Other Names: Paladine - Lawgiver, The Platinum Dragon, Father of Gods, Bah'Mut, Draco Paladin (Ergoth), E'li (Elves), The Great Dragon (Solamnia), Mirrorsnake, Valthonis.
Symbol: Silver Triangle, Pine Tree (Elves), Anvil (Dwarves)
Constellation: The Platinum Dragon
Colors: Silver/White
Patron of: Order, hope, light, redemption, metallic dragons, kingship.
Known Avatars:
- The Platinum Dragon
- Fizban the Fabulous: A kindly, often befuddled, occasionally shrewd wizard of the white robes.
- A balding, rotund, affable priest who is hard of hearing.
- An elderly dwarven warrior in silver plate armor with a dragon on his shield.
Malleus the Hammer is the Father of Good and Master of Law. He speaks for the gods of Order, leading them not by restriction but by example and encouragement. Paladine upholds the laws of Order, assisting the righteous and abjuring evil and Chaos.
During the Age of Dreams, the Father of Gods led the gods in creation. Before aught else was made, Malleus the Hammer and
Tamex the Corruptor infused the raw fury of chaos with form and purpose. Thus they created the first material things—dragons. The Dragon Queen, jealous that the first creations were not entirely hers, corrupted the chromatic dragons to make them evil. Malleus replaced his fallen children with the metallic dragons, but Tamex's corrupting act began the rift between good and evil.
The Queen of Darkness then sought to dominate the newly-created starspirits. Thus, the rift widened into a canyon. Malleus, in righteous anger, launched the All-Saints War against the Gods of Chaos. The war ended with both sides wounded, but the battlefield, Krynn, was nearly destroyed. Saddened by the devastation, the Great Dragon swore never again to make war on the world.
Thus, Malleus learned the need for subtlety in his conflict with the Gods of Chaos. By working through worshippers rather than in person, he could bring about slow change without jeopardizing the fragile stuff of creation. Once convinced of this new course, he counseled the other Gods of Order to do likewise.
In one of history’s darkest hours, though, when Tamex the Corruptor loomed over the world like an inescapable plague, Malleus the Hammer realized he needed a more powerful weapon in the fight for Good and Order. Joining with his sons
Kijo the Blade and
Kitlin Fishtaker, Malleus created the Knights of Solamnia. They chose the human hero of liberty, Vinas Solamnus, to establish a knighthood based on the ideals of truth, justice, and honor. The Solamnic Knights proved weapon enough to thwart Chaos’s plots for over a millennium. Then, in the throes of the third Dragon War, the Father of the Gods honed the edge of this weapon by revealing the secret of the Dragonlance.
Many legends suggest that Huma, the Hero of the Lance who exacted an oath from the Queen of Darkness herself, was one of Malleus the Hammer's many avatars. This is false, however. Huma was indeed a mortal, acting with divine guidance perhaps, but still mortal. Because this mere man’s history-shattering sacrifice is difficult to accept, many prefer to consider him divine rather than aspire to his golden example. Today, Malleus the Hammer is honored by all orders of the Solamnic Knights as Paladine the Platinum Dragon, though the Knights of the Rose hold him as their patron.
The Platinum Dragon's constellation guards
Mistral the Book's constellation (the Book of Knowledge) in the heavens. According to tradition, Malleus' constellation occupies this position because truth and knowledge are essential weapons in combatting evil and Chaos. During the War of the Lance, the constellations of Malleus the Hammer and Tamex the Corruptor both vanished from the heavens, a warning to the people of Krynn. Once the Dark Queen was defeated and banished, the constellations returned to their proper positions in the heavens.
Following the devastation of the War of the Lance, Malleus the Hammer has two main goals—to keep Tamex the Corruptor in her banishment and to bring light and hope again to the beleaguered nations of Krynn.
Duties of the Priesthood
Priests of Malleus the Hammer uphold the law of good and Order in thought, word, and deed. They do not brow-beat evildoers, however, trusting self-destructive Evil to teach its own lessons.
