Halloran

Halloran was a young cavalry officer in the service of Cordell's Golden Legion who participated in the Maztican expedition.

Youth
Halloran studied to become a mage and was apprenticed to a Thayan wizard named Arquiuius. his master's summonings went horribly wrong, Halloran fled his master's tower and left Thay and eventually settled in Amn.

Pirate war
Halloran distinguished himself in the Golden Legion's war against Akbet-Khrul's pirates and commanded the Legion's cavalry during the final battle.

Payit
Halloran was assigned to command the Legion's cavalry during the Maztican expedition. The bishop of Helm, Domincus, brought his daughter, Martine, along for the voyage. Martine took a liking to Hal and insisted that he accompany her on a short shore excursion to explore the area around the Twin Visages in Payit. The group was ambushed by a party of natives led by a priest of Zaltec who mistakenly believed Martine was a native priestess who was supposed to be sacrificed. After a short battle, Halloran's soldiers were killed and Hal was restrained by the priest's Hishna magic. The priest sacrificed Martine on an altar above the Twin Visages.

A second shore party led by the dwarf officer Daggrande attempted to rescue Hal and Martine but were defeated. A couatl intervened and rescued Halloran and Daggrande along with a native priestess of Qotal named Erixitl. Hal and Daggrande eventually rejoined the Legion but the bishop blamed Hal for his daughter's death and Cordell had him imprisoned on one of the ships. Cordell had given orders that Hal be lightly restrained in the hopes that he could escape. Hal did manage to escape and in the process stole a backpack from the cabin belonging to Cordell's wizard Darien. Unknown to Halloran, the backpack contained a secret compartment concealing Darien's only spellbook. For this crime, Cordell sentenced Hal to death.

After swimming to shore, Hal traveled up the beach to the site of the battle of Ulatos. Hal arrived near the end of the battle but was able to prevent a Legionnaire lancer from killing Erixitl. Hal and Erixitl left the battle and traveled through the jungle for several days. Darien sent an invisible stalker after Hal but he was able to defeat it using potions he found in Darien's pack. Hal and Erixitl continued their journey through the jungle but were tracked by a pack of hell hounds sent by the Ancient Ones to kill Erixitl. The pack caught up to Hal and Erix at an abandoned pyramid in the jungle and the pair fought a pitched battle against the hounds and one of the Ancient Ones. An Eagle Knight named Poshtli who had been guided by a vision intervened on the side of Halloran and helped to defeat the hounds and the Ancient One. Halloran unmasked the Ancient One and discovered it was a drow elf.

Nexal
After the battle, Hal and Erix decided to travel to Nexal. When Halloran arrived at Nexal, he was treated with courtesy by Naltecona, the ruler of Nexal, and given a house of his own. After foiling an assassination attempt by priests of Zaltec, Hal had a falling out with Erix and she returned to her native village of Palul. When Halloran learned that the Nexalans planned to ambush the Golden Legion at Palul, he rushed to the village with his friend Poshtli. Hal arrived at Palul shortly after the battle and was able to rescue Erix from the clutches of the same Legionnaire who tried to run her down at the battle of Ulatos. Hal was injured during the fight and recuperated at the home of Erix's father.

Hal and Erix were married by her father and together they traveled back to Nexal to attempt to prevent the destruction of the city. Erixitl was captured by the Legion and held in Naltecona's palace. She was rescued by a couatl and taken to the roof of the palace where Naltecona was giving a speech to the Nexalan warriors in the city's main square. When Darien killed Naltecona, Erix, Halloran, Poshtli and the couatl engaged in a running battle on the rooftops with Darien and her drow allies. The drow eventually escaped and Erixitl's group trekked to the top of Mount Zatal, where they found the Highcave the Ancient Ones lived in. After Hal killed many drow, the explosion of Mount Zatal blasted Hal and Erix into the air. Erixitl's feathermagic cape protected her and Hal and they eventually landed safely on the waters of Lake Quotal. The magical cape froze the water, which allowed Halloran and Erix to lead refugees from the destruction of Nexal across the lake to safety. The two lead a band of refugees into the House of Tezca desert in an attempt to find safety.

Post Night of Wailing
Erix and Hal left the refugee band at an oasis and set out for the fabled city of Tewahca. They were led to the city by Poshtli, who scouted the desert in eagle form. Once they arrived, they climbed the great pyramid and Erix laid her magical pluma cloak on the altar. This act began to summon Qotal back to Maztica, but before he could fully materialize, the avatar of Zaltec arrived at the pyramid and defeated him, which sent Qotal back to the outer planes. Erix and Hal fled Tewahca and later joined forces with desert dwarves and wild halflings. They began to march to the Twin Visages, which was the only other place Qotal could re-enter the Prime Material Plane. Along the way, they happened upon refugees from the Far Payit of Tulom-Itzi, who were fleeing the devastation caused by Darien's driders and their giant ant army. Hal's force helped the Tulom-Itzi warriors defeat Darien.

Battle of the Gods
Halloran and Erix, along with her father and Colon, the high priest of Qotal, separated from the army and set out for the Twin Visages. They arrived at the pyramid on top of the Twin Visages on the same day as the second battle of Ulatos. Erix went into labor but was determined to complete the ritual needed to summon Qotal. Unknown to Hal, Darien and the driders had escaped the battle with the Tulom-Itzi and was waiting in ambush on top of the pyramid. Hal killed many driders and the remainder, with the exception of Darien, were led off a cliff by Erix' father. Erix was able to summon Qotal's avatar, who began to fight the avatar of Zaltec. The avatars' battle created an immense amount of destruction to the surrounding landscape and Colon realized that the two could destroy most of Maztica if they continued. To prevent the destruction of Maztica he urged Poshtli to kill both himself and Darien. The death of Colon and Darien on the altar severed the god's link to their avatars. Halloran and Erix returned to the new Nexalan city of Tukan and lived happily ever after.

Abilities
Hal studied magic in his youth and retained the ability to cast a few minor spells, such as light and magic missile.

Equipment
Halloran wielded a magical longsword named Helmstooth, which was presented to him by Cordell for his service to the Legion. Hal wore feathermagic bracers that give him the strength of a giant.

Appearances

 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards
 * Novels
 * Maztica trilogy
 * Ironhelm (April 1990)
 * Viperhand (August 1990)
 * Feathered Dragon (April 1991)