The Dragon Overlords were an unfortunate byproduct of Takhsis’ designs in the wake of the Chaos War. One could argue they did more damage and caused more change to Krynn than the Gods ever did. Let’s learn more about the Dragon Overlords. Buy Races of Ansalon: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/27946/Races-of-Ansalon-35?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
We often speak of the wrath of the gods with the Cataclysm, but the Dragon Overlords made much more of an impact on Ansalon.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Dragon Overlords. 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 Dragonlance Fifth Age, Wings of Fury, Age of Mortals, Dragons of Krynn, and More Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below.
Discussion
If you want to blame someone for the Fifth Age and its Dragon Overlords, you could blame TSR, but it would be more appropriate to blame Khellendros. After all it was he who traveled the ether, arriving on Krynn hundreds of years before the War of the Lance, and it was he that Takhisis promised dominion of mortals when she became the sole Goddess of Krynn. So when Takhisis’ plan to steal Krynn out from under the nose of the other gods at the end of the Chaos War came to fruition, she moved it through space-time, to a place in the absence of the other gods. The single pale moon and lack of the gods’ constellations informed the mortals of Krynn that they were no longer in the proverbial Kansas anymore, but the effort severely weakened Takhisis, and Khellendros’ travel left a path to be followed.
That’s right, Khellendros inadvertently not only left a path for other alien dragons to follow, Takhisis was too weak to stop the alien dragons that came from the Beyond and found this unprotected world ripe for the conquering. These alien dragons to Krynn discovered methods to drain the soul from the native dragons they killed, and even craft dragon totems from their skulls when killed intact. These totems allowed them to alter the land in which they dwelt and divide up Ansalon for their rule. The mortals were altogether helpless, and though the Heroes of the Heart were able to defeat Brynseldimer, it took years and a god to deal with the most dangerous of the Dragon Overlords. Let’s take a birds eye view of the Dragon Overlords of Krynn’s Fifth Age.
As mentioned, Khellendros could be seen as the catalyst for all of the craziness of the early Fifth age. We are all familiar with him primarily from the War of the Lance. Only Takhisis knew he was in fact an alien dragon, not of Krynn, and when his offspring was killed and her rider assigned to him, Khellendros grew immediate respect for Kitiara Uth Matar, and eventually, like most men who knew her, fell in love with her. The dragon purge began shortly after Malys’ arrival and the race was on to not only kill other dragons to gain their power, but also to claim and expand territory. The Storm over Krynn as he is referred to claimed the Regions of Coastlund, Elkholm, and Hinterlund, the Northern Wastes, city of Palanthas, Tanith, the High Clerist’s Tower, and the Vingaard Mountains. One may suppose he claimed this territory because it was the last goal of Kitiara. Khellendros wasn’t as interested in ruling over the puny mortals, and put his authority in the hands of the Dark Knights who kept the peace and paid him tribute. Khellendros’ true obsession was locating the soul of Kitiara. Takhisis knew she could keep him in check, and needed to as he was the second greatest threat to her in her weakness. She kept him busy searching the Grey for her soul, all the while keeping it safe and secure in The Abyss. Khellendros’ obsession even led to some experimenting and the creation of Dragon Spawn which were meant to be the mortal form Kitiara’s soul would inhabit. He spread the deserts of the north over much of his terrain, eliminating winters and featuring barely any rainfall.
Malystryx must be next because as she followed the trail Khellendros made, she paved a greater path for others to follow. Malys arrived the second year after the end of the Summer of Chaos and dominated Krynn. She decimated the Goodlund peninsula, exterminating thousands. Her impact was so terrifying that it actually changed the psyche of the surviving Kender, changing them down to their bones into afflicted Kender. The land was renamed the Desolation. Malys is an egomaniac. Her raw power grab led directly into the dragon purge, and she herself collected more dragon skulls and absorbed more dragon souls than any other overlord. After learning of Takhisis from the mortals, Malys dedicated her time to becoming the new Queen of Darkness. She kept an uneasy alliance with Khellendros as he was the only other dragon on Krynn capable of threatening her. She reshaped the land, raising volcanoes in her domain and in the end had claimed territory from Khur, Balifor, Kendermore, the former Dairly Plains, Elian Wilds, and the Misty Isle.It would ultimately take two gods working in unison to bring Malystrix down and even then it nearly killed one of them.
Berylinthranox looked with covetous eyes upon Malystryx and claimed to rival her domain in the west with Kharolis, monument of Pax Tharkas, Qualinesti, city of Tarsis, and Wayreth Forest. It was her craftiness that allowed her to dominate others in the dragon purge and her obsession with magical artifacts that drove her to expand her realm, changing much of the area into dense forests. Her obsession was to find the Tower of High Sorcery and use the magic it contained to overthrow Malystryx. She grew more and more contempt for the elves and their inability to find the tower, which led to her ultimate downfall. It didn’t help that Lauralanthalasa Kanan led the diversion from Beryl’s assault, allowing the elves an opportunity to escape Qualinost. With both the Lost Star and Dragonlance, Laurana sacrificed herself and with the combined efforts of the elven army, they brought down the ancient wyrm, but at a terrible price, leaving behind the Nalis Aren, or lake of death in Qualinost’s place.
Onysablet claimed Portions of the New Sea, New Coast, old Blode, and Blodehelm. She thrived in the Dragon Purge and terraformed this once arid plain into the largest marsh known on Krynn. Sable is obsessed with the alteration of existing life, creating whole new species through her magic experimentation. She prefers to keep to her swamp and avoid the pitfalls that befell the other dragon overlords. She has her own spawn and abominations spy on nearby areas to feed her menagerie and slaves. She met her end after a prolonged battle with Dhaman Grimwolf in the form of a Shadow Dragon. She caused enough damage that he didn’t survive long after Sable breathed her last breath.
Gellidus is a bit lazy after claiming the Cities of Daltigoth, Zhea Harbor, Pontigoth, Qualimori and Silvamori, Foghaven Vale, Castle Eastwatch, and the south Sirrion Sea isles, he became content and rested on his laurels. This ended up providing him a much longer life than the other Dragon Overlords. He transformed his domain into a glacier paradise, though the byproduct of creating a frozen wasteland in a temperate zone, caused havoc with the climate and seas surrounding Ergoth. From Constant blizzards, biting winds, and sub-zero weather, this area is now treacherous at best to sail or travel. After the war of souls he made a pact with Chemosh and began stealing divine magic. He met his end after capturing Silvart and Gilthanas, who ultimately conspired with unknown heroes to defeat him.
There were also lesser dragon overlords which I will return in another video to discuss in addition to the Skull totems…
Outro
But that is all the time I have to talk about Dragon Overlords. I hope you enjoyed the information. Do you have a favorite Dragon Overlord? How about a favorite Dragon Overlord death? Or did you pretend none of the Fifth Age ever happened to Krynn in your campaign? Leave a comment below.
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If I’m going to see the end of the world, I should see it with a positive attitude.
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