Who is Ashardalon?

[Ry]

The question above is misleading; I know Ashardalon is supposed to be this mighty red dragon with a demon where his heart should be... but where did he originate? Was his first mention the Sunless Citadel? Is he a recurring D&D villain like Vecna (I thought I would have heard of him by now)?

Any info would be much appreciated.

 

[Crothian]

I think he started with just the adventure path modules....

 

[Sejs]

Who is John Galt Ashardalon?

 

[gfunk]

Yep, Ashy was mentioned in the Sunless Citadel, the Standing Stone (I think), and Heart of Nightfang Spire -- all in the original 3.0 adventure path. He enters prominently in the module Bastion of Broken Souls, meant for 18th level PCs.

 

[Alzrius]

I thought the first place Ashardalon was mentioned was in Heart of Nightfang Spire, but he might have been mentioned in earlier adventures. However, Heart of Nightfang Spire, Lord of the Iron Fortress, and Bastion of Broken Souls are the only adventures where he's anything more than a vague background note. The former two deal directly with his legacy, and he's in the last one.

Other than that, he's something of a draconic bogeyman, and evidence of such can be seen in things like the Ashardalon's Disciple PrC in Draconomicon.

 

[Sejs]

I thought the first place Ashardalon was mentioned was in Heart of Nightfang Spire, but he might have been mentioned in earlier adventures

Yup, first adventure actually. You know the Sunless Citadel? Ashy did that.

 

[hong]

Yup, first adventure actually. You know the Sunless Citadel? Ashy did that.

Mang, wait till Ashy hears about this.

 

[Knight Otu]

I'm Ashardalon. Really.

Ahem, as the others have said, he was first mentioned in Sunless Citadel, though the heroes propably only heard a rumor containing his name, or if they remove a goblin corpse obscuring his name.

(Forge of Fury and Speaker in Dreams don't mention him)

The Standing Stone is the next adventure mentioning his name, and also introduces the legend of Dydd, the druid who wounded the dragon's heart so he had to replace it. An image is carved into a hill in this adventure that some believe to be an image of Ashardalon.

Heart of Nightfang Spire deals with the undead cult of Ashardalon, and what became of his original heart.

(Deep Horizon is woefully Ashardalon-less)

The Lord of the Iron Fortress, as it happens, is one of the many children of Ashardalon, and he seems to search the dragon, as a note can be found that theorizes he is in the Abyss.

Bastion of Broken Souls finally has Ashardalon himself. He'll propably be killed, but the place where he is likely killed really is suspicious - he may yet return...

And thankfully, he has not been forgotten in the Draconomicon and Libris Mortis.

 

[Gez]

Ashardalon also creeped out in various products since then. Draconomicon, Planar Handbook, even in the DMG 3.5 IIRC...

In a way, he is now the iconic big old mean red dragon.

 

[Klaus]

Ashardalon also creeped out in various products since then. Draconomicon, Planar Handbook, even in the DMG 3.5 IIRC...

In a way, he is now the iconic big old mean red dragon.

Which is kinda weird, since he's less-dragonlike than an iconic dragon should be.


SPOILERS, EH?








Since he's a great wyrm half-fiend red dragon, he's now an outsider, not a dragon. If I ever ran BoBS (a.k.a. Bob's), I'd make him a "plain" great wyrm...