Past Lands of Krynn | dlsaga.com

Krynn has changed dramatically from the Fourth to the Fifth Ages, but I would argue it’s most dramatic change was between the Third and Fourth Ages with the first cataclysm. Let’s take a look at Prae Cataclius Ansalon. Buy Tales of the Lance: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/16961/Tales-of-the-Lance-2e?affiliate_id=50797

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro
1:23 Sancrist
2:09 Ergoth
3:03 Hylo
3:50 Qualinesti
4:39 Thoradin & Thorbardin
5:24 Kharolis
6:04 Solamnia
6:50 Silvanesti
7:37 Balifor
8:23 Istar
9:25 Outro

Transcript

Cold Open

It’s referred to as “a manifestation in soil and stone of the gods’ hope for a unified world.”

Intro

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Ansalon Prae Cataclius. 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 link. I am referencing the Tales of the Lance boxed Set for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below.

Discussion

The unified continent of Ansalon was seen as a monument to the races that the gods put on Krynn. They intended unity and peace, but were clearly short sighted when it came to divine and mortal ambition. The sheer diversity of the civilizations were surprisingly comfortable in their mistrust, separate borders and isolationism. In fact, during the three millenia prior to the cataclysm, there were eleven nations that reigned simultaneously across the continent. Let’s take a deeper look at each of them.

Sancrist is an island off the western coast of Ergoth. It was populated by Gnomes chasing after the Graystone around 3050 PC. They discovered a massive dormant volcano and decided to excavate it, constructing a vast complex city for their glorious citadel.The original name is far too complex for any non-Gnome to understand let alone recite, so everyone just referred to it as Mount Nevermind. Ergoth stretched its borders to include Sancrist around 2500 PC, but it mattered little to the Gnome civilization, as the Ergothians gave them a wide berth, most likely due to their inventions. Forty years after the fall of Ergoth, the Gnomes reclaimed their independence officially.

At its height, the Ergoth empire sprawled from the Turbidus Ocean in the west to Silvanesti in the East. This was accomplished by war, occupation and law. Its beginning was much more humble, though just as brutal, for around 2600 PC, Ackal Ergot led a military campaign against other barbarian tribes, unifying them all through force and extortion. Its capital was Daltigoth, and by 2200 PC Ergoth was the largest civilization on Ansalon. This could not last as in any civilization there are disenfranchised groups. When Vinas Solamnus learned the truth of the empire and its effects on the border states, he led a revolution against his emperor in 1801 PC. This split the empire from all her lands east of Palanthas and Xak Tsaroth.

Hylo, named both by its founding and geographical features, began in 2600 PC with a crash landing of an occupied floating citadel. Marooned in the Sentinel Mountains, the Kender were fascinated with the landscape and decided to stay. By 2500 PC, the citadel was encased in forest growth, so the Kender created the city of Hylo. The young lingered as long as they were able, until their wanderlust struck them, and they would return once satiated. In 2450 PC Ergoth claimed the province for its own, and even imposed stiff taxes, but gave up trying to collect them after fifty years. Once Ergoth fell, which granted liberty to the kender, they hardly noticed and went about their business as usual.

The elven nation of Qualinesti came out of the Kinslayer Wars. After 40 years of dissatisfaction, the western elves declared their independence. After 27 more years of feuding, Kith-Kanan crafted the Swordsheath Scroll, granting the west their freedom from their eastern elvish oppressors. In 2050 PC the Great March began and for the next twenty years, the Western elves slowly migrated to their new homeland between Throbardin and Ergoth. The Dwarves and Ergothians were surprisingly hospitable and they came together in unity in the construction of Pax Tharkas. The Qualinesti built their capital of Qualinost with massive, elegant spires as a homage to the natural beauty and function for protection.

The dwarven nations of Ansalon started in earnest with Kal-Thax in 3100 PC. By 2800 PC Kal-Thax was permeated with decline and death, so the next generation set out through the Khalkist Mountains and founded Thoradin. Within 75 years their home of Kal-Thax would become lost. Thoradin would discover the DragonStones in its depths and unwittingly unleash the Second Dragon War with their expulsion from their home. This prompted the dwarves to seal their gates for 500 years. In 2150 hill dwarves would migrate 400 miles through the Kharolis Mountains and delve a new home of Thorbardin. This would become the largest kingdom the dwarves have known, even withstanding the destruction of the cataclysm!

Kharolis was populated more by the native walrus men and ice bears than any humanoid race. That is precisely what made Tarsis so powerful. It was the sole port city in the west which housed all the functionaries necessary for a strong and prosperous society. It grew to be the chief port of trade for exotic pelts and cold water fish. Tarsis would build massive city walls with taller guard towers to protect her residents from pirates and barbarians. Tarsis was truly a jewel of civilization in this forbidding tundra landscape.

Solamnia came from the civil war in Ergoth, led by Vinas Solamnus in 1791 PC. Its people were unified in their cherished and hard won liberty. The people made use of the heavily fortified cities and villages raised by their late emperor for protection. Solamnia was guided by morality, their sometimes faulty aspiration of walking in the honorable path of its founder. Palanthas was the jewel of the nation, which was already legendary as a port city, with the Great Library, Tower of High Sorcery, Temple and University. But its capital was Vingaard Keep. This former Ergothian outpost has both daunting walls and geographic positioning which only aid the military regimes for defense.

Silvanesti was named after Silvanos who founded the nation in 3550 PC. They fought dragons for their homeland and built it to honor the natural life surrounding them. They shaped trees and rock into exquisite forms for habitation and celebration. Their foundation was built on living in harmony with nature which led to it becoming the oldest surviving city on Ansalon. War would come to the elves in 2192 PC which lasted a hundred years between humans and elves. This caused a fracture in its people, which led to the split and foundation of their cousin nation of Qualinesti. This led to isolationism and the extreme protection of her borders, going so far as to grow a massive hedge to keep outsiders away.

In 3951 PC after the Graystone broke away from its captor, a new race was created. Balif gathers his other transformed brethren and begins wandering the land. Bailiff’s close friend Silvanos granted him a deed to the land east of Silvanesti and there the kender founded the nation of Balifor, to honor Balif in 2750 PC. A hundred and fifty years later, a clan of Kender would discover the first flying citadel which would lead to the founding of Hylo. Again, Balifor would be the true home of all Kender but they would be struck by their Wanderlust, traveling all over the continent and beyond before most would feel the call of their home, and return.

For a millennium, Istar was simply a barbarian land, cut off from the rest of Ansalon by desert and wastelands. But by the time Solamnia and Ergoth faced off, the triban nations had arisen from the farming clans and in time grew to cities. By 1480 PC, the port of Istar became a channeling force for all trade on Ansalon. By 800 PC, the coinage of Istar was recognized across the continent, and the Istar Empire continued to grow. After the Third Dragon War, Peace reigned and in 280 PC, Istar installed its first Kingpriest. This led to socio-political strife with her border nations, and in 118 PC, the proclamation of Manifest Virtue led to the slow downfall of Ansalon and its people with the Cataclysm, showing that a balance between good and evil is necessary for life to flourish.

Outro

And that is all I have to say about the past lands of Krynn. I hope you enjoyed the information. Do you have a favorite empire? Perhaps a favorite location before the Cataclysm? If you could live in Prae Catacli us Ansalon, when and where would it be? Leave a comment below.

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I go where I choose in this world, and I choose to go with you, Tanis Half-Elven.