Dragonlance Week: Character Profiles- Fizban, Pyrite, Goldmoon, and Riverwind

Throughout a weeklong celebration of Dragonlance, there will be profiles for some of the important characters in the Chronicles, which is the original trilogy, and the books that started it all. So far we’ve discussed Tanis, Laurana, and Stum, Caramon and Raistlin, and Tasselhoff Burfoot, Flint Fireforge and Tika. We’ll finish off our introductions with Fizban, Pyrite, Goldmoon, and Riverwind.

Fizban:

Lovable old fool, or something far more important? There is definitely more than meets the eye to this character. Ostensibly an aging, absent-minded mage who can never seem to remember the words to his favourite Fireball spell, and is seen at the side of the road arguing with a tree, he is something of a figure of fun. Constantly losing his hat and never remembering his name, Fizban’s relationship with young kender, Tasselhoff Burfoot, is particularly endearing and at times hilarious. He immediately reminded me of Tolkien’s Gandalf in the early stages of The Fellowship of the Ring, a kind of mentor character, who appeared to be just too aged and befuddled to really have any power or significance. What a great way to stay unremarkable and underestimated if you didn’t want people to pay much attention to you. Fizban appears exactly when needed, and haphazardly affects the events all around him, ultimately for the better, although at the time it always feels like he has caused a calamity. In fact events surrounding Fizban always appear to be a little out of control, but without giving away the major spoiler about Fizban, I think I can safely say that there is method in his madness!
-Sue Bavey

More books featuring Fizban:

He shows up here and there. The rest the reader will have to discover on their own.

Pyrite:

Pyrite is introduced to us in Dragons of Spring Dawning, when we are told that an old man and an aged golden dragon are happily napping in the middle of the Plains of Estwilde, apparently oblivious while dragon armies go about their business nearby. He is the longest living golden dragon and swore to Paladine that he would protect Huma back in the days of the Third Dragon War, back when he was a fierce warrior. He has long forgotten his actual name, but Pyrite is what the younger dragons affectionately call him. Pyrite, the mineral is often known as ‘Fool’s Gold’ and since Pyrite the dragon is a golden dragon and accompanies doddery old Fizban, this is a clever name for him.

By the time we meet Pyrite in Dragons of Spring Dawning he is a forgetful, almost toothless, but brave old thing, still thinking that he is in a battle protecting Huma. He mostly lives on oatmeal these days, due to his lack of teeth, he is deaf and his vision is dimming, but he remains intelligent, when mentally present in the here and now. He seems to be a good match for his rider, Fizban. Fizban has to leave Pyrite and makes him into a tiny golden statue which Tasselhof Burfoot is then able to keep in one of his pouches and carry around quite easily, without anyone suspecting he has a dragon on his person!
-Sue Bavey

Goldmoon:

Goldmoon is a difficult character to talk about. In some ways, she functions as a plot device at the beginning. She is the bearer of a mysterious staff that everyone and their brother is either after, or being accused of hiding. That being said, she ends up being far more, becoming an integral part of the group, as well as being responsible for finding out what happened to the gods of Krynn.

Goldmoon is smart, strong, and compassionate, the last being a trait that can be somewhat lacking in some of the other characters. It allows her to view things from a different perspective. I love seeing a female character that is strong without losing any emotions. While not being an early favorite of mine, I’ve come to appreciate her much more over the years.
-Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub

More Books Featuring Goldmoon:

Dragons of a New Age trilogy by Jean Rabe

War of Souls trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Riverwind:

Riverwind is quiet, and he is stoic. He can be hard to get a handle on at first. Once he feels at ease with the group, though, you learn he’s someone that will always be there when needed. Not only that, he provides a window into this world. Things would not normally need explaining between a group of people who have known each other as long as the other companions have, but through Riverwind we learn a lot about how these characters tick. When Riverwind asks Tanis why he is called “half-elf” instead of “half-man” the reader gets a deeper look into Tanis’ psyche. This isn’t something anyone who has known Tanis would ask, so Riverwind adds much to the books just by being there.

We first meet Riverwind at the Inn of the Last Home (which I would love to visit, by the way). He travels with Goldmoon, the love of his life. Their relationship isn’t one I love, to be honest. He spends a good chunk of Dragons of Autumn Twilight being a bit of a jerk to her. Their relationship matures in subsequent books, however, which feels awfully similar to the way relationships can be.
-Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub

More books featuring Riverwind:

Riverwind the Plainsman

The Magic of Krynn

About the Contributors:

Sue Bavey: Sue is an English mum of two teens living in Massachusetts with husband, kids, a cat, and a bunny. She enjoys reading all kinds of genres, especially fantasy, historical fiction, and thrillers.

Where to find Sue:

Blog: Sue Bavey – Book Blurb

Twitter: @SueBavey

Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub: Jodie is the creator of the Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub blog and a contributor to Grimdark Magazine. She either lives in Florida with her husband and sons, or in a fantasy book-she’ll never tell which. When she’s not reading, Jodie balances her time between homeschooling her hooligans, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and lamenting her inability to pronounce “lozenge”.

Find her online at :

Blog: https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/

Twitter: @WS_BOOKCLUB