Porthios Kanan (Early Spring, 208 AC - ? AC) was a Qualinesti Elf born the first son of Solostaran Kanan and an unknown mother. He had one brother named Gilthanas Kanan and a sister named Lauralanthalasa Kanan. Porthios was known to have been unusually tall with fair skin, blonde hair, well-built, square, handsome, regular features, and a haughty, severe expression. Following the Chaos War though, he was forever scarred from head to toe, making him look almost like a red skinned Goblin. Porthios was also known to have been proud and arrogant to not only other non-elves, but to elves as well. Porthios wrote and fought right-handed.
Early Life[]
Growing up in the court of the Speaker of the Sun, Porthios was taught from birth to take on the mantle of the next Speaker. He became close friends with another young elf noble named Tyresian. When Tanis Half-Elven was brought into his father's house, Porthios didn't like him from the beginning, shunning the young half-elf. While Tanis was taking lessons in archery in 288 AC, the young half-elf challenged Porthios. He soundly beat Tanis, but then Tanis challenged him to a fistfight, which Porthios promptly lost.
Twenty years later in 308 AC, it was time for Porthios' Kentommen, of when he was officially recognized as an adult elf at 100 years old. Prior to the event though, he went on a hunt for a Tylor that was terrorizing the Qualinost countryside. While Porthios went with the group leader Tyresian, and left Flint Fireforge, Tanis, Miral, and Xenoth behind by themselves, the tylor attacked the group. Xenoth was killed in the process along with the tylor by Miral's magic. Xenoth it was found was killed possibly by Tanis' arrow rather than the tylor's tail, so Porthios took his cousin into custody. Tanis was freed, but jailed for the death of Eld Ailea. So, while Tanis' friend Flint searched for the real killer, Porthios began his four days of fasting and prayer.
Tanis and Flint found out that Miral was really Arelas Kanan who was trying to kill the Qualinesti Royal Family to take the throne for himself. After Tanis explained things to Porthios, he agreed to go along with the plan they had and allow for Tanis to enter the throne room rather than himself. This prevented Arelas from killing them all, and his overthrow of the throne was stopped. Even though Porthios was appreciative for Tanis' assistance, he was glad to see the half-elf leave with Flint.
War of the Lance[]
During the War of the Lance, Porthios led many guerrilla attacks against the Dragonarmies as they prepared to invade his homeland of Qualinesti. He was appalled to know that his own brother Gilthanas was willing to fight with Humans against the invaders. Porthios wanted nothing to do with them, but he did attend the first Whitestone Council.
Porthios assisted with the migration of his people from Qualinesti to Southern Ergoth, and while there, younger elves sided with him while older elves sided with his father in decisions regarding what to do with the Kagonesti Elves and the Silvanesti Elves. Porthios journeyed with his father to the second Whitestone Council, there to demand the return of the Dragon Orb that had been stolen from their camp. The orb was shattered, but Porthios did witness the might of a new weapon, the Dragonlance. When the elves finally decided to join with the other races to form the Whitestone Army, Porthios appointed Amrilas Sirtirinan to head up the Qualinesti in the army. Not much is known what Porthios did exactly during the year of 352 AC, but it is thought that he fought against the Dragonarmies the same as his people.
Post War of the Lance[]
Following the War of the Lance, Porthios took it upon himself to lead the elven forces in the fight of the Silvanesti Nightmare. He became the next Speaker of the Sun following the death of his father in 356 AC. He also sat on the Council of Truth when it was found that Dalamar Argent was practicing the dark arts during his Ceremony of Darkness. Dalamar was found guilty, and Porthios paid a shipmaster to take him anywhere he wanted to go as long as it was from elven lands.
In 362 AC, Porthios and Alhana Starbreeze married to join their two elven kingdoms, but little did either know that this would blossom from an arranged marriage to true love. Many nobles from both nations thought the other was trying to take over their nation, and so they plotted to overthrow the two Speakers. This time finally came in 382 AC. Porthios finally cleansed all of Silvanesti, with the defeat of the Green Dragons and their allies on a small southern island. A Silvanesti noble betrayed Porthios and told the forces of evil that Porthios was coming and how he would attack. When Porthios' army attacked, well over half their numbers were destroyed before beating back the forces of evil.
The nobles of Silvanesti were quick to jump at this as Porthios was trying to slaughter all their warriors with little loss of his own Qualinesti warriors. He was imprisoned by Reyl Konnal in Silvanost, told to remove his Sun Medallion, and turn it over to Senator Rashas freely or his pregnant wife would be killed. In the wake of Porthios' imprisonment, Konnal was made the Military Governor and acting Regent of Silvanesti. Directly following these events, Konnal told Porthios to sign a confession that he had willfully led the Silvanesti army to a slaughter, to weaken them against attacks by the Qualinesti. Refusal to sign the document would result in Porthios being executed. Tanis Half-Elven arrived shortly after and rescued Porthios from prison, taking him on griffonback to Solace, with news that he and Samar rescued Alhana from her Qualinesti prison, through the magical aid of Dalamar.
Porthios was overjoyed to know that his wife had been rescued. When they finally met up in Solace, Alhana gave birth to a son, which the proud parents name Silvanoshei Caladon. Alhana, Porthios, Samar, and their small force return to the forests in Qualinesti.
Chaos War[]
In Qualinesti, Senator Rashas told Gilthas about bandits roaming the countryside, and got Gilthas to approve the use of six hundred elves to hunt the bandits. The 'bandits' are actually Porthios' men, who have left Silvanesti after Porthios' escape. The Kagonesti chieftain Dallatar met with Porthios and Alhana, warning them that Rashas organized a force to hunt them, and also that many Kagonesti were actively working as spies and sympathized with Porthios and Alhana's cause. As it appeared inevitable that Porthios' men and the soldiers of Qualinesti will collide, the Knights of Takhisis appear and assaulted the Qualinesti force. The survivors of the Qualinesti soldiers were rescued by Porthios and his men, and most decide to join Porthios in his fight against the evil knights. However the stubborn General Palthainon refused to join with Porthios, and left with several of his officers. At the same time, another contingent of knights attacked Qualinost directly, and Rashas handled the surrender of the elven city.
Gilthas' Kagonesti servant Kerianseray revealed that she was the daughter of Chieftain Dallatar, a spy for him, and that her father had direct contact with Porthios and Alhana. Gilthas and Porthios form a secret alliance where they attempt to break the knights hold over the city, however Gilthas soon learned that the leader of the Knights of Takhisis, Salladac, had already learnt of his alliance with Porthios. Salladac asked Gilthas to try and convince Porthios to ally with them against the forces of Chaos. Shadow wights, Fire Dragons and daemon warriors ravaged Qualinost and the surrounding forests. As Porthios and Alhana fought against the forces of Chaos, the green dragon Aerensianic rescued the pair, before shadow wights could overwhelm them. Porthios and his griffon Stallyar led a final strike against the Chaos forces. A fire dragon struck Porthios and Stallyar and the dead griffon plummeted to the earth. In the forest, Chieftain Dallatar found a badly burnt Porthios, who has managed to survive. Dallatar and Porthios retreat into the depths of the forest, planning to make guerrilla raids against those who would keep the elves from ruling Qualinesti. Alhana, believing her husband to be dead, mounted a force with her friend Samar, to take back Silvanesti from the rule of General Konnal.
Age of Mortals[]
Throughout the early part of the Age of Mortals, rumors circulated that Porthios lived and led small skirmishes against the enemies of Qualinesti. He was rumored to have met briefly with his brother Gilthanas in 411 AC, who told of the whereabouts of Silvara. Beyond scant rumors and hearsay, Porthios was little more than a shadow in the forest. It was also said that during the War of Souls Porthios battled Beryl's armies as they marched towards Qualinost, but the truth behind this has not been verified other than through rumor.
Post War of Souls[]
In these years, he met with the Kagonesti elf Nalaryn and formed a small army of Kagonesti elves, who intended to liberate the lands of Qualinesti. Porthios now resembles a red-skinned goblin from his burns, and keeps himself clothed in robes and wears a mask, seeking to keep his identity secret from all but his most trusted followers. He also goes by the name Orexas, which Alhana came up with, which he uses sparingly to identify himself to others. Porthios was also called the Scarecrow, mostly by his enemies.
By 426 AC, Porthios and Nalaryn prepared to launch an assault on the Nerakan forces of Captain Samuval that had claimed Bianost, which the invaders renamed to Samustal. The first act was to rescue the captured Kerianseray from the execution block, and the second was to launch an all-out assault on the forces within Samustal itself. Porthios and his forces ousted Samuval's lieutenant in charge of Bianost, Olin Man-Daleth, and executed him on the spot. With the people of Bianost supporting their new liberator, Porthios prepared the defense of the city against an assault from the forces of Gathan Grayden, another lieutenant of Samuval's. Whilst Porthios and the defenders of Bianost struggled against their enemy, the forces of Alhana Starbreeze appeared and struck Grayden's army from behind. The bandit army was shattered and the lieutenant himself fled the field.
Alhana and her troops rode into Bianost where she offered her greetings to Kerianseray and the masked leader of the Bianost defenders. Porthios vanished without a word, but later revealed himself in secret to Alhana, demanding that she leave and that his sole purpose was to lead a successful rebellion to win back Qualinesti from the enemies of the elves and to then die an honorable death. Porthios then vanished from Bianost and returned with news that Gathan Grayden had mustered an army of thousands to reclaim the elven city. The elven leader then led a flight from Bianost eastward towards Nalis Aren and Mereklar with a plan to launch a surprise attack on Mereklar. A small part of Grayden's host caught up with Porthios' forces near Nalis Aren but were summarily defeated. During the fight, an arrow struck Alhana's horse and the elven lady was thrown and knocked unconscious after receiving a serious head injury. Porthios immediately went to his lady's aid but found he was unable to heal her. An old priest appeared out of the forest and offered his aid to Porthios. The elf told the priest that he would pledge his continued service to the rebellion and freeing the elves, if the priest would save Alhana. The priest revealed that he was a god and saved Alhana before disappearing.
Porthios, Alhana, and Kerian led the elven forces near Mereklar, up the Redstone Bluffs as they hid from the bandit armies of Samuval. Porthios attempted to tame a griffon following an ancient ritual passed down to elven speakers, however his attempt failed. Alhana followed the same ritual and managed to tame the first griffon to complement the elven forces. However an image appeared in the sky that showed Porthios and his companions of the desperate fight that Gilthas and the elves in Khur were fighting. Porthios chose to lead his forces to Khur to rescue the elves, leaving Nalaryn behind to maintain the rebellion in Qualinesti.
Mounted on a battalion of tamed griffons, the elven force arrived in Khur to aid Gilthas and the elves, landing amidst the nomad forces that besieged the elves. Facing Adala, chief of the Weya-Lu tribe, Porthios revealed himself, showing his face to Adala and explained his pained story. Adala and her warmasters recoiled in fear and fled from him, earning Gilthas and the elves a brief reprieve from the fighting. The combined elven forces moved into the valley of Inath-Wakenti in the hopes that a new elven homeland could be formed here.
Kender Tales[]
Some dates have put him being born in 199 AC, but this date is not correct.
References[]
- Alliances, p. 3-15, 35-38, 62-71, 81-113, 129-142, 157-167, 180-192, 204-230, 247-266, 278-286, 290, 304-308
- Bertrem's Guide to the War of Souls, Vol. 1, 'Heroes and Children: The Diary and Poetry of an Angry Rebel', p. 15
- Dalamar the Dark, p. 157, 162-163, 171, 187, 191, 200
- DL2: Dragons of Flame, p. 11-13
- DL3: Dragons of Hope, p. 31
- Doom Brigade, p. 123
- Dragons of a Fallen Sun (HC), p. 26-28, 81-82, 142-143
- Dragons of a Lost Star, p. 73, 75, 242
- Dragons of a Vanished Moon (HC), p. 203, 205, 211, 309
- Dragons of Summer Flame (HC), p. 99-102, 114, 117-119, 445
- Kindred Spirits, p. 5, 14, 26, 61, 64-65, 100, 139
- The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles, Autumn Twilight, p. 315, 333-335, 365
- The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles, Spring Dawning, p. 1017-1018
- The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles, Winter Night, p. 663, 670, 804, 810
- The Annotated Dragonlance Legends, Test of the Twins, p. 958
- The Annotated Dragonlance Legends, Time of the Twins, p. 39-42
- The Dragons of Chaos, 'Lessons of the Land', p. 34-36
- The Inheritance, p. 106
- The Lioness, p. 26
- The Odyssey of Gilthanas, p. 9-15, 188-189
- The Puppet King, p. 11, 20-21, 25, 45, 94, 131, 201, 204, 226, 281, 311-312, 316
- The Second Generation, 'Kitiara's Son', p. 31, 35, 67
- The Second Generation, 'The Legacy', p. 112
- The Second Generation, 'The Sacrifice', p. 299, 312, 319, 341, 360-361, 363
- Theros Ironfeld, p. 236