She is introduced as the attractive barmaid, but there is so much more to this character, including a difference of opinion on who she should end up with in the design team. Let’s learn all about Tika Waylan Majere. Buy DL3 Dragons of Hope: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/16882/DL3-Dragons-of-Hope-1e?affiliate_id=50797

https://youtu.be/FOSQMfWYE9s

Transcript

Cold Open

She is the rock that Caramon needs but even without him, Tika is a force to be reckoned with.

Intro

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Tika Waylan Majere. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, 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 link. I am referencing the annotated Chronicles and Legends novels including the various DL modules and sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below.

Discussion

Tika was initially supposed to be a major character in the series. She was even supposed to have married Raistlin according to Harold Johnson, but Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman found her fiery temper to be a better contrast to the easy-going Caramon Majere. Margaret reflects on the fact that Caramon would never have been able to confront his problems in Legends if it weren’t for Tika, though she did enable him for quite a while. But before we get into the relationship between Tika and Caramon, we need to do a bit of background work and shed some light on this surprisingly complex character.  

Tika Waylan is portrayed by Larry Elmore in his concept art as a gutsy but naive woman. By the time we see her painted for Dragons of Spring Dawning, she has evolved into a more serious warrior who is ready for whatever the world would throw at her. This is a common theme in Dragonlance. Some characters are given wonderfully obvious stories of growth and others are more subtle. Tika’s is a mix of both. Tika’s childhood was not one to envy. Her father was a thief and a small-time illusionist. She ran away from home at ten years of age to live in Solace, and it was there that she took after her father and honed in on her thieving skills. By the age of fifteen, she was an accomplished thief. Her only memento of the father left behind was a golden ring she wore around her neck. Some stories change the narrative from her running away from home to the father abandoning her. This may seem like a slight narrative shift, but it plays heavily into the psyche of the character, and if I am being honest, Tike doesn’t seem to bear the scars of abandonment, but rather, someone who has made tough choices and is forced to stand on her own two feet.

When we are first introduced to her she is incredibly pleased to see the innfellows again, especially Caramon, and now that she has matured into a young woman, she seems sure about what she wants, even if she’s not entirely sure how to get it. Tika is instrumental in helping the companions escape the Inn of the Last Home, offering up her own home to them as refuge. So either she has dealt with the scars of her past or she has buried them, which may play into her willingness to hide Caramons flaws later in life. She ended up working with Otik in his inn after trying to steal from him, and Otik gave her a chance. He saw a child making bad decisions, alone, fending for herself and he offered her stability and a home. In time even the semblance of a father figure.