It was created as an adventure hook to allow healing in a non healing world, but it became a symbol of love & devotion and wrath & fury. Let’s learn more about the Blue Crystal Staff. Buy War of the Lance: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/3164/War-of-the-Lance-35?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
It is an artifact that can heal or harm, discovered and delivered in faith and love.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about the Blue Crystal Staff. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, 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 link. I am referencing DL1 Dragons of Despair, Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home, and the War of the Lance sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below.
Discussion
This major artifact is believed to return to the world in a great time of need. It’s wielder if Lawful Good is guided and protected by its creator, Mishakal, the goddess of healing and restoration. This artifact is known as the Crystal of Mishakal or the Blue Crystal Staff. It first appeared in the Age of Dreams, though no specific details survived the ages, it was surrounded by the performances of miracles its wielder performed with it. Though this age of antiquity was ripe with legend, the Blue Crystal Staff stood out. However by the end of the Age of Dreams, the staff vanished into myth. It would be seen ages later after the cataclysm in the Temple of Mishakal being held by the statue of Mishakal.
To truly understand the purpose of this device, we need to contextualize Krynn in the Age of Despair. Mortals believed the Gods to have abandoned them more than three hundred years before. This meant that there was no Divine healing present on all of Krynn. Disease and pestilence had wracked the planet, and the evil goddess Takhisis the Queen of Darkness was finally realizing her long laid plans of entering the world and dominating its inhabitants with the aid of her Dragonarmies. Dragons themselves were seen as children’s stories, with legends of a hero named Huma having banished the Queen of Darkness and her dragons millenia before. Though the gods and dragons were very much still in the world, mortals’ disbelief and rage at them and their supporters left a vacuum and primed the world for the abject denial of anyone claiming to believe in the old gods. But the Gods of Good had to balance the scales left tipped by the Dark Queen.
The Discs of Mishakal and the Blue Crystal Staff were the answer, but mortals had to discover them on their own, not be forced by the gods. This is the greatest difference between good and evil in Dragonlance. The gods of good allow man to decide their own fate, while the gods of evil try to manipulate mortals to their own ends. Thus though the Blue Crystal Staff may have been in the world since the Age of Dreams, it would not be rediscovered until the Age of Despair where a young man named Riverwind from the Que-Shu tribe in the plains of Abanasinia, who believed in the old gods, like his fathers before him, would dare to attempt to win the affections of his Chieftains daughter Goldmoon. This tribe worshiped their ancestors as gods, so in an attempt to ridicule and rid themselves of this heretic, he was sent on a quest to prove himself. The object of his quest was proof of the gods he worshiped.
This would lead Riverwind on a journey that would nearly destroy him, but when he returned with little memory from whence he came, bearing the Blue Crystal Staff as proof, he was rejected outright by the Chieftain, and sentenced to death by stoning. All of this was simply because the staff didn’t present a miracle on the Chieftains’ demand. Goldmoon, who was in love with Riverwind, ran to him as he was being stoned to death, and the Blue Crystal Staff teleported them to safety. You see, the Blue Crystal Staff is an intelligent Artifact. This means the artifact itself has an ego, a mind of its own, with the ability to act in accordance with its own nature, whether the wielder wishes it or not. This is truly realized in the ability of teleportation. It is solely at the whim of the artifact itself, and only when its true wielder is of Lawful Good Alignment and in insurmountable danger. Of course a Lawful Good character could command the staff to use its other powers, of which were broken down into two categories: healing and harming. Not only could the staff cast spells on behalf of its wielder based on the inherent energy which could be regenerated daily, it could actually heal wounds! This is a massively important factor in any Dungeons & Dragons game bereft of Divine healing. It was the sole method, other than rest, which could restore heroes after battle, which again, is pretty important when facing off against any monster including a dragon!
The Blue Crystal Staff’s game mechanics purpose was to lead the heroes to Xak Tsaroth so that they could discover the Discs of Mishakal, and thereby return Divine healing to Krynn with the knowledge of the gods contained therein. The Dragonarmies were searching for it to prevent the discovery of the Discs. The in-game purpose was to signify the reality that the gods never left mankind at all. It was the mortals who turned away from the gods…who threw a mountain into their land and devastated entire regions… so the mortals were not entirely wrong in their dissension it seems. The staff itself appears as a mundane wooden staff, until its powers are invoked, in which time it presents its true form, that of a six foot long, single piece of pure, unflawed blue crystal. Its head is adorned with an ornamental piece resembling two crescent moons joined at the back, centered with a large, flawless blue sapphire. It is a magnificent, beautiful artifact worthy of a Goddess. This ain’t no cubic zirconia knockoff here folks!
As mentioned not only can this artifact heal wounds, diseases, curses, etc, it also protects the wielder. It can deflect dragon breath by a ten foot radius, and even harm those of ill intent. If anyone of non Lawful Good alignment so much as touches the staff, they may take a significant amount of electrical damage. In addition, the wielder may harness the potential power within the staff to strike an opponent with Divine wrath. We see this as Goldmoon destroying Khisanth in Xak Tsaroth. Once the Discs of Mishakal were liberated from the bowls of Xak Tsaroth, the Crystal was no longer needed, and was returned to the statue of Mishakal on the surface level of the city in the temple plaza. Years later, after the War of the Lance was over, and the Dark Queen once again defeated, Goldmoon and Riverwind would go to restore the Temple of Mishakal. In the Age of Mortals, after the Chaos War and Krynn was stolen from the sight of the Gods, Goldmoon and Riverwind would once again return to the temple in search of the Gods, only to find the statue destroyed. Within the rubble was the now powerless staff, which they delivered to the Tomb of the Last Heroes and rested it on Tanis Half-Elven’s bier.
You see, the Staff was seen as a game mechanic by the designers, a tool to discover the gods by the authors, but a symbol of love and friendship to the heroes themselves. It was the staff that proved Riverwinds devotion to Goldmoon, and gave Goldmoon the courage to love Riverwind against her tribe’s wishes. It was the staff that united the companions against the Queen of Darknesses forces and rediscovered the Gods. It was the staff that gave hope to an age of utter despair. You see, the staff is so much more than just a mundane quarterstaff or a major artifact. It is the catalyst that forces change. It forces the change of perception about oneself and those around them. It encourages you to look beyond your preconceived notions to see reality as it is, not the way you have been taught it to be. It broke down biases based in social and political propaganda, revealing the truth that we can overcome adversity if we work together and are willing to sacrifice for our dreams of a better future. Or it was just a creative macguffin to set up a role-playing game. You decide.
Outro
But that is all the time I have to talk about the Blue Crystal Staff. I hope you enjoyed the information. What do you think about the staff’s powers? Is it just a cheap way of allowing healing in a restricted module? And finally do you think it should’ve stayed with the companions? Leave a comment below.
I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click 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:
Who wants or needs any gods at all? I certainly don’t. No divine force controls my life, and That’s the way I like it.
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