Join me as I review The Reign of Istar by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Michael Williams, & Richard A. Knaak, live! Share your thoughts on this first volume in the Tales II Trilogy, released on March 17, 1992 by TSR Inc. You can buy a copy here: https://amzn.to/4caFULS
About The Reign of Istar
Before the Cataclysm . . .
A kender becomes a Solamnic Knight (almost).
An ogre emerges as an unlikely savior of the dwarven race.
And gladiators compete in the bloodsport of Istar.
Together with a novella by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, these and more short stories, penned by Richard A. Knaak, Michael Williams, and others of the original Dragonlance Saga creative team — tell wondrous tales of Krynn in the legendary time of the Kingpriest.
Review
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Misham, Holmswelth the 13th. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my review of The Reign of Istar by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Michael Williams, & Richard A. Knaak. 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. This year is the 40th Anniversary of Dragonlance, so join in on the celebration by submitting a video, piece of art or writing about Dragonlance to info@dlsaga.com. It will be added to the dlsaga.com/40th-anniversary celebration landing with all other contributors! This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.
Six Songs for the Temple of Istar by Michael Williams
This short poem is supposed to have been the only record of the great Silvanesti Bard Astralas writing about visions of impending doom from Istar, but what it’s really about is a bard being summoned by the Thon Thalas on a ship which leads him to Istar and proposed a warning to Istar. It’s a poem that uses style over substance, which arguably is what all poetry is, but does not project any actual doom, just the promise of a lesson to be learned.
Colors of Belief by Richard A. Knaak
This was a great short story! It starts with a Knight of Solamnia visiting Istar for the first time, and getting a first hand dose of just how corrupt it has become. He meets an old bartender friend who leaves when he mentions Paladine, then an inquisitor named Brother Gaurim passive aggressively mocks him, and stages an intervention to arrest him. The Knight came upon two men who ended up being guards beating a defenseless man. The knight stepped in and was arrested after defeating them, then immediately sentenced to the arena.
The knight refused to fight, so the ‘cleric’ Gaurim had an innocent half-elf murdered. Rather than let innocents die for him, he agreed to fight, and his opponent said he would get him out of the arena as they were fighting the next day. The elf cut himself, then healed it, proving he was a cleric, so the knight trusted him. They fought and the knight was killed, then resurrected outside Istar. The elf turned out to be an acolyte of Sargonnas and was trying to maintain balance in Istar in his own way. This story did a great way of subverting expectations and showcasing how truly evil Istar had become near the end.
Kender Stew by Nick O’Donohoe
I was not expecting this story to destroy me emotionally, but it did, in the best of ways. The story centers on a Knight of Solamnia named Morgan. He is stationed in Xak Tsaroth and he trains young boys who want to be squires and ultimately Knights of Solamnia. While here he met a Kender named Louraine who was a sort of mortician. Morgan had no idea or refused to admit that she was a kender, and they struck up a friendship, then a relationship. One day she asked him to promise to train anyone who would want to be a knight no matter who they were or what they looked like. He swore to her, his love, that he would. She then, shortly later, left the city.
Years went by and a young man appeared named Tarli. He ended up being a half kender and Morgan trained him to be a knight’s squire like the other boys. He clearly shared the kender traits that made it impossible to be anything but himself and after the other boys finally accepted the Oath and The Measure, Tarli simply couldn’t. Morgan knew that Tarli was his son, but he didn’t know Tarli knew. Which he did. He promised his mother he would try to be a knight at her request. There was a moment that reminded me of my son and even writing this it brings tears to my eyes. He had finished a middle school guitar performance for the school and the students’ parents and when we were leaving afterwards, he asked if I was proud of him. This made me realize that I didn’t tell him that I was, and that I may have not told him enough.
I immediately responded yes, absolutely I was proud of him, he did a great job, and I swore to myself I would never make him ask me what I thought again. When Morgan told Tarli that he could use his name, and Tarli asked if he was proud of him, it came flooding back. With tears. This is a beautiful story about a father getting to know his son, and they both know they are on different paths. They may never see eachother again, but they shared this training, and the acceptance that life just happened to keep them apart. But even though they were dramatically different, they still loved each other. There was a B plot about a cleric trying to steal the treasury that Tarli inadvertently made Morgan aware of, but that paled in comparison to the love of Morgan and Lorraine, and then Tarli and Morgan.
The Goblin’s Wish by Roger E. Moore
This was such an interesting story that began with the best of intentions and ended with evil consuming itself. A kender was running from Istarian hunters who wanted his scalp, there is a bounty on them in Istar, and a goblin killed the human before it could fall into the kender’s pit trap. The kender then invited the goblin to join him for food, and they began to live in the forest together. Then a minotaur slave was discovered near death, so they took care of it and brought it back to health. Finally a white robed Silvanesti elf was saved from guards beating him to death. He began to trust this motley crew and told them that a magical sword was taken and that it grants wishes.
The whole group wanted to go after the sword, and the elf believed they all wanted to use it against Istar rather than personal gain. He was wrong. They finally attacked the Istarians and then began attacking each other. The goblin wanted power, the minotaur wanted power, and the elf was brutally murdered by the minotaur. The goblin killed the minotaur with the sword and the kender returned in time to see the goblin dying and wished the goblin would go peacefully into the afterlife and wait for him there. The blade flashed, and the story ended. It was a nice reminder that as much as Istar is evil, so are the evil races, and it seems you can’t always change your ways, as evil will always turn on itself.
The Three Lives of Horgan Oxthrall by Douglas Niles
This was a great story. It is framed in letters from Foryth Teel a scribe of Astinus, to Astinus about the lost histories of the Khalkist dwarves before the Cataclysm. It focuses on three tales, the first being verbal, and the two latter from a rumored cave, not unlike the dead sea scrolls in our histories. It speaks of a hero known as Hogan Oxthrall and the verbal tale is how he turned Oxes of Istar against their human leaders as they tried to invade the Khalkists at the behest of Istar and the Kingpriest. He wanted to force the Dwarves to worship the good gods and not Reorx. They failed and Hogan was named a hero. The second tale is from the scrolls in the cave where it comes from Hogan himself. He was actually drunk before the battle, and when the oxen, who were also given liquor to ease their behavior for battle, smelled it on him, they chased him, and he ran out of fear.
The next story is Hogan finding an Ogre then humans came as they chased the ogre into the mountains to kill it for bounty in Istar. Hogan refused and fought them off, then told the ogre to leave. He didn’t want the humans to win by having him kill the ogre as they wanted to. This moment of grace or care was returned tenfold, for when the Kingrpriest once again tried to subdue the dwarves they were driven off by an army of ogres, led by the very ogre Hogan saved. Hogan gave him the mountain in thanks as the dwarves were leaving. The mysterious figure in the cave who saved these journals of Hogan, ended up being the ogre. I loved this as it presents individuals over race. Not every ogre is the same and not every dwarf is the same. Circumstance and morals determine the individual, and that is the strength of overcoming racism and bigotry in our own world in addition to this fantasy one.
Filling the Empty Places by Nancy Varian Berberick
This was a wonderful story about a bounty hunter named Hunter-Doune who worked with a partner dwarf named Touk. They would collect bounties for Istar. Starting with bandits and such and ending with outlawed races and priests. Touk abandoned the profession one day and left Doune who later heard he was killed in Xak Tsaroth. Doune would pick up a minotaur and turn him in for the bounty then is approached by a woman and kender who offered him a job to get the infamous Kell. This was a massive villainous figure in Istar who no one could catch. Doune agreed to go but he had to break out the minotaur first, as they were friends.
Reluctantly he did, and they traveled to the desert and into canyons. He grew to like Alyce, the woman who offered the job, and they were beset by goblins in the canyons. Doune stayed with Alyce and fought beside her as they were overrun by goblins. When he awoke he was being healed by strangers until his old bounty hunting partner Touk arrived. Apparently, Kell is Alyce and she created a refuge with her father to protect those that Istar deemed heretics. Touk offered Doune as a captain to protect them all, and he proved himself with the Goblins. He accepted the job and they lived happily.
I really enjoy this sort of tale. First I love romance, and second it’s an alternative to trying to bring down Istar, simply to avoid its reach. It’s clear Istar turned evil to everyone, which this anthology proves, but usually there is sorrow and loss involved in these tales. This is about hope and happiness. It’s a nice juxtaposition.
Off Day by Dan Parkinson
This story is a really interesting one. Its focus is split on Gully Dwarves tapping into wine casks underneath the Temple of Istar, and stealing random objects like codpieces for use as stew bowls, and the clergy and guards responding to it. It prompts the clergy to want to open the Scroll of the Ancients which would bring about the Edict of Thought Control, which is the final nail in Istar’s coffin as it were.
This is all under the direction of Fistandantilus, the Dark One, who is whispering to the Highbulp George III whose clan is tapping the wine casks and stealing objects. It’s crazy that Gully Dwarves stealing random stuff prompts a resurgence of fear of evil but that is the fanaticism and insanity of Istar in that age. It was a funny and entertaining read, and I really enjoyed it.
The Silken Threads by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
This is the second reading of this short story, and I have to tell you, it’s great. There is something comforting about Weis and Hickman’s writing. They created this timeframe and their stories are always revealing and insightful. This is no different. We are presented with twins running their family estate. Their parents died of illness. Their house priest of Mishakal, Michael, loves the sister Nickol, and the brother Nicholas, a new Knight of Solamnia is doing his best to keep the estate together. A Revered Son of Paladine from Istar is asking for them to give their lands to the Kingpriest which they resent, and refuse. He tells the brother that he will send an inquisition to take care of them if they don’t give it up, a threat that has been metered out before. And he’s supposed to be the good guy!
Meanwhile, the Wizard of the Black Robes named Akar is met by the god Nuitari who tells him of the coming Night of Doom where the faithful clearics will be removed from Krynn by the gods of Good. They will be taken to the Flying Citadel. If someone of goodness is murdered it will open a gate to the Abyss where the evil clerics killed by the Kingpriest will be able to return to Krynn, leaving Takhisis with the only true clerics on Krynn. Ackar is promised more power than Fistandantilus if he commits the act, and he agrees. He hires goblins to attack the knight’s castle and bring him to the wizard. They attack as Mishakal is warning Michael, a plainsman from Abanasinia, about the coming night, and he refuses to leave the twins and Nickole. The brother is taken and the daughter goes after them.
As they track the goblins they are forced to enter a magical darkness where they meet Raistlin in the guise of Fistandantilus, who needs the power promised to Akar, or at least not for Akar to have it. So he ends up guiding Michael and Nickole out of the darkness after she pleads with him about the love of her twin brother. Something Raistlin understands. They approached the citadel and saw Akar preparing Nickolas. Nickol tried to run to help but hit a magical barrier. Raistlin instructed Michael to collect Akar’s dagger when it fell, and hit Akar with a lightning bolt. Michael grabbed the dagger and Mishakal appeared to him, telling him to wound Nickolas who was near death. Michael couldn’t bear the idea of breaking his vow to his goddess, but knew that drawing any blood would break the curse so he poked Nickolas. Paladine collected his warrior’s soul and Nickolas was gone.
Akar grabbed Michael from behind, telling Nikol that the cleric killed Nickolas and she could have revenge by bringing him the dagger. She approached him and stabbed him in the hand, then cut him down with her sword. With Akar dead the spell ended and the citadel disappeared with the dawn. Raistlin told Michael about the coming cataclysm in thirteen days and Mishakal appeared to bring Michael onto the citadel. He declined, choosing to stay with Nikol instead. This was an amazing story that I couldn’t help but shed tears through the ending of. It was written so beautifully with the comparison of Nikol, Nickolas and Michael to Raistlin and Caramon.
All in all, there are a lot of wonderful and fun stories in this anthology that perfectly set the tone for the evil that Istar and the Kingpriest were in the name of good. And for me, it framed wonderfully why the gods felt that they had to stop the kingdom. I would highly recommend this anthology to anyone who enjoys Dragonlance and its history, and even Raistlin.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of The Reign of Istar by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Michael Williams, & Richard A. Knaak. What did you think of the collected stories? Did you have a favorite one or a favorite author? And finally, would you ever play a game set in the final weeks of Istar? Feel free to email me at info@dlsaga.com or leave a comment below.
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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 Slàinte mhath (slan-ge-var).
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