He was the Emperor of Ansalon, molded from birth by Takhisis, Ariakas would live his life showcasing his immense power and eventually becoming Takhisis’ champion and commander of her Dragonarmies. Let’s learn more about Duulket Ariakas. Buy War of the Lance: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/3164/War-of-the-Lance-35?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
He was favored by Takhisis and Zeboim, talk about a one-two punch of powerful gods at your back!
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Duulket Ariakas, also known as the Emperor of Ansalon. 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 links. I am referencing original DL modules and War of the Lance sourcebook and the Emperor of Ansalon novel for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
One might say Duulket was a product of his environment. The post Cataclysmic world in Khur was a violent one. Warlords vying for territory, ogre incursions and a less than hospitable region of Krynn. But what Duulket lacked in love and support he more than made up for in violence and harsh reality. When he was a child he witnessed his father, Kortel Ariakas, a devotee of Takhisis, murder his mother. Once can say he was sent down the path of vengeance from birth. Young Duulket took to studying the sword, and by the time he was twenty years old, he was an accomplished campaigner looking to retire peacefully. But most importantly he had exacted revenge on his father, and best of all it was blamed on an ogre Red Tusk, which Duulket allowed to spread, and he found more satisfaction on exacting revenge on Red Tusk as well. Revenge to Duulket was the gift that kept on giving.
However, as noted, he did realize there were very few old campaigners, and so when he approached the moneylender and merchant Habbar-Akuk for a way of consolidating his wealth to travel and settle down, Habbar, guided by Takhisis, presented Duulket with a small locket. This would be only one of many moments where the gods would intervene to test Ariakas, but it can be seen as the first test that would set Ariakas down the path of his own father. As a priest of Takhisis. Now, it is important to note at this point that Dragonlance has inconsistencies. If you have watched this channel for any length of time, it should be apparent to you. Ariakas originally started out in the DL modules as a twenty-third level cleric and fighter. But later he would be mentioned as a fighter – mage. What is important to understand is that divine and arcane magic on Krynn, both come from the gods. Ariakas was favored by Takhisis, so she granted him the power he needed, when he needed it. And you don’t want to argue with Takhisis about the difference between class rules and disparity in types of magic.
Duulket would become infatuated with the woman in the locket, by design, and when it’s stolen by two Kender, also on behalf of Takhisis, they would then lead him to the woman’s location in the Tower of Oberon. This is where Duulket has his final test by Takhisis as he nearly dies rescuing the Lady who turns out to be a priestess of Takhiss. She healed Duulket and they spent the winter celebrating their carnal existence. When Spring comes the Lady demands that Ariakas kill her and after having sworn an oath, Duulket did just that. This presented the avatar of Takhisis to him and her final bargain with him. Takhisis revealed that she has been watching Duulket his entire life, grooming him to be the commander of her future armies; he is granted a seat at her side when she enters Krynn. Duulket is overcome with the realization that the gods do in fact exist and with Takhisis’ devotion to him, and accepts. He is sent to Sanction to meet Wryllish Parkane, the high priest of Takhisis in the Temple of Luerkhisis, and is presented with the opportunity to study the religion of Takhisis. Ariakas is less than interested in becoming a priest, and is then sent on a mission to help the order create Draconians.
This leads Ariakas to Zhakar where he is double crossed by the sitting king and barely escaping with his life, is guided by Takhisis to the Red Dragon Tombfyre. Tombfyre was promised by Takhisis that he would serve her in a coming war after Huma Dagonbane banished her from Krynn over a millenia before. Tombfyre has been trapped under the Khalkist mountains. Ariakas would free him after bargaining that Ariakas would command the Dragonarmies and Tombfyre would command the dragons. This was another stark realization to Ariakas, that dragons weren’t in fact myth but not only real, were destined to be under his command. He would take Tombfire and exact revenge on the Zhakar king, and demand the new king send conscripted troops to his soon to be formed Dragonarmy and provide a steady flow of mold for the corruption of the dragon eggs to create Draconians.
When he returned to Sanction the real work was to begin. With the creation of Draconians beginning, and the troops from Zhakar arriving, Ariakas began an open invitation to mercenaries and warlords to join him. Everyone was paid and with promises of victory many were lured to his banner. In three hundred and thirty four alt cataclius Zeboim would present herself to Duulket Ariakas, and after their union, Ariakan Ariakas would be born. In three hundred and thirty seven ac Ariakas formed the Dragonarmies and assigned a dragon highlord to each, with himself at the head as emperor. What would follow is the quick conscription of the peoples of Estwild, the Taman Busuk, Kern, Khur and the Blood Sea Isles. With the largest military force Krynn had ever seen in generations filled with humans, dwarves, ogres and minotaurs to name a few, and all supported with the Dark Queen’s new shock troops, Draconians, the Dragonarmies were truly magnificent and effective.
After the stalemate in Silvanesti, in three hundred and fifty ac, Ariakas put a hiatus on expansion to focus on resupply and troop reviews. A year later, the Dragonarmies were once again ready to move, with the invasion of Solamnia, Abanasinia and Goodlund. Ariakas and his army were unstoppable. This fed into Ariakas’ single greatest weakness, overconfidence. He simply could not imagine that he could fail, so when his Dragon Highlords began dying off, and the Whitestone Forces began to muster, he immediately sent Kiiara and her Blue Dragonarmy to squash the Whitestone forces at the High Clerist’s Tower. This would instead turn into the Dragonarmies single greatest defeat and with the return of the good dragons, the war was finally on!
In three hundred and fifty two ac, Ariakas called all of his Dragonarmies to Neraka to witness the coming of Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness into the world, and he would then learn all about the Law of Consequence first hand. Evil feeds upon itself. His favored highlord Kitiara, backed by Lord Soth made a play for his Crown of Power, using Tanis Half-Elven. With the aid of Raistlin Majere, the black robed magician, Ariakas’s magical protection faltered and Tanis Half-Elven killed Takhisis’ champion and commander. Leaving the Dragon Armies in mad disarray and signaling the first drum beat of the Dark Queen’s failure.
Ariakas was cruel and domineering, but equally brilliant and driven. He devoted the last half of his life to his queen and by the age of forty was the most powerful man on Krynn, until he wasn’t. We can chock it up to the law of Consequence, or his own shortsightedness. But in the end, Ariakas was the perfect example for his own son, who would go on to create the greatest order of knights devoted to Takhisis that would ever walk Krynn. And that is a legacy you can eternally drink to while his soul rests in the Abyss with his queen.
Outro
But that is all I have to say about Duulket Ariakas. Do you think he was too easy to kill? Would Takhisis have seen through Raistlin and hence Tanis’ machinations? And finally if the woman he slept with died within a year, why was Kitiara spared? 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:
War! War! We’re called. Gather the flights. Mount the attacks.
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