These unholy versions of dragonlances, at times referred to as Darklances, were forged before the Chaos War at the request of Ariakan. Let’s learn all about abyssal lances. Buy Age of Mortals: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/557/age-of-mortals-3-5?affiliate_id=50797
Transfript
Cold Open
There is always a balance even in the Dragonlance.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today I am going to talk about the Abyssal Lance. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing the Age of Mortals and Knightly Orders of Ansalon sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
Lord Ariakan Ariakus, the son of Duulket Ariakas, the Emperor of Ansalon during the War of the Lance and the Goddess of the Sea, Storms and Strife, Zeboim, was captured by the Knights of Solamnia during the War of the Lance. He witnessed firsthand how the Knights operated in unison, not falling into the Law of Consequences as the Dragonarmies did, and how the Dragonlances proved to be a pivotal weapon during the War. You could say Ariakan is the master of copying what works, and discarding what doesn’t. For he was truly a student of his captors and once released, he appealed to Takhisis the Queen of Darkness to form an order in her name, the Knights of Takhisis. I have a video outlining this truly original order of Dark Knights, so I won’t go into it all here.
Sufficit to say, he formed the most effective evil fighting force Krynn had ever known, backed directly by the Dark Queen. Once his new order of knights was formed and trained, and plans for the invasion of Ansalon cemented with the partnership he created with the Tarmaks, Ariakan assigned his greatest wizards and clerics with the daunting task of crafting unholy versions of the Dragonlances. These Abyssal Lances or Darklances would be forged with instruction by Takhisis herself. Unfortunately for Ariakan the Irda ogres inadvertently unleashed Chaos, and the gods decided to align the population of Krynn with the Knights of Takhisis in order to present a unified front against this incredible threat. I also have a video detailing the Chaos war if you are interested.
With Chaos threatening the very existence of… well existence, only a few of these powerful tools of evil were forged. Once the war was won, Ariakan’s death, and the gods willingly departing Krynn; Takhiss stole the world away, and she was far too weakened to even communicate with her order of knights, much less instruct them on the crafting of the Abyssal lances. In mirrored contrast to the Dragonlances, there are two types of Abyssal Lance, Lesser and Greater. Abyssal Lances are known as dragon bane weapons, targeting good dragons instead of evil ones. After the Chaos War the remaining abyssal lances were divided and hidden in secret locations. Some have been found in the Age of Mortals, but the majority remain lost to time. There are legends suggesting one is stashed in Storm’s Keep. Lord Tiberius has sent an expeditionary force now that Lord Ausric Krell is gone. One of these Abyssal lances was used in the Tarmak invasion of the Missing City in the Plains of Dust. It seriously wounded the brass dragonlord Iyesta or Splendor, who was sumerrily killed by her counterpart dragonlord, the blue Stenndunuus, or Thunder. The final known lance was claimed by Sir Vulhir and Bloodburn, a cruel red dragon who discovered Malystryx’s hidden lair while conquesting in the Desolation. Their treasure was a Flaming Greater Abyssal Lance, proving some elements may be added to these artifacts making them even more deadly! The Abyssal Lances were created during the lifespan of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition, so the following stats reflect those game mechanics. You can adapt them for your favorite game system using this as a guide.
As mentioned, Lesser Abyssal Lances are crafted through a ritual given to Ariakan by the Dark Queen herself. The dark ritual requires the rare dragonsteel which is found in one of the few natural wellsprings in the world. I have a video about the Wyrmfather who ended up providing this metal you should check out if you haven’t already. This is used together with the blood of one different metallic dragon, and it is infused with the essence of darkness. It is about ten feet long with a barbed head of rust red, set on a black shart. At the opposite end rests a small flare, carved to resemble a snarling dragon spitting flame, providing minimal protection to the wielder. The artifact is a plus one dragon bane lance which emits a dark radiance that has the ability to actually absorb light! In addition to all of this, the lance bypasses the damage reduction of the dragon as if it were an epic weapon. It has a hardness of seventeen and forty hit points. Its magical bonus is superseded by the dragonsteel it was crafted from.
A Greater Abyssal Lance can also only be crafted through a ritual given to Ariakan by the Dark Queen. This variant also requires dragonsteel and the blood of five different metallic dragons, infused with the essence of darkness. This is truly an unholy weapon, imbued with the power of the divine might of evil. If a good being attempts to even touch this greater abyssal lance, it extracts a terrible price. The lance is more than fifteen feet long, with a large black shield at its base. The shield is emblazoned with five dragon heads, their necks curving up from the base of the shaft to the outside. It is a plus three dragon bane lance which emits a dark radiance that also absorbs light. Much as its lesser variant, it bypasses damage reduction as if it were an epic weapon. It has a hardness of twenty-three and seventy hit points. When a good dragon is pierced with the greater abyssal lance, it deals one point of permanent constitution drain with every hit in addition to its normal damage and bane damage. A critical hit deals a number of points of permanent Constitution drain equal to the wielder’s level! If a good character attempts to wield the greater abyssal lance, they are drained of two levels for the duration.
Perhaps the most insidious aspect of these abyssal lances is that if the head of the lance stays embedded in a dragon, it will slowly work its way towards the dragon’s heart, eventually killing it. This can even happen with a small sliver of the metal! While it makes for terrible storytelling in the Linsha Majere trilogy, it makes these incredibly rare abyssal lances truly artifacts of wonder. This is how Iyesta, Stenndunuus, and Sirenfal died and nearly killed Crucible as well.
The inclusion of these Abyssal Lances in your home games should be just as impactful as including the original dragonlances, and should be a temporary weapon wielded near the conclusion of an epic campaign. I might just add one to my Tyranny of Dragons conversion I am running in the new year!
Outro
But that is all the time I have to talk about the abyssal lance. What do you think of this unholy version of the dragonlance? Would you ever include one in your home games? And finally, what do you think of a shard of the artifact being just as strong as the whole? Leave a comment below.
I also want to take a second and let you all know about my new project! I have been developing a system agnostic, dark fantasy campaign setting called DireLands. You can learn more about it on my Eviliv3 Play youtube channel. The link is in the description below.
Also, please consider subscribing to this YouTube channel, ringing the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and clicking the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
Honor is not something to be spent or used, but to be kept.
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