Libertad
Legend
Chapter 6: Gamemastering in the Age of Magic
Dragon Library by Charles Urbach
This chapter covers relevant information for Dungeon Masters running Dragonlance campaigns in the Magocracy of Ansalon. Beyond just general advice, there’s also new additions for the Bastion sub-system as seen in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, as well as a sample Adventure Path!
Magical Demographics: It’s high noon on a market day as the citizens of Solanthus go about their business. Suddenly, a complete solar eclipse casts a pall of darkness across the land as Nuitari blocks out the light of the sun!
When people begin casting the light cantrip to see again, how big is the effect? Is it a few specks of brightness in a sea of darkness, or a blanket of illumination spreading across the town? While a variety of answers can be plausible for you as DM, below are some guidelines on the amount of magical practitioners in the average settlement.
As a ballpark estimate, about 75% to 80% of citizens in the average Magocracy settlement are Untouched, meaning that they know no spells whatsoever. While many of them might own a common magic item or two, they do not have the power of the Art to call upon such effects absent of external sources. The remaining 20% to 25% can cast spells, and the overwhelming majority of these people are High Sorcerers (Artificers, Wizards, Arcane Tricksters, Eldritch Knights) of some sort. 18% to 19% of the total population are Initiates capable of using cantrips and 1st-level spells. Journeyfolk who can cast 2nd-level spells are much fewer in number, making up 5% to 6% of the population as a skilled minority. Individuals capable of casting 3rd-level and higher spells are the rarest, being a collective 1% of the total population. They serve as the political movers and shakers of Ansalon if they’re part of the Orders of High Sorcery, or outlaw renegades practicing their works in secret or within isolated corners of the world.
The percentage numbers above represent humans in sedentary agricultural societies with established traditions of literacy among the educated classes. The number can be much lower otherwise, with 85% to 95% of an Untouched population in some nomadic and pastoralist societies who don’t have as easy access to schooling for literacy. Or those who have strong cultural reservations against arcane magic, such as dwarves. Keep in mind that even in such cultures, the power and utility of magic is such that people may make exceptions to hiring out outsiders and middlemen for supernatural services and trade, and/or have a hidden underbelly of magical practitioners using their spells on behalf of those willing to pay for them. Cultures which have long-standing traditions and acceptance of arcane magic, notably the Qualinesti and Silvanesti elven kingdoms, may have as much as 40% to 50% of their population capable of spellcasting. Very small “high magic” communities, such as Irda villages in the Dragon Isles or some Homecomer settlements, might even have spellcasters be the overwhelming majority, at 75% to 80% of the population!
An important thing to note is that the capability of casting certain levels of magic doesn't necessarily translate to combat power. A wizard courier may know a variety of useful spells to aid in travel such as Longstrider or Phantom Steed, but may rely upon Fire Bolt, Magic Missile, or even a mundane weapon for personal defense rather than the awe-inspiring Fireball. Player Character spellcasters and certain NPC stat blocks such as Gladiator and Archmage, represent highly-skilled veterans of battle who don’t shy away from the average bandit or hostile wildlife.
When assigning spells to the teeming masses of the Magocracy, the DM should consider how the average person uses magic to make their personal lives easier, rather than their potential in a fight or dungeon-delving. Instead of building entire stat blocks from the ground up, using existing ones such as Commoner, Guard, or Scout and giving them thematic spells and magical abilities serves as a quick and dirty method of highlighting a settlement’s spellcasting peasantry. And even in the case of Untouched NPCs, it is not out of the question for them to have access to a Common magic item or service depending on their background, connections, and the magical infrastructure of the community at large. Chapter 7: Friends & Foes goes into further detail on both new stat blocks and templates to existing ones for populating one’s high magic campaign setting.
Another element to help enhance world-building is granting NPCs more specialized uses of existing spells. An innkeep might technically be an Initiate, but their particular use of the Mage Hand cantrip may allow them to create 3 such hands at once. This might come from years’ worth of use and practice of that one spell, a trade secret taught to them by their guild or Order tutor, a unique feature of their inn’s foundation that functions only for its owner, or any other plausible justification for A Wizard Did It. Conversely, NPCs can just as easily have more restricted uses of player-facing spells. A fortune-telling match-maker may know Augury, but can only use it for predictions of social relationships. For example, their casting is limited to such predictions like finding the ideal romantic partner, or knowing whether one’s neighbor would react positively to a surprise birthday party after coming home from a hard day’s work. This can be explained as people learning just enough about a spell to optimize it for their main profession or interests, whereas the broader, default use of the spell represents adventurers, “full-time wizards,” and others whose magical potential is a major facet of their power and capabilities.
High Magic Bastions: Expanding upon the subsystem in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, this section contains new Special Facilities and expanded features for existing ones in making one’s Bastion feel like a proper stronghold of High Sorcery! Or Primal Sorcery, or for the glory of the Forgotten Gods, we don’t judge.
Air Conditioning (9th level)
Prerequisite: Ability to use a Spellcasting Focus
Space: Roomy
Hirelings: 1
Order: Empower
Making use of a creative blend of temperature and wind-based magic, your Bastion maintains a healthy, comfortable environment for its inhabitants regardless of the outdoor weather.
Empower: Rest in Comfort. When you issue the Empower order to this facility, anyone taking a Long Rest within your facility reduces their Exhaustion level by 2 instead of 1, and has advantage on saving throws vs air-borne pollutants and cold/heat based environmental hazards and Conditions. This latter effect lasts for 7 days.
Conjurer’s Chambers (13th level)
Prerequisite: Ability to use a Spellcasting Focus
Space: Roomy
Hirelings: 1
Order: Research
The Conjurer’s Chambers is a room with otherworldly symbols and a stone floor bearing grooves that is perfect for the creation of magic circles.
Conjurer’s Chambers Charm. After spending a Long Rest in your Bastion, you gain a magical Charm (see “Supernatural Gifts” in chapter 3) that lasts for 7 days or until you use it. The Charm allows you to cast your choice of Summon Aberration/Beast/Celestial/Construct/Dragon/Elemental/Fey/Undead without expending a spell slot or using Material components. You can’t gain this Charm again while you still have it.
Research: Occult Beseeching. When you issue the Research order to this facility, you commission the facility’s hireling to contact an entity from beyond the Material Plane. The work takes 7 days. The hireling then learns the name of a single otherworldly being, and shares this knowledge with you the next time you speak with them. You then gain advantage on the next ability check you make when you take the Influence action against that entity, including for the purposes of Planar Ally and Planar Binding spells, while in your Bastion.
Sending Station (9th level)
Prerequisite: None
Space: Roomy
Hirelings: 1
Order: Research
This acoustically-perfect room houses intricate sets of copper wiring for instantaneous long-distance magical communication.
Sending Station Charm. After spending a Long Rest in your Bastion, you gain a magical Charm (see “Supernatural Gifts” in chapter 3) that lasts for 7 days or until you use it. The Charm allows you to cast Sending once without expending a spell slot. You can’t gain this Charm again while you still have it.
Research: Through the Grapevine. When you issue the Research order to this facility, you maintain contact with up to three non-hostile individuals whose names are known to you. This work takes 7 days. When the research concludes, you are aware of any significant activities or goals they have done or are in the process of doing, their current social standing, and any locations they have resided and traveled to for the past week. Depending on their relationship with you, more information may be voluntarily revealed to you by these individuals.
Laboratory, Expanded Use: add Craft: Potion to the list of options. You must have the ability to use a Spellcasting Focus. The facility’s hireling crafts three potions of Common or Uncommon rarity, or a single potion of Rare rarity. This work takes 7 days. See the “Crafting Magic Items” section in chapter 7 for the time and money that must be spent to craft the item. At 13th level you can craft a single potion of Very Rare rarity, and at 17th level you can craft a single potion of Legendary rarity.
Menagerie, Expanded Use: You can use the Recruit order to gain a wider number of creatures oft-favored by wizards in need of guardians for their lairs, detailed below:
Shrieker Fungus; CR 0; Medium; 50 GP
Violet Fungus; CR ¼; Medium; 250 GP
Axe Beak; CR ¼; Medium; 250 GP
Gray Ooze; CR ½; Medium; 500 GP
Death Dog; CR 1; Medium; 1,000 GP
Hippogriff; CR 1; Large; 1,500 GP
Carrion Crawler; CR 2; Large; 2,000 GP
Gelatinous Cube; CR 2; Large; 2,000 GP
Griffon; CR 2; Large; 2,500 GP
Mimic; CR 2; Medium; 2,500 GP
Ochre Jelly; CR 2; Large; 2,000 GP
Basilisk; CR 3; Medium; 3,500 GP
Scriptorium, Expanded Use: The Spell Scroll’s hireling can instead create Spell Scrolls from your choice of the Bard, Sorcerer, or Warlock spell list instead of Cleric spells. The choice must be made upon construction of this facility, and once made cannot be changed. At 13th level, Spell Scrolls can be made from two of the aforementioned classes, and at 17th level Spell Scrolls from all 3 classes can be made.
In a campaign taking place before the return of the Forgotten Gods, the DM might make this choice mandatory, reflecting divine magic being a lost art.
Training Area, Expanded Use: the Battlemagic Expert Trainer type has the following Empower Effect: when you take damage from an attack while maintaining concentration on a spell or magical effect, you can take a Reaction to add 1d4 to the Constitution saving throw.
Artwork from the Tome of Chaos for the Witcher RPG
Legends of the Divine: Much like the start of the Chronicles in the default Dragonlance timeline, the Magocracy of Ansalon is a land where the gods and divine magic have become a distant memory to the shorter-lived races. The original adventure path had it so that such magic became attainable to the party early on, specifically the end of the first module: Dragons of Despair. And even though Krynn is a low-magic setting, the conflicts and events the PCs confronted put them at the forefront of the world’s greatest wonders.
In 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, non-divine healing magic is more accessible than ever. Artificers and Bards have access to Cure Wounds and Lesser Restoration. Arcane Vigor is a Sorcerer and Wizard spell that lets the caster immediately spend Hit Dice to heal, while the Celestial patron for Warlocks makes that “blaster caster” class a decent healer as well. And the Warrior of Mercy subclass for the Monk is now a core option in the 2024 rules.
Prior Dragonlance supplements usually put hard restrictions on playable options to maintain its setting constraints. But much like the original Heroes of the Lance, the PCs are supposed to be exceptional people capable of changing the face of Ansalon. And this should be no less true in a timeline where archmages rule the continent. Below are three suggested methods of play for reflecting the rarity of divine and healing magic in a Magocracy of Ansalon campaign.
Authentically Godless: While this timeline has elements set up to allow for the return of the gods and even a high-magic War of the Lance variant, some Dungeon Masters might prefer to focus on the arcane side of things. Putting Conclave politics at the forefront and leaving the threat of the Dragonarmies and Gray Robes a distant one in the unforeseen future is just as valid a campaign style.
Divine magic is, for all intents and purposes, a lost art in this campaign. Only arcane classes and subclasses are allowed at the start of play, and magic items drawing effects from the spell lists of divine classes (or require attunement of such classes) should be Very Rare if more common by default. PCs will need to rely on workarounds for healing, such as unconventional spells, the Medicine skill and Healer feat, and even necromancy. While this helps reinforce the themes of a world that has learned to make do without the gods, it is also one that will take the most work in rebalancing adventures and character options.
Reflavored Restoration: Just like how the Artificer class can represent mundane technologists as well as magitech innovators, so too can certain forms of healing magic be reflavored to represent less miraculous effects. Arcane Vigor can represent a PC regaining a second wind from sheer mental fortitude, while Cure Wounds and Lesser Restoration can represent expert applications of potent medicine. Druidic and nature-themed spells can represent arcane applications of druidic secrets, much like the origin of the Storm-Barons. More overtly miraculous effects, such as returning the dead back to life or Mass Cure Wounds, may be harder to justify with variant flavor.
But one idea may be that such spells are corrupted forms or use workarounds with high costs. The 3rd Edition Tower of High Sorcery sourcebook had such spells, like reversing the personal flow of time around a character to “erase” their maladies, or a necromancy spell that forcefully drags a spirit from the River of Souls to put back in its original corpse. These spells were often much higher level than their divine counterparts and had costly components. Such restrictions will not work as well in 5th Edition, given their underpowered nature makes them unappealing. Simply reflavoring them might be for the best, such as a Celestial Warlock or Bard not truly healing but rather “reversing time” around the target. And perhaps to make said PCs feel even more accomplished, they could even be among the only arcane casters in the setting who can do so, representing them coming upon rare knowledge.
Tip of the Spear: In this campaign, the PCs number among the first people to usher in bringing back divine magic to the world. Perhaps they are like Goldmoon, personally entrusted by one of the Forgotten Gods with unique powers and a quest to bring back their teachings to the people. Perhaps they are a pilgrim, who during a trip to a sacred sight made contact with some greater power beyond the cosmos and has been judged worthy. No matter the reason, one or more PCs can cast spells out of the grasp of even the greatest archmages. Every power player in Ansalon will want to get their hands on them. Even the more benevolent factions will view them as a threat, so hated is the legacy of the Forgotten Gods.
20151002 Mobile Game City Destroyed by Wenjun Mao
War Against the Dragonarmies: Unlike the default timeline, the increased interconnectivity of Ansalon via long-distance magic means that the Dragonarmies’ buildup will happen and be discovered much faster than in the default timeline. So for those who want to make the future War of the Lance an important campaign prospect, how does this work? Below is a likely “war plan” for Takhisis. As usual, the DM is encouraged to make alterations and removals as suit the need for their home campaign.
First off, central Ansalon has long been known as a dangerous region, a place filled with monsters, renegade mages, and harsh climates. The use of Teleportation Circles reshaped trade routes to largely bypass the region. While there is still travel and trade through these places, it’s often of a more specialized or illicit nature. Additionally, the bordering Tower lands are reluctant to claim responsibility for policing the territory, as it’s judged to be more trouble than it’s worth.
In the current year of 348 Anno Magus, the Gray Robes are acting more subtly, weakening the eastern city-states before marching to war. Part of this process involves exploiting resentment against unpopular rulers, such as the corrupt Storm Baron of Port Balifor and the various city-states’ inability to deal with Duskmen banditry. Inflaming tensions between the city-states and Silvanesti is also a high priority, done via burning forests along the elven kingdom’s borders and laying the blame on the Red Robes. Furthermore, seizing key Southern Sanctuaries in the Plains of Dust will cut down on travel across southern Ansalon, which is only helped by the desires of Wayreth and Silvanesti wishing to use the desert as a buffer zone between their polities.
By encouraging isolation and making interconnectivity of questionable worth, the Dragonarmies will have an easier time taking over territories piecemeal. Contact has also been made with the Obsidian Circle of Thorbadin, who are in the process of building a Teleportation Circle in that mountain kingdom as part of a coup against the Council of Thanes. In exchange for the Dragonarmies’ help, the Obsidian Circle will supply gems and precious minerals for spell components and mundane wealth to the Dragon Highlords’ war chests.
Takhisis’ forces will first incorporate the territories of Blöde, Kern, the Taman Busuk region, and the dwarven kingdom of Zhakar. Raiding parties with plausible deniability are encouraged to strike out at isolated towns and villages in southern and eastern Ansalon to disrupt travel and trade. Afterwards, a larger invasion force will sweep across the Goodlund peninsula, making contact with sympathetic goblin, kobold, and slig tribes in the area as part of a joint siege against the city-states of Balifor and Flotsam in order to gain control of their ports. Khur will be conquered by aiding the tribes antagonistic to the Silvanesti-backed Garnac tribe.
As the Silvanesti are resentful of New Istar and Losarcum accepting low-caste refugees, and the Black Robe territories of Daltigoth and Wayreth have little desire to come to their aid, the Dragonarmies are hedging their bets that the Grand Conclave will not be able to forward a unified vote to come to the aid of the east. To a foreign perspective, it will look less like an existential threat to Ansalon and more the actions of “barbarian raiders” attacking individual city-states. The minotaurs of New Istar will be met with attacks from ogres of Kern are prepared to travel across the coastlines from the northwest, preventing them from adequately helping the Goodlund region.
This will likely take place over the course of a year. Once eastern Ansalon is sufficiently weakened and secured, the Dragonarmies will invade Silvanesti, judging them to be the largest potential threat given their stable dynasty and recent incorporation into the Tower system. Knowing of the ideological antipathy between them and the Solamnic Utopians, the Dragonarmies believe that the elves will be too proud to beg for aid. While this last part is true, the plan backfires as Silvanesti is able to keep the Dragonarmies in check, resulting in a long and costly occupation. Speaker of the Stars Lorac Caladon may very well be tempted to use the Dragon Orb as a last resort, but it’s also possible that Gray Robe infiltrators might already know of its value and intentionally trigger it from the inside. This can spell an early end to the war with Silvanesti by obliterating their kingdom.
Thorbardin will come next, using the secretly-built Teleportation Circle set up by the Obsidian Circle. The Red Dragonarmy, under Verminaard of Nidus, is tasked with taking control of the mountain kingdom. From there, the Dragonarmies will build up their forces in the occupied mountains, using the circle to rapidly transport troops to various cities across Ansalon. Kalaman, Solanthus, Lacynos, Gwynned, and more will fall. By the time Sending spells reach Palanthas and other city-states, the Wizards of High Sorcery will shut down the Teleportation Circles as an emergency measure. This will halt the Dragonarmies’ assault, but it will also make rapid transit far more difficult for the Magocracy. And as the Dragonarmies solidly hold central Ansalon, they have a territorial advantage.
Below is a sample adventure path of a high-magic War of the Lance variant. It bears certain similarities to the original adventure path, but with quite a few changes.
A Sample Adventure Path
Dragons of Renewal: Levels 5 to 6. While visiting the port city of Lacynos during the Foundation Day festival for the Magocracy’s 300th Anniversary, the party is hired by a disillusioned wizard to make a journey to the undersea ruins of Old Istar after witnessing their prowess in the Great Circus. Said wizard might even be one of the PCs. Using a custom-built gnomish submarine, the party explores the dungeon and find the Disks of Mishakal.
Dragons of Discord: Levels 6 to 7. After escaping the ruins, the submarine docks in the city of Flotsam, the crew wishing to lay low over what to do with this newfound information and the potential return of the Forgotten Gods. During this time, the Dragonarmies invade the eastern city-states. Seeking refuge, the party learns that the legendary Dragonlances can be found in Southern Ergoth. An attempt to utilize the Tower of Losarcum’s Teleportation Circle to go to Daltigoth ends in failure, stranding them in the ruined Tower of Sancrist.
Dragons of Sorrow: Levels 7 to 8. Sailing from Sancrist to Ergoth, the party finds themselves deep in Black Robes territory. Far from the individualistic and laissez-faire Red Robe territories, the lands are enthralled to ruthless wizard-lords and their legions of undead soldiers. The disguised silver dragon Silvara, along with Sturm Brightblade who is part of a secret order known as the Knights of the Forgotten Rose, offers to help the party find the hidden forge of the Dragonlances in Foghaven Vale. But in exchange, they must aid Kagonesti rebels against the Black Robes.
Dragons of Intrigue: Levels 8 to 9. The Conclave has shut down the Teleportation Circle network after various lands suddenly fell to the Dragonarmies, and this new force is now invading Silvanesti. The Black Robes are reluctant to come to either’s aid directly, hoping that the Red and White Robes and the Knights of Huma exhaust their efforts against this new threat. If this happens, the Black Robe Towers of Daltigoth and Wayreth will be left with Ansalon’s largest standing army, which they’ll use to expand their territory. The PCs must uncover this conspiracy in order to reduce the Black Robe’s standing and secure a majority vote in the Conclave to force the Black Robe’s hand in fighting the Dragonarmies. And thus make them less able to quash local dissidents.
Dragons of Treachery: Levels 9 to 10. Internal sabotage by the Theiwar and Daegar clans allowed the Dragonarmies to establish their own Teleportation Circle network in the dwarven kingdom of Thorbadin. Combined with their occupation of key population centers, Takhisis’ forces manage to control most of eastern and southern Ansalon. In Thorbardin, Highlord Verminaard seeks the Hammer of Kharas, a necessary component in the forging of the Dragonlances. The PCs are tasked with penetrating Thorbadin’s defenses to retrieve the Hammer of Kharas, and also defeat the Dragonarmy forces and their dwarven accomplices.
At this level, the PCs likely have access to the Teleportation Circle spell themselves, which they can use to travel more freely between Ansalon’s population centers.
Dragons of Valor: Levels 10 to 11. The knowledge of the true gods is spreading across Ansalon, but particularly in the independent city of Tarsis, where people who wish to be free of both wizard and Dragonarmy rule congregate. The secretive group known as the Keepers wishes to meet with the PCs to learn of their experiences in Old Istar. Also present are a growing order of Knights of the Forgotten Rose, inspired by the old legends of Huma and wonder about what happened to the dragons that fought against Takhisis. The PCs are sent to secure an alliance with the Storm Baron Feal-Thas in Icewall Castle to the south. But little does anyone know that Feal-Thas has plans of his own…
Dragons of Revelation: Levels 11 to 12. The Dragonarmies now occupy most of Solamnia and are poised to take Palanthas. The High Clerist’s Tower is the last major defense. Silvara, who has aided the party in the past, convinces them to infiltrate the city of Sanction in the heart of the Dragon Empire. There, they discover the fate of the good dragon eggs, which are being used to create draconians. After escaping with this knowledge, the metallic dragons are contacted. Departing from their island homeland, the dragons go to war against Takhisis’ forces in Sanction, with a contingent helping fly the PCs to Palanthas to defend the High Clerist’s Tower.
Dragons of Conquest: Levels 12 to 13. The Battle for the High Clerist’s Tower goes similarly to how it is in the original Chronicles, albeit this time with the aid of the metallic dragons…and a lot more slinging of spells on both sides!
Dragons of Change: Levels 13 to 14. The combined forces of the Orders of High Sorcery, the metallic dragons, and devotees of the Gods of Light converge on the heart of the Dragon Empire. The PCs go into the capital city of Neraka to defeat Emperor Ariakas and prevent Takhisis’ entry into the world.
Timeline
Eclipse Academy School for Magic, by Dean Rosenfeld
Below is the Timeline for major events in the Magocracy of Ansalon. It is based off of the one detailed in Legends of the Twins sourcebook, plus several personal additions and changes.
59-21 PC - Kingpriest’s Envoy
Marwort the Illustrious, a White Robe, is assigned as envoy to the Kingpriest. The position of envoy is traditionally held by a White Robe, because of that Order’s association with Solinari.
40 PC - A Test
A promising young wizard, Merroc the White, takes the Test in the Tower of Istar. He is a favored pupil of Marwort.
28 PC - New Master of the Tower
Merroc the White becomes Master of the Tower of Palanthas.
24 PC - Origins of Utopia
Merroc the White pens the Societas Caelestis, a rejection of Istaran orthodoxy and encouraging mages to help build a utopia on Krynn by using their magic to reduce mortal hardship.
20 PC - Prelude to War
Marwort the Illustrious dies, and the Conclave of High Sorcery assigns Leciane do Cirica, a Red Robe, to take his place as envoy to Beldinas’s court. The institution of a Red Robe in this position is taken as a sign of disrespect by the Kingpriest and his council.
Highmage Vincil da Jevra is later murdered during a meeting with the Kingpriest when a Black Robe assassin makes an attempt on Beldinas’s life. Jorelia the Enchantress, a White Robe, is chosen as the new Highmage, but cannot stop the ensuing conflict from causing the Lost Battles. The wizards of High Sorcery begin moving magical artifacts from the Towers to Wayreth, Zhaman, and other secret locations.
19 PC - The Lost Battles
Istar and its allies fight the Orders of High Sorcery. Fistandantilus the Dark, in an effort to get rid of other meddlesome wizards, secretly gives the Kingpriest magical seeds that will let his armies pass through the magical groves.
The Battle of Daltigoth is led by Duke Serl Kar-thon, who uses one of the seeds to bypass the Kadothan Grove. Rather than letting Serl’s armies gain access to their secrets, the wizards destroy the Tower, leveling nearly half of the city with it. Thousands die.
In Losarcum, Cathan Twice-Born, commander of the Divine Hammer, mounts an attack of his own. As his knights storm the Tower, the mages destroy it as well. Losarcum is reduced to ruins. Leciane do Cirica, who is present, flees the devastation rather than sacrificing her life to save Cathan. The River forks, though the effects will not reveal themselves fully for two decades.
A month after the Lost Battles, Jorelia hands the keys of the Tower of Istar over to the Kingpriest, and dies shortly thereafter. Merroc the White succeeds her as Highmage, and relinquishes his key in Palanthas, but a Black Robe wizard, Andras Rannoch, leaps from the Tower onto its gates, cursing it as he expires. His death infuses the Tower and its grove with a powerful, evil taint.
The remaining wizards retreat to Wayreth.
17 PC - New Plans
Listening to the counsel of Leciane do Cirica, who fears what the future may hold for the Orders, Merroc the White chooses not to let magic fade into obscurity. Heeding Leciane’s dream of wizards returning to prominence and his own dreams for Utopia, he begins working on plans to present a new face for High Sorcery.
9 PC - Plans in Motion
After almost a decade of campaigning, Merroc begins to realize he is fighting a losing battle. Istar’s power continues to wax while the Orders’ reputation diminishes. Leciane suggests recapturing the Tower of Istar from the Kingpriest’s clutches. Plans are set in motion.
0 PC - The Cataclysm
Merroc the White knows the end is coming. The time to act is now. He and Leciane, now head of the Red Robes, lead a band of powerful mages to Istar. They enter the Tower on the day of the Cataclysm, and cast a spell to move it, temporarily, to an alternate plane of existence. As the fiery mountain falls, the Tower of Istar vanishes. Tragically, Leciane is shut out of the Tower at the final hour, and perishes in the Cataclysm. Without Cathan to bear them to Xak Tsaroth, the Disks of Mishakal are lost in the destruction of Istar. The chances of the gods’ return are slim.
When the Lordcity has sunk beneath the waves, the Tower reappears, floating above the swirling maelstrom of the Blood Sea. A new age — the Age of Magic — dawns.
Anno Magus 1 - Magic Flows Forth
(Begins in O PC) Merroc commands his wizards to use their magic to assist the people of Ansalon. The wizards break Andras’s curse and retake the Tower of Palanthas.
AM 1-31 - Magic Rebuilds
In the decades following the Cataclysm, the Towers are protected by the Orders of High Sorcery. Under Merroc’s watchful eye, peace is reestablished, and stewardship of the world is divided among the robes.
The Black Robes control their regions with threats, fear, and harsh punishments. Bandits and thieves are publicly executed. The wizards are harsh, but many folk feel safe despite their dark rule.
The Red Robes rule with a gentler hand, encouraging self-governing and using their magic to guide the leaders of local communities.
The White Robes act as protectors of the people, and are praised for their generosity and good works.
AM 5 - Deep-Sea Rescue Missions
During an underwater salvage mission, the half-sea elf Lathelas Shoalbreath discovers trapped Istarans in sealed buildings at the bottom of the Blood Sea. Multiple rescue missions are performed by his diving crew, inspiring the popular Foundation Day game of Frozenthaw.
AM 11 - The Caergoth Accords are Signed
The Knights of Solamnia and Wizards of High Sorcery come together in the city of Caergoth, granting the latter increased rights and privileges in exchange for using their powers to provide order and safety for Solamnia
AM 25 - Battle of the Dueling Fields
Merroc and a retinue of warmages visit the land of Throt, challenging the leaders of its hobgoblin clans to a battle to determine the region’s rulership. The wizards win, bringing peace to the lands and incorporating the hobgoblin clans into what will become the Magocracy.
AM 32 - A Time of Mourning and Struggle
Merroc the White dies. The Highmage’s death sparks a time of despair and struggle. Wizards battle to succeed him when the Conclave fails to reach a conclusive decision.
AM 38 - Weakening of the Accords
A shipment of crops grown by necromantic labor are seized and burned by the Knights of Solamnia. The people of Hinterlund turn against the Knights as the crops were intended to mitigate local famine.
AM 40 - The Solamnic Rebellion
The Caergoth Accords are dissolved after a series of disputes and irreconcilable differences. The Knights of Solamnia gather to rise against High Sorcery. They stage attacks on groups of wizards while the mages are in disarray. This backfires as the threat brings the Orders back together, and the wizards wage war against the knights. Solamnia’s power base fractures, and many knights break ranks to side with the wizards. The uprising collapses.
In the wake of the rebellion, two major events occur.
First, the wizards of High Sorcery agree to reorganize under new leadership. The Council of Three is elected: Astathan of Qualinost represents the White Robes, Horal Stonetooth the Red, and Vinuc Nightsong the Black. Astathan is later noted as the wizard that did the most to spread High Sorcery throughout Ansalon. He is quoted as saying that “we must sculpt our Orders anew, and our clay shall be the youth of Ansalon.” The Council of Three would then go on to be a role reserved for emergency powers, with the Grand Conclave acting as peacetime titles for determining legislation for the Magocracy as a whole.
The second major event is the formation of the Knights of Huma. In honor of the friendship between that legendary hero and the wizard Magius, the knights who supported the wizards in the rebellion assume this new mantle as defenders of wizardry.
AM 44 - The Dark One Defeated
Fistandantilus the Dark, traveling forward in time from the Cataclysm, is surprised to find the Tower of Palanthas retaken. Together, the wizards and the Knights of Huma defeat him, and his soul is imprisoned within the very stones of the Tower he sought to claim.
AM 48 - Wizards Rule
Ansalon has recovered from the Cataclysm. With the help of the mages, crops do not fail, monsters and bandits are rebuffed, and plagues are quickly contained. The people honor the Wizards of High Sorcery, recognizing them as Ansalon’s true rulers. Accepting the mantle of rulership, the Wizards of High Sorcery send archmages throughout Ansalon, each going to a different nation or people. Henceforth, every ten years, this “Grand Conclave” reconvenes at the Tower of Palanthas. During the first such event, the Knights of Huma are formally recognized for their valor and courage during the Solamnic Rebellion. The Three orders the restoration of the lost Towers.
AM 63 - Losarcum Rebuilt
The Tower of Losarcum is rebuilt, restored much to its original form.
AM 94 - Daltigoth Restored
The Tower of Daltigoth is raised anew.
AM 118 - Towers Take Control
At the seventh Grand Conclave, the wizards redivide the lands of Ansalon, basing the new nations around the five Towers. The Master of each Tower will rule the lands around it. While there is some resistance to this idea, in the grand scheme of things the transition is surprisingly smooth. The people want peace and stability, and the mages provide it, backed by the Knights of Huma.
AM 141 - Dark Queen’s Return
The Queen of Darkness takes the Foundation Stone of the Temple of Istar to Neraka, and plans to use it as a gate from the Abyss to Ansalon.
AM 142-152 - Chromatic Dragons Wake
Takhisis awakens her dragon minions, whispering her plans into their dreams and waking thoughts.
AM 157 - The Everman
A human named Berem finds the Foundation Stone and pries loose an emerald from it. The stone embeds itself in his chest, granting him immortality. Berem flees into the Plains of Dust.
AM 176 - New Tower Constructed
A sixth Tower of High Sorcery is built at the border of Silvanesti.
AM 178 - New Tower Ordered
The fifteenth Grand Conclave. The creation of a seventh Tower is ordered in Sancrist. It is to become the main training ground of the most promising of mages.
AM 184 - End of the Oath & Measure
War breaks out against the last, rogue Knights of Solamnia. Outraged by the wizards’ trespass on Sancrist, the knights make a doomed attack against the overwhelming forces of the Knights of Huma. They are slaughtered to the last soldier and civilian. So ends the legacy of Vinas Solamnus.
AM 210 - Dark Queen Blocked
Takhisis attempts to return from the Abyss, only to discover that someone has removed a gem from the Foundation Stone, barring her way.
AM 244 - Tower of Sancrist
The Tower of Sancrist is completed, the most magnificent magical structure upon Ansalon.
AM 253 - Utopia is brought to Lemish
Palanthas invades the realm of Lemish, taking control of Elmwood and overthrowing its rulers. Although the White Robes and Knights of Huma are aided by native Lemishites, their continued presence and rulership of the region quickly creates resentment.
AM 287 - The Stolen Generation
Takhisis commands her chromatic dragons to steal the eggs of the metallic dragons. They are taken to the Lords of Doom near the city of Sanction.
AM 296 - The Threatened Generation
Takhisis awakens the metallic dragons, threatening to kill their children if they intervene with her plans to take over Ansalon. The metallic clans are forced under duress to swear an oath of noninterference. Several dragons who don’t trust Takhisis make warlock pacts with trusted agents in Ansalon, charged with finding the location and fates of the stolen eggs.
AM 300-320 - Dark Queen Frustrated
Takhisis’s agents search for Berem, but cannot find him. Angered at her minions’ failure, she explores other avenues for entering the world. Her attention turns to the recently built Tower of Sancrist.
AM 305 - the Sylvan Guard is Founded
Various people in central and southwest Ansalon make contact with archfey of the forest, attaining arcane powers via warlock pacts. Many warlocks form the Sylvan Guard, using their powers to protect locals from various threats.
AM 317 - Invasion of Thorbardin
Under the new leadership of the Black Robes, Wayreth invades the lands of Thorbardin in an attempt to gain control of its mineral wealth. This is the start of a five-year war, causing prices for minerals and metal to skyrocket across the Magocracy.
AM 319 - Founding of the Homecomer Movement
Aurelio De Luca, Conclave archmage and member of the Order of Red Robes, publicly leaves the Wizards of High Sorcery after sharing his grievances regarding the direction of the organization. Heading into the Plains of Dust, he uses terraformed magic and the aid of local nomads to reshape portions of land into verdant gardens and farmland. Waves of likeminded mages, druidic allies, and Silvanesti refugees follow in De Luca’s wake, their communities becoming known as the Southern Sanctuaries.
AM 322 - Wayreth Withdraws
Hobbled by a combination of dwarven resilience and the Grand Conclave imposing debilitating economic sanctions, the Wayreth-Thorbardin War ends with the Black Robes retreating.
AM 323 - the Thon-Karr Riots
In Silavensti, a magic communal laundry set up to help the House Servitor caste is forcibly dismantled. An increase in filth-borne illnesses resulting in the deaths of children becomes the breaking point for generations of poor treatment, resulting in violent clashes between low-caste Silvanesti and House Protector soldiers. This results in increasing waves of emigration by oppressed elves out of the kingdom.
AM 333 - Sancrist Destroyed
The Dark Queen’s agents infiltrate the Tower of Sancrist and attempt to subvert it to their use. At the same time, a gnome activates a magical item within the Tower. The spells interfere with each other, and the Tower is destroyed in a massive explosion. The isles of Sancrist and Cristyne, are laid waste, and are known as the Blasted Isles. Magic runs wild there.
AM 337 - Gray Robes
Trying yet a new avenue, Takhisis founds the Gray Robes. Renegade wizards based in the nation of Blöde, they focus their energy through the Dark Queen instead of the moons.
AM 343-347 - Dragonarmies Form
The dragonarmies slowly and secretly gather in central Ansalon. Evil dragons, ogres, outcasts, and mercenaries band together under the Gray Robes.
AM 347 - The Dark One Returns
Raistlin Majere takes the Test in Palanthas, and is possessed by the spirit of Fistandantilus. He dons the Red Robes, but already has designs on traveling back in time to figure out why Fistandantilus’s plans went awry. No one suspects the role he might play in future events.
AM 348 - The Present
Ansalon stands on the brink of a great and sweeping war, as the Dark Queen prepares again to conquer the continent and its people. The city-state of Lacynos is preparing to hold the greatest Foundation Day festival ever for the Magocracy’s 300th Anniversary, and a mage bearing a staff of blue crystal is spotted in the city.
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