Now that We know the truth of the All Dragon’s War, let’s examine what brought about the First Dragon War and discover how it ended. Buy Dragons of Krynn: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/29540/dragons-of-krynn-3-5?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
The First Dragon War begins and ends with Crematia the red .
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today I am going to talk about the First Dragon War. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, 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 Wings of Fury, The Dragonlance Campaign Setting and Dragons of Krynn sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
Every one of these dragon wars are a direct result of what came before them. In the case of the First Dragon War, the original chromatic dragon eggs, before the All-Dragons War, were taken into the Abyss for safekeeping, while the metallic dragon eggs lay dormant in the grotto in the Kharolis Mountains. While the metallic eggs slumbered forgotten to the world, the chromatic eggs hatched. Much like the Dragon Purge in the Fifth Age of Krynn, the dragons began to kill each other. Takhisis had to grant regions of the Abyss to her different dragon types, but the reds roamed free, as Crematia the red started the purge. She was the first to taste the blood of chromatic dragons and to receive the Dark Queen’s gift of spellcasting. This knowledge of magic was lost to the world of Krynn in this time, and the metallic dragons would not know of it as their parents had.
Of the original twenty metallic eggs only thirteen survived this era. Fortunately for them, there were pairs for mating, and they lived isolated and happy lives, growing very slowly under the patient guidance of the scion Bard Patersmith. It would take thousands of years for these dragons to reach full maturity, all the while being wholly ignorant to the threat of their chromatic cousins. They quickly spread out and made friends with all manner of mortals, claiming territory much as their progenitors had. Some like the silver Darlantan walked among the elves in the guise of an elf, later becoming the wild elves’ patron. But the chromatic dragons were not content in the Abyss. Sometime after the Fall of Igraine, Crematia emerged from the Abyss atop Darklady Mountain. She was truly a mighty red dragon gifted with the enchanted Talonstone from the Dark Queen herself. Crematia was followed by dozens of her chromatic brethren and they quickly laid claim in secret to the eastern and northern Khalkist Mountains.
Crematia, knowing her Queen’s will, began gathering ogres to their banners, collecting soldiers for a coming war. The chromatic dragons had two things going for them. First, they had magic, and second, they knew the metallics were unaware of them. Crematia planned her strategy well. They saw how the elves began to show signs of advanced civilization and that was a threat to her. She also knew that by destroying the elves, she would draw out the metallics. She used griffins as spies and learned of a gathering of the metallic dragons in the High Kharolis, and it was then that Crematia first struck. The thirteen metallics were gathered to meet with their tutor Bard Patersmith. There among the next generation of metallic eggs, Bard wanted to impress upon them the importance of protecting these eggs. The outcome of that meeting was that the five great males were not welcome in the grotto, and upon Aurocan the Gold’s suggestion, they all flew south to visit the elves. What they discovered was the aftermath of war. The First Dragon War had begun.
The five metallic dragons sought retribution and flew to the Khalkists. They were ambushed with magic and in the initial moments of the battle the brass Smelt, the bronze Burll and the copper Blayze were killed. Darlantan the silver and Aurican the gold killed several of the chromatics but knew they were outmatched and escaped with their lives. Knowing that they could not defeat the chromatics without magic, Aurican left for the realm of the gods while Darlantan stayed and continued the fight, waging vigorous campaigns against the chromatic dragons and their armies. So cunning were his strategies throughout the years that followed, it is believed the metallic dragons would have been lost to Krynn without him. Aurican called three elf sages to join him into the godly realms. The journey they took is not known in detail. What is known is that the three brothers and Aurican returned with the knowledge of spell magic, and the gods Nuitari, Solinari and Lunitari were cast into the heavens as the moons of magic.
Several of the gods had taken pity on the plight of the elves and forged five mighty enchanted gems called dragon stones. They gifted them to Aurican who would use these large bright stones in the colors of the evil chromatic dragons to trap their souls. The fractious chromatic dragons tactics of flying in segregated wings proved to be their downfall. Aurican would carry a single stone with him into battle and would capture whole flights of chromatic dragon souls. He would then return the dragon stone to Silvanos’ tent and take up the next dragon stone. Silvanos would mount his griffon and fly deep into the fiery reaches of the Khalkists and bury the dragon stones deep, one at a time. This tactic of using Darlantan as bait, luring the flights to Aurican and capturing their souls worked only three times before the chromatics caught on. Ending with the blue dragons and Crematia the red alone remaining.
A vicious counter-attack led by the ogre lord Barc Darrontale resulted in the blue dragonstone being stolen and it would take many elven lives of the Elderwild of Kagonos before it was recovered. During that time the blue dragons returned to battle with the goal of murdering Darlantan. Of the five blues that entered the fray only three remained standing over the body of the slain Darlantan. In a rage of fury Silvanos himself carried the blue dragonstone against Darlantans enemies and captured their souls before they could lay waste to his forces. This provided the opportunity of the elves to surge forward with renewed strength against the ogres forces, turning the tide of the war. Finally Aurican stood against Crematia, fighting over hundreds of miles. Each received grievous wounds, but in the end Crematia the red escaped. With her army scattered, and her allied dragons captured, she went into hiding far beneath the fiery Khalkists. The First Dragon War was over.
In the last battle of Darlantan’s life, he collected three shards of the three moons of magic that fell to Krynn after being blasted free from blue dragons lightning breath. Aurican found his nestmate and in Darlantans final moments, bade Aurican to swallow the potent shards. Aurican did and returned to the grotto to breathe soft smoke of magic over the nest. This imbued the next generation of metallic dragons with the power of spell magic. With dozens of metallic dragons, and the absence of chromatic dragons, Krynn would have the opportunity of peace. Auracan would dote on these wyrmlings until his death in circa 2864 Prae Cataclius handing off mentorship to the last of his generation, Aysa the bronze. Reflecting on the First Dragon war it is important to note that the three races of Ogres, Humans and Elves all played pivotal roles. Most of the humans in their greed were swayed by the Dark Queen, and the ogres led brutal assaults upon the elves. The elves fought valiantly against insurmountable odds and the three wisened elven elders who returned with Aurican with the power of spell magic, all aided incredibly in the war. Silvanos would rise to be the Speaker of the Stars as the elven leader, and the elves themselves would fracture between the followers of Kagonos and Silvanos.
Outro
But that is all the time I have to talk about the First Dragon War. What do you think of the red dragon Crematia surviving? Did the gods of magic make a mistake by crafting the dragon stones? And finally, should the elves have claimed territory so close to the Chromatic Dragons and ogres? 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:
Of all the hatreds, the ones between families are the cruelest.
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