Creatures of legend, the dragons have returned to Krynn. Now, the darkness of war threatens to engulf the land. Then hope appears — a blue crystal staff in the hands of a beautiful bar barian woman. The promise of this hope forces a group of long-time friends into the unlikely roles of heroes: Tanis Half-Elven, their leader, a skilled warrior who detests fighting and is tormented by love for two women; Sturm Brightblade, Knight of Solamnia, driven to restore the honor of the knighthood; Raistlin Majere, the powerful and unsettling magic-user, whose hourglass-shaped eyes conceal dark mysteries; Caramon, Raistlin's twin, a genial giant both loved and feared by his brother; Flint Fireforge, the gruff old dwarven fighter, almost a father to them all; and Tasselhoff Burrfoot, a kender, the nuisance race of Krynn, immune to fear and followed by trouble wherever he goes