List of Dragonlance deities

The Deities of Dragonlance are arranged into three groups according to their alignment: good, neutral and evil. In Dragonlance literature, the deities are always referred to collectively as gods, despite the fact that a number of them are female. Unlike standard Dungeons and Dragons, only the good-evil axis of alignment is prominent in Dragonlance, the law-chaos axis plays a much smaller part.

A deity is a powerful being that holds strength far above mortals and is respected, revered, or worshipped by those mortals, usually with a specific group of followers. Deities are also commonly known as gods.

PANTHEON OF DRAGONLANCE

Chaos

High God

Paladine

Mishakal

Gilean

Takhisis

Sargonnas

Branchala

Majere

Reorx

Morgion

Chemosh

Hiddukel

Shinare

Sirrion

Chislev

Zivilyn

Kiri-Jolith

Habbakuk

Solinari

Mina

Lunitari

Nuitari

Zeboim

Balance

The arrangement of the gods is described as a triangle, with each group of gods pulling at a corner, ensuring that the balance in maintained. Each group of gods has seven members, with one major god, five lesser ones, and a god of magic. In the novel Dragons of Summer Flame, it is also discovered that there was a creator god: Chaos, the father of the gods. As of the War of the Souls trilogy, the good and evil factions have lost their major god, it is unclear at this point whether this will give neutrality the upper hand.

Most of the books in the Dragonlance series focus in one way or another on the role of the gods in the world. During the periods when the gods have been missing, for example after the Cataclysm, the focus is on rediscovering the gods. When the gods are present, the stories tend to focus on their battles for ascendancy. The gods of Dragonlance take an active role in the world, and many of them frequently roam the mortal world in a variety of guises.

Gods of Good

The gods of good perform a different role than that associated with good-aligned deities in other settings. In Dragonlance, the gods of good recognize the need for balance, and see good as a necessary part of that balance. Rather than seeking to destroy evil, they seek to hold it in check so it doesn't overrun the forces of good and destroy the balance the gods have sought to create.

Paladine is by far the most prominent god of good, with Mishakal, Majere and Kiri-Jolith also frequently mentioned, along with Solinari, who plays an important role for the wizards of High Sorcery.

Paladine

Main article: Paladine

Paladine is the Father of Good and Master of the Law, overseeing all things that are good. He is the leader of the gods of good, as well as being the creator of elves. Paladine is the older brother to Takhisis and Gilean. He and Mishakal are the parents of the gods Kiri-Jolith, Habbakuk, and Solinari. Paladine sacrificed his godhood during the War of Souls and is now an elf who goes by the name Valthonis. He is the patron and creator of the good dragons. Before losing his godhood, he was the patron of the Knights of the Rose, and though they do not worship him, they still revere him.

Majere

Main article: Majere

Majere is the God of Faith. He represents the godly force of discipline. Majere represents hard work, practice, and discipline. He teaches that enlightenment within mortals must be obtained through those virtues. He often gives counsel to the other Gods of Light in times of crisis. He is appreciated by all the Gods of Good, advising Paladine, Kiri-Jolith, and Mishakal. He rarely interacts with Branchala or Habbakuk, and counts among the Gods of Neutrality Gilean, Shinare, and Zivilyn his allies.

Kiri-Jolith

Kiri-Jolith is the god of courage, honor, justice, and unity. He is the patron of all the warriors who fight in the name of holiness and justice. He is the patron deity of the Knights of the Sword, and after the war of souls he becomes patron to all Knights of Solamnia, since Paladine is now mortal and Habbakuk has withdrawn from the knights. He is also the patron of Minotaurs.

Kiri-Jolith is the son of Paladine and Mishakal, and the twin brother of Habbakuk. He is also brother to Solinari. Kiri-Jolith is opposed to Sargonnas, who he sees as his rival.

Kiri-Jolith is also known as the Sword of Justice, Emperor, Qu'an the Warrior, and the Bison of Heaven. His symbol is a bison's horn. In the night sky over Krynn, he can be viewed as the constellation known as the Bison's Head.

Mishakal

Mishakal is the goddess of healing. She helped Goldmoon to restore faith in the true gods after the people lost their faith after the Cataclysm. She is the Matron of love and motherhood. Goldmoon is the most powerful and best known of all her clerics.

Habbakuk

Main article: HabbakukHabbakuk is the god of animal life and the sea. He is the god of persistence and loyalty, and patron deity to beasts, hunters, rangers, druids, sailors, and is also the natural cycle of life and death. He was the patron of the Knights of the Crown, but he realized that one patron god would benefit the Knights more and drew back, letting Kiri-Jolith be the patron.

Branchala

Branchala is a god of inspiration, and among his followers are bards, minstrels, performers, actors, actresses, etc., etc. He is also held in esteem by elves and kender. It is said he created the place where Metallic Dragons die and are buried. Branchala is nearly unknown on Taladas, having no priests and being seen as an avatar of Habbakuk.

Branchala's music is said to be that of the souls of all who live. The melodies he creates are so intense that nobody can ever remember the depths of feeling they produce in their listeners. Branchala bards are taught several songs with magical powers including healing, resting and restoring.

Branchala is also known as the Bard King, Astarin, Songmaster, Song of Life, Bardilun, Astra, Estarin, Bran, and Gardener. His symbols include harps and flutes, usually made of precious metals like gold or silver. In the night sky over Krynn, he can be viewed as the constellation known as the Harp. His followers generally wear green and yellow.

Solinari

Solinari also known as Keeper of the Silver Moon and the White Archmage, is the son of Paladine and Mishakal, and the brother of Kiri-Jolith and Habbakuk.

Solinari, along with Lunitari and Nuitari, puts loyalty to magic ahead of loyalty to the other Gods of his alignment. He is the God of good magic, worshipped by white-robed magic users.

As a God of magic, Solinari doesn't have a clerical order dedicated to his worship. Instead, he grants arcane magical power to the white robes, who are often found assisting clerics of Paladine and Mishakal. Although Solinari is opposed to the goals of Nuitari, the mages of white and black robes will combine their powers, should magic in general come under threat.

Solinari appears in the sky as a silver moon. When the people of Krynn abandoned the other gods after the Cataclysm, Solinari (along with the other two Gods of magic) was still acepted. High Sanction is reached by the moon Solinari every 36 days; during this period white robed mages experience increased power due to Solinari's increased influence on the world.

Solinari is also known as the God's Eye, Mighty Hand, Beacon, Ivory Disk, White-Eye, and Solin. His symbol is a silver sphere.

Gods of Neutrality

The gods of neutrality often take a passive, hands-off role in Dragonlance. Gilean in particular takes this approach, he rarely acts before considering all possible consequences. He is loath to do anything that might change history, preferring instead to observe. Reorx is the exception to this rule, frequently causing mischief and mayhem.

Other than Gilean and Reorx, and Lunitari's role to the wizards of High Sorcery, the other neutral gods are not very prominent in the Dragonlance world.

Gilean

Gilean, the Observer and Keeper of the Tobril, is the patriarch of the neutral gods, known for rarely taking a stance on issues, preferring to evaluate all possible outcomes before making a decision. His followers are usually those who seek knowledge such as historians and scientists. Gilean holds the Tobril, given to him by the Highgod. The Tobril is a book that is said to contain the sum of all the knowledge known to the gods. Although he has this vast store of knowledge, he is reluctant to reveal it to others, for fear that it should affect the future and upset the balance. For this reason, portions of the book are unknown to all but Gilean. He is brother to Takhisis and Paladine and father to Lunitari.

Gilean is rumoured to take the form of Astinus, the librarian of the Great Library of Palanthas, who has recorded history upon Krynn since the dawn of time, but it has been revealed that in fact Astinus is his son. However, he can be sometimes seen as a grey-robed monk holding a book and writing the events as they pass. In the Legends Trilogy, Tas journeys to the Abyss, where the Gods are holding conference. There all the Gods of Krynn meet, while Tasslehoff realizes where he had seen Gilean before.

Sirrion

Sirrion is the God of flame and natural power. He is the guardian of the neutral way and the creator of nature. Being the God of flame Sirrion is the most chaotic of the Gods of Neutrality often acting without taking time to think about his actions.

Sirrion is the companion of Shinare, Goddess of industry, whos role frequently clashes with Sirrion's. For this reason they are seen as a quarrelsome couple.

Reorx

Main article: Reorx

Reorx is the god of the forge. Reorx was the god who captured Chaos, the father of the gods, in the Greygem of Gargath. Reorx is generally not revered by humans, but dwarves and gnomes hold him in the highest esteem, because of the fact he created the Graygem which morphed gnomes into dwarves and kender. Reorx is a big drinker and a notorious gambler.

Chislev

Main Article Chislev

Chislev, also known as the Beast, Wild One, and World Mother, represents the godly force of instinct. She believes the soul grows by releasing thought and instinct, and giving in to primal urges. She is the power of the natural world and all things wild. She is at one with Krynn, and extends her wrath to those that abuse the earth. Chislev is wracked with pain and suffering during times of war, and works in the current world to heal the wounds done to it. Chislev is the companion to Zivilyn and defender of nature from both evil and the unintentional damage of good. She also favors plants over animals.

Zivilyn

Zivilyn, Seeker of Wisdom, exists in all the planes in all times, and hence possesses all the wisdom in all the places of existence. To prevent interfering, he usually leaves Krynn plane when the gods battle each other.

Zivilyn is the adviser to Gilean and companion of Chislev.

The elves of Silvanesti regard him as the patron of navigation, as the green star of Zivilyn is used as guide during the nights. They know him as Zivilyn Greentree. Zivilyn encourages self-knowledge and enlightenment even though it may be through either tranquility or madness.

Shinare

Shinare is a goddess of wealth, money and industry, and hence the patron god of merchants and commerce.

She is also a favourite god of the dwarves, although they portray her as being male. She is the companion of Sirrion, although his love of nature often clashes with Shinare's desire for progress. She is also admired by merchants whose life revolves around their honest businesses.

Lunitari

Lunitari also known as the Lady of the Crimson Moon and Red Sorceress, is the only daughter of Gilean. The identity of her mother is unknown.

Lunitari, along with Solinari and Nuitari, puts loyalty to magic ahead of loyalty to the other Gods of her alignment. She is the God of neutral magic, worshipped by red-robed magic users.

Lunitari appears in the sky as a red moon. When the other gods were abandoned by the people of Krynn after the Cataclysm, Lunitari (along with the other two Gods of magic) was still accepted. High Sanction is reached by the moon Lunitari every 28 days; during this period red robed mages experience increased power due to Lunitari's increased influence on the world.

Her moon has only been visited by Sturm Brightblade, Kitiara Uth Matar, and some gnomes in the novel Darkness and Light.

Gods of Evil

The gods of evil, much like the gods of good, recognise the need for balance, with the exception of Takhisis. Takhisis is more power hungry than the other gods, and her attempts to seize ultimate power for herself often earn the wrath of the other gods. This is what ultimately leads to her downfall, when she went too far and earned the disapproval of even the other gods of evil.

Other than Takhisis, Sargonnas plays a prominent role amongst the minotaurs, and Nuitari is of course important to the Wizards of High Sorcery.

Takhisis

Main article: Takhisis

Takhisis is the Queen of Darkness. She created the Chromatic Dragons, and often appears as a five headed dragon, one head for each color of evil dragons (red, white, green, black, and blue). Takhisis is the younger sister to Paladine and Gilean. Sargonnas is Takhisis' consort, and together they have two children, Nuitari and Zeboim. She attempted to conquer the world several times, eventually the gods took away her godhood and a mortal elf, Silvanoshei, slayed her.

Sargonnas

Sargonnas is the god of Honor and Vengeance. He is the favored patron of blue dragons due to their own fiery tempers. He was the consort of Takhisis, Queen of Darkness, prior to the Chaos War and the War of Souls. Takhisis' actions in those conflicts dramatically altered Sargonnas' opinion of her. Sargonnas is a mysterious god, and most mortals of Krynn know little about him. He is held above all other gods by the minotaurs, who know him as Sargas, and even minotaurs who are not evil tend to worship him. He appears as an avatar of either a large minotaur or a red condor. Sargonnas is known to frequently play a key part in plots both for and against his Queen.

Before the Cataclysm, the ogres inhabiting Icereach worshipped him as Gonnas the Strong.

Morgion

Morgion the Seething is the god of envy and an avid promoter of disease, and decay. Green dragons are his loyal followers due to their common resentful nature. Morgion is a loner, who rarely talks to or acts with the other gods. He prefers to hatch his own plans in a far corner of the Abyss, rather than discuss them. Morgion is perhaps the most reviled of the gods, and his followers must meet in secret, under the orders of the Nightmaster. Cultists of Morgion carry pouches with several special powders including sleep and illness ones. They also carry weapons embedded with poison. Since even when reunited they cover their factions with hoods and masks, it is custom for the cultists to mark people, named the mark of Morgion. The mark is seen by other cultists and some priests of other religions, but not by common people. It indicates the cultists that the bearer should not be harmed.

As Hiddukel, Morgion may appear to dying people, especially if it is due illness, and make a pact: heal them in exchange of becoming cultists and spreading his plague. When the cultist is dying, or decides to break the pact, Morgion returns the original illness.

Chemosh

Main article: Chemosh

Chemosh is the Lord of the Undead. He takes the damned and makes them into undead, such as zombies, vampires, or in special cases death knights like Lord Soth. Mina becomes his cleric and main follower after Takhisis dies.

Zeboim

Zeboim, Lady of the Tempests, is the goddess of gluttony and thus is favored by the black dragons.

She is the daughter of Takhisis and Sargonnas, and twin sister of Nuitari. Zeboim is said the be the most temperamental of all the Gods, and the most dangerous to deal with. Her mood swings wildly from moment to moment, often displaying classical symptoms of manic depression.

Zeboim is also the mother of Lord Ariakan, founder of the Knights of Takhisis.

As Goddess of the sea, she is in control of tempests and weather. Her unpredictable nature and wild temper mean that many seamen who manage to offend her meet with untimely ends.

She is a major influence on the plot of Amber and Ashes, book one of The Dark Disciple, detailing Mina's life after the death of Takhsis and her conversion/love to Chemosh (Dragonlance).

Hiddukel

Hiddukel (Intermediate CE), the Prince of Tarnished Gold, is the god of avarice and treachery. His symbol is broken merchant scales and his colors are red and bone. Red dragons are his loyal followers due to their common avaricious nature. He is also the patron of evil businessmen, thieves and many hogoblins. His clerics often leads double lives.

He is a deal maker who trades in souls. Hiddukel's deal making skills are so great that it is said that he is the only being able to barter with Takhisis and come out in front. He hates Shinare, and offer riches to anyone destroying her temples. He also oppose Reorx, but he is a coward at heart and so he does nothing to risk angering him.

He is said to control all of the ill-gotten wealth in the world. He is also known for contacting and making deals with dying men, who in desperation accept anything. As a payment for his services, he asks the mortal to deliver souls of men. Young maidens and Knights of Solamnia are his weakness.

His church is only nominaly organized. Apart for the Nightmaster, every clerics works for himself. The most important ceremony is the Day of Bartered Souls.

He is portrayed as a grossly obese man with cold eyes and an oily smile. He also appears in the shape of a coin with a grinning and a scowling face.

Nuitari

Nuitari also known as Master of the Dark Moon and Black Wizard, is the god of dark magic.

He is the son of Takhisis and Sargonnas, and the twin brother of Zeboim. Nuitari, along with Solinari and Lunitari, are more loyal to magic than to the other Gods of their alignment. He is the God of black magic and thus worshipped by black-robed magic users.

Nuitari appears in the sky as a black moon, visible only to black-robed magic users, or other supernatural beings such as Lord Soth, a death knight. When the people of Krynn abandond the gods after the Cataclysm, Nuitari (along with the other two Gods of magic) were still accepted. High Sanction is reached by the moon Nuitari every 8 days; during this period black robed mages experience increased power due to Nuitari's increased influence on the world.

Nuitari is first mentioned in the eighth chapter of Dragons of Winter Night (1985), the second book of the Chronicles trilogy. The late introduction enforced the idea that very few inhabitants of Krynn knew about its existence.

Other

The High God

The High God was the god who called the other gods from the beyond. He is the creator of the universe, and he is representative of Law, Creation, and Order. He withdrew from the world of Krynn after this and wrote the plan for the universe in the Tobril, which he gave to Gilean. The High God has no clerics.

Mina

Main article: Mina (Dragonlance)

Mina, is a god of light turned evil, although she is not necessarily considered a god, but a "chosen one" of Takhsis when she stole the world away from the other gods. she was at one point a follower of chemosh and later his lover. at the end of amder and blood she becomes the god of tears

Ionthas

Main article: Ionthas

Ionthas, god of chaos, also commonly referred to as "Chaos". He claims to be the father of the gods, though this is false, the High God created them. He was trapped in the Graygem and when he escaped tried to destroy the world.

See also

• Night Sky of Krynn

References

• Several; Edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (1993). Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home. (Wizards of the Coast)
•  (2003). The Oath and the Measure: The Meetings Sextet vol. IV. (Wizards of the Coast)
•  (1997). Fistandantilus Reborn: Lost Legends vol. II. (Wizards of the Coast)
• Several; Edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (2003). The Players of Gilean - Tales from the World of Krynn. (Wizards of the Coast)
•  (2001). The Messenger: Icewall vol. I. (Wizards of the Coast)
•  (2002). The Golden Orb: Icewall vol. II. (Wizards of the Coast)
•  (2003). Winterheim: Icewall vol. III. (Wizards of the Coast)
• Margaret Weis; Tracy Hickman (2002). Dragons of a Lost Star: The War of Souls vol. II. (Wizards of the Coast)
• Margaret Weis; Tracy Hickman (2003). Dragons of a Vanished Moon: The War of Souls vol. III. (Wizards of the Coast)
•  (2003). The Legend of Huma: Heroes vol. I. (Wizards of the Coast)

• Holy Orders of the Stars
• Dragonlance Campaign Setting
• Time of the Dragon (rules book)
• Kaz the Minotaur
• The Search for Power
• The Search for Magic
• Amber and Ashes
• Knights of the Sword
• Galen Beknighted
• Chosen of the Gods
• Before the Mask
• The Odyssey of Gilthanas
• Towers of High Sorcery

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