Krynn is the fictional world of the Dragonlance setting.
Creation
The world of Krynn was forged by the god Reorx, who had been asked to by Takhisis, the head god of evil. Takhisis had duped her brothers into condoning this, and once Reorx created the world, Chaos, a much more powerful god than any of the others, spread his influence amongst them and caused the gods to war. After a terrible war, the gods created life and each gave their creation a gift; Paladine, head god of good, gave the gift of desire to control, Gilean, head god of neutrality, gave the gift of free will, and Takhisis gave the gift of ambition. The gods each created a race then, each one exhibiting the trait that their god gave creation the strongest; Paladine, the elves, Gilean, the humans, and Takhisis, the ogres. Chaos also created the animals, and gave the world dragons, the most powerful of all races. Reorx taught some humans the ability of metal forging; however, they did not honor him in their pride of their new skill. Reorx cursed them and made them as short as him, and stripping them of their skill but leaving their desire to invent, thus creating the gnomes. Soon, the Graygem, a gem containing the mighty Chaos himself, was forged, and in a time, the gem perverted gnomes into dwarves and kender.
- See also: Creation (Dragonlance)
Krynn's Sky
There are three moons on the planet of Krynn, and each is the face of one of the gods of magic. They chose not to put themselves in stars or planets, but to be as close to Krynn as possible so as to watch it. Wizards of High Sorcery draw power from these moons and their respective gods. The moons are the white moon Solinari, representing the god of good magic, the red moon Lunitari, representing the god of neutral magic, and the black moon Nuitari, representing the god of evil magic. Nuitari as a moon is little known; it can only be seen by those who use it for their magic. Most people believe in only two moons, Solinari and Lunitari.
In addition, the other gods of evil and of good have a constellation representing them, whereas the other gods of neutrality, aside from Gilean, who has a constellation, have planets.
During the three decades between the Second Cataclysm and the War of Souls, a single pale white moon was the only moon of Krynn. In addition, all the stars had changed.
- See also: Night Sky of Krynn
Lands
The major land mass of Krynn is Ansalon, a continent far to the south and the main setting of the novels. The continent is surrounded by ocean on the north, east, and west sides, and on the south by the huge mass of Icereach, a frigid and mostly unexplored wasteland. Ansalon was once intact as one continent, but the Cataclysm shattered the continent, sinking the northeastern section of it and sending many chunks of Ansalon scattering as islands, including the once great Empire of Ergoth, which was not only seperated from the mainland, but split into two. North of Ansalon is the Dragon Isles, the home of the good dragons.
- See also: List of Dragonlance locations
History
The majority of the history of Krynn is actually the history of Ansalon, as it is the most well-known continent. The history of Krynn is measured in the following time periods: PC, or Prae Cataclius, meaning before the Cataclysm, AC, or Alt Cataclius, meaning after the Cataclysm, and SC, or Secundus Cataclius, a time period that overlaps AC and means the time after the Chaos War. It is also divided into five Ages, the Age of Starbirth, the Age of Dreams, the Age of Might, the Age of Despair, and the Age of Mortals. The Age of Starbirth saw the creation of the world and the formation of the first races.
The Age of Dreams contains the First Dragon War, fought by the elves under Silvanos Goldeneye against the evil dragons. The elves prevailed against the evil dragons using magical stones that were lost after the war. Kender, minotaurs, and dwarves begin to settle, however the dwarves disturb the magical stones and unleash the evil dragons again. This begins the Second Dragon War, which is ended by the great power of several mages, however this power scars the land of Ansalon. These mages learn the law of magic and form the Wizards of High Sorcery and the Towers of High Sorcery. After this war, the Kinslayer War is fought, and Qualinesti is founded. Later, the Rose Rebellion is led against the Empire of Ergoth and Solamnia is founded by Vinas Solamnus. In addition, Istar is founded in this Age. The Third Dragon War erupts, leading to the great sacrifice by Huma Dragonbane to keep Takhisis away from the world.
The Age of Might sees the rise of Istar. Paladine holds great stock in the relatively new nation. Istar grows and begins trading, growing stronger and stronger until it is a major world power. Istar fights with several nations in protest to their growing power. The Kingpriest begins rulership of Istar and declares itself the moral center of the world. Istar begins to lose sight of the balance between good and evil and tries to eradicate evil in the world. Mages are persecuted by the Kingpriest, and they are forced to retreat to the Tower of Wayreth. Soon, the Kingpriest demands from the gods the power they gave to Huma Dragonbane in hopes of destroying all evil. The gods grow angry and they hurl a fiery mountain at Ansalon, an event known as the Cataclysm.
The Age of Despair is a time of famine and of evil. Nations descend into squalor, and the Knights of Solamnia become a dishonored group. Takhisis readies herself to launch the War of the Lance upon Ansalon. When the War of the Lance erupts, the Heroes of the Lance fight back against Takhisis, leading to the defeat of her armies at several fronts and her total defeat at Neraka when Berem, the Everman and the secret to either Takhisis's final defeat or success, is allowed to die. After the War, Raistlin Majere begins his plans to ascend to godhood and this culminates in the destruction of Palanthas. Also, the Knights of Takhisis are formed by Ariakan. The Chaos War erupts and in its terrible wake the Age of Mortals begins.
The Age of Mortals sees the appearance of the Dragon Overlords, a group of incredibly large and powerful dragons who take control of the lands of Ansalon. With the loss of traditional arcane and clerical magic, Palin Majere establishes sorcery and Goldmoon establishes Mysticism. Years later, the War of Souls comes to Ansalon where it is discover Takhisis stole the world from the other gods in order to become the sole god. Several Overlords die during this time, including Malys the Red, the greatest of the Overlords, and Beryl the Green, the ruler of Qualinesti and the areas arround it, and Khellendros the Blue, ruler of the lands around Solamnia. Takhisis herself is killed because she has been stripped of her immortality, and Paladine also descends into mortality. At the current time setting of the novels, the world of Krynn is still reeling from the War of Souls.
Religion
- Main article: List of Dragonlance deities
There are seven Gods and Goddesses for each alignment of good, evil, and neutral, including the three gods of magic, each of which corresponds to a different moon. Solinari influences good magic, Lunitari influences neutral, and Nuitari influences black magic. There are also several "pagan" gods, worshipped by barbarian clans. These gods hold no real power or sway over the people of Krynn. They are merely imposters of one form or another.
References
- Amber and Ashes
- The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles
- The Annotated Dragonlance Legends
- Dragons of a Fallen Sun
- Dragons of a Lost Star
- Dragons of Summer Flame
- Dragons of a Vanished Moon
- The Legend of Huma
- Night of Blood
- Tasslehoff's Map Pouch, "The Continent of Ansalon" map
- Towers of High Sorcery
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