their bodies. Wyrmsbane is the sister sword to Wyrmslayer. After the Heroes of the Lance aided Alhana Starbreeze in Silvanesti, Alhana presents Tanis with the sword. Tanis carries the sword until the Chaos War, where he dies. Later, a thief steals it off Tanis's grave and sells it to an ogre king, who in turn sells it to Dhamon Grimwulf. Dhamon attempts to use it to find a cure for the scale on his leg, but fails. After throwing it away, Fiona, a Solamnic Knight in his company, takes it. Maldred, also in Dhamon's company, infused it in a stone near where Fiona died.

Wyrmslayer

Wyrmslayer is the sister blade to Wyrmsbane. It is the enchanted sword of the elven king Kith-Kanan. It was magically crafted by elven mages. It has special powers against dragons. The pommel is set with a green jewel, the crosspiece looks like an eagle's beak, and elven script is written on it. In order to fend off the evil dragons attacking Silvanesti, Wyrmslayer was forged by the elves during the Second Dragon War. Kith-Kanan eventually used it during the Kinslayer Wars. It was taken with Kith-Kanan to Qualinesti and buried in the Sla-Mori with him. When the companions were in the Sla-Mori, specifically Kith-Kanan's tomb, on their way to Pax-Tharkas, they were ambushed by a giant slug-like monster. This monster attacked them, and it spit acid onto Tanis's sword, melting it. Left swordless, Tanis backed up onto the throne/burial place of Kith-Kanan, where he was then given the blade by Kith-Kanan himself. Tanis lost it when he gave it to Caramon at the Inn of the Red Dragon in Tarsis. The building collapsed, and later, when the sword was recovered, it was in the possession of Laurana and Sturm's group. It was stored in a chest. When Laurana retrieved the dragon orb in Quali-mori, she was forced to leave Wyrmslayer. Later, Porthios, Laurana's brother, presented it to Tanis on the day that Laurana and Tanis were married.

Notes

References

•  (2010). Religious Concepts in Fantasy Literature. (GRIN Verlag)

Further reading

• There is an article about artifacts at the Lexicon of Dragonlance Nexus.
• Betrayal (June 2001), by Jean Rabe
• The Annotated Chronicles (1999), by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
• The Thieves' Guild (December 2000), by Jeff Crook
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Jamie Chambers (2004). War of the Lance. (3.5e) Sovereign Press. ISBN 193156714X.
• The Soulforge (January 1998), by Margaret Weis
• Brothers in Arms (August 1999), by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (November 1984). Dragons of Autumn Twilight. (Novel) TSR. ISBN 0-88038-173-6.
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (1985). Dragons of Winter Night. (Novel) TSR. ISBN 0-88038-174-4.
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (1985). Dragons of Spring Dawning. (Novel) TSR. ISBN 0-88038-175-2.
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (February 1994). The Second Generation. (Novel) TSR. ISBN 0-7869-2694-5.
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (November 1995). Dragons of Summer Flame. (Novel) TSR. ISBN 0-7869-0523-9.
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (March 2000). Dragons of a Fallen Sun. (Novel) Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 9780786918072.
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (April 2001). Dragons of a Lost Star. (Novel) Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-2706-2.
• Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (January 2001). Dragons of a Vanished Moon. (Novel) Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-2950-2.
• Firstborn (February 1991), by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya C. Cook
• The Kinslayer Wars (August 1991), by Douglas Niles
• The Qualinesti (November 1991), by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya C. Cook
• The Silver Stair (January 1999), by Jean Rabe
• The Dawning of a New Age (September 1996), by Jean Rabe
• The Day of the Tempest (August 1997), by Jean Rabe
• The Eve of the Maelstrom (February 1998), by Jean Rabe
• Fistandantilus Reborn (October 1997), by Douglas Niles

External links

• There is an article about artifacts at the Lexicon of Dragonlance Nexus.

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