With all the talk and confusion over Tiamat and Takhisis, is there the same confusion over Bahamut and Paladine? Let’s find out while exploring Mount Celestia in the process! Buy Planescape Campaign Setting (2e): https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/17272/planes-of-law-2e?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
Paladine is not to Bahamut what Takhisis is to Tiamat.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Planescape and the plane of Mount Celestia, the Seven Heavens. 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 links. I am referencing the Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set, Planes of Law, and On Hallowed Ground supplements for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
Planescape came about in a time when TSR was nearing the end of its viability as a company. With its focus on releasing annual boxed sets, and losing money on every sale, the writing was on the wall for everyone involved. But what did that mean for the game products? TSR would eventually resort to frequently released splatbooks. These tended to retread familiar ground, as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition was becoming a bloated mess of a game with its myriad of game worlds and TSR’s insistence that they were all connected through their latest, Planescape and its new presentation of the multiverse. This would naturally bring up role-playing questions like: are all the gods versions of other gods? Spelljammer attempted to restrict that connection with its crystal spheres, but the Planescape team seemed to do their best to not only erase the boundaries Spelljammer put in place, but more, connect everything in the inner and outer planes through a single city called Sigil.
This seems like a gross oversimplification in hindsight, but it was incredibly popular as TSR continued copying the success of publishers like White Wolf. Much like Wizards of the Coast would do when they bought the company. This would lead to issues addressed in my last video about Takhisis and Tiamat. While I thought their method of addressing the confusion was a decent one, leaving it up to the Dungeon Master, it didn’t resolve any lingering confusion. This only extrapolates when we think about the other great gods of Krynn. Why the confusion and semi connection to Tiamat, when Gilean would have no counterpart, and Paladine was made separate from Bahamut? Does it really just come down to the five headed dragon form? How narrow-minded are we roleplayers that we are incapable of distinguishing between two seemingly immortal entities that look similar, some of the time?
Planescape didn’t repeat that mistake with Paladine however, and while they firmly placed him in the plane of Mount Celestia, they clarified that Bahamut is the god of Good Dragons, while Paladine is a human god. Two separate entities with zero connection between them in the multiverse. Could this be why Takhisis is continually trying to overthrow Krynn? Out of some shallow case of mistaken identity and jealousy? While I am joking about motivations, I do find it incredibly interesting to see how the different gods are placed in later supplements. So let’s take a look at Mount Celestia and see where Paladine fits into Planescape. The Planescape On Hallowed Ground supplement was released after Dragons of Summer Flame, where the pantheon of gods of Krynn were forced away from the very world they created. Planescape clarifies that the gods retreated to their respective planes of existence in banishment, gambling that they would be accepted fully by the powers already there.
This is an interesting note as it infers that the gods left their planes to create and govern over Krynn, then returned to them, to the new powers that rose in their absence. It presents a different and evolving view of the Planes that Krynn always stayed away from. And while I am not personally averse to the idea that the once mighty gods have to rediscover their place in their homes, it does skew the presented view of the Gods of Krynn from being all powerful, into interlopers in a now unfamiliar hometown. Mount Celestia is itself a strange and foreign plane, as though it is a plane of law and goodness, evil beings are allowed there as long as they are seeking redemption. In fact, anyone on the plane is prohibited from violence, even against Evil, unless that evil is actively destroying others. So if a Paladin were to go around slaughtering all evil beings in Mount Celestia, the gods would actually punish him!
Mount Celestia or the Seven Mountains of Goodness and Law, is bathed in golden radiance of justice and mercy. Everything therein is an ideal model of prime-material things. In stark contrast to Baator which delves down each successive layer, Mount Celestia rises up with each of its successive layers. Petitioners’ spirits are transmuted into lantern Archons, small balls of light, and progress through hounds, wardens, sword and finally tome classifications. Their goal is to ascend to proxy, hound or better, and become one with the plane. The first layer is Lunia, the Silver Heaven. It is a land of constant night filled with stars and silver moonlight. Its shoreline slopes are filled with citadels, trading centers and minor powers. Heart’s Faith being the largest town. The portals open from the oceans shoreline, and any visitors are unceremoniously dropped into the Silvery Sea, but it’s the only way to enter the plane. Deep out into the Silvery Sea is the Tower of Fire. It ascends from the depths of the ocean, and the only way to enter is through the water. The interior is blue fire, which doesn’t burn. Its immense interior is fitted with unexplored rooms that shift like natural fire. While it is believed to have originally been built as a lighthouse, its true purpose is unknown.
The second layer is Mercuria, the Golden Heaven. It is perpetually bathed in golden light. This is where Bahamut, Draco paladine, has his palace. It is covered with armories and mustering grounds, perpetually ready for war. Further out are jungles filled with stone temples. Venya, the Pearly Heaven is the third layer. It is lit with soft, white light and known as the Green Fields to halflings. It is a lush and fertile land of slopes, terraced crops, meadows and moors. The fourth layer is Solania, the Electrum Heaven where Paladine the Dragons Lord dwells. The sky is silver and the land is rugged with canyons and crashing rivers. Fog climbs to shroud monasteries that dot the slopes. Atop of which rests the Dome of Creation.
The fifth layer is Mertion, the Platinum Heaven. The sky burns ever brighter and would damage all undead if ever glimpsed. It is dominated by massive plateaus where immense fortresses rest. Archons who were Paladin’s in life reside here. Jovar, the Glittering Heaven, is the sixth layer. Its sky glows with the sparkling fire of gems. The peak of the great mountain is here, topped by a massive ziggurat. This pyramidal structure is the palace of the ruling council of archons. The seventh layer is only accessible by climbing it. Lastly Chronias, the Illuminated Heaven is the seventh layer. Shrouded in uncertainty, it’s supposed to glow with the force of goodness and law so intensely that it burns all indifference and evil. Those of Lawful Good alignment merge with the plane here, losing themselves to the glory of all. It is even unknown which great powers reside here. I would like to speculate the High God of Dragonlance could dwell here.
Outro
I may delve deeper into the different layers of Mount Celestia and its denizens, but for now that is all I have to say about Mount Celestia, the Seven Mountains of Goodness and Law. How do you feel about Planescape separating Bahamut and Paladine? Would you ever take a group into Mount Celestia? And finally, if the gods retreated to their planes after leaving Krynn, where did Chaos go? 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:
What treachery is this?! A human enchanted to look like Bel the enchanted to look like a human…?
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