Created in the Age of Dreams, the Device of Time Journeying is a powerful artifact that can allow the original races, human, ogre or elf to travel through time with the purpose of observation only. That was until Tasslehoff Burrfoot got a hold of it. Let’s learn all about the Device of Time Journeying. Buy Legends of the Twins: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/3252/Legends-of-the-Twins-35?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
Could there be anything more dangerous than a Kender with a time traveling device… Talk about wanderlust on steroids!
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to discuss the Device of Time Journeying. I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing the sourcebooks Dragonlance Adventures, Legends of the Twins, and the Age of Mortals including the Legends and War of Souls Trilogies of novels for this information. If I miss anything or misspeak, please leave a comment below.
Discussion
It is impossible to discuss the Device of Time Journeying without talking about the River of Time, but I am going to do my best to on focusing on the artifact, how it was used, and how it may be used in the upcoming novel, Dragons of Deceit. The Device of Time Journeying first appeared in the novel Time of the Twins. The set up is as follows: Raistlin Majere is being spied on by his apprentice Dalamar the Dark. Raistlin tells Dalamar that he is traveling back in time to destroy Fistandantilus and enter the Portal to the Abyss to challenge the Queen of Darkness. In order to prevent this, Par-Salien sends Caramon back in time in the hopes that he will stop his twin. Par-Salien gives him the Device of Time Journeying, and instructs him in its use to get back to his correct time. When Par-Salien sends Caramon back, Tasslehoff jumps in as a mouse, transformed by a magic ring. Par-Salien freaks out for one very important reason. Time travel is only supposed to work with the races the gods created on Krynn: Elves, Ogres and Humans. The races created from the Greystone were aberrant and born out of Chaos. If Chaos enters the River of Time, there is no telling what could happen!
This fear is echoed in the past when Raistlin discovers Tas and is worried that he will undo everything he is planning simply by existing in this time. He tells Tas how to use the device incorrectly with the intention of disassembling it, which Tas did! The next thing Tas knew, Raistlin, Caramon and Crysania were traveling through time and he was stuck as the Cataclysm hit Istar. He awoke in the Abyss, and after visiting the Queen of Darkness, she allowed Gnimsh to show up and repair the device so he and Tas can escape the Abyss, with the intention of killing off Raistlin as Fistandantilus was killed. This is a pivotal moment for the device, as it began with the ability to teleport a single person with its use, and ended up being able to teleport multiple people. Gnimsh is known as the only Gnome to successfully tinker. This isn’t the only time Takhisis used a Gnome to repair the device, but it isn’t time for that story yet.
You see, the River of Time is not able to be changed by the machinations of a single individual, this is a restriction imposed by the High God himself. It may have ripples momentarily effect it, but it will always return to it’s natural flow. That is, until a little Chaos is added in the form of the aberrant Greystone race of a Kender in Tasslehoff Burrfoot. His presence in the past, and Raistlin Majere’s sheer force of will combined to alter the flow of the River of Time. But more on that in a minute. The Device of Time Journeying is tied to its user, with many special geas’ cast upon it as safety measures. The first is a powerful Antipathy spell that repulses those who attempt to take it. If successfully stolen or lost, the device will return to its owner, no matter what, in the most inconspicuous of ways.
The Device of Time Journeying looks like a jeweled Scepter which can be folded into a nondescript looking pendant. There are verbal and semantic gestures required to activate the scepter . You must recite the first verse, Thy time is thy own, and simultaneously hold the pendant in your hands, turning the face toward you. The next phrase, Though across it you travel, is spoken and you move the faceplate from the right to the left. Next you recite, Its expanses you see, and the backplate will drop forming two spheres connected by rods. Then you say Whirling across forever, and twist the top clockwise which drops a chain down. Obstruct not its flow, is recited, reminding you to keep the chain clear of the mechanism. You then grasp both spheres at opposite ends and say, Grasp firmly the end and beginning, then turn the spheres forward saying, Turn them forward upon themselves. Next speak, All that is loose shall be secure, and the chain will wind itself into the body. You hold the device over your head and chant the final verse, Destiny be over your own head, while visualizing the time and place you wish to travel to. It is important to note, this is not always accurate. At times you will end up where you want to go, but not when, but sometimes it does work as anticipated.
Back to its active history: when Raistlin opens the Portal to the Abyss with Crysania, while Taslehoff and Caramon activate the Device of Time Journeying to return to their own time, the magical blast erupted as it did in Fistandantilus’ time, but Raistlin was able to keep the portal open and passed through. When Caramon and Tas arrive in Solace they arrive at the right place but again, not the right time. They arrived in the future and witnessed a world ravaged with the war between Raistlin and the gods. Raistlin had defeated the gods, when Caramon and Tas travel back to the portal opening and Caramon enters to find a blind and defeated Crysania near death, and finally Raistlin leading the Dark Queen into Krynn. Raistlin sacrificed himself and closed the portal and the Device of Time Journeying was delivered to Dalamar the Dark for safe keeping.
Tas, fearing he would die before Caramon, wanted to speak at his funeral and Fizban agreed that it was a good idea, so he gifted him the Device of Time Journeying. Again, Tas arrived at the right place but too late for his friend’s funeral, so he used the device to return. Tas found himself in Palanthas, and met Usha and they ended up in the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas, where Tas helped Palin enter the Portal to the Abyss and they overheard Raistlin and the gods discussing Chaos returning from the Greystone. The Summer of Chaos was in full swing and as Tas was being crushed under Chaos’ foot, he remembered that he never spoke at Caramon’s funeral, and realized this was his last chance to do so. He traveled forward in time, but this time, Takhisis has stolen Krynn away, creating a brand new river of time.
Tas, Palin and Conundrum the Gnome would travel with the Device of Time Journeying all throughout the War of Souls. Palin would break it, and Conundrum, like Gnimsh before him, would fix it by will of Takhisis, and ironically she would be defeated in part by Tas using it throughout the war. Ultimately Raistlin’s spirit would hear Tas traveling through time as the gods allowed him to use Tas to stitch up the River of Time with it. Ultimately Tas decided he should return to his own time and when he did, the Device of Time Journeying would be lost to… well, err… time.
That is, until the lawsuit between Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman and Wizards of the Coast was settled. Now we are going to see it reappear, back in time with Tasslehoff Burrfoot, after the War of the Lance, when a young woman named Destina Rosethorn appears looking for it to prevent her fathers death. This act ultimately “… sets into motion a chain of events more deadly than she had ever anticipated: one that could change not only her personal history, but the fate of the entire world, allowing a previously-defeated evil to once again gain ascendancy.” Will the Destinies trilogy see the end of the Device of Time Journeying? And how will its use affect the existing River of Time? Only time will tell.
Outro
And that is all I have to say about the Device of Time Journeying. Do you think it’s a MacGuffin used too frequently to steer the course of the novels? Do you think the River of Time is still alterable with the Chaos races using it? And finally, have you ever used it in a game? Leave a comment below.
I am able to create these weekly videos because of your attention and support. If you are not already a patron or member of this YouTube channel, I would like to invite you to consider becoming one. If you would like to pick up any edition of Dragonlance gaming materials, feel free to use my affiliate link in the description.
This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
Time is a great flowing river, vaster and wider than any river we know. Throw a pebble into the rushing water–does the water suddenly stop? Does it begin to flow backward? Does it turn in its course and flow another direction? Of course not! The pebble created a few ripples on the surface, perhaps, but then it sinks. The river flows onward, as it has ever done.
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