You love him or you hate him. Sturm Brightblade was a judgemental youth, trying to live up to what he believed were the just dictates of the knighthood. Let’s look a bit deeper into Sturm Brightblade. Buy DL5 Dragons of Mystery: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/16890/DL5-Dragons-of-Mystery-1e?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
Arguably one of the most tragic deaths that drove characters and the knighthood to greatness.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Sturm Brightblade. 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 Chronicles, Lost Chronicles and various Dragonlance sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out, please feel free to leave a comment below!
Discussion
I come from a generation and community that celebrated war heroes, veterans and patriots. This becomes more of a moral and ethical dilemma the older you get and the truth of war, patriotism and sacrifice begin to take on different meanings. It’s easy to get caught up in the glory of those ideals but there are humans on all sides of a conflict that share those same ideals. Does that mean it is just to murder them? Or them to us? It’s the common folk that die in war more than those who start the conflict or even direct it. It’s the common folk who are the most patriotic as well. Warrior classes exist in all cultures and ours is no different than fantasy worlds. The Knights of Solamnia, who look great in their polished metal armor, are only warrior classes. They exist to protect and serve, in much the same way our military services exist. Whether it is existential threats of death or disaster, our warrior classes are sent out and they are not always on the right side of a conflict. Certainly the Solamnic Knights actions were not either, being dominated by the narrow scope of The Oath and The Measure.
Then there are times when the country turns against its warrior class. We saw it personified in the wake of the Vietnam war and the shameful treatment of its veterans back home. This is echoed in the extreme with Solamnia turning against its protectors, the Knights of Solamnia. I am the next generation after Vietnam, as Sturm is the next generation after the fall of the Knights. I saw the strength the heroes mustered to fight an unwinnable war. My father and step father served in Vietnam and their experiences affected everything about them hence. Sturm is a refugee from Solamnia, his mother Ilys fled with Soren Vardis at the order of his father Angriff as Castle Brightblade was besieged by the very people he and his forefathers protected for generations. There are aspects of Sturms life that I will never, nor would I want to understand through experience. But there are very real parts of his psychology I very much do know, deep to my core as a son of a war hero.
I idealized my father as most of us do, only I wasn’t the only one to put him on a pedestal. My country did as well, and that fed into my sense of patriotism. Sturm has a legacy in the Knighthood as many of us do in the military. We are generational warriors that stand up and do what is hard and right. It is not always just and history doesn’t always bear out the action, but in the moment we did what we believed was honorable. Sturms psychology isn’t one of simplicity. What would be simple would be to give in to the common ideals of the age. Apathy and self centeredness. Sturm took the hard road of respect, honor and justice in a time when NO ONE wanted it. Not because it was wrong, but because it reminds others how far they have fallen. I love Sturms character because he isn’t one dimensional. He is simply misunderstood.
On development Sturm’s original name was Santos Silverblade. Tracy Hickman notes that they wanted his name to sound more stern, so Sturm fit perfectly. He was seen as cold and rigid initially, until we were allowed to learn about him through his actions. He was a consummate gentleman. This could be attributed to his upbringing, but it’s a trait that he carried his whole life. When Sturm and his mother settled in Solace, he would work for Derimius the scribe. It is here where he first met and befriended Caramon, Raistlin and Kitiara. The mystery of the fate of his father would haunt him as a child. I can empathize with this as well, as my mother and father divorced when I was young and it would be more than 16 years before we reconnected briefly. In their absence, you would spend your informative years wondering about your father. What you were missing out on. What other kids had been granted had eaten at me, and I can only assume it did the same to Sturm.
We see our fathers as superheroes to emulate, so it made sense that Sturm would want to be a Knight like his father and fathers father and so on before him. His mother would die from the plague, and without his mother, he would travel north to find his father. This was his first run-in with the Crownguards, a family rivalry that began with his own father. Sturm would accuse Boniface Crownguard of dishonor, but was defeated by the much more mature knight and would return to Solace without the knowledge he sought. He would befriend the rest of the companions and even run security for Flint as he traveled and sold his wares. It was soon after the companions decided to split and regroud in five years. Sturm and Kitiara traveled north to Solamnia. The gnomish ship the Cloudmaster actually malfunctioned and delivered them to the moon of Lunitari for a while, for real. Kitiare was growing more aggravated with Sturms mannerisms and decided to seduce him out of spite to put him in his place. She was eventually successful and abandoned him, in his shame.
Sturm arrived at his ancestral home and was forced to sell off the estate to pay off his fathers debts. He held onto his family’s sword the Brightblade and his fathers armor. He discovered his fathers killer, Merinsaard who bested him in combat, and as he was about to kill Sturm, Kitiara shot him in the back and vanished to deliver their son Steel Uth Matar Brightblade in secret. The legacy of not knowing his father that started with Sturm, was passed to his son Steel, unbeknownst to him; but the honor that both would hold through life, would leave them an even greater legacy. One that broke the boundaries of knighthoods and friendships. One that spoke to the core of the warrior culture they both shared. He would return to Solace as planned and escort Goldmoon and Riverwind to the Inn of the Last Home which would set into motion the War of the Lance.
When people reflect on Sturm it is often because he was curt and rude to Raistlin. He admits that he is frustrated with Raistlin because of how Raistlin treats his twin Caramon. But they shared a mutual respect for each other’s talents, if not ways of life, even when they refused to admit it. It was Sturm’s stoic nature and manners that struck Alhana Starbreeze in Tarsis as she was seeking aid for her father in Silvanesti. He treated her with respect befitting her station without knowing who she was. That struck a chord in her, and when he laid eyes on her, he felt the pangs of love for the first time. Alhana would grow more connected to him with each act of respect and kindness. After being rescued from jail, Alhana would give Sturm with the Starjewel. This is typically an act of love and a promise of marriage. It would maintain the connection between them, unbeknownst to Sturm. It would also be the symbol that would inspire his son and Sara Dunstan in the future.
As Sturm traveled with Derek, Brian and Aran and his own companions to Icewall, then Southern Ergoth, the animosity between Derek and Sturm grew more palpable and the secret that Sturm was never a knight but only a squire would eventually come out. They would deliver the Dragon Orb to the Whitestone council and when they arrived in Sancrist, Derek brought Sturm up on charges of cowardice and insubordination. Lord Gunthar Uth Wistan would take Sturms side, stripping him of his squirehood and making him a Knight of the Crown. As Derek would foolishly fall into a dragonarmy trap outside the High Clerists Tower, the fortress that had never fallen, The Knighthood looked to have finally met its end with the Dragonarmy invasion. Sturm gave up his life to face the Blue Dragon Highlord in single combat with the Brightblade, as his father faced the rebels assaulting his family home to allow his son and wife time to escape. Sturm now did the same to allow Lauralanthalasa and the Knight of Solamnia time to locate and activate the Dragon Orb at the base of the tower. This won the battle, but it cost Sturm his life. He was laid to rest beneath the tower in the tomb of heroes with the Starjewel, Brightblade and honor that he carried with him his whole life.
His spirit would pass the Brightblade and Starjewel to his son, and task Tanis half-elven with his son’s protection. Sturm’s legacy is one of doing the right thing, even when it’s hard, even when it doesn’t make sense at times. This is not always the best decision, but to Sturm it was the only decision. His integrity was such that he even spoke out against the very knighthood he lived his entire life in honor of! Sturm’s legacy speaks to the best in humanity and the promise of a dawn in the darkest of nights.
Outro
And that is all I have to say about Sturm Brightblade. What did you think about this divisive character? Was he truly one dimensional or did you find depth in his actions? And finally if you had to attend a Solamnic ball, and could sit next to Sturm Brightblade or Derek Crownguard, who would you choose? Leave a comment below.
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This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I thank you for joining me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
It’s the sensible, logical thing to do, of course, which is why we won’t do it.
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