Astinus

“Astinus recorded history. He had recorded it since the beginning of time, watching it pass before his eyes and setting it down in his books. He could not foretell the future, that was the province of the gods. But he could sense all the signs of change… he could hear the drops of water in the timing device. By placing his hand beneath them, he could cease the flow of drops, but time would go on.” (page ten of Time of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman)

Astinus is my patron and he’s forcing me to make this p-, wait, um, I hope he’s not reading this. Um, well, how I love toiling to record the world of Dragonlance! I’m happier than a kender who’s just discovered that her pouch is mysteriously full!

Name: Astinus, the Lorekeeper of Krynn, the Deathless One, the Ageless One

Race: Human (sort of)

Books: Lots

Quotes: None

Family: None known

Love(s): Learning

Friends: I consider myself a personal friend, well, sort of. Astinus doesn’t get out much. He does call Raistlin a friend, which makes sense because Raistlin is the Master of Past and Present, and Astinus is the Lorekeeper of Past and Present.

Description: “The historian’s face might have been reckoned handsome in a timeless, ageless fashion. But none who saw his face ever remembered it. They simply remembered the eyes- dark, intent, aware, constantly moving, seeing everything.” (page eight of Time of the Twins, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman) His face shows no emotion. His hair is graying, and his eyes are gray.

History: Astinus sits endlessly writing everything that happens on the face of Krynn. Rarely, very rarely, he stops to speak to someone, or send a fellow scribe on assignment. He does very little interacting with history, preferring to record it. No one knows exactly when he started writing (though it is suspected that he began at the beginning of time) and he will stop at the end of time, as he does when the world almost ends in Legends.

When he’s not busy sending the occupants of Krynn on assignments, he summons Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and tells them they must write every single thing that happens on Krynn, and that they must get a whole team of a million other authors to help them.

Then he summons me. “Luna,” he says, pausing just a moment in his writing, which is perfect, like typeface, I’m just totally fascinated. “Luna!” he repeats. “Sometimes I fear you have the wandering mind of a kender, but then I remember that you are a rational mastermind, so you can organize; an artist, so you know detail; a poet, so you can write; very intelligent, so you went to Mount Holyoke; and, well, that wandering mind will spot things that a still mind will miss. Further, you know how to make a web page, which is something I simply can not do on Krynn, so Luna, you must make this page! It must include everything! I expect that you will go page by page through the books. I only hope that your mind will stay on topic long enough for you to finish. Do you have any questions?”

“Did you really meet Raistlin? I’d love to meet him, but he’s gone and all…”

At this point Astinus sighs, turns back to his writing and leaves me alone at my computer with a pile of notes and Dragonlance books.

“‘Astinus is known as the Ageless One. He was first to set foot upon Krynn, so the legends say, and he will be the last to leave it.’



‘He records all history as it passes. He knows everything that has happened in the past and is happening in the present. But’ –Crysania glanced at Raistlin with a worried look- ‘he cannot see into the future.'” (70)

Psychology of Astinus: Astinus, everyone notices, shows no emotion. This has led some characters to assume that he is cold, but it is really a form of protection. When we hear or read about something sad, we are sad, but we can put the book down, and get on with our lives. Astinus does not have that comfort. He must witness and record everything. When we read, we become the character, and experience everything. Astinus must remain impartial, because he can not put that book down. Emotions are tiring, and taxing, and Astinus has a job to do- he does not have the leisure to be tired. Allowing himself to become emotionally involved in the fates of so many, alone with tiring him, would likely make him insane. Imagine, in one day putting a million of your happiest moments and saddest moments all together. One moment can be enough to send someone to an asylum, and so many at once would be devastating. Astinus, as I said before, has a job to do. He must record history, and, ideally, history should be impartial. That is another reason why it is so important for Astinus to not allow himself to get involved emotionally -he would be failing at his life’s work.

Last modified on October 25, 2009