Laurana Kanan

Early Life
Laurana is the name most commonly used when referring to Lauralanthalasa Kanan, a fictional character in the Dragonlance fantasy series. Although Laurana joins the Heroes of the Lance under inauspicious circumstances, she eventually rises to become the main female protagonist in the Chronicles trilogy, and one of the strongest female characters in the entire series. She is headstrong and willful, but these qualities make her a determined leader and an excellent commander in battle, as well as a respected hero to her people, the Qualenesti elves.

She is the youngest child of the elf king Solostaran, the Speaker of the Sun, who rules of the elves of the kingdom called Qualenesti. She has two older brothers: Porthios Kanan, heir to the throne, and Gilthas Kanan.

When Laurana was a child (by elf reckoning), she fell in love with Tanis Half-Elven. Tanis was the adopted child of her father, who took care of the boy when his mother died. The two youngsters began a youthful romance which was always frowned upon by the king and Laurana's brothers, who did not think it fit that a royal princess should be so infatuated with a half-breed. The romance ended when Tanis made up his mind to leave Qualenesti.

The War of the Lance
The two met again, many years later, when Tanis and his companions sought the elves' aid in freeing the human captives in Pax Tharkas. Laurana sought to rekindle their romance by Tanis broke her heart by admitting that he was in love with a human woman named Kitiara Uth Matar and tried to return the promise ring that she had given him years ago, which she now refused to take back. Laurana refused to give up without a fight, however. During the night, she fled her city, and joined the companions.

In the weeks that followed, the old flame between Laurana and Tanis began to burn once again, until the two were separated during the sacking of Tarsis. Laurana, now the de facto leader of the Heroes of the Lance who had fled the city with her, decided that they should travel to Icewall in search of the fabled Dragon Orb. Along the way, she shared in the nightmare of the Speaker of the Stars that all the companions endured. She led the heroes to victory over the Dragon Highlord named Feal-Thas and recovered the lost Orb, as well as a broken dragonlance.

The group then travelled to Ergoth, where Laurana was reunited with her family and her people. Laurana refused to give them the Dragon Orb and to stay. She helped to smuggle the Dragon Orb out of Qualemori and was present when the silver dragon Silvara gave Theros Ironfeld the ability to forge the dragonlance in the tomb of Human Dragonbane.

When the minions of Takhisis, led by Kitiara, attacked the High Clerist's Tower, Laurana used a Dragon Orb discovered there by Tasslehoff Burrfoot to create a trap for the evil dragons. She used the power of the Orb to summon them so that they could be easily dispatched by dragonlance in the tunnels under the Tower. The price for victory was high. To buy Laurana enough time to execute her plan, Sturm Brightblade sacrificed his own life, an act that left a mark on Laurana's soul. Following the death of Sturm, Laurana spoke to Kitiara on the battlements, who revealed to the elf princess that she had been sharing a bed with Tanis in the city of Flotsam. Although relieved that Tanis was alive, Laurana was decimated by this revelation.

After the victory at the High Clerist's Tower, Laurana became a hero to the people of Solamnia. The Grand Marshall of the Knights of Solamnia, a man named Gunthar Uth Wistan, made Laurana the commander of the knights guarding Palanthas, more as a political move than anything else. But Laurana proved an extremely capable leader and led the armies of good to victory in the city of Kalaman, following the return of the good dragons. She was nicknamed the "Golden General" because of her golden hair and was highly respected and highly feared.

But Kitiara knew Laurana's one weakness: Tanis. She lied, telling Laurana that Tanis was dying and wanted to see her, and lured Laurana into a trap. By the actions of a dragon officer named Bakarus and by the death knight Lord Soth, Laurana was captured and made a prisoner of the Queen of Darkness unless the Knights surrendered. Tanis, arriving in Kalaman, learned of what had happened and set out with the reunited companions to free Laurana from her prison in Neraka. The battle which took place led to the downfall of Takhisis and the end of the War of the Lance. Laurana was freed and Tanis now realized his mistake in neglecting her. The two were married following the end of the war and moved to the city of Solanthus.

After the War
Unfortunately, although Laurana was such a pivotal character in the Chronicles trilogy, she faded into the background following the end of that series, only being occasionally mentioned until the War of Souls.

During that time, however, Laurana and Tanis had a son named Gilthas, a sickly and weak child who was doted upon by his overprotective mother. When a rebellion drove the rightful king of the Qualenesti elves, Porthios, from power, the senators who controlled the government needed a new puppet king whom they could manipulate to run the kingdom as they saw fit. Gilthas had a royal connection to the rulership of Qualenesti, so they chose him. Eventually, Laurana and Tanis agreed. Although Laurana would be allowed to visit, and still held great popular sway as the Queen Mother, Tanis was forbidden to see his son ever again. Not long after, he was killed during the Chaos War.

Laurana remained in Qualinost following Tanis's death to aid her son in gaining real power in the kingdom. She was there when the great green dragon, Beryll, conquered the forest and made the people her subjects. She was even present for the secret wedding of her son to a Kagonesti elf with whom he had fallen in love.

During the War of Souls, Laurana at last returned to some prominence in the series. While living in Qualinost, she helped the people to survive under the oppressive yoke of their Dragon Overlord. She was courted by the leader of the Knights of Neraka who was stationed there, but the relationship did not last. During the final battle against Beryll, Laurana defeated the monstrous dragon, but at the expense of her own life. She did manage to buy enough time for the Qualenesti elves to escape the city via underground tunnels and, in doing so, paid back the debt that she owed to the fallen Sturm Brightblade.