Paladine
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- For the term referring to the knights of Charlemagne, see Paladin
Paladine, "The Dragon's Lord", is a fictional God from the Dragonlance fantasy novels written by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, and numerous other authors. He is the chief of the Gods of Light and the creator of the Elves. He is also the patron of the Knights of Solamnia, specifically the Order of The Rose. His colors are silver and white and he influences order, hope, light, rulership and guardianship, as well as law, wards, thought, and war. His earthly avatars include the Platinum Dragon and the muddled old wizard, Fizban.
Paladine is elder brother to Takhisis and Gilean. He and Mishakal are the parents of the gods Kiri-Jolith, Habbakuk, and Solinari.
After the War of Chaos, Takhisis stole the world from the rest of the Gods and became the "One God" of the world. When the rest of the gods returned to Krynn, they realized that Takhisis had gone too far. In order to retain the balance, Paladine sacrificed his godhood and immortality in order for Takhisis to be stripped of her godhood and immortality. Paladine then took the mortal form of an elf named Valthonis and walked the world mortal. The authors of the series have yet to reveal his fate thereafter.
Related characters
Fizban "The Fabulous" is secretly the mortal avatar of the God Paladine. Though he is wise and powerful, he diguises his true purpose in the form of a clumsy and absent-minded wizard.
During the Chronicles Trilogy, Paladine helped the Heroes of the Lance indirectly through Fizban. The kender Tasslehoff Burrfoot, one of the heroes, also became a close friend of Fizban.
Weis and Hickman later introduced a similar character in the Death Gate Cycle named Zifnab.