abstract
| - The bloodstone was created during the Age of Dreams. It is possible that the bloodstone had some intelligence. It was an artifact used by Fistandantilus to transfer his soul to an apprentice's body, allowing Fistandantilus to become young and powerful again. The bloodstone was used against Fistandantilus by Raistlin, who stole it from him after a battle. He took over Fistandantilus's body and his knowledge. The bloodstone was a powerful evil item from early days of magic. It is roughly three inches in diameter, and it is set in a silver setting attached to a silver chain. It is actually a green gemstone with flecks of red. NOTE: Due in part to inconsistencies brought about by multiple authors, and in part due to the nature of how time travel functions on the world of Krynn, there were in fact two different bloodstone pendant's. Both had their own unique time-line and evidently, slightly different characteristics. The creation story of the original pendant and precisely when it came into existence varied from tale to tale. In the novel "War of the Twins", Fistandantilus claimed that the pendant was a gift from the Queen of Darkness when he beseeched Her to be allowed to live beyond his natural span of years and expand his knowledge of magic. The Goddess presumably created the pendant during the early days of the Age of Might, to allow the archmage to transfer his spirit into the young bodies of apprentice magic-users. There was no mention of either the pendant or Fistandantilus himself prior to the Age of Might in any Dragonlance novel or supplement. It was later stated in the novel "Fistandantilus Reborn" that archmage himself created the pendant within the depths of his secret fortress of Ulgaard using knowledge granted to him by Takhisis. This is further reinforced by the 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons supplement "Towers of High Sorcery". The original single pendant became two distinct artifacts following the battle between Fistandantilus and Raistlin Majere in the days just prior to the Cataclysm. This is because the High God had decreed at the beginning of the universe that time could not be altered by any of the races created (intentionally) by the Gods of Krynn. Because both Raistlin and Fistandanilus were human, a paradox was created resulting in two distinct though non-separate channels within the River of Time in seeming violation of this law. In Timeline A, Fistandanilus used the Bloodstone Pendant to steal the body of his apprentice, Whastryk Kite, in the year 1 PC as was mentioned in the novel, "Fistandantilus Reborn". He then proceeded to travel forward in time to fight the Dwarf Gate Wars in 39 AC, taking Pendant A with him. This conflict concluded in the the death of the archmage and the destruction of the magical fortress of Zaman, which collapsed to form the mountain called Skullcap. Pendant A remained in the catacombs beneath Skullcap alongside the Skull of Fistandantilus, until its discovery in 251 AC by a kender named Emilo and a dwarf named Gantor, as told in the novel "Fistandantilus Reborn". Pendant A served as a Phylactery for the spiritual essence of Fistandantilus, and was expressly stated as possessing the power to Magic Jar those who possess it, although the innocent and essentially good nature of the kender Emilio resisted this power for quite some time. It was further stated that the pendant stored "the might of the many lives it had absorbed". This stored energy could be used to heal wounds, but also allowed the spirit of the archmage to reincorporate on the physical plane as a lich in the year 374 AC. This event resulted in TWO distinct incarnations of Fistandantilus returning simultaneously, although both were "scattered across the river of time" at the end of the novel, "Fistandantilus Reborn". Most or all of these events was later averted by divine intervention (see below). It was at this point that the Queen of Darkness became personally involved. Takhisis had obtained future knowledge from the time-traveling kender, Tasslehoff Burfoot, in Timeline B sometime in the year 39 AC, as told in the novel "War of the Twins". Takhisis rescued the remnant of Fistandantilus A and Pendant A from his original dissolution in 374 AC by contacting his disembodied spirit in or prior to the year 352 AC as detailed in the novel "Dragons of the Hourglass Mage". This action apparently invalidated all events of the novel "Fistandantilus Reborn" from the year 352 AC and onward. Knowing that it would be Raistlin Majere who would ultimately be responsible for her downfall at the end of the War of the Lance, Takhisis enlisted and empowered the spirit of Fistandantilus A to return physically to the prime plane and battle Raistlin at the end of the novel "Dragons of the Hourglass Mage". Had he been victorious, both versions of the timeloop would have been neatly closed. As it happened, Raistlin was victorious and destroyed the remnant of Fistantandalius A. Pendant A fell into a nearby pool of acid and was likewise destroyed, ending its journey through time. Pendant B on the other hand was used by Raistlin Majere in Timeline B to absorb the life essence and knowledge of Fistandantilus. This version of the Bloodstone Pendant did not transfer Raistlin's spirit into Fistandantilus's body but rather absorbed Fistandantilus into Raistlin. This can only be explained as the Law of the High God alerting the way the artifact performed to keep the river of time consistent. The Bloodstone pendant(s) were described by Fistantandilus as possessing countless charms and protections that make the artifact(s) neigh indestructible, but this only appeared to be true of Pendant B. Pendant A survived the magical explosion that leveled Zaman but was later dissolved by simple acid (see above). This may again have been a manifestation of the Law of the High God subtly altering the way the magic of the artifact worked to tie up loose ends... It is also worth noting that Pendant B was NOT a phylactery for any remnant part of Fistandantilus, as all parts of him were absorbed by Raistlin in Timeline B. There is also no evidence that it retained any stored energy which could be used for healing, as Raistlin was unable to use it thusly when he was critically wounded during the events of the Dwarf Gate Wars in the novel "War of the Twins." For the most part, Pendant B followed the same path through time as its counterpart, except that while Pendant A was buried beneath Skullcap and later destroyed in the events of "Dragons of an Hourglass Mage", Pendant B was carried into the Abyss by Raistlin Majere at the end of the novel "War of the Twins". It was even prominently depicted as being around Raistlin's neck on the original cover art of the novel "Test of the Twins" by Larry Elmore. The final fate of Pendant B was unclear. Although Raistlin gave Caramon the Staff of Magius to carry out of the Abyss at the end of the novel "Test of the Twins", there was no mention of him also giving his twin the pendant. His dialogue in the short story "The Legacy", which was part of the novel "The Magic of Krynn", suggested that he still retained the artifact and had planned to use it to return to the world by stealing the body of his nephew, Palin Majere. This version of Raistlin may have been only a magical illusion created as part of Palin's Test of High Sorcery however, and the novel leaves this question intentionally vague. During the later events of "Dragons of Summer Flame", Raistlin escaped the Abyss with the help of Palin, and did not appear to carry Pendant B with him, which seemed to strongly imply it was confiscated by the Queen of Darkness during Raistlin's stay/imprisonment in the Abyss. There was no mention of the Dark Queen doing anything with Pendant B between the ending of the novel "Test of the Twins" and her death at the end of the novel "Dragons of a Vanished Moon"... therefore it could be surmised that Pendant B was lost somewhere in the Abyss. Both Bloodstone pendant's had an identical appearance, and both were activated by placing the artifact upon the breast of the intended victim and speaking magical spell-words. Fistandantilus commented in the novel "War of the Twins" that the process was extremely painful for the victim, and struggling only intensified that pain. Pendant A appeared to transfer the user's mind into the new body while Pendant B seemed to absorb the life-force and mind of the victim to extend the user's own life. Both versions result in a mixing of minds and personalities between user and victim, which could lead to confusion and crisis of identity if the user was not of very strong will. Both versions of the bloodstone pendant left behind a dried, withered husk of a corpse after use; either the users corpse if the user took over the body of the victim, or the victim's corpse, if the user drained the lifeforce of the victim for life-extension.
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