Editor’s Note: Margaret Weis shared this piece of conversation between herself and Tracy Hickman regarding the gods on the Dragonlance Forums. This is in relation to the role of the gods and the Dark Disciple trilogy. Without further ado, we present Tracy Hickman.
What comes to my mind is this: just what does it mean to ‘be a god’ in this world? Our established theological foundation is both pantheistic (the multiplicity of the gods) and monotheistic (the High God). It is, of course, the pantheistic gods that concern us the most as they were the ones with whom we have the most direct interaction: like talking to middle management rather than the head of the company.
Our theology is built around progression — progression from this life’s lessons to the next stage of existence in a higher and, presumably, better form. This seems to be the primary preoccupation of the gods: to keep the engine of faith turning the rock-tumbler of mortality to knock the rough edges off of their children. Each of the gods, it seems to me, view this differently but essentially this is what happens.
The War of Souls interrupted the progression of souls — and Mina had her hand in assisting with all of this, albeit unknowingly.
So, it seems that the purposes of the gods is to serve the perfection of the mortal children under their care. Each of the gods, of course, has a different view of just what ‘perfection’ means: Takhisis sees perfection in the strict enforcement of order while Paladine sees perfection in order through submission.
