Sturm Brightblade

DL character
name = Sturm Brightblade


caption = Sturm (right) and Flint Fireforge.
class = Knight of the Crown
homeland = Solamnia
race = Civilized human
gender = Male
creator = Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
debut = "A Stone's Throw Away" by Roger E. Moore, Dragon magazine #84 (May 1984)

Sturm Brightblade is a fictional character from the "Dragonlance" series of role playing games and novels, based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons franchise. It was created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and is published by Wizards of the Coast.

Sturm first appeared in the first novel of the Chronicles Trilogy, "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" (1984). As with the other main characters of the trilogy, Sturm's proper creation was during a role-playing game session where Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman, Margaret Weis, and Terry Phillips, between others, developed the guidelines and main story for the "Dragonlance" setting.cite book
last = Weis
first = Margaret
authorlink = Margaret Weis
others = foreword by Tracy Hickman.
title = The Soulforge
origyear = 1998
origmonth = January
edition = 5th edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-1314-2
chapter = Foreword]

Appearances

Although Sturm Brightblade is introduced by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman in "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" (1984), this and the other core Dragonlance novels do not cover his childhood. However, in 1987, the year of Love and War's first publication, Tonya R. Carter and Paul B. Thompson finally cover his childhood in a short story.

It reveals that Sturm Brightblade was born to Angriff Brightblade and Ilys Brightblade (or Anna Brightblade), the Lord and Lady of Avrinet. Just as we are introduced to Sturm's childhood, however, he is forced to flee with his mother to Solace, as the peasants of Avrinet are revolting. They leave behind Angriff Brightblade and Gunthar Uth Wistan, a future Grandmaster of the Solmanic Knights. Sturm and his mother decide to travel by sea to Solace, however are captured by the Kernaffi Navy for trespassing. Sturm later learns that the king of Kernaf, Mukhari Ras, is a black robed priest of Takhisis, who seeks to gain an elixir of life, but needs noble blood in the process. Learning that he himself is to be sacrificed, he remembers that he swore an oath to his father to protect his mother, and so, manages to escape with his mother by killing the king of Kernaf, revealing his bravery even as an eleven year old child. cite book
author = Patrick Lucien Price
coauthors = Michael Williams, Kevin Swan, William Wells, Roger E. Moore, Jeff Grubb, Doug Niles, Kate Novak, Mike Breault, Michael Dobson, Bruce Heard, Harold Johnson, Mary Kirchoff and Kris Bartyzel
editor = edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
others = developed by Mary Kirchoff, designed by Kristine Bartyzel
title = Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home
origyear = 1987
origmonth = February
edition = 2nd edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-88038-465-4
pages = 173
chapter = Bertrem's essay on numerology]

We see Sturm again as an adult in "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" (1984) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman as a tall and stern man wearing an ancient suit of armor. Sturm soon meets Caramon Majere, Tanis Half-Elven and Raistlin Majere, revealing to them that his ancient suit of armor is all he has from his father, thus the greatest pride of his life. It is soon revealed that this sword and armor is all he has to rely upon in the upcoming trials of his life.

In the second novel of the "Chronicles" series, "Dragons of Winter Night" (1985), written by the same authors, Sturm Brightblade becomes a more active member of the Companions, as he helps recover a Dragon Orb, an ancient magical artifact able to control dragons. At the end of the novel he sacrifices himself to allow the defeat of the enemy army, ending his participation in the series. Alone, he faces Kitiara, a blue dragon highlord. If it wasn't for Sturm's sacrifice, the High Cleric Tower may have been taken, and some of the companions would have died.

Paul B. Thompson and Tonya C. Cook's novel, "Darkness & Light" (1989) featured Sturm Brightblade and Kitiara Uth Matar, working together to reach Solamnia, a region in the continent of Ansalon. This travel would be used as a background for Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's short story "Kitiara's son", published in "The Second Generation" (1995), with an already dead Sturm, in which the authors reveal Kitiara and Sturm had had, unknown to him, a son named Steel Brightblade.

Michael Williams's novel "The Oath and the Measure" (1992), fourth in The Meetings Sextet series, gives more information about Sturm's father during Sturm's quest to meet "Lord Wilderness", Lord Vertumnus, the only person who informs the true story about the Brightblade castle's fall and his father's death.cite book
author = Michel Williams
title = The Oath and the Measure
origyear = 1992
origmonth = May
edition = 6th edition
year = 2003
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 1-56076-336-1
pages = 153-166
chapter = Chapter 13, A ride back in memory] At the end of the novel, Sturm is formally accepted as a Squire of the Knights of Solamnia.

Several authors mention Sturm's mother, Illys Brightblade. Margaret Weis in the novel "The Soulforge" (1998), reveals how she died when a plague struck Solace, while feeding the poor and tending the sick as written by the Oath and the Measure, the code of conduct every knight must fulfill.cite book
last = Weis
first = Margaret
authorlink = Margaret Weis
others = foreword by Tracy Hickman.
title = The Soulforge
origyear = 1998
origmonth = January
edition = 5th edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-1314-2
pages = 324
chapter = Book 5, Chapter 1] This marks a turning event in Sturm's life as, not bound by an earlier promise to protect his mother anymore, he decides to travel to Solamnia to learn more about his father's whereabouts.

Importance in "Dragonlance"

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman had decided, since the conception of the "Chronicles Trilogy", that Sturm's appearances would end before any of the other characters, as explained by the authors:cite book
author = Margaret Weis
coauthors = Tracy Hickman
title = Test of the Twins
origyear = 1986
origmonth = August
edition = 2nd edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-1806-3
pages = 328
chapter = Afterword]

According to the "Dragonlance" timeline defined by the authors, the Knights of Solamnia were an association of honorable knights fell in disgracecite book
author = Margaret Weis
coauthors = Tracy Hickman
title = Dragons of Autumn Twilight
origyear = 1984
origmonth = April
edition = 4th edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-1574-9
pages = 28
chapter = Chapter 3, Knight of Solamnia. The old man's party.] as the regular citizens of the fictional world of Krynn blamed them for not being able to stop the Cataclysm,cite book
author = Paul B. Thompson
coauthors = Tonya R. Carter
editor = edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
title = Love and War
origyear = 1989
origmonth = October
edition = 9th edition
year = 1987
publisher = TSR
id = ISBN 0-88038-519-7
pages = 162-163
chapter = The Exiles] the event in which the Krynnish gods threw a fiery mountain against the world to punish its inhabitants for their pride.cite book
last = Pierson
first = Chris
authorlink = Chris Pierson
title = Sacred Fire
origyear = 2003
origmonth = December
edition = 1st edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-3036-5
pages = 325
chapter = Chapter 34, Cataclysm] The authors determined that Sturm Brightblade, technically a Squire, a knighthood member who is learning the codes and skills needed to be knighted, would restore the honor of the Knights of Solamnia by sacrificing himself during a battle against the Dragonarmies of Ansalon, armies supporting Takhisis, the goddess of darkness.

The decision is hinted during the first book of the trilogy, "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" (1984), when the group of friends meet the "Forestmaster", the unicorn protecting the mysterious Darken Woods, with the paragraph:cite book
author = Margaret Weis
coauthors = Tracy Hickman
title = Dragons of Autumn Twilight
origyear = 1984
origmonth = April
edition = 4th edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-1574-9
pages = 120-121
chapter = Chapter 11, The Forestmaster. A peaceful interlude.]

Weis and Hickman had explained, throughout the first two books of the "Chronicles" series, that a number of factions divided the Knights of Solamnia, making them unable to take decisions to prevent the spread of the invasion by the Dragonarmies of Ansalon, successfully describing a world where hope was almost nonexistent. However, by using his sacrifice, they were able to put an end to the internal quarrels of the association, turning it into the only armed organization able to stop the forces of evil.cite book
author = Margaret Weis
coauthors = Tracy Hickman
title = The Annotated Chronicles
origyear = 1999
origmonth = November
edition = 1st edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-1870-5
pages = 882–883
chapter = Book 2, chapter 13, The sun rises. Darkness descends.]

In "The Annotated Chronicles" (1999), Hickman reveals that, while working with the story, he came across a Norse legend in which a king, while standing in the battlements of his fortress, saw an arrow coming his way. A vision flashed in the king's mind, informing the arrow would kill him but, because of it, his warriors would fight courageously until winning the battle. This story was used as inspiration for Sturm's final battle.

Although the authors "had foreshadowed his death through two books,"cite book
author = Margaret Weis
coauthors = Tracy Hickman
title = The Annotated Chronicles
origyear = 1999
origmonth = November
edition = 1st edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-1870-5
pages = 885
chapter = Book 2, chapter 13, The sun rises. Darkness descends.] the character's end caused an uproar between fans which surprised the authors, Weis explains in the "Annotated Chronicles," to the point of being accused of "not caring" about Sturm. In this book, however, both state they cried while writing the scene.

Authors refer to Sturm Brightblade as a major hero of the Knights of Solamnia, at the same level of Vinas Solamnus, founder of the knighthood, and Huma Dragonbane, who defeated Takhisis in the final battle at the end of the Age of Light. In "Dragons of a Lost Star" (2002), the second book of the War of Souls trilogy, Weis and Hickman write that Laurana Kanan, Queen Mother of the Qualinesti elves, prayed to Sturm moments before confronting Beryllinthranox, the green dragon overlord,cite book
author = Margaret Weis
coauthors = Tracy Hickman
title = Dragons of a Lost Star
origyear = 2001
origmonth = April
edition = 2nd edition
year = 2002
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-2706-2
pages = 487-489
chapter = Chapter 31, The Red Rose] while in Jeff Crook's "The Rose and the Skull" (1999), Crysania of Tarinius, head of Paladine's church, name him along with the two previously mentioned heroes.cite book
first = Jeff
last = Crook
title = The Rose and the Skull
origyear = 1999
origmonth = March
edition = 2nd edition
year = 2000
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-1336-3
pages = 116
chapter = Chapter 13]

The character has a major role in the development of another "Dragonlance" character, Steel Brightblade, as described by Weis and Hickman in "The Second Generation"cite book
author = Margaret Weis
coauthors = Tracy Hickman
title = The Second Generation
origyear = 1995
origmonth = February
edition = 1st edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-2694-5
pages = 25
chapter = Chapter 3, White Rose, Black Lily] and "Dragons of Summer Flame" (1995).cite book
author = Margaret Weis
coauthors = Tracy Hickman
title = Dragons of Summer Flame
origyear = 1996
origmonth = November
edition = 2nd edition
publisher = Wizards of the Coast
id = ISBN 0-7869-2708-9
pages = 542-549
chapter = Chapter 26, The Vision]

Characteristics

The type of weapon Sturm carries is a two-handed sword, although much of the artwork depicting Sturm, as well as the figurine released by Ral Partha in the "Heroes of the Lance" miniatures box set, show him carrying a one handed sword. The "Dragonlance" game materials list Sturm's weapon as a two handed sword +3. And in "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" it is described as a "....splendid, if old-fashioned, two-handed sword". Later "Dragonlance" supplements name the weapon as the "Brightblade". It is inscribed with runes of friendship that give the sword's wielder a bonus to charisma checks. It is also said that the sword will not break unless its owner breaks first, strongly implying that as long as the wielder remains strong in the face of adversity, staying resolute and not breaking either in fear or principle, the weapon will never break. Later Steel Brightblade, a Knight of Takhisis, uses his father's sword, the Brightblade, in the Chaos war.

Sturm's long, thick mustaches, the age-old symbols of the Solamnic Knights, are a source of pride. His armor is old, dating "almost back to the Cataclysm", and all that is left of his inheritance. Raistlin revealed to Steel that he could not stand Sturm, who was always preaching, always telling the 'correct' course of action. Raistlin told the young man, however, that he liked Sturm better after he discovered the man was only made a knight shortly before his death, that Sturm had all his life been living by a code he was not bound to--a code that many so-called true Solamnic Knights were only playing lip service to, that in his opinion Sturm had been a true knight his entire life.

Movie appearance

Sturm featured in the direct-to-video movie . He was voiced by Marc Worden. [ [http://www.dragonlance-movie.com/movie/cast/|title=Movie cast from official website] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.dlnexus.com/lexicon/13328.aspx Sturm Brightblade] at Dragonlance Nexus