The Dragon Orbs, also known as the Orbs of Dragonkind, are all exactly the same at 10 inches in diameter, made of fragile crystal, and have a strange mist swirling with all five colors of the Chromatic Dragons. In that mist, just below the surface are arcane runes for using the orb. Once someone decides to use an orb, it will expand to twenty inches in diameter, and then the mist in the orb with begin to swirl violently as the user reads aloud the runes that are just below the surface. A dragon orb cannot be destroyed by any magical force, either arcane or divine, but are easily destroyed by a physical attack.
Each orb is an intelligent artifact with its personality reflecting what dragons it has trapped inside of it. An orb will communicate through dreams and visions, rather than directly with the user. Only powerful Wizards or someone with incredible sense of self can attempt to control an orb, if they fail in this attempt the orb takes control of the user until one of three things happen to the user: the user breaks free, something from the outside frees the user, or the user dies of hunger and thirst.
If a user is able to dominate the orb then they are able to access massive amounts of info, see into the River of Time's past and future, use the orb to telepathically summon Chromatic Dragons, causes massive confusion upon Dragon type creatures such as Draconians, scrying, and much more. The full list of what an orb can do has never been able to be listed, due to the fact that most wizards are too nervous to even attempt to use one.
Creation of the Orbs[]
The Dragon Orbs were powerful artifacts that were created at the end of the Age of Dreams during the final desperate hours of the Third Dragon War. Wizards of all three colors, Red, White, and Black, saw what would become of the world if Takhisis took control and agreed with each other to unite to create a weapon to destroy the Chromatic Dragons. The three orders met at the Tower of High Sorcery at Palanthas on a night when all three moons were full. The greatest mages created the orbs that night with the assistance of the gods of magic. Once they were created, each orb was given to one of the five Towers of High Sorcery, but some were moved around and other destroyed.
Histories of the Five Orbs[]
Daltigoth Orb[]
The orb that was housed in the Tower of High Sorcery at Daltigoth was believed destroyed during the Lost Battles with the Istar Empire in 19 PC. It had an unknown color of mist inside this orb, either blue or black.
If the orb was blue, then by the War of the Lance it was in the possession of the wizard Zebulah in the sunken city of Istar. It is unknown what became of the blue orb.
Losarcum Orb[]
The orb that was housed in the Tower of High Sorcery at Losarcum was believed destroyed during the Lost Battles with the Istar Empire in 19 PC. It had an unknown color of mist inside this orb, either blue or black.
If the orb was blue, then by the War of the Lance it was in the possession of the wizard Zebulah in the sunken city of Istar. It is unknown what became of the blue orb.
Wayreth Orb[]
The original location of this orb was the Tower of High Sorcery at Wayreth, where it was displayed in plain view for many centuries. Its purpose unknown by many mages who walked past it. Seemingly forgotten, it gathered dust upon a golden pedestal until the time of the Lost Battles.
Just before the Cataclysm, the wizards asked Feal-Thas to take it and keep it safe from the Kingpriest. He kept it for over 300 hundred years in Icewall Castle. Laurana Kanan and her friends took the orb with them, following the death of Feal-Thas, first to Southern Ergoth and then finally to the Knights of Solamnia. The Knights turned it over to a Gnome named Gnosh who was studying it. When the Whitestone Council convened, and all the nations were bickering about who should own the orb to the point where they were about to start a war over the orb, a Kender named Tasslehoff Burrfoot picked up the orb and threw it into the Whitestone shattering it into 2,687 pieces in 352 AC. It was known to have a milky white mist inside of the orb, most likely standing for White Dragons.
Palanthas Orb[]
Also known as the High Clerist's Tower Orb. During the Third Dragon War, the orb was put at the High Clerist's Tower so that the dragon traps in the tower could be utilized. There it sat from that war until the War of the Lance, forgotten by all until Tas found this one also. Laurana then attempted to use the orb, with the help of Tas, and she was able to control it and lure two Blue Dragons down into the dragon traps, killing them and scattering all the Draconian troops. When the High Clerist's Tower is hit with dragonbreath, the tower collapses on the dragon orb, and for many years the orb was thought destroyed. Now, the orb is thought to still exist, but it is unknown where. This orb was known to have a red mist inside of it, most likely standing for Red Dragons.
Istar Orb[]
During its creation, the spirit of the dragon named Viper was imprisoned into the orb. Following its creation, the orb was located at the Tower of High Sorcery at Istar. There it sat for many years until a young Silvanesti Elf by the name of Lorac Caladon arrived to take his Test of High Sorcery. There the orb spoke with Lorac and convinced him to steal the orb due to some imminent danger that was coming, and moved it to below the Tower of the Stars in Silvanost. Lorac had a pair of ivory hands created to hold the orb, but the orb changed them to look like one large taloned claw.
The orb sat until the year 349 AC when the Silvanesti Campaign began. Then Lorac ordered his people to leave and he used the orb. He failed in controlling the orb and it took over, causing Lorac to warp Silvanesti into the Silvanesti Nightmare and summoning Cyan Bloodbane to watch over the elf. Lorac sat upon his throne until in 351 AC a young wizard named Raistlin Majere took possession of the orb.
Raistlin waited until he had sufficient knowledge of how to use the orb, and attempted to do so. He gained control of it, and with it unlocked power he hadn't seen yet. He kept the orb with him using it to further his needs until during the Dwarfgate War, he attempted to use it again and the orb tried to take control of him. In the ensuing magical struggle, the archmage only just managed to save himself, while the orb itself cracked. Later out of frustration Raistlin hurled the orb at a Portal to the Abyss and it shattered. This orb was known to have a green mist inside of it, most likely standing for Green Dragons. Before he destroyed it, Raistlin empowered his orb with extra powers over that of the other dragon orbs.
The Sixth Orb[]
Centuries after the Third Dragon War, a group of Black Robes created another dragon orb to be used against the Metallic Dragons should they return. The orb has the spirit of a Gold Dragon named Assamiel in it and was kept in Bastion. The Knight of the Thorn, Theo Drawde, took the orb but he and it were later thrown into The Gray.
Kender Tales[]
An older source stated that when an orb is not in use it shrinks down to the size of a child's marble instead of ten inches.
References[]
- The Atlas of the Dragonlance World, p. 74
- Dalamar the Dark (Novel), p. 87, 145-146
- DLC3: Classics Volume III, p. 51
- Dragonlance Adventures, p. 95
- Dragons of Spring, p. 107
- Dragons of Winter (Web Enhancement), p. 1-2
- Dragons of the Highlord Skies (HC), p. 34, 77, 107, 120-122, 135, 217
- Dragons of the Highlord Skies (PB) p. 45, 99-101, 152-159, 176, 284-285, 305-307, 370, 500, 552-553
- Dragonlance: Fifth Age, 'Book 2', p. 20
- Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home, p. 74-75
- Price of Courage, p. 119, 120
- The Great White Wyrm, p. 41
- Towers of High Sorcery (Sourcebook), p. 59-61
- The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles, Winter Night, p. 576-578, 614, 633, 645, 677, 708, 777, 786, 798, 800, 814, 816, 826, 861, 869, 888, 890, 894
- The Annotated Dragonlance Legends, Time of the Twins, p. 113
- The Annotated Dragonlance Legends, War of the Twins, p. 657-658, 687, 810-812