# Who's Ashardalon?



## Dog Moon

From the Bazaar of the Bizaar, the Treasures of Ashardalon.  Who is this?

http://www.wizards.com/files/365_Bazaar.pdf


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## Crothian

Was the Dragon first introduced in Sunless Citedel?


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## NiTessine

Ashardalon is a legendary great red wyrm that made his first appearance in the backstory to WotC's first 3E adventure module, _The Sunless Citadel_. He then popped up here and there during the adventure path until coming to face the party himself in _Bastion of Broken Souls_, where he was attempting to ascend to godhood.

There's also a disciple of Ashardalon prestige class in _Draconomicon_, and I think he's made appearances in other products as well.


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## Dog Moon

Ah, thanks.  Considering I've never played through those adventures, it would explain why I hadn't heard of that Dragon.


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## Darkness

Ashardalon is Knight Otu's evil twin.


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## Ashardalon

How quickly they forget... I may just be a vestige of my former self, but I shall rise again, I tell you, I SHALL!! 



Darkness said:


> Ashardalon is Knight Otu's evil twin.



That's implying that the guy is _good_. Given his avatar...


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## The_Fan

Some of his backstory is featured in the article. It's also worth mentioning that he survived by replacing his heart with a balor, and then by taking over the Bastion of Unborn Souls where he could feed directly from the font of all life.

Yeah, he was a badass.

Even death did not destroy him completely. His legacy lived on through the Disciple of Ashardalon PrC in the Draconomicon. Further, it was revealed in Dragon Magic that his spirit had survived to become a Vestige, granting power to some Binders.


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## Remathilis

He also has a planar touchstone in the_ Planar Handbook._ The legacy of Dydd is in the Adventure _Standing Stone_. His cult was the focus of _Heart of the Nightfang Spire_ as well. 

Oh, and he was a very difficult fight.


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## Rechan

It's interesting to see all those inferences when I never even really noticed the guy.


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## greyscale1

The_Fan said:


> It's also worth mentioning that he survived by replacing his heart with a balor,




Whoa whoa!

He replaced his heart with a Balor?

A WHOLE BALOR?

or just the heart of a balor?


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## Caliber

greyscale1 said:


> Whoa whoa!
> 
> He replaced his heart with a Balor?
> 
> A WHOLE BALOR?
> 
> or just the heart of a balor?




A whole Balor. Who you then had to fight after killing the dragon he was serving as an organ for ...

Yeah it was a tough fight.


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## kenobi65

greyscale1 said:


> Whoa whoa!
> 
> He replaced his heart with a Balor?
> 
> A WHOLE BALOR?
> 
> or just the heart of a balor?




The answer is a spoiler to "Bastion of Broken Souls":



Spoiler



A whole balor.  Once the party defeats Ashardalon, they may have to also fight the balor, who pops free once the dragon's dead.


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## theria

greyscale1 said:


> Whoa whoa!
> 
> He replaced his heart with a Balor?
> 
> A WHOLE BALOR?
> 
> or just the heart of a balor?




 As he said, he got a very bad heart.


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## Dire Bare

As mentioned above, the PCs face Ashardalon in the final module of 3rd Editions "adventure path" (they were all loosely connected by the legends of Dydd and Ashardalon).  In the module, Ashardalon was the biggest red wyrm possible in 3e (ancient?) and had the half-fiend template.  His replacement heart, a still living balor demon, had the half-dragon template and the PCs had to fight him after slaying Ashardalon, as the balor was now free of his servitude.  Other backstory information gave Ashardalon a quasi-diety status, not quite a demigod.  And when slain, he "lived" on as a vestige, a powerful entity trapped between life and death (but not undead, just somewhere "outside" the planes of existence).

The story of all those modules would work pretty well with 4th Edition, but the final location of the Bastion of Unborn Souls would need to be tinkered with, as there is no longer a plane of positive energy (elemental chaos? an astral domain?).


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## Shroomy

Dire Bare said:


> The story of all those modules would work pretty well with 4th Edition, but the final location of the Bastion of Unborn Souls would need to be tinkered with, as there is no longer a plane of positive energy (elemental chaos? an astral domain?).




My vote is for Astral Domain, the domain of the spiritual.


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## Kristian Serrano

Don't leave out the connection in Magic of Incarnum. The Bastion of Souls is also a source of incarnum and Ashardalon was seeking its power.


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