After New Beginnings, the DLS-series swerves into a three-part series of adventure modules centered on three of Dragonlance’s races of elves. Not on Taladas, even — back on good old Ansalon. Are they connected, a three-part epic? Nope. Just three elf adventures that vaguely tie in to some Dragonlance novels about the histories of the elven nations. When I say that folks had no idea what to do with Dragonlance after the original DL-series wrapped up, this is the kind of stuff I am thinking about.

This is DSL2: Tree Lords (1991). That is a mighty fine cover by Brom and I think primarily because of that cover, the vibe does not feel particularly Dragonlance-ish. This module takes a look at the Silvanesti, whose forest kingdom was corrupted by the dreams of King Lorac and the green dragon Cyan Bloodbane, as nicely presented back in Dragons of Dreams. The first half of the module is actually a sourcebook detailing the Silvanesti Scout kit for the Warrior class; they’re the ones tasked with reclaiming the corrupted wilderness. And they get some cool equipment to help them do it, including greenmasks, which don’t make them look like elvish Green Goblins in the least, no sir.

The second half of the module puts our new scouts to the test in a series of five brief, interconnected scenarios. They’re fine! Pretty standard fare for the early ’90s, with players crawling from event to event rather than through dungeon corridors, for the most part. I generally like the construction here, the idea of a series of elf-centric adventures with one primary goal. You could easily spin a campaign out of this and, even though I reflexively dislike elves, these elves seem more interesting than most. Perhaps because of their dream-corrupted landscape, they feel more akin to Celtic faerie traditions than most fantasy elves (Terry Dykstra’s illustrations may have something to do with this). I had this module back in the day and liked it then. I still do. Even with the elves!