Raistlin Majere

  Raistlin Majere and his twin brother Caramon were born into the small farming community of Solace in the year 326 AC. The twins were cared for by their half-sister Kitiara (eight at the time) during their early years, since their mother was ill from pregnancy. 

Though they were twins, Caramon and Raistlin were different as night and day. Caramon was muscular, cheerful and loud. Raistlin was sickly, reserved and cynical. Caramon loved Raistlin dearly and always stood up for him when he was threatened with physical harm. Raistlin valued his brother's love, but resented having to depend on him for protection. The way he saw it, he and Caramon were two separate people - Caramon the body and Raistlin the mind. They were rarely separated from one another.

At the age of 21, Raistlin was invited by the archmage Par-Salian to take the Test of High Sorcery. The Test was a challenge that all potential wizards had to face. It was a process designed to weed out experienced and irresponsible people who aspired to learn the ways of magic. The punishment for failure was death. Only in this way could the wizards protect the magic that was so dear to them.

After Raistlin  had convinced Caramon that he wouldn't die, they both traveled to the Tower of High Sorcery in the Forest of Wayreth. There, Raistlin faced numerous challenges that can be found in The Library of Palanthas under the title The Soulforge. 

After a hard fought battle with a dark elf, Raistlin lay weak and dying in a darkened corner of the tower. His brother came to him, lifted him gently in his arms, and proceeded to carry him away from the tower. Raistlin pleaded with Caramon to leave him, to let him complete his Test or at least to let him die in peace. Caramon refused, simply telling Raistlin "Nothing is worth this." As they walked across the dark room, a shadowy form appeared before them - a wraith. Caramon lay Raistlin on the floor and walked toward the wraith. Raistlin watched his brother, expected to see him fight the wraith with sword and shield. Instead, he saw Caramon holding a magical rod in his hand, which he used to cast a lightning bolt on the wraith to destroy it.

Raistlin's mind swirled. His brother - the warrior - couldn't have acquired in moments what it took him years of study to attain! Was it the physical pain that clouded Raistlin's mind? No. It was the poisoned tipped talons of jealously that raked at his mind and heart. Caramon, strong and cheerful, good and kind, open and honest. Everyone's friend. Not like Raistlin - the Sly One. All he had ever wanted was magic. But now Caramon - who had everything already - had taken this away from him! The magic - His magic! Raistlin couldn't tolerate this anymore.  

He demanded to know where Caramon had learned how to cast the lightning bolt. Caramon coolly replied that he had known it all the time, but had never needed to use it, thanks to his strength. Raistlin snapped. He released his rage on Caramon in the form of a Burning Hands spell - his twin burst into flames and died within moments. Raistlin slipped into unconsciousness.

He awakened sometime later in one of the tower's many bedrooms to see Par-Salian standing over him. Par-Salian informed Raistlin that he had passed his Test. The final Test was merely an Par-Salian's personal challenge for Raistlin. His failure with the illusion - did not count against him. Caramon had watched the entire incident though...

Raistlin's already frail health was shattered as a result of his Test. His skin and eyes had turned a golden color, and his hair was unnaturally grayed. He was frequently overcome with coughing spasms which threatened to tear his body apart. His pupils were now shaped like hourglasses. As a result, Raistlin saw time as it affected all things--he saw things dying and decaying wherever he looked for the rest of his life. In Raistlin's eyes, it was always winter and always night. Raistlin's abnormal vision was bestowed upon the mage by Par-Salian, in an attempt to instill compassion in Raistlin by showing him his own mortality. His odd skin coloration and coughing spasms, however, were not Par-Salian's doing. During his Test, Raistlin made some sort of a pact with an evil wizard named Fistandantilus, who now threatened to possess the young mage's body.

As a reward for completing the Test, Raistlin was given a powerful magical item to compensate for his wrecked health--the Staff of Magius. Created by the powerful wizard Magius hundreds of years ago, it had been used by many other mages before Raistlin. Its powers were many, only limited by its user's intelligence.

Raistlin wore the red robes of neutrality, sworn to uphold the balance between good and evil in the world. He and Caramon returned to Solace for a reunion with their long-time companions who had split up to make their own separate journeys five years earlier.

Raistlin and his companions would eventually become key figures in the War of the Lance - a fight to keep Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, from re-entering and enslaving the world of Krynn. Raistlin, Caramon, and their friends became known as the Heroes of the Lance. Near the time when the war ended, Raistlin chose to take the black robes of evil. He had become much more powerful since his Test, and he now aspired to become a god. He traveled back in time and destroyed the great Fistandantilus, the one man who could stop him.

Raistlin's plan was to enter the Abyss and lure Takhisis out into Krynn. There, he plotted to use his magic to destroy her and take her place. Together with a white robed cleric of good named Crysania (who had, strangely enough, fallen in love with him), he journeyed back in time to enter the Abyss and defeat the Queen of Darkness. He destroyed the evil wizard Fistandantilus and used his dark power to aid himself in his evil struggle.

There was only one person on Krynn who could put an end to Raistlin's dark quest - his twin brother. Caramon used a magical time traveling device to travel forward in time. He saw what the world would be like if Raistlin succeeded in destroying Takhisis. The world was dead. There was no life and no gods except for Raistlin--his constellation shone alone in the night sky.

Caramon followed his brother into the Abyss, intent on killing him to keep him from re-entering Krynn. The Queen of Darkness could only enter the world if someone exited through the Portal to the Abyss ahead of her. Caramon's plan was to keep Raistlin from doing that. He told Raistlin about the future he had witnessed--that he would rule over a dead world if he succeeded. Raistlin gave Caramon the Staff of Magius - which was the only way to close the Portal and prevent Takhisis from following him through - and told him to leave the Abyss. Caramon went back thorough the Portal and closed it with the staff, but Raistlin remained.

Most people in Krynn believed that Raistlin was tortured endlessly by Takhisis, but Caramon insisted that the gods showed mercy on his brother for his sacrifice. This turns out to be true later.

Many years later, Caramon's son Palin, who was a white robed mage of good, entered the Abyss to rescue his uncle Raistlin. He found Raistlin and brought him back to Krynn. Raistlin found that he had no magic upon his re-entry into Krynn - a punishment for his evil attempt to defeat Takhisis years earlier.

Raistlin played a major role in the ensuing Chaos War and the Battle of the Rift, but he presumably left Krynn at the end of the Fourth Age to resume his long rest.