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Home , Carrie Bebris, Douglas Niles, Rebecca Guay, Sue Weinlein Cook, The Irda, Tracy Hickman

ThThee RaisiRaisinngg ooff ththee ShiShieeldld

I remember the day my fellow woodshaper came and whispered in my ear. “Surely you wish the forest to remain safe from the ravages of the outside world? Isn’t that why you build defensive hedges—to keep the unwanted ones out?”

He could see the answer in my eyes.

“If I were to tell you of a way to create a barrier to keep every living thing out, you would use it, wouldn't you?” The last he said almost taunt- ingly. Knowing the answer, he outlined the plan.

Even today, I cringe at the thought of what we did. He gathered eight woodshapers for the ceremony. With joined hands, we stood in a circle around the tree that has grown within a magical shield ever since the Summer of Chaos. He passed around us, dropping a strange amulet over each of our necks. When he finished, we stepped up to the invisible barrier surrounding the tree—and then took a step further. With a silent shimmer of iridescent colors, the barrier fell away from us and rose back into place once we’d passed. We now stood within its boundary.

Kneeling in front of the luminescent tree, we each placed our hands on the trunk and concentrated. As our consciousness linked with it, our wish became known. Shield us, we asked. Spread your protection over the whole of the forest. Seconds passed. Then we sensed the tree’s assent.

We took sprigs gathered from one of the barrier hedges and laid them on the tree’s gnarled roots. The sprigs wilted and withered into dust before our eyes. That was when we realized what we had done. Though we had sensed that the shielded tree drew on a source of energy for its barrier, we had assumed that light from the sun, moon, and stars sustained it. Now we knew otherwise: It fed on the essence of life. And we had learned this truth too late. The shield was already rapidly spreading outward to encompass the Silvanesti Forest.

Afterward, we woodshapers present at the ceremony would gather periodically to discuss the ramifications of the shield's draining effect.

At first, it seemed that the vast well of forest life could sustainSample it with no ill consequences.file However, as continued to fight over- head and elves, humans, and other races attempted to find a way into the barrier’s protection, we saw that the shield drew energy far too quickly for the forest to rebound. As trees withered to ash, we approached our fellow woodshaper to ask how to attune the shield to draw energy from animal life as well as plant life. We hoped by increasing the pool of energy, the drain on any single source would occur slowly enough for each life to continu- ally replenish itself.

He led us to the tree. Once more we formed a circle and he dropped the amulets around our necks. We laid our hands to the tree and linked our awareness to it. Please draw upon animal life force as well, we asked. The trees are dying from your drain. With its assent, we sliced our palms enough to allow blood to flow freely, then touched our palms to the tree for the last time.

After that day, one by one the participating woodshapers grew sick and died of a wasting sickness—helped along, I am sure, by he who led us down this disastrous path. Only those of us at the original ritual can remove the shield from around the forest. I alone remain alive, yet even now

I sense the vile woodshaper directing the shield ’s hunger at me. I weep for the remaining elves and the living forest. Eventually, the tree will kill all life within the shield.

In my death, let there be life,

Padarrin Oakbranch, 22sc ®

A Battle Lines Adventure

AnAn EpicEpic AdventureAdventure inin thethe SilvanestiSilvanesti ForestForest William W. Connors and With Stephen Kenson

Contributions From Duane Maxwell, Steve Miller, and Editor Carrie A. Bebris Adventure Concept and Brand Manager Typographer Angelika Lokotz Graphic Designers Tanya Matson and Dawn Murin Cover Illustrator David Martin Cartographer Diesel and Interior Illustrators Matthew Mitchell with James A. Crabtree, , and Jeff Menges Art Director Dawn Murin Special Thanks To Stan! and to Paul B. Thompson, Tonya R. Carter, , and Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, whose novels provided this book with descriptive quotes to begin certain chapters. DedicationsSample file For Sue Weinlein Cook and Carrie A. Bebris, women of beauty, intelligence, and compassion; friends in times good and bad. —WWC To Shaun Horner, whose unceasing love and support helped me get where I am today. —MH The authors gratefully acknowledge the original pioneers of Krynn: , , Harold Johnson, Douglas Niles, Carl Smith, Michael Williams —and of course, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

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ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, ,,FIFTH AGE,MONSTROUS MANUAL,SAGA, and the TSR logo are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. is a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ©1999 TSR, Inc. All rights reserved. Made in the U.S.A. Distributed to the hobby, toy, and comic trade in the United States and Canada by regional distributors. Distributed worldwide by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and regional distributors. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc. Authors’ Foreword

When this product first took form back in the spring of 1997, many changes started happening around the office. The biggest one included the acquisition of TSR by Wizards of the Coast. Not only was someone else running the company now, but many of our colleagues moved to Seattle to continue with the company. During the transition, this book, which was originally supposed to be a complete source box on all of the elves of Krynn, was put on hold. Another change that occurred with the acquisition was the fact that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman joined our team as creative consultants. Every six months or so, they meet with the DRAGONLANCE® product group to discuss the direction of the line. In our Summer 1998 meeting, the focus of several products shifted to help prepare the way for the of Souls story arc. One of these products was the project. Our team decided to focus in depth on the Silvanesti elves and their sylvan shield instead of discussing all the elves of Krynn more broadly. Thanks to the deft guidance of Sue Cook, the excellent input of Steve Miller, the lightning-fast prose and conversions of Steve Kenson, and the superlative editorial eye of , the adventure that reveals the secrets of the Silvanesti Shield and the events that occurred behind it rests in front of you in its final incarnation. In a way, it’s interesting that while TSR and Wizards of the Coast have unified, the elves of Krynn still have not. Like the humans around them, the elves are splintered. They are not united in the face of the many perils of the Fifth Age. The Great Dragons are aware of this discord and do what they can to foster it. After all, a united elven race would pose a great threat to their power. This adventure focuses on the Silvanesti elves who live in the town of Sithelnost. Until recently, that town was protected by the great shield that hung over the whole of the Silvanesti Forest. In recent years, however, the shield has begun to falter somewhat. Those who live near its edges have seen the forest gradually wither and die. Whether the shield is poisoning the wilderness in some way, draining the essence of life from it, or otherwise inhibiting the flora and fauna is impossible to say—or at least, that was the case prior to this adventure. In The Sylvan Veil, the heroes learn secrets about the Silvanesti, the forest in which they dwell, and the shield that protects them. Indeed, they will learnSample things that even file the Silvanesti do not suspect. Exactly how they use this information after the adventure will help to shape the future of every DRAGONLANCE campaign. The Sylvan Veil is the first product in the Battle Lines series of books and adventures and serves as a prelude to the War of Souls novels. Readers and players can look forward to more stories—including a new trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman—about this tumultuous period. Future adventures will focus on more of Krynn’s races and how they interact with each other during this critical time. If you’re interested in reading even more about the Silvanesti elves, here is a brief list of the sources we used to flesh out this product: The Elven Nations Trilogy by Paul B. Thompson, Tonya R. Carter, and Douglas Niles Tree Lords by John Terra The Dragons by Douglas Niles “The Sacrifice” short story in anthology by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Table of Contents

Prologue: Scene Four: Trail of Tears . . . . . 43 Epilogue: Shielded Life Sidebar: The Ashen Wastes . . 46 A New Chapter Adventure Background ...... 4 Interlude: Current Conditions ...... 88 A History Lesson ...... 4 Important Figures of Silvanesti 88 Current Events...... 5 The Town of Sithelnost Governmental Figures...... 88 Foreword to Aleaha’s Journal . . 6 Politics...... 47 Other Silvanesti Groups . . . . 90 Sidebar: The Truth About the Places in Sithelnost...... 48 Alhana Starbreeze ...... 91 Silvanesti Shield ...... 6 People of Sithelnost ...... 50 Jahran Kaldeist...... 93 Aleaha’s Journal ...... 7 The Legion of Steel ...... 94 Sidebar: Letter from a Cleric Color Section Cyan Bloodbane ...... 94 of Quenesti-Pah ...... 8 Map: Sithelnost ...... 53 Dark Knights and Ogres . . . . 94 Sidebar: Map: Tree ...... 54 The Sinthal-Elish and Silvanesti Magic Inside the Shield . . 10 Map: Silvanost and Environs 54 House System ...... 95 Roleplaying a Silvanesti Elf . . . . 15 Map: Silvanost ...... 55 House Structure...... 95 Birth ...... 15 Map: Silvanesti Forest ...... 56 House Royal...... 95 Childhood ...... 15 House Cleric ...... 96 Adolescence ...... 16 Act Two: House Protector...... 96 Adulthood ...... 17 The Dying Land House Mystic ...... 97 Mature Adulthood...... 19 House Metalline ...... 97 Scene One: Sidebar: The Silvanesti House Advocate...... 98 Arrival in Sithelnost ...... 58 Social Order ...... 20 House Mason...... 98 Sidebar: Silvanesti Roles and Kits . . . . 22 House Gardener ...... 99 The Heart of the Irda . . . . 60 Silvanesti Magic Items ...... 25 House Woodshaper...... 100 Scene Two: Against All Hope. . . 62 House Servitor...... 100 Sidebar: Irda LoreSample ...... 64 file Introduction: The Story Other Houses and Guilds . . 101 Scene Three: Swift Water ...... 66 Geography of Silvanesti...... 101 Heroes Old and New ...... 29 Scene Four: Into the Fire ...... 68 Barrier Hedge ...... 101 Roselenna ...... 30 Scene Five: The Forest ...... 102 Firemane ...... 31 The Silvanesti Shield ...... 70 Silvanost ...... 102 Ladine Dralathalas ...... 32 Scene Six: Daganeer’s Tomb . . . 72 Sidebar: Silvanesti Gods . . . 104 Avonathalonus ...... 33 Scene Seven: Other Population Centers. . 105 Blackeagle ...... 34 Final Resting Place ...... 74 Elven Artifacts ...... 110 Klen ...... 35 Scene Eight: Returning North. . 77 The Diviner of Life ...... 110 Vorst ...... 36 Scene Nine: Back in Sithelnost . 79 The Heart of the Irda . . . . . 110 Act One: Act Three: The Icon of Truth ...... 110 Through the Woods Mantooth ...... 111 Dragon’s Pawn Quinari’s Key ...... 111 Scene One: Scene One: Redeemer ...... 112 Meetings in the Woods . . . . . 36 Murder and Mayhem...... 80 Scene Two: Refugees ...... 40 Scene Two: Brute Force ...... 84 Scene Three: Ogre Attack! . . . . . 42 Scene Three: Lifesaving Rite . . . 86 PROLOGUE

expose Sithelnost. Although this change is unknown ithas dropped his hands to his to the rest of the world, word has begun to get out— hips and looked over the to the elves’ ancient enemies, the ogres. gathering with stern resolve. “But make no mistake! The A History Lesson preservation of our race is of The regions in and around the Silvanesti Forest have the greatest importance. Not always been a focus of important activity. Because of merely the purity of our blood, the isolationist nature of the elves who live there, but the purity of our customs, however, many of these events have passed unnoticed traditions, and laws. . . .” by the outside world. —Sithas, addressing The roots of this self-imposed solitude date back a the elven assembly in 2216PC, thousand years. After the Kinslayer War, when a fac- Firstborn tion of elves seceded to form the nation of Qualinesti, the land of Silvanesti began a strict isolationist policy For decades, the Sylvan Veil has shielded the Silvanesti that has endured through the ages. Although the from the outside world. In that time, mystery has Silvanesti could not avoid all contact with the rest of shrouded the elves’ activities, leaving players and Nar- Krynn, they did their best. rators alike to wonder what events transpired behind the shimmering barrier. The Nightmare This Prologue provides important background The most noteworthy event in recent Silvanesti his- details about the Silvanesti’s recent past through “A tory is, without a doubt, Lorac’s Nightmare. The very History Lesson,”below, as well as through the section mention of it causes the elves to tremble with the called “Aleaha’s Journal,”ostensibly penned by a high- memory of a disaster that almost claimed their ranking elven scout with introductions from the jour- beloved forest. nal’s transcribers. Information critical for playing a Although the elves had defended their land in the Silvanesti hero—including the stages of elven life, kits Dragon Wars, an attack during the War of the Lance and roles, and traditional magical items—appears in took them unawares. As elves fled, their king, Lorac, later sections. Narrators are encouraged to read this sought to destroy the marauding dragons by turning Prologue, sharing appropriate informationSample with their fileone of their own artifacts, a dragon orb, against them. players, before proceeding to the adventure itself. It was the orb that triumphed, however, taking control More cultural details about the Silvanesti and seeds of the king. Under the influence of that powerful relic, for further adventures appear in the Epilogue. Lorac was assailed with magical nightmares that Throughout this Prologue, as well as the rest of this twisted his forest into the Bleeding Wood. Ancient book, game mechanics appear wherever the roleplay- trees, each with a name and personality of its own, ing situation calls for a specific rule. SAGA® game rules cracked and rotted as their trunks grew gnarled. The appear in the running text or in paragraphs preceded Thon-Thalas River ran thick with ooze and became by a leaf icon (), while rules for the ADVANCED infested with revolting mutations. The Tower of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game appear either in color Stars withered, as did Lorac’s spirit. italic type within curved brackets {like this} or in a Long after the War of the Lance ended and Lorac d separate paragraph preceded by a dragon icon ( ). died, the blight remained. It took twenty years of struggling labor under the leadership of Porthios, Adventure Background monarch of the Qualinesti, to banish the Nightmare and restore the elven wood to its former beauty. The Sylvan Veil takes place primarily in the town of At last, the exiled elves could reclaim their Sithelnost and the northwestern extents of the Sil- enchanted forest home. The ancient wood once vanesti Forest. In the course of the story, the heroes again enjoyed its ancestral beauty. The emerald travel south nearly as far as the town of Shalost and boughs of the slender trees formed a translucent northwest to the edges of Blöde. canopy high above. Shafts of amber sunlight pierced Until lately, this region was protected from the out- the greenery to sparkle upon the clear, glittering side world by the Silvanesti Shield. In recent weeks, waters of the Thon-Thalas. The elves, with the however, that mystical barrier has begun to shrink. At patient attention for which their race is renowned, the start of this adventure, the shield has retracted to reshaped their capital, Silvanost, into the brilliant 4 PROLOGUE SHIELDEDLIFE

citadel of living wood, marble, and crystal it once at the elves and consider them cowards, while others was. New structures celebrating the rebirth of the attempt to establish contact despite the shield. For forest, mixed with lovingly restored buildings, fairly example, the Legion of Steel (a military order operat- shone with life. The Tower of the Stars, home of the ing out of the brass dragon Iyesta’s realm) seeks a way Silvanesti Speaker and seat of the nation’s power, to pierce the barrier. Working with the exiled Alhana again stood tall. Starbreeze, they champion the cause of elven unity And then the Chaos War erupted. and hope to make the Silvanesti an active force in the East. If the secret of the shield’s operation can be The Shield uncovered and used to protect other free lands, so The horror of the Nightmare years made the elves much the better. reluctant to expose their land to new hazards, and they successfully avoided the worst of the Chaos War’s Foreword to Aleaha’s Journal destruction—even remaining free of Dark Knight By Bertrem of the Order of Aesthetics conquest that fateful summer. As the great wyrms warred among themselves in the Dragon Purge that A few months ago, a young Silvanesti elf calling him- followed the war, the Silvanesti did nothing. When the self Draline Mistweaver brought a water-logged book surviving dragons carved up Ansalon, the elves sought to me. He claimed to have found it outside Sithelnost only to avoid their attention. Considering themselves and asked whether I or one of my order would tran- Krynn’s superior beings, the elves shunned all other scribe as much of it as we could. He praised our tech- races—whom they held responsible for making a niques for handling damaged manuscripts, stating mess of their beloved world. that they would enable him to learn more of what the Through the use of powerful magic and arcane book held than if he attempted to work with it secrets gleaned from sources unknown to the rest of himself. the world, the elves erected a magical field around Sil- Identifying the writing as Silvanesti, I assigned vanesti. The magical barrier prevented all manner of Farana Silvertreth to the task. The sodden text creatures—dragons, beasts, and humans—from enter- required several weeks of work and careful handling. ing the enchanted wood. Finally, the long-cherished Farana discovered that the journal’s writer, one Aleaha elven dream of absolute isolation was realized. Takmarin, had kept this journal over the course of many years. Although much of the manuscript has Current Events Samplebeen lost to us duefile to its condition, Farana pieced together events and crafted them into sections for eas- A number of important factors shape the attitudes of ier reference. While this organization does not reflect the Silvanesti in the Fifth Age. Many of these are a traditional journal style, I have to agree with Farana related to the mystical shield. that in the absence of many specific dates, some When the elves created their shield, they unwit- method of categorization is necessary. Since Farana tingly trapped the green dragon Cyan Bloodbane has a lyrical bent, she chose colorful section titles. inside it. Now, the Silvanesti find themselves fighting After she completed the transcription, I returned for their freedom and very survival against a fell crea- the resulting manuscript to the young elf. He immedi- ture who considers their forest home his own. ately set about reading it, devouring the text within Military Governor Konnal currently rules the the space of an hour and rereading numerous sec- Silvanesti Forest. He holds power because most Sil- tions. When finished, he handed the text back to me, vanesti reject Silvanoshei (son of their dark elf queen looking angered by what he had read. That’s when I Alhana Starbreeze and Porthios) as heir to the throne. finally perceived a familiar mannerism about him. He Those loyal to Alhana, however, see the governor as a had reminded me of someone when he first visited usurper and a quisling. They believe that Silvanoshei’s me, and his next words confirmed the resemblance. rule would unite all of the elf nations again. While “I cannot believe those fools have done this to these squabbles rage within House Royal, Silvanesti themselves,”he said. “I have not seen my forest since has no Speaker. Perhaps worse, Silvanoshei himself shortly after that puppet king Gilthas ascended to the has recently gone missing—should he actually be Qualinesti throne, and now I may never see it again.” called upon to assume his birthright, no one would Though his actual words would not have given him know where to find him. away, his delivery did: I believe that Dalamar stood Despite their efforts at isolation, the Silvanesti have before me in some magical disguise. not been forgotten by the outside world. Some sneer SHIELDEDLIFE 5