Ashrem Bayle
Explorer
I've only got the Sunless Citadel. Where else does it mention Ashardalon and what does it say?
Im interested in using him.
Im interested in using him.
Last edited:
Ashardalon, What do we know about him? [Adventure Line Spoiler Alert]
- Thread starter Ashrem Bayle
- Start date
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
I don't think he's been officially statted out yet-- but then I have only "encountered" him from the player's side of the screen.
He plays a big part in The Heart of Nightfang Spire--err, that is to say, there's a big part OF HIM in Nightfang Spire.
(You might want to change your subject line to mention spoilers...)
Wulf
He plays a big part in The Heart of Nightfang Spire--err, that is to say, there's a big part OF HIM in Nightfang Spire.
(You might want to change your subject line to mention spoilers...)
Wulf
Davelozzi
Explorer
You should probably add *adventure path spoilers* to the subject line as they're pretty much inevitable. He is mentioned in the backstory of both The Standing Stone and Heart of Nightfang Spire. I think it might mention him briefly in Forge of Fury but I'm not sure. I don't remember any mentions in Speaker in Dreams or Deep Horizon. I haven't read the Lord of the Iron Fortress or the brand new module yet (Bastion of Broken Souls?), so I'm not sure if he's mentioned in either of them.
DizzyKungFu
First Post
Ashardalon is also mentioned in the Standing Stone:
http://store.wizards.com/product.asp?ProductID=4706
I assume that it is supposed to be the dragon on the
cover of the yet-to-be-released Bastion of Broken Souls:
http://www.wizards.com/catalog/product.asp?88167
http://store.wizards.com/product.asp?ProductID=4706
I assume that it is supposed to be the dragon on the
cover of the yet-to-be-released Bastion of Broken Souls:
http://www.wizards.com/catalog/product.asp?88167
Simon Magalis
First Post
The villain in LotIF is a half dragon that claims Ashardalon as his parent. I dont think he is mentioned in Deep Horizon.
Ashrem Bayle
Explorer
*bump*
I changed the subject to add the spoiler alert.
Now give me details.
What about the vampire Gulthius?
I changed the subject to add the spoiler alert.
Now give me details.
What about the vampire Gulthius?
Simon Magalis
First Post
Gulthias is the villian at the end of Heart of Nightfang Spire and the"Heart" of nightfang spire is Ashardalon's heart... literally. It is a temple to Ashardalon and Gulthias is his head "priest" although he is a vampire with Wizard levels.
I figured I'd add something to this conversation by posting something I wrote about Ashardalon for my campaign. (One of my PCs found this info in a book.) It's not "canon," and it doesn't include any info from Heartfang Spire since I wrote it just after I ran Sunless Citadel, but I think it still fits in with what I read above. Feel free to steal it if you want.
I run in the world of Greyhawk, so there are Greyhawk-specific references below. Oh, and I made Ashardalon a female -- did I miss a reference in Sunless Citadel to the sex of Ashardalon?
------------------------------
History of Ashardalon:
Ashardalon was perhaps the single most powerful wyrm in the
history of the Flanaess. She is known by many names, including
the Red Queen, the Dark Queen, and the Great Wyrm. At the height
of her powers, she controlled all of the land of the Sheldomar
Valley, from the Hellfurnaces in the south to the southern Yatils
in the north, and from the Crystalmists in the west to the Azure
Sea and the Sea of Gearnat in the east. She of course did not
control all of this region alone: she ruled mighty armies of
dragons and dragonkin, together with no small number of the other
humanoid races.
Ashardalon's reign was held up not only by the physical power of
her and her armies, but also by her mastery of the arcane. Her
control of magic rivalled that of the mightiest Suloise and
Baklunish archmages just prior to the Twin Cataclysms that brought
those empires to an end. In fact, it is rumored that the magicks
which called forth those cataclysms had their roots in research
performed by the Red Queen herself, leaked to her minions.
All accounts of Ashardalon agree on one thing: in the last three
or four centuries of her life, the weight of time drove her
completely insane. It is likely that this madness is the only
reason she does not still reign today.
The rumors and stories about Ashardalon suggest that the following
is as close to a true account of her death as we are likely to
get:
In her later years, Ashardalon grew tired of this life and yearned
for something greater, for an existence which would lift her
beyond the press and weight of time and age. That is to say, she
sought apotheosis. Her researches in this direction led her into
deep and dark mysteries, mysteries which even her great mind were
not meant to penetrate. A cult sprung up about her, wildly
popular among certain elven clans of the time, eager to reap the
benefits of what must have seemed the inevitable rise to godhood
of the mighty dragon. The cultists built temples to the Red Queen
in various places throughout the Sheldomar Valley. The reasons
behind the locations of these temples remains a mystery, but it is
clear that there was some purpose behind their placement.
As Ashardalon diverted more and more of her forces and attention
to excavating ancient sites of dark power and to the construction
of these temples, her hold on her empire crumbled. As the years
wore on, and more and more of the Sheldomar was liberated from her
control. Ashardalon retreated into near-solitary madness, deep
into an inner sanctum (believed to be located in what are now
known as the Drachensgrab Hills). Even as her empire collapsed
about her, she remained focused on whatever scheme she had
uncovered to lift her to divinity. In time, it became apparent to
the powers of the day that she would soon succeed.
This could not be tolerated. The details of the final conflict
have been lost to history, but in the end Ashardalon was defeated.
Some say that Suloise mages focused the same powers which were
later to be used in the Invoked Devastation directly upon the Red
Queen. Others say that St. Cuthbert himself rode down from the
heavens to deliver the killing blow. Still others whisper that
when the army arrived at her inner sanctum, they found the Red
Queen immobilized but still living, interred in a strange state of
unlife-but-undeath (scribbled in the margins here is the note
"Cocoon? Stasis prior to metamorphosis?"). At any rate, she had
already become too powerful to destroy outright, and her soul was
imprisoned in the first of the powerful Orbs of Dragonkind.
I run in the world of Greyhawk, so there are Greyhawk-specific references below. Oh, and I made Ashardalon a female -- did I miss a reference in Sunless Citadel to the sex of Ashardalon?
------------------------------
History of Ashardalon:
Ashardalon was perhaps the single most powerful wyrm in the
history of the Flanaess. She is known by many names, including
the Red Queen, the Dark Queen, and the Great Wyrm. At the height
of her powers, she controlled all of the land of the Sheldomar
Valley, from the Hellfurnaces in the south to the southern Yatils
in the north, and from the Crystalmists in the west to the Azure
Sea and the Sea of Gearnat in the east. She of course did not
control all of this region alone: she ruled mighty armies of
dragons and dragonkin, together with no small number of the other
humanoid races.
Ashardalon's reign was held up not only by the physical power of
her and her armies, but also by her mastery of the arcane. Her
control of magic rivalled that of the mightiest Suloise and
Baklunish archmages just prior to the Twin Cataclysms that brought
those empires to an end. In fact, it is rumored that the magicks
which called forth those cataclysms had their roots in research
performed by the Red Queen herself, leaked to her minions.
All accounts of Ashardalon agree on one thing: in the last three
or four centuries of her life, the weight of time drove her
completely insane. It is likely that this madness is the only
reason she does not still reign today.
The rumors and stories about Ashardalon suggest that the following
is as close to a true account of her death as we are likely to
get:
In her later years, Ashardalon grew tired of this life and yearned
for something greater, for an existence which would lift her
beyond the press and weight of time and age. That is to say, she
sought apotheosis. Her researches in this direction led her into
deep and dark mysteries, mysteries which even her great mind were
not meant to penetrate. A cult sprung up about her, wildly
popular among certain elven clans of the time, eager to reap the
benefits of what must have seemed the inevitable rise to godhood
of the mighty dragon. The cultists built temples to the Red Queen
in various places throughout the Sheldomar Valley. The reasons
behind the locations of these temples remains a mystery, but it is
clear that there was some purpose behind their placement.
As Ashardalon diverted more and more of her forces and attention
to excavating ancient sites of dark power and to the construction
of these temples, her hold on her empire crumbled. As the years
wore on, and more and more of the Sheldomar was liberated from her
control. Ashardalon retreated into near-solitary madness, deep
into an inner sanctum (believed to be located in what are now
known as the Drachensgrab Hills). Even as her empire collapsed
about her, she remained focused on whatever scheme she had
uncovered to lift her to divinity. In time, it became apparent to
the powers of the day that she would soon succeed.
This could not be tolerated. The details of the final conflict
have been lost to history, but in the end Ashardalon was defeated.
Some say that Suloise mages focused the same powers which were
later to be used in the Invoked Devastation directly upon the Red
Queen. Others say that St. Cuthbert himself rode down from the
heavens to deliver the killing blow. Still others whisper that
when the army arrived at her inner sanctum, they found the Red
Queen immobilized but still living, interred in a strange state of
unlife-but-undeath (scribbled in the margins here is the note
"Cocoon? Stasis prior to metamorphosis?"). At any rate, she had
already become too powerful to destroy outright, and her soul was
imprisoned in the first of the powerful Orbs of Dragonkind.
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