ALICORN BY DAVID HOWERY The clock is running, and your enemies have the lead. ‘Artwork by Ruth Thompson David got hooked on the AD&D* game at Montana State University, where he got his B.A. in Range Management. He's published numerous articles in DRAGON® Magazine and DUNGEON” Adventures. “Alicorn” was playtested by The Ravaging Horde (John, Tim, Allen, and Jamaica). “Allicorn’” is an AD&D® 2nd Edition adventure for 4.6 PCs of levels 1-2 (about 8 total levels). Most of the char. acters should be of good alignments. This is an appropriate first quest for a ranger or paladin. The adventure can be set in any campaign world, in a forested hilly area. Adventure Background Bayerlet is a noted chief among goblinkind. This huge goblin united several villages and beeame the ruler of a large swath of wilderness, His raiders hhave swept down on many elven and ‘human towns, Several punitive expedi- tions sent against him have failed. Bayerlet is an exceptionally intelligent goblin with a good grasp of military strategy. Yet, Bayerlet has finally met h match. Two weeks ago, he attempted to loot an evil ruined temple dedicated to a god of plague. His bodyguards died around him, and only the chief man- aged to drag himself out of the ruin, clutching a handful of golden treasure But the goods were cursed, and Bayerlet ‘was stricken with a wasting disease that has robbed him of his strength and mind, ‘The chief's little empire is threatened with disintegration from internal rival ries, as various champions contend for the warlord’s position. Bayerlet’s chief advisor, the shaman Vergrim, fears losing his high position. After several days of deep thought, the shaman devel oped a plan to cure Bayerlet and pre. serve the goblin kingdom. Like many wilderness cleries, Vergrim knew that a unicorn’s horn, called an alicorn, is useful for healing. If pow- dered and prepared properly, an alicorn ‘can cure diseases. Vergrim plans to prepare a mixture of alicorn and herbs to cure Bayerlet, Silverlance, a unicorn stallion, lives in a wooded vale north of the goblins’ lair. Knowing that unicorns are im- mune to poison, Vergrim spent several days of prayer in creating a special ‘50 Issue No. 33‘ALICORN ———— black arrow. To the shaman’s surprise, Maglubiyet, the goblin deity, answered the prayer, and enchanted the arrow. Vergrim gave the arrow of wounding to a goblin champion, Murgen. ‘Vergrim, Murgen, and a score of gob: Lins set out to hunt Silverlance. Sneak- ing into the unicorn’s vale, the goblins destroyed trees and killed animals, actions that were sure to attract Silver- lance. Sure enough, the unicorn at- tacked the goblin the nextday at ‘Although the unicorn’s powers en- abled him to detect his enemies, he could not divine their plan. The unicorn attacked the main body of the goblins, slaying several of them. A group of archers, including Murgen, worked its way around Silverlance, coming up behind him and firing a volley of ar rows, While most of the arrows missed, Murgen hit Silverlaneo in the back of the neck with the eursed arrow. As the evil arrow did its work, Silverlance began to feel weak. He killed several ‘more goblins, then tried to remove the arrow by rubbing against a tree, but succeeded only in breaking off the shaft, Teaving the iron head buried in his, neck. As his strength ebbed further, Silverlance teleported away to his grove, where he has been slowly weakening and is now near death. ‘The goblins had lost too many of their hunters to search out the unicorn, s0 ‘Vergrim and Murgen returned to their village for reinforcements. (The village is south of the unicorn’s vale, off the map.) They were in so much of a hurry to find the unicorn that they left again immediately, not waiting for the return ‘of a small hunting party that had left the village that morning. A lone goblin was sent to find these stragglers and lead them in the right direction. In about four days, the goblin force will enter the unicorn’s grove to kill him. A powerful and good creature may soon be gone, slain to save a wicked humanoid bandit. Of course, if the men of civilization learned of it, they would do their best to see that Bayerlet never For the Dungeon Master ‘The adventure begins in the afternoon as the PCs encounter a small group of goblins (area A) who are hurrying to catch up with the main body of the goblins. The timing of this adventure is, important, The goblins and unicorn fought at dawn on the day before the PGs arrive in the vale, Currently, Silverlance has 20 hp remaining. The stub of the arrow of wounding drains Lhp every three hours; it has already robbed him of his strength and magical powers. From the PCs’ first encounter ‘with the goblins to the end af the adven- ‘ture, the DM must keep track of time to determine who finds Silverlance first, tnd when he dies. ‘The PCs’ movement should be charted on the map. The terrain is rolling hills (see pages 128-125 of the Dungeon Mas- ter’s Guide). ‘The DM must also keep track of the ‘movement of the main body of the gob- lins as they search for Silverlanee. The {goblins begin at area B on the map and follow the route shown. The goblins, having jeut arrived from their village, begin moving away from area B at the same time the PCs meet the smaller {group of goblins at area A. The goblin force (MV 6) travels at a speed of 1 mile per hour in the forest, moving during the 12 hours of daylight (assumed to be 6 AM. to 6 PAM); PCs (MV 12) can move ‘at 2 miles per hour. Since the PCs will ‘move in an unknown direction, there are several possible results for this adventure: —The PCs may find Silverlance and rescue him, —The goblins may find the unicorn and kill him (unlikely unless the gob- lins stop cearching the hills).