Lorac Caladon, Speaker of the Stars

The Silvanesti Speaker of the Stars has a tortured legacy, but he found himself in a turbulent time which demanded action! Let’s learn more about Lorac Caladon. Buy the War of the Lance sourcebook: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3164/war-of-the-lance-3-5?affiliate_id=50797  

https://youtu.be/o9W6sk5-V1o

Transcript

Cold Open

His legacy is one of torture and nightmares, but he’s much deeper than that.

Intro

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Lorac Caladon, the Silvanesti Speaker of the Stars. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing the Annotated Chronicles, Dragons of Winter Night and the War of the Lance sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!

Discussion

It would be easy to see Lorac as the man, trapped by a Dragon Orb, tortured by Cyan Bloodbane, and a failed ruler of the ancient Silvanesti elven nation, but I truly believe he is much more than that. We have only to look at the era he was raised in and the turbulent times he lived through to begin to understand the notions this Silvanesti royalty was operating under. For the Speaker of the Stars did not have the best of times on his throne. He is known as the most infamous of Silvanesti kings, and that’s saying something after the kingdom had already faced three dragonwars and a brutal Kinslayer War which literally split the Silvanesti nation. I think we need to have a bit of a primer on the Silvanesti to truly understand Lorac Caladon. The Silvanesti are the chosen people of their god Eli, or Paladine. They claimed the forests, which were already occupied by the way, and fought two devastating Dragonwars to keep it. Through these wars, The Orders of High Sorcery were created by the gods out of necessity, and so the legacy of this ancient race is one of manifest destiny and magical order.

When the Erothian Empire began to press their borders and illegally raid their resources, they were forced to act, and what could have ended in a suing for peace with another nation, instead turned to a bitter civil war pitting elven neighbor against elven neighbor, brother against brother, literally when it came to Kith Kanan, who would end up founding Qualinesti, and his twin Sithas who ruled Silvanesti. This cemented the worldview of the Silvanesti elves, xenophobia and isolationism. But if you thought that was the end of it, hold my beer, because we haven’t even gotten to the Cataclysm yet. The Silvanesti were members of the Kingpriests court, but even they were ostracized by souring trade deals and the fanaticism of the Kingpriest, and this is where we first encounter Lorac Caladon. You see, Istar had a Tower of High Sorcery, a beautiful, powerful center of magical study. And this is where Lorac would ultimately travel to in order to take his Test of High Sorcery. 

Yes, Lorac Caladon was a talented magic user. It was commonly understood that Lorac was blessed by Eli for his raw talent and aptitude in the arcane arts. But Lorac was also a handsome, fair skinned, blonde elf of royalty. His piercing blue eyes spoke of intelligence and cunning. It wouldn’t be known at the time, but perhaps us students of history would see that fact that Lorac was the last royal elf to take the Test in Istar as a portent of doom, for after he left,