The Silvanesti Speaker of the Stars has a tortured legacy, but he found himself in a turbulent time which demanded action! Let’s learn more about Lorac Caladon. Buy the War of the Lance sourcebook: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3164/war-of-the-lance-3-5?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
His legacy is one of torture and nightmares, but he’s much deeper than that.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Lorac Caladon, the Silvanesti Speaker of the Stars. 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 Annotated Chronicles, Dragons of Winter Night and the War of the Lance sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
It would be easy to see Lorac as the man, trapped by a Dragon Orb, tortured by Cyan Bloodbane, and a failed ruler of the ancient Silvanesti elven nation, but I truly believe he is much more than that. We have only to look at the era he was raised in and the turbulent times he lived through to begin to understand the notions this Silvanesti royalty was operating under. For the Speaker of the Stars did not have the best of times on his throne. He is known as the most infamous of Silvanesti kings, and that’s saying something after the kingdom had already faced three dragonwars and a brutal Kinslayer War which literally split the Silvanesti nation. I think we need to have a bit of a primer on the Silvanesti to truly understand Lorac Caladon. The Silvanesti are the chosen people of their god Eli, or Paladine. They claimed the forests, which were already occupied by the way, and fought two devastating Dragonwars to keep it. Through these wars, The Orders of High Sorcery were created by the gods out of necessity, and so the legacy of this ancient race is one of manifest destiny and magical order.
When the Erothian Empire began to press their borders and illegally raid their resources, they were forced to act, and what could have ended in a suing for peace with another nation, instead turned to a bitter civil war pitting elven neighbor against elven neighbor, brother against brother, literally when it came to Kith Kanan, who would end up founding Qualinesti, and his twin Sithas who ruled Silvanesti. This cemented the worldview of the Silvanesti elves, xenophobia and isolationism. But if you thought that was the end of it, hold my beer, because we haven’t even gotten to the Cataclysm yet. The Silvanesti were members of the Kingpriests court, but even they were ostracized by souring trade deals and the fanaticism of the Kingpriest, and this is where we first encounter Lorac Caladon. You see, Istar had a Tower of High Sorcery, a beautiful, powerful center of magical study. And this is where Lorac would ultimately travel to in order to take his Test of High Sorcery.
Yes, Lorac Caladon was a talented magic user. It was commonly understood that Lorac was blessed by Eli for his raw talent and aptitude in the arcane arts. But Lorac was also a handsome, fair skinned, blonde elf of royalty. His piercing blue eyes spoke of intelligence and cunning. It wouldn’t be known at the time, but perhaps us students of history would see that fact that Lorac was the last royal elf to take the Test in Istar as a portent of doom, for after he left, the tower saw the absence of it’s Dragon Orb, the gifting of the tower and abandonment of it by the Wizards who built the tower, and in the end, the destruction of Istar by the Kingpriest. How could Silvanesti stay unmarred with such a historical coincidental setup?
It was during Lorac’s Test of High Sorcery that the Dragon Orb foresaw the coming destruction, and begged Lorac to remove it with him. Do not leave me to the fires of Istar, for I will perish, and the world will be lost. What would a young impressionable Lorac think of this mightiest of artifact’s premonition? It spoke of the fall of Istar, yet Lorac as far as we know told no one, and only removed the Orb at its request. So, was this a vie for secret power on Loracs part? Or was he acting magnanimously in the preservation of an artifact of an earlier age? We will never know, for soon after Lorac passed his test and removed the Orb to Silvanesti, the Kingpriest had his inevitable decline and the Cataclysm was the result.
If you were the ruler of Silvanesti in this age, and you saw the mightiest human empire slowly twist itself and utterly destroy the world, how could you not blame them for the Cataclysm, and why would you not close your borders? Your sole job would be to protect your nation, and what greater threat could there be than humans who caused the Cataclysm? What then would you do when your Qualinesti kinsmen came begging for aid? The Silvanesti Speaker of the Stars, Lorac Caladon turned them away, telling them that their downfall was the result of tolerating humans. On a side note, I can’t help but feel this was the point where Qualinesti stopped being the accepting nation Kith-Kanan created and degenerated into the xenophobic nation we find in Dragons of Autumn Twilight.
This age of Despair saw Lorac proverbially wrapping his arms around his kingdom, willing to do anything to protect his people. Would we not ask the same of our leaders? For three hundred and fifty years, while the rest of Ansalon saw disease, famine, regional devastation and sorrow, the elves of Silvanesti dwelt within their borders with little quality of life change. It is not crazy to see why Lorac would want to preserve this relative peace. So when the Dragonarmies came to their very doorstep, a wise ruler parlays with them, and so did Lorac. Emissaries of peace arrived from the Dragonarmies, Lorac assured them that if they were left alone, they would stay clear of the conflict. But the Dragon Highlord Phair Caron turned his Red Wing on Silvanesti nonetheless. The Speaker was stunned at the raw devastation the Dragonarmy wrought in their ancient homeland.
When Lorac saw that defeat was inevitable, he ordered a mass retreat by sea and land to Southern Ergoth. The Speaker could have ran with his people, trying to survive the Red Wing at their backs, pursuing them to extinction, but instead decided to sacrifice himself, stay behind and cover his people’s retreat. This is the legacy of Lorac Caladon, one of self sacrifice for his people. Not for personal glory, but for the preservation of their very existence. I can think of no other cause more worthy. Lorac turns to his training in the Arcane arts and decides to use the Dragon Orb to stop the Red Wing. The result was twofold. Lorac preserved the escape of his people, but it cost him his sanity, his nation, and the ancient forests the Silvanesti fought and died over for millenia. As powerful as Lorac was, he was unprepared for the cunning of the Dragon Orb, and quickly fell to its power. The Orb twisted Lorac’s mind, and summoned an ancient enemy from the Third Dragon War, Cyan Bloodbane.
Cyan tried desperately to convince Lorac to kill his daughter Alhana Starbreeze, but it seemed to be the only cognisant piece of Lorac’s will, which resisted to the end. Lorac’s Nightmare twisted the land he lived his life preserving, which would take a generation to correct. His only reprieve was due to his devoted daughter refusing to give up on the man who sacrificed himself for his people. She fled to Tarsis and met the Heroes of the Lance who came, and with the aid of Fistandantilus through Raistlin Majere, took control of the Dragon Orb, banished Cyan Bloodbane, and freed Lorac from his terrors.
As per his wishes, Alhana buried her father, the Speaker of the Stars at the base of an Aspen Tree in Silvanost. This aspen was returned to its natural form in a final act of what I would like to think, forgiveness. Our leaders are rarely what is needed. They are often bought and sold before they ever get into a position of power, and seem to care little about the people they represent. Lorac was the polar opposite. Yes, his actions turned against him, but he saved his people so that they could return and correct their forests. He stopped the Dragonarmies from burning the ancient forests, and gave his life for the sanctity of his homeland. Not every best laid plan works out, and in this case it was devastatingly tragic, but I think Lorac deserves a second chance at a better legacy in history’s eyes.
Outro
And that is all I have to say about Lorac Caladon, Speaker of the Stars. What do you think of the Lorac Caladon? Do you think he is a failed ruler or an elven hero? And finally, how long do you think it took the Silvanesti elves to return and correct their forest? Leave a comment below.
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If we deny love that is given to us, if we refuse to give love because we fear the pain of loss, then our lives will be empty, our loss greater.
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