Sturm Brightblade | DragonLance Saga

You love him or you hate him. Sturm Brightblade was a judgemental youth, trying to live up to what he believed were the just dictates of the knighthood. Let’s look a bit deeper into Sturm Brightblade. Buy DL5 Dragons of Mystery: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...

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Transcript
Arguably one of the most tragic deaths that drove characters and the knighthood to greatness.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Sturm Brightblade. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing the Chronicles, Lost Chronicles and various Dragonlance sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out, please feel free to leave a comment below!
Discussion
I come from a generation and community that celebrated war heroes, veterans and patriots. This becomes more of a moral and ethical dilemma the older you get and the truth of war, patriotism and sacrifice begin to take on different meanings. It’s easy to get caught up in the glory of those ideals but there are humans on all sides of a conflict that share those same ideals. Does that mean it is just to murder them? Or them to us? It’s the common folk that die in war more than those who start the conflict or even direct it. It’s the common folk who are the most patriotic as well. Warrior classes exist in all cultures and ours is no different than fantasy worlds. The Knights of Solamnia, who look great in their polished metal armor, are only warrior classes. They exist to protect and serve, in much the same way our military services exist. Whether it is existential threats of death or disaster, our warrior classes are sent out and they are not always on the right side of a conflict. Certainly the Solamnic Knights actions were not either, being dominated by the narrow scope of The Oath and The Measure.

Then there are times when the country turns against its warrior class. We saw it personified in the wake of the Vietnam war and the shameful treatment of its veterans back home. This is echoed in the extreme with Solamnia turning against its protectors, the Knights of Solamnia. I am the next generation after Vietnam, as Sturm is the next generation after the fall of the Knights. I saw the strength the heroes mustered to fight an unwinnable war. My father and step father served in Vietnam and their experiences affected everything about them hence. Sturm is a refugee from Solamnia, his mother Ilys fled with Soren Vardis at the order of his father Angriff as Castle Brightblade was besieged by the very people he and his forefathers protected for generations. There are aspects of Sturms life that I will never, nor would I want to understand through experience. But there are very real parts of his psychology I very much do know, deep to my core as a son of a war hero.

I idealized my father as most of us do, only I wasn’t the only one to put him on a pedestal. My country did as well, and that fed into my sense of patriotism. Sturm has a legacy in the Knighthood as many of us do in the military. We are generational warriors that stand up and do what is hard and right. It is not always just and history doesn't always bear out the action, but in the moment we did what we believed was honorable. Sturms psychology isn’t one of simplicity. What would be simple would be to give in to the common ideals of the age. Apathy and self centeredness. Sturm took the hard road of respect, honor and justice in a time when NO ONE wanted it. Not because it was wrong, but because it reminds others how far they have fallen. I love Sturms character because he isn’t one dimensional. He is simply misunderstood.

On development Sturm’s original name was Santos Silverblade. Tracy Hickman notes that they wanted his name to sound more stern, so Sturm fit perfectly. He was seen as cold and rigid initially, until we were allowed to learn about him through his actions. He was a consummate gentleman. This could be attributed to his upbringing, but it’s a trait that he carried his whole life. When Sturm and his mother settled in Solace, he would work for Derimius the scribe. It is here where he first met and befriended Caramon, Raistlin and Kitiara...