Irda (Dragonlance)

The Irda are a fictional species in the fantasy world of Dragonlance. They are the first born of the Evil gods, and also the ancient predecessors of the contemporary Ogres.

Physical description

Irda are tall, graceful, humanoid creatures with typically slender frames in females, with muscular but slender male counterparts. Their skin ranges from light green and blue shades to dark, almost black skin. Eye color among the Irda being black, grey, blue, silver or green, the hair is of any shade and of a silver hue. Irda are inherently magical and can cast spells very naturally. They are singular and contemplative, keeping to themselves most of the time. Irda possess the ability to shapeshift, an ability which they use often when traveling upon Krynn, for all other races fear them. The Irda have incredibly long lives, and Raistlin Majere was said to have exclaimed, when he met an Irda, that they did not age in his eyes, which saw the world as constantly dying. In ancient times the Irda culture promoted the sporting of luxurious rich fabrics and jewellery in their clothing, but upon the rebirth of their culture, and adoption of worship to the Gods of Good, they wore fine light linen clothing of white, blue or grey color.

[cite book | last = Weis | first = Margaret | authorlink = Margaret Weis | others = Tracy Hickman | title = Dragonlance Legends Collector's Edition | origyear = 1989 | edition = 1st edition | publisher = Wizards of the Coast | id = ISBN 0-1401-2698-8]

The Valin

The Irda do not commonly associate with each other, preferring separation from each other. The wise among the Irda saw this as a problem for mating reasons; if the Irda did not interact, there would be no children and the race would die. They invented the "Valin", a magical bond that was created between two Irda without consent. The bond linked their very souls, and the only way to lift it was for the female to bear the male's child. If the two Irda refused, they would undergo horrendous physical torment that generally led to death. Out of necessity, most Irda give into the Valin, decide what is best for the child, and then go their separate ways. Most Irda are only affected by the Valin once in their lifetime.

The short story "Raistlin's Daughter" details a rare occasion when the Valin is inflicted upon an Irda and Raistlin Majere, who eventually surrender to the Valin in a cave in Wayreth Forest. Raistlin later reveals the story to be just a rumor.

History

The ogres were first created on the world of Krynn by the evil goddess Takhisis. Cruel, long lived, extremely powerful both physically and magically, they were able to overcome the elves, children of the gods of good, and the humans, children of the gods of neutrality. As elves could not work in the mines extracting precious gemstones, the ogres began enslaving humans.

Their strict society considered races other than the ogre to be insignificant. However, an incident in one of those mines in which Everlyn, the daughter of Igraine, a governor of an ogre province, became trapped in a cave-in, triggered a series of events which lead to the splitting of the ogre society.

Eadamm, a human slave, refused to follow Igraine's orders to abandon the cave, and with several other slaves rescued Everlyn. Igraine not only decided to refuse to execute the human, but befriended him, learning about human traditions. Better understanding them, he was able to give human slaves a better treatment, increasing the profits of his region.

After these events were discovered, the Ruling Council of the ogres charged Igraine with treason, ordering to execute him. He fled Takar, capital of the ogre empire, along with the ogres who sided with him and, after defeating several attempts to capture them thanks to the human slaves who sided with the exiled, reached Schall Bay.

As punishment, Hiddukel and all the gods of evil punished them, killing many of them with a fire rain, abandoning them. The goddess Mishakal took pity on these ogres and gave them a magical island to settle in, far away from Ansalon, said to be near the Dragon Isles. However, in order to retain their magical abilities and beauty, the Irda were forced to relieve themselves of social contact, resulting in their isolation from the rest of Krynn's races and the distancing of themselves from each other.

In addition, since the Irda were not evil as were the other ogres, they were permitted to keep their slender bodies while the rest of the ogres were given hideous shapes by Takhisis in her rage. Igraine himself used the term "irda" to describe his group of followers for the first time.

"And the baby was beautiful, as beautiful as her mother. For it is said that, in the ancient days before they grew self-centered and seduced by evil, the most beautiful of all races ever created by the gods was the ogre...." - "Raistlin's Daughter"

Irda shunned any contact with the other races, using their shapechanging abilities to disguise themselves, hiding their isle with a magical fog, and limiting travelling in Ansalon.

Involvement during the Chaos War

While preparing the invasion of Ansalon, the Knights of Takhisis set an expedition to investigate an island north of the continent. Finding the isle inhabitated by a very primitive culture, they decided the isle was of no consequence to them and left.

The inhabitants of the isle, the Irda, were afraid the expedition may be followed by a conquering force, and decided to protect the isle by using the stored magical energy found in the Greygem of Gargath. Although the Irda controlled very powerful magic, they were corrupted by the innate force of Chaos, which led them to the right means to break the stone.

After being freed, Chaos destroyed most of the island, vanquishing the Irda from the face of Krynn. This began the Second Cataclysm.

References

*
*
*
*
*