Astrophysics of Krynn, part 1

One would assume that, by default, Krynn would be a Earth-like planet.

Not so fast...

The Sources

There are conflicting information around. One, from the Atlas of Dragonlance, gives a 4-hours offset between the Tower of the High Clerist and Silvanost. Another, using a globe of krynn, instead gives a 2-hours offset for the same locations.

I choose the last source, because it would roughly make Krynn twice as large as the first one would make.

Also, to measure distances, I used Sean Macdonald's map of post-Cataclysm Ansalon.

Using the Globe and the Map

One interesting detail in this globe is the following line:

Indeed, this line is 50° long over the globe, and is situated at the latitude -30° (which is the same, for all our current purposes, as +30°)

And if we look at Sean Macdonald's map, it does from Mount Nevermind, to the very eastern edge of the Misty Isle, which is a distance I measured to be as 1,796km (sorry for the imperialist, I will be using international units system, here).

And with all that information, and a bit of geometry, I can calculate the radius of Krynn.

Let's do it.

Using Geometry

Assuming the following...

From the Mount Nevermind to the right edge of the Misty Isle:

• On Sean Macdonald's map, I measure 1,796km. Let's call this length SMD.
• On the 3D globe, I count 5 longitudes (each longitude being 10°), at lattitude -30° (which is the same than at lattitude 30°)

This means, the perimeter of the globe at lattitude -30° is:

P(30°) = SMD * 36 / 5

P(30°) = SMD * 7.2

What I want, is the radius of the globe at lattitude 0°, because it will be the radius of the sphere itself.

So, first, I need to transform the perimeter into a radius, which is done with the formula:

R = P / 2π

So:

R(30°) = P(30°) / 2π

R(30°) = SMD * 7.2 / 2π

R(30°) = SMD * 3.6 / π

Now, I want R(0°), which can be deduced from R(30°) because:

R(30°) = R(0°) * cos(30°)

... with cos(30°) = (3^0.5) / 2

So we have:

R(0°) = R(30°) / cos(30°)

R(0°) = R(30°) / (3^0.5) * 2

R(0°) = SMD * 3.6 / π / (3^0.5) * 2

R(0°) = SMD * 7.2 / π / (3^0.5)

We then replace the variables/constants with their values:

R(0°) = 1,796km * 7.2 / 3.14159 / 1.73205

R(0°) = 12,931.2km / 3.14159 / 1.73205

R(0°) = 4,116.13km / 1.73205

R(0°) = 2,376.45km

So, the Radius of Krynn is 2,376.45km...

That's small...

For comparison:

• Earth: 6,371.00 km (mean radius)
• Krynn: 2,376.45 km (radius)
• Luna (Earth's moon): 1,737.4 km (mean radius)

I mean, Krynn is barely larger than Luna (Earth's moon).

In the next part, we'll calculate the radius of each of Krynn's moon orbits.

And  yet, it changes nothing...

Apart from less space to put continents and seas (Ansalon is the same size as Western Europe...

Yeah, it's centered on France. Deal with it... 😝

... or 4 times the surface of Ukraine)...

... it doesn't really change anything because it is clear in the novels our heroes are dealing on a 1G gravity planet, which means Krynn's mass is the same as Earth's mass.

In other words, to have exactly the same gravity as Earth, if Krynn is smaller, it is also much denser.

And for the next physics calculations, this detail will make things much simpler.

P.S. Does it really change nothing?

From the simple calculations I intend to do later, it changes nothing.

First, if Krynn is more dense than Earth, then it makes sense its core is much more dense than Earth's core. We can imagine exotic metals, instead of the mix of nickel and iron that is the inner and outer core of Earth. Dragonmetal? Starmetal? Denser material would mean heavier than iron, which means, probably, more radioactive material than on Earth. Fun fact, the radioactive material of Earth's core is what gives the planet its heat. Would Krynn be warmer?

Also, from storytelling perspective, this changes a lot, because there isn't a lot of room on Krynn. It becomes a "small world", and relatively, it makes Ansalon larger, and thus, more important. Remember that the gods of Krynn seem obsessed with Ansalon, up to the point of sucker-punching it with a meteor.

If you are building a campaign where only the 2 first trilogies, it means the rest of Krynn can be explained as you want, and you won't need to spend a lot of time on it, because the overall surface is small. And it might be easy to repurpose the other continents (e.g. Taladas and Adlatum) into very exotic continents.

For example, one might be a land of dinosaurs, where the dragons reign supreme. Another might be a land of chaos, ravaged by the Graygem, where inhabitants are monstrous mutant-like creatures (this would let us repurpose the fiends, and more particularly, the demons, to inhabit this continent).

Another might be a wasteland where life isn't possible anymore, having been ravaged eons ago, and possibly the destination of my players a few campaign by now, to discover the first apostasis. Who knows?

😉

Sylvyana, the Ghoul Queen (Dramatis Personae)

Lady, by Yao Rong

As a dark elf, most, if not all, original writings and accounts on Sylvyana have been destroyed. Surviving documents are rare, and can be, at best, considered as unreliable.

History

Born in the Moons' Shadow

Sylvyana Moonshadow, of silvanesti House Mystic was born during the Third Dragon War, owning her surname to the fact she was born during the Night of the Eye (when the three moons are full and in conjunction, taking an eye-like appearance in the sky). While never taken seriously, this omen would shadow all her life within Silvanesti.

Even as a child, her talent for the arcane arts was undeniable, and the masters of House Mystic challenged her intelligence and mastery of the Art, at every opportunity, preparing her for the Test of High Sorcery. For, without her knowledge, she was being groomed by the masters of House Mystic to become one of the archmages of the silvanesti, their ambition none other than having her become the High Mage of the Conclave of High Sorcery.

That is, until the Speaker of the Stars laid his eyes on her.

With her charming blue eyes, her long waving black hair, and her mysterious smile, her beauty struck the young speaker, who fell madly in love for her.

Her dedication for the Art didn't matter. Her ominous birth didn't matter. The ambitions of House Mystic didn't matter. Her close friendship for the human druid Waylorn Wyvernsbane didn't matter. She had to be his. So he did what was necessary.

Some would tell later that she had willingly used her beauty, and even magic, to charm the young Speaker of the Stars. Others would simply discard such notions, as having them falling in love with each other doesn't need any more explanation than them being young and healthy.

It was also said Sylvyana resisted the speaker's affections. Perhaps because she knew her role as the speaker's wife to hurt her dedication to the Art. Perhaps because the speaker's love was unrequited. Perhaps the rumors of her and the human druid being lovers were true. But in the end, probably because of a mix of sense of duty towards her people, and naiveté about what the prestigious role of Queen of Silvanesti entailed, she relented, and accepted the speaker's offer.

Queen of Silvanesti

Becoming the Queen of Silvanesti changed Sylvyana's life: Leaving House Mystic to join House Royal, she also had to abandon her studies of magic, and learn the art of diplomacy and etiquette. At first, navigating this new world was fascinating, but she soon found she longed for the magic. But of course, she wasn't authorized to practice the Art anymore: Her loyalties were now to her husband, and to Silvanesti. And her responsibility was to provide heirs to the throne, and certainly not risk her life by taking the Test.

Elves are patient. But even elves can get bored. And Sylvyana started doubting her choice. She felt she was nothing but a glorified art piece owned by her husband, to be shown at ceremonies in public, or to satisfy his desires in private. She felt she was just a traditional tool, with all expecting her to become pregnant.

She felt powerless.

The Speaker of the Stars, while not really understanding the despondency of his wife, felt something was wrong between them, and slowly detached himself emotionally from her. Their love grew cold. Perhaps this is why she never became pregnant, instead of being sterile as was later claimed by her political enemies. In the end, it didn't matter: Both husband and wife grew apart.

Sorceress of the Red

In secret, she restarted her studies, and asked the Head of the Conclave to let her pass the Test. She was already too powerful and the Mages of High Sorcery had to make a choice, between risking her becoming a renegade, or having such talent join the orders, even if in secret.

She succeeded her test. And if it scarred her, nothing was really apparent to her husband. Perhaps it could be explained by the fact he had been attracted to another, to a young elf maiden, more pliable than Sylvyana was, so he barely though about his wife. Similarly, her own dalliances with the Art had her neglect her husband even more than before.

Anyway, it was plain for some councilors that she would probably never bear the speaker's children, and that the speaker was now actively pursuing another. The scandal would tarnish the speaker's reputation, and future children, so a solution had to be found.

Then, they discovered the young maiden was pregnant. And just like that, Sylvyana's fate was sealed.

Dark Elf

The councilors' spies were very thorough, and soon enough, they had proofs of her "betrayal" of silvanesti's values, as well as of the speaker's trust (see P.S.).

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Stars had wondered how to solve the delicate situation he was now in. So, when his councilors shared with him the "proofs" of Sylvyana's betrayal, he secretly welcomed these discoveries, claiming that he had indeed been betrayed by the evil sorceress, that he had been charmed, but that he was now free of her influence, and feared for his life.

Arrested, bound and gagged, she was brought to the Tower of the Stars for a public trial. The proofs of her crimes and betrayal were shown to the people of Silvanesti, who turned against her. She who was once the beloved queen of the Silvanesti, was alone now, as even her family, friends and servants denounced her.

Given no opportunity to defend herself in any way, she ended being, by order of the Speaker of the Stars, declared a dark elf, stripped of her clothes and given black robes representing her black heart instead, and exiled from Silvanesti forever, to never return, under pain of death.

As she was escorted to the borders of Silvanesti, under the gaze of the people now hating her, all known records of her existence were destroyed.

Exile

Without any possession, and believed she had been betrayed by the mages, she reached Waylorn Wyvernsbane's haven and begged for his help. The druid welcomed her, giving her time to get her bearings. The next years were painful for the former queen, despite the affections of the human druid: Waylorn Wyvernsbane's tower was within sight of Silvanesti, and the druid received news of the elf nation, including the birth of the speaker's child, and his marriage with a young maiden.

Sylvyana was hurt by these news: She longed for the trees of her youth, and couldn't forget she had sacrificed the Art, and then was denied her of her privileges for practicing magic, and some made-up crimes. And now, the Speaker of the Stars had replaced her with his new mistress. In fact, he had replaced her so fast it was suspicious.

Waylorn Wyvernsbane saw the bitterness of the former queen increase, and, one night, he couldn't bear his own guilt anymore, he admitted to her he had spoken to envoys of the speaker, who he now realized might have been his councilors' spies. While he assured her he hadn't told them anything relevant, he now realized they had probably been reading between the lines, and guessing the information.

Outraged by what she perceived to be his betrayal, and realizing the accusations were actually a conspiracy against her by her own people, by her own husband, and that the mages had nothing to do with it, she left the druid behind, vowing revenge.

Necromancer of the Black

A few weeks later, she was at Wayreth, asking for the help of the orders. Given quarters within the towers, she started her studies of magic, soon both teaching students, and unearthing the more complex secrets of the Art. As if to spite the white-robed silvanesti elves she felt (rightly) has betrayed her, she donned black robes, then focused her research to necromancy, a field of magic that had, until now, borne little results beyond animating mindless corpses.

Understanding medicine and biology, she successfully created necromantic rituals that, if still unable of rivaling the miracles of divine magic, were able to offer the semblance of healing. Indeed, she discovered and contributed many spells, and among them Chill Touch, False Life, Gentle Repose, and Vampiric Touch.

As a debate rose within the orders about the ethics of exploring necromancy (some, most of them white robes, believed it had to remain a province of the divine), her ambition grew, seeing opportunities.

But for that, she needed to get rid of the interference from the most hostiles of her peers, which were slowing her down with peer reviews, debates, and so on.

Queen of the Wyverns

She moved away to Qualmish for a very specific reason, near the green shores of the Angolen River, to be able to explore this new branch of magic without interference.

Using her magic to gather power over the humans and ogres living around her chosen site for her tower, she then searched for faithful guardians to guard the tower she had been slowly constructing through magic.

First, she found a large pride of Wyverns. With a variation of the ritual used to bind griffons in Silvanesti, she successfully bound them to her through her blood. Then, discovering a colony of Kyries, she recruited six of them, which would become known as the Raven Witches. Last, but not least, she focused on her studies of necromancy, keeping contact with the Towers of Wayreth and Palanthas, to exchange ideas and research with her peers.

The Speaker of the Stars grew uneasy as news of her growing powers reached him, through House Mystic. Mistaking her ambitions, he feared she would try to poison him, his new wife, or their child. His councilors sent assassins to bring her down, but they failed miserably. Worst, if he was right about her taste for revenge, he was wrong about her aim: Sylvyana was not building her own realm in the arid mountains of Qualmish: She was gathering the means of her conquest of Silvanesti: She would reclaim what she thought was rightfully hers.

Arch-Necromancer of Ansalon

Sylvyana had escaped multiple assassination attempt, including one poisoning who would have been fatal to her if she hadn't been so skilled in necromancy. This actually made her think about her own mortality: Fearing, even as an elf, she could fail due to poison, but also to disease or old age.

Unable to secure from Fistandantilus his secret of immortality, she increased her efforts to study necromancy beyond the ethics limits she had previously agreed upon, profiting from the isolation of her tower near Mount Brego, and her subjugation of the people living around: While suspicious, none of the many visiting mages found her secret laboratory.

It was at this time she offered a classification of the undead creatures, a classification that is still used in the modern ages by mages and clerics alike, based on their corporality, their need to feed, their intellect, and their anchors.

White Mages, back at Wayreth started to worry such research would lead to a catastrophe, and wanted her to stop, or be declared renegade. Mages of the Red and of the Black begged to differ, and continued to welcome their visits and correspondence with Sylvyana, and her own frequent visits to the Tower of Palanthas.

The Ghoul Queen

Her experimentation finally led to the greatest necromantic breakthrough since the ritual to lichdom: Ghouldom.

Ghouls were both able to retain part of their intellect, defeat death and disease. They were certainly not perfect: To remain active, they had to feed from flesh, preferably their own species' flesh. Failing to do that would be both painful, lead to an uncontrollable ravenous rage, and lead to some kind of hibernation until smell or taste of blood would wake them again.

Also, they were able to create more of their own, by poisoning mortals: Should a victim die because of their necrotic poison, their body would mutate, and they would raise again, as ghouls.

Self-reproducing undead would be considered an irresponsible and immediate danger by the Orders of High Sorcery, and Sylvyana didn't doubt, if they learned about it, they would would make sure to shut down permanently her experimentations.

So, unlike what happened with her previous experiments, she never shared any of these results with anyone.

Instead, she knew she now held the power she needed to conquer Silvanesti: Under her control, every victim of a ghoul might raise up as a ghoul themselves, increasing their ranks at the expense of their enemies.

Chemosh

The god of undeath had been particularly interested by the research made by Sylvyana, and made sure, through agents (mostly his own priests), that any meddling cleric or agent of good investigating the region would be discovered before they could reveal anything problematic to anyone.

The god even once visited her under the guise of a black mage, to discuss necromancy with her. He was so impressed by her knowledge of the subject, the passion with which she did her research in this field of magic, and the potential of ghouls, that he decided she had to continue, no matter what.

Also, she found about his true identity, and the two became passionate lovers.

Last Preparations

Sylvyana was intelligent enough to know her own limitations. She needed a general to plan the details of the offensive against Silvanesti, someone both with a life-long experience, and with a capacity to adapt to the variant rules that would lead that war.

That someone was already dead, killed during the Kinslayer War, as Ergoth had tried to invade Silvanesti.

But Chemosh did her a favor, and had his priests bring the ergothian general back from the dead, as an undead warrior, a form suitable for his new role. Together, they planned an invasion from within.

While Silvanesti was without doubt, by now, expecting her to wage some kind of aggression upon them, they knew she had to traverse the whole continent to do anything substantial.

Little they know that she knew of two ancient portals that could be linked together. The first one was within Silvanesti itself, the Portal of Shalost. The second was actually the reason she had come to Qualmish the first place: It was near her Tower at Mount Brego. Her plan was to reopen the portals, secretly move there during the night, and plant ghouls in various villages around Shalost, waiting for her undead army to grow, while keeping her wyverns, humans, ogres and goblin behind the portal, waiting for the moment Silvanesti would send a sizeable army for her to surprise.

The War Against Silvanesti

The war started very well, undeath slowly spreading around Shalost. It took the silvanesti elves three days to realize something was amiss, and two days later, the first army of wildrunners were surprised when caught between ravenous ghouls on one side, and human, ogre and goblin soldiers on the other.

The war turned ugly as the silvanesti sent their best against the army of Sylvyana, blood pouring from the skies as wyverns fought against griffins, and pouring into the earth, as elves fought humans, goblins and ogres. Worse of all: For some reason, elves who had died during the combat were seen rising back to unlife, and fight alongside Sylvyana's forces.

Desperate Counter-attack

By all accounts, she would have won the war.

But the elves launched a desperate attempt to kill her personally: A commando who had stealthily gone through her lines, buying every mile with the blood of their kin distracting the ghoul queen armies.

In that commando, a knight of the sword, Dereg Raynhold, and her former lover, Waylorn Wyvernsbane had only one mission: Kill her so her armies would disperse. It was a dangerous, desperate mission, but the Silvanesti had no other hope.

While the elves tried to contain the forces of Sylvyana, the group of adventurers stalked her, found her, and attacked her at noon. The battle was bitter, but the knight, armed with the mythical sword, Darkstar, went through her spells without difficulty, and hurt her, mortally.

Fearing the blade that had cut through her flesh with so much ease, Sylvyana ran through the Portal, and closed it behind her, leaving her armies.

The Fall of Sylvyana

But she would not be able to rest: It took less than a day for the mages of House Mystic to reopen the portal, and Sylvyana was, again, surprised. Trying to rejuvenate herself, she had ritually killed her elven servant, and was devouring her still beating heart, when she saw Waylorn Wyvernsbane entering her chambers.

Furious, Sylvyana was about to kill Waylorn when he tried to appease her, telling her he was there to join her, that they could flee together, and hide somewhere, and live in happiness together.

Feverish, in pain, overcome with despair and longing, she believed him... and was struck by his dagger. She barely had the time to throw him against a wall when she was pierced in the back, again by Darkstar, the sword of Dereg Raynhold.

She fell on her knees.

She would never know Dereg had seen the horrors conjured by Sylvyana, and in horror, fear and anger, had decided to sacrifice his honor and leave nothing to chance, and had struck her by surprise.

The Death of Sylvyana

Thus, Sylvyana died, a dagger blade burrowed into her side, a sword blade emerging from her breast, piercing her heart, and her dying words drowned by the blood she was coughing out.

The Ghoul Queen was dead, her allies dispersed, her tower being sacked and prepared to be burned to the ground.

Looking at the burning tower, Waylorn Wyvernsbane had known from the start Sylvyana had to die, and he was not sure they could have succeeded in a fair fight. So he had agreed to distract her. But this didn't made the guilt easier to bear.

Dereg Raynhold himself felt the brunt of his act, feeling the curse, without being able to decide if that curse came from Sylvyana's feeling of betrayal and last words, or by his own betrayal of his knightly vows. In the end, it didn't matter, and the knight would leave, starting a holy quest to atone for his sins.

Still, fearing she could rise again as a banshee, a vengeful spirit known to rise from the restless spirit of the betrayed, the adventurers paid their respects to her corpse, and gave her proper funeral ceremony, to insure her soul would not linger among the living.

Then they buried her near her in nearby grounds consecrated by Waylorn Wyvernsbane himself, using his druidic powers, and then planted the seed of a tree from Silvanesti, hoping this would be enough to finally bring peace to her soul.

It wasn't nearly enough...

Once every year after, Waylorn Wyvernsbane, would come back to the ruined tower, and mourn on the grave, thinking about all the things he could have done, all the things he should have done, differently.

Sylvyana had made her choices. While there were many reasons justifying her feelings, her actually putting her words into action, and waging the worst war against Silvanesti since the Second Dragon War, with such horrendous soldiers, with so despicable magic...

And yet, he felt he had somehow failed her. By having not done nearly enough to soothe her pain. By inadvertently betraying her. By being complicit of her execution. And how he had profited from her feelings for him to stab her by surprise.

Year after year, he came back. The tree grew. Grass grew around and on her grave. Time passed.

Then, one year, everything changed.

Traversing the ruins of a village, the bones of its inhabitants laying on the ground, he realized something dreadful had happened.

Galloping towards the ruined tower, his darkest fears were confirmed.

To his upmost horror, he found the grave upturned, and empty, under a tree that had suddenly withered.

The Undeath of Sylvyana

Unknown to Waylorn Wyvernsbane, the previous Night of the Eye this year (and the magical radiation from the three moons), combined with Sylvyana's interrupted ritual, and the divine magic of Chemosh, completed the transformation and regeneration process that eventually brought her body back to unlife, ready to be inhabited again by her restless soul.

Sylvyana first rose up as a ghoul, any trace of her genius intellect, or even ambitions, buried under an indescriptible hunger that consumed her thoughts. By the time she had reached the village, she had already killed an animal, and eaten its heart.

It was only when she bit the still beating heart of a child that she became herself again, and realized the full horror of her situation. All around her, so many dead, so much blood, and torn flesh... She almost broke down, but her memories of how she had been betrayed came back to her, and with it, the outrage, the anger, and the ambition to make all things "right" again, no matter the cost to others.

As the first ghouls were rising around her, submitting to her will, and as the first wyverns arrived, their blood called by hers, she fled the region.

So, having seen her empty grave, having no idea about her whereabouts, and knowing Sylvyana would rest and outlive her enemies, Waylorn Wyvernsbane decided to do the same, and enter a magical sleep inside a tower built upon the ruins of the portal she had used to invade Silvanesti.

This way, he would hunt her, and make sure she would stay dead, forever...

Bidding her Time

The Age of Might soon became quite hostile for undead, evil and neutral races and organizations, so Sylvyana kept a low profile, evolving from a cannibalistic ghoul eating flesh into a more refined vampire feeding on blood, and discovering her new abilities, and hide among the living, something all the other undead, including her own ghouls, couldn't do without heavy use of magic.

Keeping in the shadows, she influenced Salius Ruven, a black robe who had "unearthed" her secrets "by accident", to use necromancy and raise an army of undead to conquer Istar. He almost succeeded, but failed at the last moment when the Solamnic Knights came to Istar's rescue. Of course, istarians and solamnics blamed the orders of high sorcery for their non-intervention, and no one ever suspected her involvement (including Salius himself).

Despite Salius' failure, the experiment was a success to her, showing her that another war against Silvanesti would fail, again, no matter how many undead she raised to fight in the frontlines.

With the forces of good becoming more and more prevalent, all she could do was to bid her time. So she went back to torpor, and thus escaped the worse of the Kingpriest's inquisitions.

The Cataclysm

Sylvyana was in torpor, in a crypt under Xak Tsaroth, when the Cataclysm struck, and like half the city, her crypts were pushed underground with the earthquakes and the sunking under the New Sea.

It took her more than a century to wake up, and extract herself from the drowned ruins.

It took her some time to realize this was now a world without gods. The constellations were still in the skies, but the people had turned away from the old gods, and worshiped new, seemingly powerless gods. Sylvyana believed this was an unique opportunity to act, but a warning from an otherwise silent Chemosh advised her to keep a low profile, for the Dark Queen was moving her pawns, and would not tolerate any interference.

Instead, the god of undeath had other plans: Unlike the other gods of Evil and Balance, Chemosh had devised a way to avoid the worst of the Kingpriest's inquisitions, by converting most of his priests into undead mummies, to sleep inside long forgotten tombs deep under the ground. Waking his (un)surviving agents up had taken him too long after the Cataclysm, so he had to let the Queen of Darkness go first...

... But he had no doubt the conflict, no matter who won, would bring him a lot of corpses to reuse...

War of the Lance

The Queen of Darkness would have been furious if Chemosh, or any other evil god, had interfered with her operations, and the god wisely stayed away, hoping for Takhisis and her enemy, Paladine to weaken each other up to the point Chemosh's plans could start without their interference.

Instead, Sylvyana was tasked to build the Order of High Necromancy, an organization of renegade, purple-robed, necromancers whose leaders would be undead liches and vassaliches. At first, she led the Purple Robes.

But in 349 AC, the Red Dragonarmy attacked Silvanesti, which distracted Sylvyana from the mission given to her: She considered Silvanesti hers to the taking. While she was amazed at how the war went astride, when Silvanesti was taken over by a Dragon Orb and the dragon Cyan Bloodbane, she was even more interested by the colossal Mindspin spell affecting the whole forest.

But she was unable to design a suitable reaction that would not attract the Queen of Darkness' attention to herself. Instead, she infiltrated the native Kagonesti elves, and the now exiled refugees of Silvamori, in Southern Ergoth, knowing she would need the contacts, later...

Obsessing over Silvanesti

Meanwhile, despite her having the favor of Chemosh, the god was furious with Sylvyana because of the lack of progress on her side, clearly due to her unhealthy obsession about Silvanesti.

Ardhalox, Sylvyana's first convert, and the most of ambitious of the vassaliches, appealed to the god of undeath, who accepted his claim of leadership.

Sylvyana was furious... until she realized the god, knowing of her focus on Silvanesti, had knowingly given her less responsibilities so she could focus on her aim, leaving Ardhalox to focus instead on the missions of the Purple Robes.

Thus, Sylvyana remained a free agent who focused on building her secret influence on key Silvanesti elite, and on experimental research, much to the irritation of Ardhalox who wanted nothing else than the full focus of all the Purple Robes, including Sylvyana herself, to find a way to take over the cursed Tower of Palanthas.

Her plans to take over Silvanesti were taking form, and when a group of heroes had succeeded in conquering the orb, and forcing the dragon to flee, she was pleased to see that Lorac's Nightmare remained: From 351 AC on, the Silvanesti was overwhelmed with monstrous creatures, some of them undead, and years, if not decades, would be needed to reconquer the city.

Years she would use to plan her own reconquest.

After the War

At the height of their power, the Purple Robes had three missions at the same time:

• Counter the Curse of Rannoch, so they could take over the Tower of Palanthas
• This task obviously would fail when Raistlin Majere will successfully become the Master of Past and Present, and took possession of the tower.
• Chemosh would be furious against Ardhalox for failing to take over the tower, and Ardhalox would be furious against Sylvyana for not helping the Order of High Necromancy.
  
• Devise the ritual to create a Death Knight
• This task would secure Lord Soth's loyalty, as he had plans of his own
• Find a way to distilate the residual divine energy in the black rock that had composed the now destroyed Temple of Neraka

Sylvyana, while keeping in touch with each missions' evolution, was mostly interested in the last one: The black rock of the Temple of Neraka emitted necrotic energy, energy she could harvest and distilate, both to help in Chemosh's plans, and to help in her plan of taking over Silvanesti before the elves could muster the resources to conquer the land back.

This is why she can be found either in Southern Ergoth, weaving her web of intrigues, and gathering followers in secret, or in Neraka, profiting from the power vacuum to study the crater.

The Future: The Sylvyanesti

To Chemosh's frustration, Sylvyana's obsession with taking over Silvanesti will make her not actively participate directly in his plans, but the sweet promise of dedicating the elven realm to him helps him remain patient with her.

Indeed, the silvanesti elves are so impatient to retake their forest they are actively asking the help of the qualinesti (and kagonesti, with or without their consent). This mixing of the races and culture irritates the more conservative among the silvanesti nobility, who feel thousand years of racial purity ought to give them more patience. And the rumors of a marriage between Alhana Starbreeze and Porthios Khanan, uniting both nations, seems to be the last straw for them. This is where Silvyana weave her first web of intrigues over the people of Silvanesti, offering herself as a pure-blood silvanesti elf, and much more legitimate than the daughter of the failed speaker, Lorac Caladon.

Among her plans is the ascension of the silvanesti elf into a more pure, more perfect race, using her own blood to power the process. With these sylvyanesti elves becoming the new nobility, her power would be cemented by loyal and powerful subjects.

Also necessary for her legitimacy as a queen of Silvanesti, she needs to subjugate the forest itself, and its creatures (animated trees, dryads, etc.). This is why she needs to unearth the secret of the black rock of Neraka, as she feels that, mixed with her blood, and ritually dispersed on the forests and the rivers of Silvanesti, the substance could help bind the forest and its creature to her.

Last but not least, the Miceram: With the Crown of Power in her possession, no silvanesti elf would deny her legitimacy, no matter their feelings against her. Indeed, few in Krynn would have to power to go on the offensive against her.

Chemosh, who had been focusing initially on Nightlund, could be help but be seduced by the idea of Sylvyana taking over Silvanesti, with its nobility becoming what amounts to a perfect fusion of the living and the unliving. So he's willing to accommodate his own plans so she can further her own.

Character Traits

Psychology

Sylvyana is charming, intelligent, daring, curious. She is also passionate, cruel, ambitious, and a racist (as in "silvanesti elves" need to keep the purity of their blood), feeling (without any hatred or xenophobia) that other races are inferior by design, no matter how charming some individuals can be.

As a vampire, she enjoys collecting persons as personal toys in her collection, in a growing "harem" of people being in turn followers, servants, agents, and lovers, depending on her whims.

Her relationship with Chemosh is a mix of "friendship with benefits", mutual respect and an irritation growing with each day they spend together, which is why most of their communication is through written form (more on that later).

Her ambitions are more related into governing her people and her lands into growing into something better (at least, according to her view). Should she become ruler of Silvanesti, she would not be tempted by further conquests. Instead, she would further diplomatic relations with other realms, from Solamnia to Neraka to Mithas, and even Qualinesti (she is very open). As long as they recognize her legitimacy.

Of course, under her rule, the forest and people of Silvanesti would change in ways that some would find intolerable. She couldn't care less, as long as they remain outside Silvanesti, and do not interfere.

In the end, she ambitions to become Silvanesti. As someone else wrote in his journal: "I am the Land, I am the Ancient..."

Virtue: Hope

Sylvyana has a constant optimism about her destiny, and never give up to despair. Nothing is impossible, as long as she continues striving for it. This is because of this virtue that, after centuries, even thousand years, she believes becoming Queen of Silvanesti is always within her grasp. This also means she will always believe she can convince others to join her cause.

Vice: Pride

Sylvyana was born under the three full moons in conjunction. She was destined both to be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) archimage of Krynn, as well as rule as a beloved Queen over her beloved lang and people of Silvanesti. She is part of the elite, and most others are, well, normal. This doesn't translate into contempt for others. Instead, she makes it a point to explain to others why they are wrong and she is right, why they will lose and she will win. In Tropes terms, because of her hope, and of her pride, she can be manipulated into explaining her plans.

Attitude: Architect

Sylvyana wants to build a lasting legacy. She believes that, under her rule, her Queendom of Silvanesti (or will it be Sylvyanesti?) could become, under her leadership, the greatest realm on Krynn.

She has so many plans...

Nature: Monster

No matter what she has been in the past, Sylvyana is now a monster who enjoys witnessing the cannibalistic urges of her creations, sometimes even reveling in such urges herself (even if she usually prefers the more "delicate" blood drinking)

Description

During the Age of Might, when she was queen of Silvanesti, she was a beautiful elf, with a strange, mysterious charisma that would fascinate any onlooker. This made her appear distant, inaccessible, majestic. She was obviously the ideal of the elf queen, with her gray-blue eyes, long black hair, oval face and the always-there, mysterious and enchanting, smiling on her lips, as if she always knew something no one else knew. She loved white, red and black, and true to her birth, she always wore these colors in some fashion.

In the Age of Despair, Sylvyana has barely changed, with the following exceptions: Her skin is much paler, and her eyes are now of a vibrant purple, and in the right lighting, her hair can seem dark purple. These traits are amplified under the otherwise invisible light of Nuitari. She has such fine control over her charisma that she can one moment appear like a bland and clueless, if beautiful, elf-maid, and, in one blink of an eye, radiate a subtle, but overwhelming magnetism that leaves no one unaffected. Sylvyana usually wears clothes that are adapted to her current situation, but these are always of the finest quality.

Notes

• Sylvyana loves the purple color, and absolutely loves gold.
• Her relationship with Chemosh can be best described as respectful and lustful strife: Both are fascinated with Necromancy, and respect each other for that. In addition, both feel a similar and violent lust toward the other, usually fueled by the regular quarrels, usually caused by jealousy, arrogance, and need to outsmart and challenge each other.
• Sylvyana is obviously a renegade mage. Any respect she had for the Orders of High Sorcery as an organization has been snuffed away by her dedication to Chemosh.
• As there is no one alive remembering her, and as every portrait, even even most writings about her, has been destroyed, she walks on Krynn incognito, using her charms to build a network of allies, willing or otherwise.
• Unless she is actively working to repress it, a slight contempt can always be heard in her voice. She knows she is superior to anyone talking to her, and that arrogance can be heard in her tone, or her choices of words.
• Sylvyana feeds from humanoid (if possible, elf) blood, either from a cristal glass if the subject is common, or directly from the subject's throat, or wrist, if the subject's appearance attracted her attentions. But what she particularly loves is to eat the still beating heart she just extracted from its living (until now) owner. As a vampire, despite appearing otherwise normal, her teeth are sharp enough to cut through leather. She can also grow fangs, and she can even dislocate her jaw (as would a serpent) to bite something large.

Differences with Canon

Krynn Ghouls

• The original experiment used wyvern's blood, as well as Sylvyana's
• Interestingly, this makes all ghouls (and anything evolving from ghouls) susceptible to her suggestions or commands
  
• Unlike in other settings, elves are not immune to Krynn ghouls' poison and paralysis
• Krynn ghouls need to feed from flesh, ideally from their own original species, or something similar
• Krynn ghouls can evolve so they need only feed from blood, essentially evolving into vampires
• Krynn vampires are a more refined version of ghouls, with a much better ability to hide among mortals
  

What about Wichtlins?

Let's ignore these things for my campaign: Sylvyana is the Ghoul Queen, not the Lady of Floating Eyeballs.

What about Sylvyana and the river or time?

Let's ignore this, too. Moving forward in time is infinitely less problematic than moving backward in time, but that seems a bit out-of-topic with something that is supposed to be very necromancy/undeath-oriented.

The best way to move forward in time is to survive the passing of time. And using something like the vampiric torpor/hibernation seems more appropriate for such "jumps in the future".

P.S. What did the Councilors unearth?

During their investigations, the councilors of the Speaker of the Stars gathering any information that could be even remotely credible in order to prove her guilt:

• She was a Mage of High Sorcery.
• She had (as befitting to her birth, her love of mystery, and her curiosity), joined the Red Robes, which was considered a crime among the elves, who tolerated only their own to join the White Robes.
• She was still in contact with Waylorn Wyvernsbane

From there, they posited that:

• She had probably bewitched the Speaker of the Stars with her magicks
• She was probably the lover of a human (Waylorn Wyvernsbane), and any child she would bear was bound to be his
• She was practicing necromancy, probably in attempt to bear children that could be considered heirs of Silvanesti
  
• She probably had planned the corruption of the moral values of the Silvanesti, after reducing the speaker to a mere puppet, or killing him if he was to free himself