[[quoteright:206:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51kodzpf7fl_sy344_bo1204203200.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:206:The Fall of Istar]]

Prequel to the main ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' novel series, focusing on the titular KnightTemplar who brought about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt 350 years (approx.) before ''Dragons of Autumn Twilight''.

In the mighty Empire of Istar, the Kingpriest has had a vision of his own death, and a high priestess goes on a quest to find his successor, guided by a prophecy. She finds [[MessianicArchetype Brother Beldyn]], a wise-beyond-his-years young monk with incredible supernatural healing powers and believes that he must be [[TheChosenOne the Lightbringer]]. Other events are afoot, however, including a plague that leaves the Empire on the brink of civil war, a young bandit named Cathan, whose destiny is bound with Beldyn's, and the [[HiddenAgendaVillain mysterious]] [[EvilSorcerer sorcerer]] Fistandantilus, who has a centuries-spanning EvilPlan of his own nearing fruition.

Needless to say, [[ForegoneConclusion this won't end well]]...

The books are:

** ''Chosen of the Gods''
** ''Divine Hammer''
** ''Sacred Fire''

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!!This trilogy contains examples of:

* AlasPoorVillain: Andras is a weirdly pathetic figure at the end, as is [[spoiler: Beldinas]].
* BigBad: Fistandantilus.
* BlankWhiteEyes: Cathan has these after [[spoiler: his resurrection.]] Most people find them ''very'' creepy- only Beldinas and wizards are able to meet his gaze for long.
* TheCaligula: Beldinas, by the end, is ''completely'' insane. Somewhat subverted in that he still has the charisma to make everyone think he's still a MessianicArchetype.
* CallASmeerpARabbit: In ''Sacred Fire'' a band of warriors are attacked by a many-legged monster that burrows under the desert sands. They note its resemblance to a legendary demon known as the "caterpilyo".
* [[invoked]]CharacterAlignment:
** [[invoked]]Cathan starts out TrueNeutral and becomes LawfulGood
** [[invoked]]Beldinas and the Knights of the Divine Hammer are extreme and deconstructed LawfulGood. It's safe to say that he is LawfulEvil now.
** [[invoked]]Wentha is NeutralGood.
** [[invoked]]Leciane is TrueNeutral.
** [[invoked]]Kurnos is LawfulEvil.
** [[invoked]]Andras is ChaoticEvil.
** [[invoked]]Fistandantilus is NeutralEvil.
** [[invoked]]Quarath is NeutralEvil that thinks it's LawfulGood.
* {{TheChessmaster}}: Fistandantilus. He orchestrates Beldyn's rise to power, fall of wizards, and changes his plans to make new pawns for his ascension to godhood after his initial ones fall.
* ColorCodedCharacters: The different clerial orders wear:
** White- Paladine
** Blue- Mishakal
** Gold- Kiri-Jolith
** Green- Branchala
** Purple- Habakkuk
* CorruptChurch: To an extent, but things get to their worst when the guy who ''isn't'' traditionally corrupt takes the throne...
* CrystalDragonJesus: Paladine. Complete with a "Holy Triangle" of himself, Mishakal and Kiri-Jolith.
* DatingCatwoman: Cathan and the sorceress Leciane in ''Divine Hammer'' (though which of them is "Catwoman" depends on who you ask).
* DeadGuyJunior: Wentha's son Tancred, named for her and Cathan's older brother, who died during the plague.
* DeadpanSnarker: Fistandantilus. Cathan also has his moments.
* DeathIsCheap: Averted. Only Beldyn (and possibly [[spoiler:Cathan]]) can bring people back to life; after [[spoiler:Cathan]] is resurrected he is regarded witih awe and trepidation as "the Twice-Born".
* [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Did You Just Flip Off Draco Paladin]]?
* DownerEnding: Hoo boy (though it pretty much had to be considering how ''Chronicles'' opens). Beldinas has been prevented from [[spoiler: ascending to godhood and wrecking the balance]], but the world is in ruins and almost all the main characters are dead, to say nothing of untold millions of others we don't get to know by name. Oh, and [[VillainExitStageLeft Fistandantilus gets away too]], but he's not ''quite'' a KarmaHoudini because we know exactly what his villainy will get him in the end- a grisly death at the hand of the one Bastard in Krynnish history more Magnificent than he is.
* TheDreaded: Fistandantilus again.
* EarlyBirdCameo: In ''Chosen of the Gods'', a few scenes feature a rather stuffy young squire named Loren Soth, who goes on to become one of the most iconic villains in the whole Dragonlance metaseries, the death knight Lord Soth.
* TheEmpire: Istar is a relatively benevolent example, but things get worse after ''The Messiah'', of all people, takes the throne...
* EvilChancellor: Quarath and ultimately [[spoiler: Fistandantilus too]].
* EvilPrince: Kurnos isn't technically a ''prince'', but as priest next-in-line of the succession, he might as well be.
* EvilSorcerer: Fistandantilus, Andras.
* TheFaceless: Fistandantilus.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Kurnos, the usurper of the Kingpriest station, who gets helped by Fistandantilus and is killed by him after he outlives his usefulness.
* FantasticRacism: Wizards in particular get a lot of it, as do certain intelligent nonhumans.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Istar itself resembles Rome a great deal, while the Draavinish are distinctly Arabic.
* {{Fictionary}}: The Church Language, which in some respects resembles Latin.
* FinalSolution: Beldinas's desire to purge the world of evil includes committing genocide on entire species he dubs evil.
* FirstEpisodeResurrection: At the end of ''Chosen of the Gods'', [[spoiler: Cathan is killed by Kurnos and immediately after revived by Beldinas]].
* ForegoneConclusion: If you've read ''Chronicles'' you ''know'' how this ends.
* GodEmperor: The Kingpriest is as good as this.
* GodhoodSeeker: [[spoiler: Both Fistandantilus and Beldinas himself pursue this in ''Sacred Fire''. Neither succeeds, but their actions set up much of the setting's future]].
* HeelRealization / MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: The Kingpriest ''does realize'' [[MoralEventHorizon what he has done]], [[ApocalypseHow and what his actions will lead to]], when Paladine himself comes to punish him, and begs him for forgiveness, but is rejected. That leads to...]]
** VillainousBSOD / RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Beldinas, possibly.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Beldinas. He wents from prideful but kind monk who healed people even when losing consciousness from tireness to insane priest-tyrant who ''demands'' that gods make him one too.
* ImColdSoCold: [[spoiler:Leciane's lover Vincil]] says this literally after [[spoiler:he catches an axe just before he teleports the surviving wizards away from the disasterous moot with the Kingpriest in ''Divine Hammer'']].
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Essentially a whole trilogy about this concept.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: What convinces Ilista that Beldyn is the Lightbringer. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted in that he ''isn't'' incorruptible, just corruptible in [[KnightTemplar a different way than usual]].]]
* KillItWithFire: The holy texts of the Gods of Light say to purge evil with fire. While probably not what they intended by that, their followers tend to break out the stake and logs whenever they capture evil clerics and black-robed mages alive so that they can be burned alive.
* KnightInShiningArmor--> KnightInSourArmor: Cathan in the last two books.
* KnightTemplar: Beldinas and the Divine Hammer descend into this.
* MeaningfulRename: Beldyn to the more regal Beldinas, after he becomes Kingpriest.
* TheMole: [[spoiler: Tancred]] in ''Sacred Fire''.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Andras. "I never meant for this to happen. I only wanted revenge..." Also, [[spoiler: Beldinas, when Paladine comes to punish him.]]
* {{Necromancy}}: The cult of Chemosh's MO.
* NotQuiteTheRightThing: The entirety of the problem comes from Cathan trying to be a HumbleHero and rejecting the mantle of Kingpriest. [[spoiler: Except, he ''was'' meant to be the Kingpriest and giving it to Beldinas ruins the world.]]
* ObstructiveZealot: Bron in ''Sacred Fire''.
* OhMyGods: ''Palado Calib'' (Blessed Paladine) is a common oath.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: No points for guessing at Quarath's disposition. The elves are as snooty and haughty as they always are in Krynn.
* ProphecyTwist: Everyone thinks Beldinas is [[MessianicArchetype the Lightbringer]]. [[spoiler: It's really Cathan all along, and he ends up sacrificing himself to save the only complete copy of the setting's Bible from ''Beldinas himself'']].
* ReligionOfEvil: Several show up, worshipping [[GodOfEvil dark gods]]; they're portrayed more like cults of fringe lunatics than anything majorly widespread, however. One can say that Paladine's one descends into that too, and of course the god isn't happy.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Andras.
* TheScottishTrope: Nobody likes saying Fistandantilus's name - they mostly call him "Dark One" along with a handful of other epithets.
* SmugSnake: Quarath and Kurnos.
* SupportingProtagonist: Cathan is the main POV character, but this is really Beldyn/Beldinas's story.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The world survives the trilogy (barely), but the gods' justice on Beldinas smashes it beyond recognition.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Played straight, lampshaded, and deconstructed all at once in Tithian's first appearance.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A massive amount of problems in Krynn result from Cathan trying to promote Beldinas as the cure for all of the realm's ills. [[spoiler: In fact, the gods had intended Cathan to be the king of Istar.]]
* UnwittingPawn: Everybody. I mean ''everybody'' [[spoiler: even Fistandantilus himself]].
* VillainousBreakdown: Kurnos and Andras both have these.
* WhatIf: The short story "There Is Another Shore You Know, Upon the Other Side" (in the ''Dragons of Chaos'' collection) and [[http://www.dragonlance.com/downloads/LegendsWeb4.pdf this scenario]] cover what would have happened if Beldinas ''succeeded'' in his plan. In the former [[spoiler:the gods are reduced to human (albeit immortal) forms and tortured eternally and Beldinas wipes out everything (and [[FinalSolution everyone]]) he deems evil]]; in the latter [[spoiler:the former traitor turned High Protector of the Faith is [[{{Brainwashed}} Cathan the "Thrice-Born"]]]].
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Fistandantilus does this a lot, though it's less about cruelty and more about covering his tracks.
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