WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Dungeons & Dragons: At the Spine of the World by Aimee Garcia, AJ Mendez, Martin Coccolo, Katrina Mae Hao and Neil Uyetake, on sale now.

Part of the fun of Dungeons & Dragons is the ability to create new and dynamic characters with whatever backstory a player, or in this case writer, could want. While Dungeons & Dragons: At the Spine of the World #1 does indeed deliver new and unique characters for fans to fall in love with, it also reintroduces a character who not only appeared in the previous comic series but also in a mobile game and an actual D&D game module: Saarven, the Dragonborn ranger.

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Saarven made his reappearance in the first issue of the new series, but he had made an earlier appearance in the grand story of the Forgotten Realms by joining another group of trepid adventurers. In the mini-series Frost Giant's Fury, Saarven joined the party known as the Heroes of Baldur's Gate. Having spent most of his life exploring the trails and secrets of the Spine of the World, Saarven was essential in leading the party to the lair of a white dragon to battle the Frost Giants.

But now Saarven has been drawn into something else entirely. Dungeons & Dragons: At the Spine of the World #1 starts with a group of miners, among them a warlock named Amos, transporting a massive deposit of Chardalyn. While Amos steered their sled through a storm, the miners broke into a fight over the Chardalyn. This tipped over the sled and the miners tore each other apart, with only Amos surviving them, albeit with a broken leg.

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He would have died out there had it not been for the intervention of the barbarian, Runa, who rescued him from a remorhaz drawn in by the noise of the crashing sled. This was when Saarven made his heroic return, assisting Runa from afar when she lost her weapon to the remorhaz. For saving her life, Runa agreed to stay by Saarven's side until she returned the favor.

They took Amos to Ten Towns where they hoped the town's druid, Belvyre, could heal Amos. Locating him in a tavern alongside his bodyguard, Patience, the new party entered Belvyre's workshop. Belvyre explained that the unending winter around Ten Towns was killing their crops faster than he could regrow them. And Amos' experience with the crazed miners, followed by an extremely aggressive remorhaz attack was further proof of magical involvement in this unending blizzard.

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After being healed, Amos reveals that everything he had seen, including Belvyre's underground greenhouse, convinced him that an old myth about a hidden city beneath the mountain might be real. Agreeing that if such a thing existed it would be the key to saving Ten Towns, Belvyre agreed to help search for it, drawing in a reluctant Patience. And Saarven, being the expert of the trails around the area as well as an honorable Dragonborn, agreed to help lead them there. This forced Runa to come along too so that she may repay her debt. And thus Saarven was drawn into yet another party.

But this wasn't Saarven's first appearance in the world of Forgotten Realms. He actually made his first real appearance as part of the Storm King's Thunder adventure module, functioning as an NPC to push players further through the adventure. His next appearance was in the mobile game, Warriors of Waterdeep, where he became a playable character that players could use to confront the many terrifying beasts of the Forgotten Realms. And now he is making his fourth major appearance in a Dungeons & Dragons property. His enduring popularity showing no signs of slowing down.

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