Dragonlance customized nearly every class and race for the setting, and dwarves are no different. Let’s explore the creation and early locations that house the dwarves of Krynn.
Transcript
Cold Open
Taking an established basic fantasy race and turning it into a multi-clan, myriad of cultures is no easy task.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about the dwarves of Krynn. 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. This episode is inspired by the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn boxed set, but also from the novels and other game materials.
Discussion
The information herein is primarily presented by Chisel Loremaster, the Supreme Historian of Dwarvenhood. Early in his life he was altered by the Greystone, granting him immortality. It is from him this information is presented. It may be racially skewed, but it is Dwarven through and through. It is said that the Smiths are the forerunners of the dwarves and predated all other creatures on Krynn. Gnomes are a degeneration of the Smiths of legend. When Reorx smashed his hammer against chaos to create the universe, sparks settled on Krynn in the form of the Smiths. When dragons and beasts populated Krynn, the Smiths became reclusive.
It wasn’t until the Elves, Ogres and Humans were created on Krynn that the Smiths left their underground lairs and co mingled with them. Ultimately they were cast out from Elven and Ogre societies and dwelt primarily with humans in the hills and plains. When Reorx gathered crafters and transported them to Taladas in the Age of Dreams, it was not from the human population, but rather, from the Smiths that he pulled from. The Smiths were masters of elemental magic that was inherent in Krynn. When the three gods of magic began circling the planet, it began skewing their natural magic. Then Hiddukel and Chislev tricked Reorx into making a miniature image of Krynn in the form of the Greystone, thereby capturing Chaos within, Reorx was bound by the rigid conventions of the gods, and could not reclaim the stone himself, but rather sent the Smiths after it. The Smiths took a generation to make a Great Machine to claim the Greystone from Lunitari. It was the life quest of Milgas Kadwar who was assisted unbeknownst to him by Hiddukel who wanted the Greystone himself. Using the magical net to capture the Greystone he brought it to Krynn and the net dissolved as per the evil gods plan, and the stone was lost to the Smiths.
The Greystone immediately changed Milgas and around 200 Smiths, transforming them into Scions. The Greystone sapped away the elemental magic of the Smiths, replacing it with wild sorcery. With the help of the magical Scions the Smiths created massive ships to escape the human populations and magic wrecked land of Taladas. Only 13 vessels made the voyage successfully and when they landed on Ansalon’s shore, through rage of so many perishing in the crossing, the Smiths turned on the Scions, murderin all but 13 who were chained up and thrown into the sea, banished. The Smiths turned from their histories and became known as the Dwarves.
The dwarves crafted their first home in the mountains that their ships landed nearby. Kal-Thax took 300 years to excavate and it is located along the coast of Nordmaar. They constructed great gates of rock, pivoting on hinges of limestone, to seal their domain. They learned to harvest fungi and other crops, and they developed skills at draughting smoke away from their forges and kilns, so that they did not exhaust the breathable air within their huge chambers. They dwelt in fear of the surface world and its denizens for a generation, delving ever deeper in the mountains. The next generation of dwarves challenged the notion of their forefathers and explored the surface, bringing tales of a world in chaos due to the Greystone. The dwarves felt responsible for unleashing it and decided to correct the problem.
The dwarves led multiple assaults on Gargath’s Keep, and on the third attempt with the Colossus, they broke through the walls and led a fierce assault up the steps when Gargath unleashed the Greystone. It’s great chaos magic spread instantaneously creating Gnomes from the Dwarves and Kender from the Elves. But alas, the Greystone allude all. The dwarves returned to Kal-Thax in failure. The campaign did have one positive result however. Agate Thorwallen had discovered an abandoned, ancient mountain terrace with two rivers and a large underground fortress. They presumed it was built and abandoned by the Ogre race a thousand years before, when they were still beautiful and masterful. Though the foundation was not up to Dwarven standards, Agate returned to Kal-Thax, sharing the discovery and the results of his digging, finding it rich in resources. He returned to Thorin in the Khalkist Mountains with the majority of the population of Kal-Thax, and they began to make it their own. Forests were logged and lumber was carried to the heights to form the frameworks of temporary buildings. Stone was mined from the mountains, commencing to take shape as what would one day be the
Great Keep of Thorin.
During their delvings in Thorin several dwarven miners made dark discoveries, stones of black, red, green, blue and crystalline. They were embodied with powerful magics that Agate was concerned and fearful of. They decided to travel to the Lords of Doom and destroy them within the massive volcanoes. They were ambushed by a multitude of Ogres and after two days of battle, the dwarves fell. The Dragon Orbs were taken by the ogres. They would eventually lead to the Second Dragon war.
Progress continued in Thorin, and as time passed they built keeps in the open air outside their underground domain, delved deep to harness the magma from the heart of Krynn itself, in addition to many technological wonders. They decided to call themselves the Calnar, or True People due to their accomplishments, separating themselves from all other dwarves by name. It was the humans who would celebrate and trade with the dwarves that referred to them as the Highest, due to their geographic dwellings, but the Dwarves took it as their personal merit, and enjoyed the irony of the humans term. In dwarven Highest translates to Hylar. For 500 years Thorin was the pinnacle of dwarven accomplishment until a bleak tragedy ended it all. The Last Balladine celebration preceded Colin Stonetooth’s migration. He failed to protect his people and a band of 1000 followers set out across the planes with him to ultimately establish Thorbardin. They took with them the name Hylar. Thorin closed its gates and remained beyond the reach of the world, forgotten.
Unbeknownst to the Calnar, Kal-Thax created settlements across Ansalon, so when the Hylar arrived at Thorbardin, they only had to best the Thanes of the western Kal-Thax. The Theiwar, Daewar, Daergar and Klar all submitted to the mastery of Colin Stonetooth’s troops. You see, the Daewar once dwelt in the Keep outside Thorin. They discovered caverns in the mountain through exploration that were beneath the Theiwar realms. The Daergar worked deep mines to the south, while the Klar and Einar roamed the outer slopes of the realm. They are who the Neidar hill dwarves come from. Colin convinced the clan leaders of the benefit of dwelling in the same massive underground kingdom, and they built an impressive highway called Peace Road that passed beyond Skies End Peak, into and past Qualinesti and Abanasinia.
Outro
This leaves us just before the Kinslayer wars as the Dwarven Kingdom of Thorbardin is in its prime, before the creation of Thoradin, Kaolyn and Zhakar. I will return to discuss the Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn in a future episode. Do you believe in the dwarven history of Krynn? Do you blame the Dwarves for the Greystone and Second Dragon War? And finally, do you have a favorite clan to play? Leave a comment below.
I would like to once again invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel, and you can pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link, all of which are in the description below.
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:
Flint says he’ll burn before he gets in a boat – at least then he’ll die warm instead of wet and cold.
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