Dragonlance Classics The Odyssey Of Gilthanas

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brutes, draconians, or one of Beryl's lesser green dragon minions. Helping Allorran secure the branch will
be most challenging, as some of the most dutiful and vigilant Dark Knights stationed in the Qualinesti
Forest have been charged with guarding the grove.
Should they and Allorran be successful, it remains up to the Narrator to decide if the woodshaper truly
was inspired by a higher power or if he was merely possessed by hopeful fantasies. His woodshaping
talent and the magic inherent in the branch will cause it to take root in the Dryad's Grove and the dryads
will certainly welcome the addition to their forest, but is it truly the momentous event he believes it to be?
If it is, maybe the branch matures into a massive oak overnight.
Whitestone Glade
Whitestone Glade was one of the most revered sites of the Knights of Solamnia for over two millennia.
In present-day Ansalon, Whitestone Glade continues to hold significance, even if its importance has
waned as a result of developments during the War of the Lance and following the Chaos War.
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The History of Whitestone Glade
In the decades after Solamnia broke from the Ergothian Empire, Vinas Solamnus grew concerned that
the nations he had led to freedom from the corrupt Ergothian Empire would eventually slide into
corruption themselves. Therefore, as the twilight years of his life approached, Solamnus undertook his
fabled Quest of Honor, a search for insight, wisdom, and guidance.
After many weeks spent in the mountainous wilderness around Palanthas, Solamnus sailed to Sancrist
Isle. Upon his landfall, he forged into the forested wilderness west of Mount Nevermind. In time, he
found a glade where a black stone of granite, twice as tall as a person, stood as though thrust into the
ground by great force. He instantly sensed there was something special about it, so he fasted and prayed
to the gods of Good.
After three days and three nights, Paladine, Kiri-Jolith, and Habbakuk revealed themselves to him. As
their constellations shone brightly in the sky overhead, ethereal music filled Solamnus's head Paladine's
grand justice represented by well-ordered chords, Kiri-Jolith's courage by enduring themes, and
Habbakuk's temperance in balanced counterpoint. With the music came visions and wisdom the
frame-work within which Solamnus could create a knighthood that would carry forward not only his own
legacy of truth and honor but would uphold the high ideals of the three gods for generations to come.
In a flash, Solamnus knew that three orders would be established, and that their members would
embody honor and live it day by day. The highest order would be devoted to Paladine, championing
justice. The second would uphold the high standards of courage and self-sacrifice embodied by
Kiri-Jolith. The third would be devoted to Habbakuk, forever personifying loyalty and obedience.
As Solamnus's vision ended, the heavens blazed with a divine light so strong it blinded him. When his
vision cleared, the black rock had transformed into a gracefully twisting pillar of white crystal so brilliant it
appeared as if a piece of a star had fallen from the heavens and lodged itself in the ground on Sancrist.
Solamnus returned to the mainland and founded the Solamnic Knighthood, penning the original
Measure the standards to which all Solamnic Knights hold themselves and the Oath. "My Honor is
My Life" are the words they continue to live by.
As the Orders grew in size, settlements appeared in the wilds of Sancrist. Whitestone Glade served for
centuries as the place where the heads of the Orders would meet to discuss changes to Measure and
pass judgment on Knights who had committed gross infractions against the Oath and the Measure. The
Uth Wistan family was charged with protecting the island and the sacred glade. Over the centuries, the
Whitestone came to hold meaning for the rest of the peoples of Ansalon, becoming a symbol around
which the forces of Good could rally. One of the first Kingpriests of Istar even offered a blessing at the
stone, declaring it sacred to the gods and forbidding mortals to touch it.
The Knights of Solamnia have stood proudly against Evil for over 2,600 years. Although the spiritual
center of the Orders fell victim to corruption in the years following the first Cataclysm, they have been
revitalized by the efforts of two exceptional Grand Masters within the past century, Gunthar uth Wistan
and Liam Ehrling. The Knights remain a strong force for Good in present-day Ansalon ... a union of men
and women willing to sacrifice their lives in battle for truth and justice if called upon to do so.
However, there are those who call these the final days of the Knighthood, despite the resurgence it has
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enjoyed in recent decades, and such doomsayers seem to have more evidence for such predictions than
they had even during the darkest times following the first Cataclysm. This evidence is found in Whitestone
Glade.
One of the more powerful legends that surrounds the Whitestone is that it is a symbol of the divine
support and blessing for the Knighthood. The nature of the stone and the glade seemed to bear this out.
Regardless of the time of year, the climate in the glade was one of late spring... always mild and pleasant,
even while the rest of the surrounding forest was baking in summer heat or shivering in the depths of
winter frost. However, during the War of the Lance, the stone was split in two when the blacksmith
Theros Ironfeld threw a dragonlance into it. Although the Knights of Solamnia were instrumental in
defeating the Dark Queen's forces during the War of the Lance, some philosophers took the destruction
of the Whitestone to mean that, despite the fact the gods once again bestowed their gift of priestly magic
to their followers, they had withdrawn their blessing from the Knighthoods.
For a time following the War of the Lance, the Knights of Solamnia appeared to prosper, but then the
Knights of Takhisis swept across the continent in an unstoppable wave during the Summer of Chaos. The
Knights of Solamnia were virtually wiped out and even the mighty High Clerist's Tower fell to the forces
of Evil. Further, when all magic ceased to function in the wake of the Summer of Chaos, the glade's [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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