D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide To Takhisis, Goddess Of Evil
In the world of Krynn, one power rules over all Evil. Takhisis, five-headed dragon goddess and would-be conqueror of all.
Throughout all Krynn, no name is as feared as Takhisis’. One of three chief deities called from the Beyond to be a custodian of the world, Takhisis was the ruler of evil. She was head of the evil gods and was responsible for the corruption of the first evil dragons.
Over the long history of Krynn, Takhisis orchestrated many catastrophes. From broken oaths to unleashing mad gods that could destroy the world, Takhisis has been at the heart of upheaval.
Takhisis – The Dark Queen of Krynn
Takhisis was one of three main deities. She was sister to Gilean, god of neutrality and knowledge, and Paladine, god of good and majesty and metallic dragons. In the first days of Krynn, it was she who brought forth the other evil gods.
During the time when Reorx, god of the forge, was working with Paladine to create dragons upon the world, Takhisis watched with envy. The first dragons were forged in beautiful reds and greens and blues.
Yes, Paladine helped create Chromatic Dragons. But before they could be completed, Takhisis stole them away, fleeing to the darkness of the Abyss. There they became corrupted by her evil. And it was there, that the Dark Queen became known as the Five Great Dragons to the Jarak-sinn, to whom she appeared as a great dragon with five heads: one of each color.
Born to Rule
Takhisis, in her position, believed it was her divine right to conquer all of Krynn. Only by following her, could mortals hope to ever become more than the limited beings they were. And so, during the Age of Dreams, Takhisis began a campaign to unite the evil dragons. As fate would have it, a group of elves were encroaching into territory held by evil dragons.
Thus, Takhisis found cause to unite them in the war that would become known as the Third Dragon War. Here, the mighty weapons known as the Dragonlances were first forged, to give mortals a fighting chance against the unstoppable might of the dragons.
It was said she was the most ambitious of the gods, but her ambitions got the better of her. The great hero Huma Dragonbane drove the Spear of Paladine, the Great Lance, into her. Such was its power, that Takhisis was banished from Krynn, sealed from the world. And for a time, the world knew peace. Though Takhisis was ever-scheming, plotting to re-enter the world once more.
The War of the Lance
Her opportunity came some three hundred years after the disaster known as the Cataclysm. You don’t need to know much about the Cataclysm, only that it was what originally corrupted Lord Soth and resulted in widespread devastation, to the point where the people turned away from the gods for more than three hundred years.
But during this time, Takhisis was able to bring the temple at the heart of the Cataclysm, to her realm within the Abyss. Using her power, she corrupted the temple itself and slowly began the work of converting it to a gateway connected to Krynn.
Takhisis prepared for her return in secret. At her behest, her forces stole the eggs of Good Dragons, extracting a promise that they would stay out of the war that was to come, and she would return them when the war was over.
Naturally, she immediately broke that oath. Her clerics and loyal wizards corrupted the eggs, creating a new race of beings: the draconians. And all the while, Takhisis worked with mortals to raise five different armies, known as the Dragonarmies.
The Dragonarmies, one by one, broke a great treaty and invaded the homeland of the elves. And Takhisis’ forces conquered their ancestral home, allowing her plot to almost come to fruition. During this time, she unleashed the mad god Chaos upon Krynn, forcing the gods of good to withdraw their support from their followers, which led Takhisis to steal the whole world.
As her power grew, so did her ambition, although eventually, the gods would discover the location of the stolen Krynn. And when they found it, Takhisis was stripped of her immortality and slain. Paladine, in kind, sacrificed his divinity. And Takhisis was buried in a forgotten tomb, all memory of it erased by the gods.
And to this day, none know where Takhisis rests
