They were the result of Chaus in the Graygem, never fully reaching the greatness of the ancient Ogre Empires of antiquity. They have been enslaved and hunted by Ogres, Dwarves and Elves, but after epocs have built empires to Sargas’ delight. Let’s look into the beginnings of the Minotaur race. Buy Taladas: The Minotaurs: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17376/DLR2-Taladas-The-Minotaurs-2e?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
Surprisingly, this race has been enslaved arguably more than any other on Krynn.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Minotaurs. This is the first in a multi episode series about the history, empires and legacy of Minotaurs. I am referencing DLR2 Taladas: The Minotaurs game accessory and Races of Krynn Sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below.
Discussion
I am stunned at the history of the minotaurs. First is the fact that they were slaves for the majority of their existence. Running from their predecessor race, the ogres in Taladas, then from the Dwarves in Kal Thax, then from the ogres in Ansalon. This race seems to want nothing more than to rise to the High Ogre civilization that they sprung from and were rejected by, and it took millenia for them to get anywhere close to it. And then, only in Taladas until the War of Souls. The primary reason they fall into slavery is due to their underwhelming numbers, and this is due solely to the chaos of their creation with the Graygem.
Their origins are shrouded in myth, though the reality is interesting in its own right, with no real need for myth. The minotaurs relay that the god Sargas transformed into a giant condor and gathered up all of the worthy ogres, transporting them to the eastern shores of Ansalon. He then granted them each his sign, and transformed them into Minotaurs. Minotaurs teach that their horns are Sargas’ greatest gift to them, so as to have the means of defending themselves. A lot of good that did, lol. This is quaint, but just about as believable as our own Abrahamic arc myth. The reality behind their empires is vastly more interesting and deserving of their rage and honor. Minotaurs believe in a brutal code centered on the idea of strength as the instrument of glory and respect. It is through strength that a minotaur will rise through society to serve in the
legions, strength by which a minotaur may lead his clan, strength by which a minotaur may captain a vessel, and strength by which an emperor may rule an empire. Would they believe this if they were granted their beginning, or if they fought horn and hoof for it?
No, the true beginnings are as follows: The gods created Elves, Ogres and Humans, then the high god populated Krynn with Animals. The Elves claim that they were the first, but this flies in the face of the great civilizations the high Ogre society left behind, while the humans and Elves lived off the land in smaller tribes. The Minotaurs contend that in truth the Ogres were created first and populated Taladas initially. The remains of their grand civilization along with the Bakali and Yaggol still remain there to this day. It is of course due to Reorx and his Gnomes that the Minotaurs exist at all. The Graygem traveled over some small farmlands and fishing villages on the northwestern coast of Hosk populated by Ogres, and changed them into Minotaurs. This moment is encapsulated in their history as the Night of Cruel Transformation.
Can you imagine the horror at being so irrevocably transformed out of nowhere? They were rightfully terrified, and reached out to their ogre cousins for help to reverse this curse. The ogres reacted violently, as one might expect, and began raiding and enslaving this new ‘impure’ breed. The minotaurs lacked numbers to resist, and fell in line for a time. This is another tradition we will see, as the minotaur race is not stupid or weak. They pick their battles and strike when necessary. A minotaur named Messeritha realised that the ogres were no match for her physically and began a killing spree, paying the ogres back for the slavery of her kin with their lives. She ordered the secret construction of sailing vessels and when they were complete the minotaurs willing to leave continued with the killing spree, decimating entire villages of ogres.
Not all minotaurs left, and those that stayed were treated horrifically for the behavior of their kin. The ships sailed west and ended up on the seemingly deserted eastern shores of Ansalon. Not all of the group stayed, so some continued searching for a home. Those who remained set up small villages, naming their land Mithandrus, the Land of the Bull, and quickly realized they were on the land of the Dwarves Kal-Thax Empire. The minotaurs lacked any sense of numbers to resist the dwarves and were subsequently enslaved yet again. They began to unite under a minotaur named Ambeoutin, who promised to lead them to freedom. This clandestine group began to assault dwarven villages with guerilla tactics. They were so successful the dwarves had no idea it was the minotaurs killing them. A human black robed wizard named Skythus deduced the truth and joined Ambeoutin’s cause just to sow discord in the dwarven empire.
Skythus informed Ambeoutin about a magical Axe of the Emperors that he promptly quested for. After defeating a green dragon, he used the axe to unite the minotaurs and liberate them by decimating the much larger dwarven army that stood against them. It was because of the ruthlessness of this minotaur army that Kal-Thax fell. They wiped the Kal-Thax empire from the face of Krynn. Sargas gave Ambeoutin a vision, establishing the minotaur tenets of honor and strength. They turned east and established the first minotaur kingdom with Ambeoutin as their king. He married and had two sons, Mithas and Kothas, who he trained in the art of war. He was so effective that when they passed the Rite of Initiation and Ambeoutin and Skythus vanished, they were unable to defeat each other in the arena for the right to rule in their fathers stead. They formed two kingdoms and after a decade drew the attention of the ogres under the leadership of the great Khan. They were once again enslaved by the ogres until they overthrew them after the Second Dragon War in 2645 Prae Cataclius.
This would not be the end of their enslavement, as the Dwarves then the ogres would subjugate them yet again until 2485 PC. During the Third Dragon War, the minotaurs would become slave-soldier to the Dark Queen and her Warlord Crynus. With the rise of Istar and the Proclamation of Manifest Virtue in 94 PC, change would once again come to the Minotaurs. They were decimated by the Istarians and Solamnic Knights, losing their power and even their kingdoms. And then the Cataclysm hit. As other races and empires fell, the minotaurs seized what they saw as a sign of favor by the gods. They sailed across the Blood Sea and re-established their empire. The seafaring of their tribe learned of a new land to the east ripe for conquering, not knowing that it was the very land they fled from millenia before. Mat oth-Kithka, a descendant of Ambeoutin led the expedition back to Taladas and came ashore to raid Thenol. They never returned, and as others followed and landed near Kristophan in Southern Hosk, led by Eragas the Bruitish, they subjected the humans and he proclaimed himself emperor and began a new empire all throughout New Styrilla. Thus the League of Minotaurs was established.
Again, this is just the beginning of the Minotaurs. They would come to find success with their empires in both Taladas and Ansalon, but it would be hundreds of years after the cataclysm. After their first attempt at taking Silvanesti around 2335 PC, the elves were added to the growing list of enemies of the minotaur empire. They would eventually settle the score of the Silvanesti killing their emperor. It wouldn’t be until after the War of Souls that the League of Minotaurs in Taladas would begin to fracture and crumble with the return of Maladar ad-Desh, the mad sorcerer-king from millenia before. And at the same time the Blood Sea minotaurs would realize their expansion into Silvanesti, now called Ambeon, but those are tales for another day.
Outro
Because that is all the time I have to talk about the beginnings of Minotaurs. I hope you enjoyed the information. Do you enjoy the half man half bull race? Did you know about the minotaurs’ beginnings? And finally, have you ever played a minotaur in a role playing game? Leave a comment below.
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Wait, I can speak their tongue… mooo!
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