Join me as I review Sacred Fire by Chris Pierson, live! Share your thoughts on this third novel in the Dragonlance Kingpriest Trilogy, released on December 1, 2003 by Wizards of the Coast. You can buy a copy here: https://amzn.to/45lB8rQ
About Sacred Fire
The final title in the historical Kingpriest trilogy.
This titles completes the exploration of a key part of Dragonlance history. The era explored in this novel, although referred to frequently throughout many Dragonlance novels, is being finely detailed for the first time. In addition, this title features popular characters that appear throughout the Dragonlance Legends trilogy.
Review
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Majetag, Majetag the 5th. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my Spoiler review of Sacred Fire by Chris Pierson. I will be spoiling the story, so if you don’t want to know it, stop watching now! I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this YouTube 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. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.
We begin with the scholar Varen leading an expedition into the ruins of Losarcum. His mercenary men are worried about a ghost that is said to haunt these ruins, but Varen wants to find his fame and fortune by excavating the glass ruins of the Tower of High Sorcery. They enter the ruins to be confronted by a wild Cathan MarSevrin who kills everyone but the scholar. Varen travels to Cathan’s sister, Wentha, and tells her of her brother being alive. Together they travel to the capital to tell the Kingpriest.
They arrive in the harbor with gray sails, which freaks everyone out as it’s a superstition of an ill omen. Lady Elsa, the Revered Daughter of Paladine, is informed about Wentha and tells the Kingpriest, who sends her to collect the Grand Master of the Knights of the Divine Hammer, who is now Tithian. Together they greet Wentha and her two sons Rath and Tancred, then report to the Kingpriest. He is silent about the news that Varen shares and has them all to dinner to discuss it further. He seems unsure what to do, as he sent Cathan to his death to Losarcum, and Cathan returned to renounce the Kingpriest and his role as the Grand Master.
Then we go to Cathan who has the dream about the burning hammer falling on Istar again, the first he has had since leaving Istar. He wakes to find Fistandantilus standing nearby. Fisty wanted Cathan to save the Kingpriests’ procession that was headed to him in the Ruins of Losarcum. Initially Cathan refused then relented when he discovered that his sister and her two sons were there as well. A massive caterpillar abomination attacked the caravan, and a couple died, but as Cathan ravaged in, like Sir Lancelot from the film Excalibur, ragged, full bearded and wild, they all defeated the beast.
They stayed for a bit with Cathan talking with Beldinas, showing him the result of his war with the Wizards of High Sorcery, and the innocents caught in between. Baldinas cried, truly sorry but not for the war. Since Cathan has been away, the Kingpriests started targeting his own people through telepathy. Anyone with a bad thought was taken away. He re-instituted the gladiator games after the tournament Wentha put on in his behalf, and he even reinstated slavery for all those not perfectly good according to him. As the procession slowly began returning to Istar with Cathan in tow, they stopped at one of the large cities for a feast and celebration. It was here that Cathan discovered Wentha and her sons were part of a resistance group, trying to bring down the Kingpriest.
Initially horrified by the discovery, once they showed Cathan what the kingpriest had been doing in his absence, he was stunned. When they all finally returned to Istar’s capital, Cathan asked Beldinas directly and he showed him that he had been targeting good clerics now as well. Anyone who worshiped a good god in a form or method that the Kingpriest did not approve was killed or thrown into slavery. And then the Kingpriest revealed his true plan, to command the gods to stop all evil once and for all. Of course we all know this event is what caused the Cataclysm, but to read about it as it is unfolding is truly wonderful. The author is doing an amazing job blending new events and characters with established lore.
The Kingpriest believes that he can learn to command the gods by finding the lost Disks of Mishakal. He believes there are chapters within the original that outline this action. Then it goes into a whole chapter devoted to the history of the Discs. The Discs, while inspired by religious myth, are very real in this fantasy IP, so I did find the new history of them fascinating, and it it pretty ironic that discs which reveal the true word of the gods, penned by the gods, is the very mcguffin which caused the Cataclysm through the Kingpriest. They were meant to be a revelation and ended up destroying much of mortal life.
So Cathan agrees to aid the resistance in stopping the Kingpriest, and I am stunned that there is not more mention of Fisty’s role here. Why would Cathan not ask more questions about why he wants the Kingpriest alive, when he could easily stop him? Why call Cathan to save him, after Cathan sees the true evil the mad Kingpriest is perpetuating? When would Fisty want the kingpriest to continue destroying all evil? I think it’s a shortcut to Cathan’s nature in not asking those questions more than is presented.
During the Spring Dawning festival, Cathan left the gladiator games to meet with the resistance, and was shown the leader, none other than Revando, the First son of Paladine. He had been planning to depose the Kingpriest for a long time after watching his evil acts, and now the wheels are finally in motion. He shared that he didn’t want to kill Beldinas, just take the crown from him, sit as regent Kingpriest until a new one could be named. Cathan believed him, and agreed to help.
Later the Grand Marshall was dueling in training, and a gray robed informant arrived. It is a traitor in the resistance’s ranks that revealed everything to Tithian who was stunned to learn that the entire MarSeverin family was involved in the plot, even Cathan. The plan was that Cathan would escort the Kingpriest as he discovered the tomb where the Disks of Mishakal were held. Cathan would enter and subdue the protector, then the Kingpriest would claim the Disks. As soon as they exited the cave, the resistance would attack the escorts and Cathan would poison the Kingpriest with a needle.
Everything went as planned until Cathan saw the Kingpriest in front of the Disks. He believed him, even still, to be a holy man. So he struck when he had the will to do so, poisoning Beldinas and carried him and the Disk’s out of the cave. The resistance was successful and waiting but the Divine Hammer was tipped off, so they arrived in full force, killing all who resisted. It turned out that it was Tancred, Wenthas Son, who tipped the Divine Hammer off, all for Paladine, or so he thought. This enraged his brother Rath for the deceit, and he killed him. The knights Killed Rath, and Cathan wept for his nephews.
The Knights imprisoned Cathan, and captured Wentha, selling he into slavery. They went to abduct the first Son Revando who schemed the whole plot, but he was visited by a bearded elf…. Riiiight. Apparently elves can grow beards in the afterlife, just not in mortal life. Okay… So he says he wants to provide the prophecy of doom for the Kingpriest then he’ll take his own life. His god consented and he died drinking poison. Quaranth found the prophecy and had it burned with Revando. He has been running the kingdom while the kingpriest searched the Disks for power to command the gods. And he liked it that way.
An unknown amount of time passed and Catan was imprisoned. He is rescued by Leciane the Red Robe, and transported out of the cell. He was tasked by Paladine to deliver the Disks of Mishakal to Xak Tsaroth so they would survive the coming cataclysm. Fistandantilus caught up with Cathan before he left offering him help getting out of the palace, if he took one of his spell books with the Disk’s. He refused to say why, but we all know.. and Cathan was off. It turned out the Fisty wanted to use the Kingpriest for the holy cleric needed to open the Portal to the Abyss and take Takhisis place after defeating her. But when he looked into Beldinas’ eyes and saw a fraction of the man he knew; he realized he had been foiled by Takhisis.
Tithian was sent after Cathan to recover the Disks, and he met up with him in his hometown, offering him jury by combat. They face off in a ditch, away from the other soldiers, and though it was a close battle Cathan defeats Tithian. Tithian saw the truth about the Kingpriest before his death and Cathan constructed a burial cairn, then left to Xak Tsaroth. The Night of Doom arrived and when Denubis was visited by Fistandantilus, he was told to deny leaving. I can’t help but think Denubis was under Fisty’s spell when Loralon arrived to take him to safety. In either case, Denubis denied the offer of leaving Krynn, and instead left to find Fistandantilus.
The prophesied thirteen events unfolded and they were attributed to the evil gods trying last ditch efforts at stopping the Kingpriest. We finally got to see Quaranth get his come-uppance as he was crushed by stone in the earthquakes. I enjoyed seeing the first version of Fistandantilus, Denubis and Pheragas teleporting to the future after having loved seeing Raistlin, Chrysania, and Caramon taking their place in the Legends trilogy as well. Pierson did such a truly magical job of marrying the Weis and Hickman version of this history with his own take on the motivations and characters. I really believed everyone, even the Kingpriest and Paladine! I wept when Cathan killed Tithian and when Cathan faced the Cataclysm. Even when Bron was rescued by Wentha at the very end. His writing is truly superb.
The other Knights of the Divine Hammer that were with Tithian continued to give chase after Cathan and caught up to him eventually. Just before they did, Brother Jendle, the fat monk avatar of Paladine, revealed to Catan that he was the Lightbringer of prophecy. You see, I had thought he was the Lightbringer, but I thought that meant he was the rightful Kingpriest. But the Lightbringer was actually the one to carry the Disks of Mishakal to Xak Tsaroth. Not the Kingpriest alternate title. This brought a whole new understanding and acceptance of Cathan and the Cataclysm. I also loved reading Paladine’s explanation about why he hated causing the Cataclysm but had no other choice to maintain the balance.
So, Sir Bron of the Divine Hammer faced off against Cathan, and bested him, but Cathan revealed that he was the Lightbringer and Bron finally saw the truth in his eyes. He ended up fleeing Xak Tsaroth as Cathan requested and witnessing its destruction. Cathan rowed a boat out to an island and tossed Disks and Fisty’s book into a vortex caused by the Cataclysm before Paladine took him to the afterlife. Bron would go on to live for a couple years before traveling back to the Blood Sea of Istar. He was captured and tortured by locals before being saved by Wentha, who ultimately went her own way.
I have not spoken about the Kingpriest’s final moments because I am torn. While I disagree with every instinct he had as a leader, I can’t help but respect his core desire to provide safety for those under his protection. It’s a constant thought I have as a father of two, even with one of mine grown and out of the house. The most difficult part of being a leader and parent is letting those you truly care about and love desperately make mistakes and fail. The Kingpriest never learned this, to his and his people’s demise. The loss of innocence can be traumatic, but it is necessary, and I believe it is at the core of many of our ideological problems we have in society. If we can accept that our thoughts and beliefs are our own, and stop trying to force others to share them, acknowledging that they have come to theirs through life experience just like you, we could actually have our own Law of Balance.
But ultimately this requires everyone to take ownership and responsibility for their actions and feelings. This last one seems to be the hardest in our current culture. I hope it is short lived, because though we may not agree on anything individually, there is infinitely more we have in common as a species with each other than our thoughts in the moment allow us to see. I am not suggesting we should love each other, as that is a bronze aged, childish notion. I am suggesting we acknowledge that we are each human beings with life experience that informs our perspectives and actions. And it is okay, even healthy to disagree, but we shouldn’t shield ourselves from those ideas and people we disagree with, lest we learn the hard way, like the Kingpriest, that it will only lead to our own doom.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of Sacred Fire by Chris Pierson. What did you think of the characters? Did you believe their motivations? Did you like the true meaning of the Lightbringer? And finally would you have followed the Kingpriest? You can email me at info@dlsaga.com or comment below.
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