WELCOME TO THE INN
Greetings, friends and fellow companions, and welcome back to
another exciting issue of the Dragonlance News!

I'm back from GenCon, much to the relief of my family, and have some
highlights to share with those who didn't make it. So grab your
hoopaks, my friends. The portal to adventure awaits!

ARRIVAL
My friend Kenneth (aka Uncle Lockspringer) and I traveled from
Kansas City to Indianapolis on Thursday. It was a good trip, filled
with good times and good music. Luckily, there wasn't as much road
construction this year, so the trip went fairly quickly, all things
considered.

We arrived towards the end of the day on Thursday and met up at the
Sovereign Press booth. We saw many old friends from Sovereign Press
and the Whitestone Council, and had a wonderful reunion. I got my
copies of War of the Lance and Towers of High Sorcery at that time.
There's nothing like seeing a book in print. The remainder of the
evening was spent catching up with the rest of the Whitestone
Council at dinner.

The funny part was when we walked to the hall in the first place. A
gentleman was on the street corner giving out free coupons to the
barbeque place that he worked for. He told us that it was the best
barbeque around. Kenneth and I looked at the gentleman and
corrected him of the error of his ways by informing him that we were
from Kansas City. I'm sure the food was good, but never tell
someone from Kansas City that you have the best barbeque around!


THE CONVENTION HALL
Friday morning, we toured the convention hall. It was just amazing
to see how large this convention had grown. We saw many of the big
name publishers there, and caught up with other old friends as
well.

I had one fantastic moment when I met Marc Singer, the Beastmaster
himself. I have to say that he is a fantastic guy, and was very
welcoming. It's always good to meet a celebrity who appreciates his
fans. What I didn't tell him was that the Beastmaster was the basis
for a Kagonesti elf I once played.

I have to commend the people in costume as well. There was a female
stormtrooper, Gandalf the Grey, Jango Fett, and tons of other
costumes as well.


MARGARET WEIS RECEPTION
Friday night was nothing short of a reception commemorating 20 years
of the Mistress of Dragons herself, Margaret Weis. It was a grand
occasion, where many of her colleagues from the last 20 years spoke
about Margaret and what impact she has had on many peoples' lives.
Tracy Hickman, Peter Archer, Larry Elmore, and Jamie Chambers
(amongst others) spoke about her character and her talent, and just
what a wonderful human being she is.

While I didn't speak there, I did want to share one of my own
testimonies about Margaret. The Whitestone Council had been working
on Dragonlance in 3rd edition for about a year, when one day I get
an e-mail from Margaret asking what my phone number was so that she
could tell me some wonderful news. Somehow, I already knew what the
news would be, yet it didn't seem real until she told me that
Sovereign Press had received the license to produce Dragonlance
gaming products. As she talked to me, she told me that she wanted
to keep the Whitestone Council involved.

To this day, the Whitestone Council is working with Sovereign Press
on Dragonlance gaming products. My thanks go to Margaret for
recognizing our efforts and keeping us all involved.


BESTIARY TAKES TWO SILVER ENNIES
One of the greatest bits of news came in the form of the Ennies.
The Bestiary of Krynn was nominated for three Ennies total. While
it didn't win for best licensed product, it did take the silver for
best monster supplement and best interior art.

Congratulations go to everyone who worked on the book, and
especially to Cam Banks and Andre' La Roche. Cam and Andre' are a
big part of the Whitestone Council, and it makes me proud to see two
guys who have worked hard rise through the ranks of fandom to
achieve this point. Please join me in congratulating Cam and
Andre', and please offer congratulations on the boards.


TRACY HICKMAN
Tracy Hickman is a good portion of why I go to GenCon. He is so
creative and entertaining.

Tracy is well known for his Killer Breakfast. This year's theme was
Dragonlance: the Musical. There's no better way to start such an
event than by killing Margaret Weis, Jamie Chambers, and the
Whitestone Council!

We of course began Killer Breakfast in the Inn of the Last Home.
Margaret tried to bribe Tracy by writing another Raistlin book with
him, but to no avail! When Tracy came to me, I said that no inn is
complete without its bard, and that I had come to sing a song. I
wrote the following just the night before (with apologies to Chuck
Berry).

Way down at GenCon in downtown Indy
People were talking about the latest scene
Eberron was the new cat in town
We all know it doesn't have that Dragonlance sound
Eberron was blown clear out of sight
`Cause Dragonlance is 20 tonight

Tracy was doing the "Chuck Berry Strut" with his double-bladed
lightsaber as I did my own rendition of "Johnny B. Goode". I
couldn't quite make it to the chorus, as I was laughing so hard, but
the crowd seemed to like it.

It didn't save me. I died. Even a complete collection of the
Legend of Huma comic book series didn't save me.

Tracy held several seminars as well. I made it to his Bronze
Canticles seminar, which was awesome. Folks, this series is going
to blow you away.

WEIS AND HICKMAN TRAVELING ROAD SHOW
When Dragonlance was first created, Margaret and Tracy used to put
on these productions where actors would act out portions of Dragons
of Autumn Twilight in order to drum up interest in Dragonlance.

Twenty years later, the Weis and Hickman Traveling Road Show was
reborn. It's so hard to describe in words just how great this was.
Goldmoon's song was fantastic, and she had the best costume. Janet
Pack, the original Tasslehoff, reprised her role and was a hoot to
see. She had the voice down quite well. Jamie Chambers played
Tanis, and Sean Everette was a very striking Sturm. Laura Hickman
was Bupu, and Chris Pierson played a number of roles, including
Hederick. One of my favorites was Peter Archer, who made a very
good Flint. Of course, the showstopper was Tracy Hickman as Fizban
the Fabulous.

The night ended with a question and answer session, and a mock sword
battle. Tracy also played some of the musical numbers from Killer
Breakfast.

AMBER AND ASHES
One of the big releases at GenCon was Ashes and Amber, the first
book in the Dark Disciple trilogy. It arrived a bit late, but when
it got there, it left just as quickly. The book sold out in an
hour.

THE LYCEUM
The Lyceum is an adventure Tracy wrote years ago for Dragonlance
that has never seen print – until now. The Lyceum is the sample
adventure in the back of War of the Lance, updated to 3rd edition by
Cam Banks. It also served as the demo game at GenCon.

I won't spoil the adventure for anyone, but I will say I had a blast
running it. Two of my players were dubbed "original recipe and
extra crispy". Read the adventure, and you'll find out why.

I wanted to thank everyone who played. I hope you enjoyed it as
much as I did.

FACES IN THE CROWD
There were many people I saw around the convention hall, including
game designers and regulars online. I'll list as many as I can
remember, and I'll apologize upfront if I missed anyone.

Authors, artists, and game designers include Margaret Weis, Tracy
Hickman, Laura Hickman, Jamie Chambers, Renae Chambers, Sean
Everette, Richard Knaak, Chris Pierson, Tonya Cook, Paul Thompson,
Peter Archer, Janet Pack, Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley, Clyde Caldwell,
Cam Banks, Andre' La Roche, Sean Macdonald, Joe Mashuga, and yours
truly.

Some of the fans from the boards I met were Talinthas, Green Cloaked
Sorcerer, Red Robed Wizard, Black Robed Archmage (see a theme?), and
Reverend Jake.

I enjoyed speaking with everyone, and had a blast.


UNTIL NEXT TIME
I'm sure I missed some things here or there. There's just way too
much going on at GenCon to report. Be sure to stop by
Dragonlance.com's new forums at
http://www.dragonlanceforums.com/forums/ and talk to some of the
other people who attended. I'm sure they've all got many exciting
experiences to share.

It's hard to believe that Dragonlance is 20 years old. There are
times we thought it wouldn't quite make it, yet Dragonlance endures,
and is stronger than ever. It is a good time to be a Dragonlance
fan.

Here's to the next 20 years of Dragonlance.

Long Live the Lance!


Trampas Whiteman
"Dragonhelm"