The Age of Mortals saw more changes than any other age. Let’s take a look at Life in the Age of Mortals through its events and geography. Buy Age of Mortals: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/557/age-of-mortals-3-5?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
The Fifth Age of Krynn is one convoluted and torturous event after another.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today I am going to talk about life in the Age of Mortals. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, 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 the Age of Mortals sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
While the Fifth Age of Dragonlance, and the SAGA System that Dragonlance went to after AD&D2e were divisive to say the least, and actively split the fanbase, many have come around, especially after Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman wrote their War of Souls trilogy and returned Dragonlance to a semblance of its old self. This entire age as I saw it was wiped out entirely by their newest Destinies trilogy, but there are fervent fans of this Age, and if I am being honest, I really enjoyed playing the SAGA System with my friends when it first came out and recently on this channel. All of this is to say, that the Fifth Age of Krynn, otherwise known as the Age of Mortals is an era of extremes. Extreme reactions by the fans, yes, but also extremes in situations for the campaign setting.
The Fifth Age began at the end of the Chaos War and while it only lasted just shy of forty years in time, a lot can happen in forty years, and a lot did! It saw the actual absence of the gods in order to save the planet of Krynn from Ionthas or Chaos. It saw the arrival of the Dragon Overlords and the terraforming of the land, in some cases entirely decimating its people. This trauma extended to the races creating a branch of Kender who were terrified all the time, called afflicted kender and gnomes who were actually successful in their inventions called the Thinker gnomes. Just this is enough to fill multiple videos with content, but it is not the end of the fifth age.
The total absence of arcane and divine magic meant that mortals were helpless against these god-like dragons, until wild sorcery was discovered with the power of the heart or spiritualism. These two forms of magic helped the people of Krynn cope and defend themselves with madness all around them. But as I mentioned, this is not all. Because when Weis and Hickman returned, they took over characters, injected time travel, and a friendly kender, and changed everything. Now, it was Takhisis who stole the world away, and was regaining her strength as the Dragon Overlords dominated. With the world in a new location in space-time, the souls of the dead couldn’t travel to the hereafter and Takhisis used them to steal magic for her strength.
Then Takhisis woke a god from the Age of Starbirth called Mina and leveraged her as her new prophet. This child wasn’t originally a god in the War of Souls but would be revealed as one in the Dark Disciple trilogy by Margaret Weis. Mina destroyed many of the Dragon Overlords, and then Takhisis became mortal and was herself killed. This forces Paladine to step down from the pantheon and walk Krynn as Valthonis the wandering god. And this is the era of the Age of Mortals I will be describing for the next few videos. The post War of Souls era featured in the Age of Mortals supplement.
Ansalon is located in Krynn’s southern hemisphere and sits approximately 1,300 miles from east to west and 1,000 miles from north to south. It features a wide variety of terrain types and climate. This was all before the first Cataclysm. Then with the land torn asunder, the people had to adapt. Then the Chaos War or Second Cataclysm, and the Dragon Overlords, and they had to adapt even more to the changes of their once familiar continent. If it weren’t for the gnomes’ ceaseless work in studying their environment and keeping meticulous records, detailed information about this age would be nonexistent. It is clear that the damage done by the Dragon Overlords who are dead is reversing, but it is believed to take generations to fully return to a semblance of normality and as the climate is global, a change in once region inevitably affects the others.
In the south, from the mouth of New Sea, the terrain is still excellent farmlands as cool breezes carried from the strong southbound currents. It has sultry summers and cold winters. The terrain of the now dead Beryllinthranox promotes thick plant growth in Qualinesti with its capital now at the bottom of a massive lake. The sun rarely shines through the canopy and a mysterious fog rises at night. The Kharolis region has an increased humidity due to Beryl and when it meets the southern currents from Icewall it creates violent thunderstorms and heavy snowstorms.
In the east the Lords of Doom maintain constant heat throughout the winter, with Geysers making up for the lack of rainfall. As the mountains give way to the Silvanesti forests, the Shield they erected earlier in the age drained the life out of all flora and fauna. Wherever the shield touches is death. Minotaurs have claimed the elven homeland. New life is just now beginning to return, with elves searching for a new homeland in Inath-Wakenti. Warm winds from Balifor clashes with the southern arctic creating harsh winter storms. The former land of Malystryx known as the Desolation features jagged outcroppings of scorched rock, rugged mountains and deserts of black sand. The Goodlund mountain range features volcanic activity and is the highest elevation on Ansalon. North of Kern benefits from the Northern Courrain Ocean which brings jungle-forming rains and heat. The blood sea stopped churching in the Chaos War, now its watters meander mildly to the shore.
The North is closest to the equator and features thick verdant foliage. The interior lands are covered in grassy plains. The insufferable heat and insects make living here a challenge. Nightlund which was once perpetually twilight is now hot and sunny with the absence of Lord Soth and Takhisis. There is a mysterious forest of cypress trees which sprang up overnight. In northern Solamnia there is a massive canyon, again caused by Chaos in the Chaos War. Even further north was the realm of Khellendros, who fit right into the desert heat.
In the west you have the islands of Northern and Southern Ergoth. Mount Nevermind suffered a massive explosion when the gnomes were trying to rout an occupying force of dark knights. Southern Ergoth was claimed by Gellidus the White, and completely terraformed into a land of blizzards and cruel frost. Its northern deserts are now a frozen tundra with winter winds clashing with warm ocean air creating a permanent storm called The Gale. The mouth of Morgash Lake is frozen over preventing entry.
Ansalon has changed dramatically but the people are persistent and struggle to survive, even against seemingly insurmountable odds. This Age of Mortals is the most compatible era with modern Dungeons & Dragons in my opinion, and it is ripe for adventure!
Outro
But that is all the time I have to talk about life in the Age of Mortals. Do you prefer the Dragon Overlord era in the Age of Mortals? How do you feel about the state of the gods in this era? And finally, would you ever play a game in this era? 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:
I think that for me, books and stories should teach us who we should be, not show us who we are.
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