Timeline for a DL Retcon Campaign

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#1

panzerzodiark

Feb 21, 2013 13:37:38		Post this on the DL Forums a while back, now I'm just sharing it here

I came up with my own concept of a retcon for Dragonlance, via a timeline, (cause I just love timelines) which I might use as a blue print for a campaign. I tried incorporating some of what many consider the best of all eras; past, present, possible future and alternate. Also included are 4 ED D&D elements to update the setting without ruining it (far from easy).

Basically, it retcons to the Post Lance/Legends era. Chaos and the Age of Mortals can still happen, but assumes things can easily go another way, the War of the Darklance or the Age of Dragons are just a couple of many possibilities. And I mean many for though the Dark Queen has her plans, she's far from the only one and events have a way of getting ahead of you.

352 AC – The War of the Lance Ends
The Heroes of the Lance defeat Emperor Ariakas and destroy the Temple of Darkness. The Dragon Queen's dragonarmies turn upon one another.
Draconian Flight: A group of draconians steal a clutch of corrupted metallic dragon eggs and flee southwest.

353-357 AC – Harrying the Foe
Liberation of lands held by the dragonarmies continues in central, eastern and southern Ansalon. Gradually over the next few years, Whitestone forces systematically work to destroy these remnants. However, hold out in the central Khalkist Mountains prove resilient.
Divine Agents: Devas, mortals touched by the divine, and not seen since the Age of Dreams appear. Many are sighted in regions heavily touched by the Cataclysm, and scholars believe they are reborn clerics from the Night of Doom. That many are seen in the ruined city of Godshome reinforces this belief.

355 AC – The Knighthood Reforms
Gunthar uth Wistan is elected Grand Master of the Knights of Solamnia, who then introduces the revised Measure to help revitalize the Orders.

356 AC – Master of the Past and Present
Heroes of the Lance Raistlin and Caramon Majere journey into the past, accompanied by the cleric Crysania and the kender, Tasslehoff. They go to corrupted Istar (1 PC), and then the Dwarfgate Wars (38 AC), where Raistlin and Crysania, journey into the Abyss, hoping to destroy the Dark Queen.
“Go 'East' Young Minotaur!”: Emperor Chot Es-Kalin, of the Minotaur Imperium, orders the first of several expeditions east into the Courrain Ocean claiming the Mitos Archipelago and other islands for the Imperium, many colonized by 363 AC.

357 AC - The Blue Lady’s War
Dragon Highlord, Kitiara, and the death knight Lord Soth, lead the Blue Army, using a flying citadel to cross northern Solamnia to attack the Lordcity of Palanthas. However, her army is defeated and after she is killed, Soth vanishes with her body. Kitiara's blue dragon, Skie (Khellendros), vanishes.
Sealing the Portal: In the Abyss, Raistlin Majere sacrifices himself to stop the Dark Queen as Caramon escapes with Crysania and seals the portal to the Abyss to prevent her from entering the world.
Dark Scion: The Solamnic knights release Ariakan (son of Ariakas) from captivity. Following a vision from the Dark Queen, he plans a new order, a dark mirror to the Solamnic knights, one dedicated to the Queen of Darkness. He covertly seeks out candidates, many of the young to be raised in the philosophy of Takhisis.

358 AC – The Great Lie
The Orders of High Sorcery promote the story of Raistlin sacrificing himself to save the cleric Crysania from a plot by Takhisis to manifest in the world. Known internally as The Great Lie, the tale inspires people seek the Art and mages become respected in Ansalon again.
Resurgence of Ergoth: The people of Ergoth develop a new sense of pride nationally and culturally, gaining new energy. Unlike previous eras, Ergoth looks towards internal reform, and newly annotated Cavalier Séverin Ce Valerius (latest in a long line of cavaliers) comes to be one the reformers champions. As a result, anti-reformers arrange to have him sent to Southern Ergoth, to “look after Imperial interest”.  However, he convinces the Emperor and the Praetor of a containment policy toward the barbarians of Ackel so the empire can strengthen internally. In the meantime, Séverin works in the hope that the banner of Ergoth will fly again in the south.

360 AC – The Children of Dragon
On a trio of islands southwest of Gargath Isle and Sancrist, humans are facing extinction by Morgion, god of disease. However, a stranger shows a way to save the inhabitants. Revealing a ritual allowing dragon souls denied life by the creation of the draconians (both metallic and chromatic) to merge with a host, allowing life for one and a second chance for the other. Since metallic draconians tended to evil and chromatic ones to good, this new race of dragonborn will retain more freedom, a legacy of their human ancestry.  The true identity of the outsider is unknown and none of Krynn's deities claim responsibility.
Que-Shu Reborn: At the rebuilt village of Que-Shu, survivors of the plains tribe elect Heroes of the Lance, Goldmoon and Riverwind, to lead them.
The Throtl Campaign: A combined army of dwarves and humans lead by the Solamnic knights finally push the goblin-kin east of the Throtl Gap. The city of Throtl itself is liberated the following spring and all lands west of the Gap are annexed into the Solamnic province of Gaarlund, though many still refer to it as Throtl.

362 AC – A Union of Elves
Porthios Kanan and Alhana Starbreeze marry in the hope of unifying the Qualinesti and Silvanesti elves.

363 AC – The Schallsea League is Formed
The New Sea port cities of Eastguard, North Keep, Schallsea, Shrentak, Staughton and Westguard form an economic alliance that comes to dominated trade along the southern coast of the New Sea. Relations with the Ergothen Merchant Marine, the trading guilds of Caergoth, Palanthas and even Kalaman are opened thanks to a reviving Shinare clergy.
Abyssal Manifestations: Takhisis orders the covert use of magic to manifest infernal ancestry in potential mortals (the majority of those among the young), leading to what will be the largest number of tieflings in recorded history. Takhisis plans on this generation to turn to her when they are ostracized from society.

364 AC – Heirs of the Hammerhall?
Clerics rebuilding an old temple in Nightlund, discover a recently inhabited sub-level. The only sign of the inhabitants identity is a mosaic depicting the emblem of a segment of the extinct Knights of the Divine Hammer, that built the Hammerhall in Istar. Most alarming is a vault guarded by powerful magic aimed inward.

365 AC – Sithelbec Rebuilt
The Schallsea League begins reconstruction of the ancient elven fortress city. The League plans on making the location a stronghold to protect open trade in the New Sea and the New Coast peninsula.

368 AC – Lemish Confrontation
Solamnia clashes with the inhabitants of Lemish, now seeking to maintain nationhood, and hoping
to expand at it's neighbors (particularity Solamnia's) expense. Clashes with the Solamnics prove fatal and Lemish resorts to guerrilla warfare, while pretending to be a victim. Few take their side, as many remember Lemish siding with the dragonarmies during the War of the Lance. Lemish sues for peace and pays reparations to avoid occupation.

369 AC – Rainbow Serpents
Couatls, feathered serpents and distant cousins of dragons, are spotted over Nordmaar's Sahket Jungle, with sightings increasing over the next few years. Other larger couatls are later spotted in the vicinity of Godshome.

370 AC – Knights of Takhisis Founded
Lord Ariakan officially invests the first Knights of Takhisis. All knights receive The Vision showing each their personal role in the Dark Queen’s plans. Also, as a gift to her mortal son, the goddess Zeboim lifts Storm Keep from the sea, giving Ariakan an base unknown to the world.
Azure Flight: Blue dragons known to be living in the northern Khalkist and Planes of Dust begin to mysteriously vanish.

371 AC – Ariakan Discovers Ithin'carthia
On a voyage from the mainland, Ariakan discovers the island continent of Ithin'carthia, home of the Tarmak. Learning their history, Ariakan claims to be their prophesied Warrior Cleric, the Amarrel. After proving himself in the arena, the Tarmak swear loyalty to him. Many sail back with Ariakan to Storm's Keep where the blue painted warriors prepare for the war that Ariakan plans to wage on Ansalon.

372 AC – Rise of the Reavers
An ogre-mage called the Red Reaver, organizes ogres in the Last Gaard Mountains in Southern Ergoth and begins harassing the elven settlements. Despite calls from the Commander of Castle Eastwatch for aid,  few recognize a threat, believing the ogres will eventually turn to in-fighting or the ogres in Daltigoth would destroy the Reaver in self-preservation.
Panzer Grenadier: Leclerc, a Cleric of Gilean, vanishes in the Last Gaard Mountains, presumably captured or killed by the ogres.  Associates at the Great Library say he was searching for the location of a “vault" where he believed pre-cataclysm Ergoth was building a secret army inspired by the Malachite Guardians used in the Lost Battles (19 PC).

373 AC – The Jacualsprima War
As people prepare to observe the holiday commemorating the self-sacrifice of Huma and the silver dragon Heart, the Red Reaver's forces attack in mass toward the elven settlements of Qualimori and Silvamori. Local resistance lead by people such as the woman warrior, Arlena Plata slow the assault, while having tracked the ogre's movements, the Solamnic knights counterattack and crush the ogre's flank. The Red Reaver's lieutenants lead a retreat, only to find escape blocked by other ogres having no intention of allowing them escape. However, as his forces are crushed, it's learned that the Red Reaver is not an ogre-magi or even an ogre but a rare minotaur mage who merely sacrificed the ogres in the south as he launched his main attack.
Battle of Arbor Pass: In the Sangra di Corij (Blood of Corij) Mountains, a sub-range of the Last Gaard Mountains, an ogre column lead by the Red Reaver himself is destroyed while attempting to reach Foghaven Vale and Eastwatch. An outnumbered group of knights block the pass in the hopes of delaying the Reaver, however, they only face the few ogres who managed to escape being eliminated by an army of “armored demons”. A scout party into the pass finds only the dead ogres host, but no sign of this other “army” or the Red Reaver is found. A bounty by the Solamnics and even the ogre Dictator of Daltigoth, is offered for any definitive proof of the Red Reaver's demise.

374 AC – Second Exodus of Elves
A faction of elves unwilling to return to the homelands but unsatisfied with Southern Ergoth, decide to remigrate again, this time to the smaller isle of Cristyne, where they discover ancient evidence of elves having lived there during the Age of Dreams.

376 AC – Lords of  Corruption
Takhisis has Chemosh summon Sylvyana, the Ghoul Queen, from the River of Time who sets up her new domain deep in the Woods of Lahue. Meanwhile, the Dark Queen resurrects the Dragon Highlord Feal-Thas as an arch-lich sending him back to Icewall.

378 AC – A Journey of Honor
Tanis Half-Elven and Caramon Majere journey to Storm’s Keep and meet Steel Brightblade, the son of Sturm Brightblade and Kitiara uth Matar. Tanis reports the existence of the Knights of Takhisis to the Knights of Solamnia, the Temple of Paladine, and the Orders of High Sorcery, but many ignore his warnings.

379 AC – Goldmoon's Last Odyssey
Dreams Goldmoon believes is from Mishakal, sends her too the Silver Stair on the Isle of Schallsea. After claiming the stairs she receives a vision to establish what will become the Citadel of Light, new home of the Holy Disks and a center of spiritual enlightenment. Goldmoon gains support from the Church of Paladin, the Knights of Solamnia, the Schallsea League and even several neutral churches.

380 AC – The Giant Warlord
Rumors of ogres lead by a “blue skinned giant” begin circulating in the mountainous region of Blöde and later conflicts start with the northern ogres of Kern.
The Vanished Keep: Icewall Castle, former base of the White Army vanishes leaving behind a gaping crater.
Prismatic Daughter: A large and previously unknown type of dragon with prismatic scales is reported in the region of Kharolis. The dragon seems to avoid any contact with mortals and even other dragons.

381 AC – Mages Storm the Keep
The Orders of High Sorcery attack Storm’s Keep, seeking to destroy the wizard Knights of the Thorn (magi who gain power from the Dark Queen and by-passing the Moon Gods of High Sorcery). Justarius, the Red, Highmage of the Conclave, is among those lost in the attempt. Dalamar the Dark assumes leadership of the Conclave.

382 AC – Elven Succession
While Porthios, the Qualinesti Speaker of the Sun, successfully ends Lorac’s 20-year Nightmare of Silvanesti, Gilthas, son of Laurana and Tanis Half-Elven, is unwillingly placed on the throne of the elven kingdom of Qualinesti through a coup led by General Konnal, who simultaneously steals away the Silvanesti throne. Porthios and Alhana are declared dark elves by the new regimes and forced to flee from both elven kingdoms.
Changes in the Solamnic Knighthood: Gunthar uth Wistan retires as Grand Master of the Solamnic Knights and Sir Thomas of Thelgaard is elected the new Grand Master. His first act is the knighting of the Tanin and Sturm Majere (sons of Tika and Caramon Majere) as the first non-Solamnics to enter into the knighthood. With the hope of more to follow.
Gilthanas Departs Kalaman: After almost thirty-years as Governor of Kalaman, Gilthanas, retires from office. The elf prince is believed to be going to join is overthrown brother Porthios, but no further word is heard of his whereabouts.
Draconian Fort: In a valley in the Kharolis Mountains, a village of independent draconians is abandoned. Dwarves living close by, who had grudging truce of sorts are perplexed. The fort was discovered empty during a search for a trio of dwarves that had previously gone missing.
The Cerulean Lord: Reminiscent of dragons not seen since the Age of Dreams, Khellendros reappears  larger and stronger than when he vanished. He takes the City of Lost Names under his rule creating a permanent sandstorm around the ruins. Numerous disappearances forces the region's inhabitants to keeping others away. Summons by Ariakan and Takhisis go unanswered.
No Word From Bastion: The Order of High Sorcery's incomplete extra-planer fortress of Bastion (the third of it's kind to be built) goes suddenly silent. The Conclave fears that the fortress has fallen to a counter-attack of Thorn Knights of Takhisis, since it was from here that the Order launched it's own attack on Storm Keep.

The Present

Update: This fell to the wayside more or less but parts will live on in other ways. If I can just to back to those "surviving" pieces (ie my own attempt at the dragonborn, warforge, golieths etc).