The Savage Caves

(Dungeons & Dragons)
by
T.H. Lain (Phillip Athans)

Wizards of the Coast, July 2002, 182 pp.
ISBN: 0-7869-2845-X

Genre: Fantasy

World: Dungeons & Dragons
Reviewed: 9/18/2002

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

Deep in the Goblin Caves...

On the floor of the pit was a creature Regdar had seen only once before and hoped never to see again. It was a hideous, man-eating beast called a krenshar. It growled and scraped its claws on the smooth stone floor of the pit, which was ringed by a crowd of maybe seventy goblins.

A ladder made of spidersilk ran from the edge of the platform to the outer edge of the pit, stretching diagonally like a crude staircase. At the foot of the web ladder, on the step above the floor of the krenshar pit, were two goblin jailers and their prisoner.

"Regdar..." Naull whispered.

He could tell she was going to warn him off, but there was nothing she could say. Throwing someone--even a goblin--into the pit, defenseless, against a krenshar was just wrong.

Regdar charged down the spidersilk ladder, greatsword swinging behind him. The jailer to the left of the would-be krenshar victim turned. Its eyes widened and its mouth opened. The goblin brought its arm back, a crude stone club clenched in its hand.

Regdar spilled the goblin's entrails before it had time to scream.

A dead silence came over the cavern, and all heads turned to look up at Regdar. Mouths fell open, and there was a wave of gasps.

Regdar smiled and looked across the bizarre scene. On the other side of the pit sat a burly humanoid, much bigger than the goblins around him. It stood slowly and sneered at Regdar.

Hobgoblin, Regdar thought. I hate hobgoblins.

Synopsis

Jozan, a priest, and his protector, Regdar, enter the town of Fairbye. On the gallows, ready to be killed is a small halfling thief named Lidda. After being rescued by Jozan, it is discovered that some the town's only source of income, sheep, have been butchered by a horde of giant spiders.

The three team up to save the town and follow the blood trail into the forest. They are soon joined by Naull, a female wizard that has decided to stop her schooling and travel to New Koratia. All four enter the caves and find that the goblins are in turmoil because a hobgoblin named Rezrex is killing off tribes trying to become King of the Goblins.

The party gets split up, lost and are soon fighting goblins just trying to stay alive. To make matters worse, Rezrex captures Naull and holds her prisoner hoping to bring Regdar to him so they can fight to the death.

The Savage Caves by T.H. Lain is a Dungeons & Dragons tale, set a world based upon the famous role-playing game. This story revolves around four heroes (Regdar the swordsman, Jozan the cleric, Lidda the halfling thief, and Naull the wizard) who are out to save the town of Fairbye from some marauding spiders that slaughter some of their sheep.

T.H. Lain is a pen name created by Wizards of the Coast with the intend of keeping all of the books shelved together. The series is actually written by a multitude of authors. This story was written by Philip Athans.

Review

Right from the start, I liked this book. The characters were easy to like and the story moved along at a good pace. Once the party enters the goblin caves, the action is non-stop. T.H. Lain spins a wonderfully-quick fantasy tale of heroes that don't always do thing the right way, but get the job done.

I especially enjoyed the halfling thief character and her quick tongue, never calling Regdar by his real name. This is a fairly short book, but definitely one to read. As a fun, action-packed fantasy tale of swords and sorcery, this book hits the mark.

If you love D&D, you will highly enjoy The Savage Caves. I tried to image when I was reading that I rolled the dice badly and then something terrible happened to the characters. There is no dice rolling involved in the reading, but it was fun to think about when I was reading.

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.