The wake of the Kinslayer Wars saw the seceding of many Silvanesti Elves to found the Qualinesti nation. Let’s take a closer look into the history of the Qualinesti Elves! Buy Races of Ansalon: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/27946/Races-of-Ansalon-35?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
They are the result of a violent civil war and the desire to work with other races rather than remain isolationists. Let’s dig in a bit more…
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Qualinesti Elves. I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing modules and sourcebooks from all editions for this information.
Discussion
Qualinesti Elves first came onto the Dragonlance scene in DL2 Dragons of Flame. They were the estranged family to Tanis Half-Elven, and we are immediately introduced to the royal family in Gilthanas, Laurana and Porthios who all play significant roles in the history of both the Qualinesti nation, and the War of the Lance. But we can go back much further than that as the Qualinesti have their roots in the Silvanesti nation. The grandsons of the founder of the Silvanesti nation, Silvanos, would be at the forefront of the Kinslayer Wars, which ended in the separations and mass migration of thousands of Silvanesti to found a new more tolerant and welcoming nation Qualinesti. Of course, this tolerance and welcoming spirit is still very subdued compared to non elven races. Sithas and Kith-Kanan would be born in a tumultuous time. The Ergothian Empire, the brutal, bestial creation, ruled by warlords and tyrants, was expanding all across Ansalon, pushing up against Silvanesti’s borders. The death of its founder, Ackal Ergot would see the ascension of Ackal Dermount who saw war as unprofitable and began trading with their neighbors. The first to meet this expansion were the Wildrunner elves, led by Kith-Kanan, while his brother Sithas was heir to their fathers throne.
Kith-Kanan, free from the political and social stigmas of the capital, traded openly with the human settlements, and some of the elves even joined in marriage with humans. This peaceful engagement between the races and nations made sense to Kith-Kannan in the name of peace, but his father Sithel, the Speaker of the Stars, was much more of a traditionalist and journeyed to the western borders at Kith-Kanan’s invitation to see for himself the strength of his son’s half-century long diplomacy. In a terrible accident Sithel was killed by a stray arrow during a hunt for sport in the borderlands, and the result was the Kinslayer Wars. Sithas became the Speaker of the Stars and declared war on Ergoth, promoting his twin Kith-Kanan to general. Now some believe the harrow’s origin was human assassins to remove the barrier of further Ergothian expansion, others place the murder directly at Sithas’ feet to discredit his brother and put himself on the throne.
The beginning of the Kinslayer War was simple in its xenophobia. Remove humans from Silvanesti’s lands. It became difficult as some of those humans were wed to elves. Those elves sided with Ergoth and Kith-Kanan would lead the war against his own kind and against those who connected with Ergoth through his diplomatic encouragement. The refugees saw this as their own nation turning against them. The war would ultimately end after forty years in a truce, built by Kith-Kanan. This truce would be upended for the elves, as the western elves sued for social change. This threatened a civil war. Sithas would conduct secret negotiation with Ergoth to subdue tensions, thus the Swordsheath Scroll was signed. Some saw this as the unity of races, but Kith-Kanan saw it as exile. The western Wildrunner elves founded the Qualinesti nation, in the ancient forest of Mithranhana, the original home of the Tree of life, out of sorrow and hope. Kith-Kanan vowed to turn this around and forge a more tolerant society. These would not be long lived ideals.
In the Age of Might, the Qualinesti would come together with the dwarven nation of Thorbardin and build Pax Tharkas together as a monument to peaceful relations and open trade. Ironically, the nation of Qualinesti was born out of the struggle between interracial marriages, though the Qualinesti elves themselves would look down on and actively disprove of interratial relationships. The Cataclysm would seal Qualinesti’s borders, as their civilization was able to be maintained, their human and dwarven neighbors were completely destroyed. They would turn to the Qualinesti forest with envious eyes and raid outlying elven settlements. Their borders would continue to be closed until they abandoned their homeland, fleeing across the Straits of Algoni into Southern Ergoth, due to the Dragonarmies in the War of the Lance. There they founded the city Qualimori on the eastern shores of the Harkun Bay. This was originally the land of the Kagonesti nation, and was already being infringed upon by the Silvanesti who were also exiled for the same reason.
After the war they would return from Southern Ergoth and reclaim Qualinesti, yet they still harbored resentment against their one time allies from the war. In an attempt to unite the elven nations, Alhana Starbreeze and Porthios, the new Speaker of the Suns, would marry. The Thalas-Enthia, or Senate, turned their eyes both inward, searching for ways to oust their Silvanesti cousins, and outward to assist them in reclaiming Silvanost from Lorac’s Nightmare.
During the Summer of Chaos, Qualinesti’s Thalas’Enthia, in cooperation with Silvanesti usurpers, declared Alhana and Porthios Dark Elves, outcasting them from their homes. They looked to Tanis and Laurana’s son, Gilthas, to be their puppet king. Little did they realize that the experience would teach him how to properly rule, and manipulate the senate in return. After they conceded to the Knights of Takhisis’ occupying the nation, Gilthas would rise to become a reliable and great Speaker of the Suns. In the Fifth age, Qualinesti was claimed by the great dragon overlord Beryllinthranox, who was stealing the life force of the elves. When the dragon decided to destroy the elves, Gilthas made a deal with the dwarves of Thorbardin to build escape tunnels, and while his people fled, his mother Laurana and the occupying ruler Marshal Medan of the Knights of Neraka led a small resistance so the citizens could escape. The dragon was ultimately destroyed in a battle with Laurana and Marshall Medan. The city of Qualinost became the Nalis Aren, or Lake of Death in the battle.
The Qualinesti were forced into exile as their home was overrun by evil forces. Gilthas would lead a mass migration across the Plains of Dust to Silvanesti. When they arrived they found Silvanesti overrun by a grand Minotaur Army. They were led by Alhana with remnant elves of Silvanesti to the city of Sanction, chasing after her son. After his death, and the death of the now mortal Takhisis, Alhana was offered the position of Speaker of the Suns. She declined, saying Gilthas deserved the honor. He accepted it, uniting the three elven nations with his marriage to The Lioness, daughter of a respected Kagonesti elder. He is known now as Gilthas Pathfinder, Speaker of the Sun and Stars. The first leader to unify the elven nations after Sithas broke them apart.
In Qualinesti, Porthios and Alhana Starbreeze and her retainers are conducting a gorilla war to regain their homeland. They are known as the Orexas. Though their path is separate from Gilthas’ they support his movement. Gilthas has led his people to the deserts of Khur, opposed by the Khurish nomad Chieftains. He is searching for the location of the Inath-Wakenti. The green and fertile land where the gods first walked on K rynn in human form. It is also known as the Vale of Silence, as the gods agreed to maintain peace by not speaking to each other while there.
Outro
And that is all I can say about the Qualinesti Elves. Do you think the Qualinesti will ever return to their homeland? Can the elves ever learn to live together, or is there simply too much bad blood between them? And finally, if you could rescue one of the two elven nations mentioned thus far, Silvanesti or Qualinesti, which would it be? Leave a comment below.
I would like to once again invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel, and you can pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link, all of which are in the description below.
This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
The darkness might conquer, but it could never extinguish hope, and though one candle may flicker and die, new candles would be lit from the old. Thus hope’s flame always burns, lighting the darkness until the coming of day.
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