September 1980

The Dragon

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The S¡lkie
Created by Tom Moldvay
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
NO. APPEARING: 1-8
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: -10"
HIT DICE: ó
%IN LAIR: 1026
?REÁSURE TYPE: ll (no nap)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: PacK
altack
SPECIAL DEFENSES:,Si/ve¡
or 4 I weapon to be hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: .S¡and-
ard
INTELLIGENCE: High +
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good
SIZE: L
PSIOMC ABILITY: Mi
The Silkie are a race of wereseals. In their non-animal form, they
appear as black-haired, gray-eyed Half Elves and have all typical Half
EIf abilities. Silkie Half Elves usually fight with flint spears, daggers,
double-headed axes, or polished stone hammers. On land, Silkie war-
riors wear multi-layered, sharkskin armor and use sharkskin shields
(AC4).
Silkie seals are usually distinguishable from normal seals by their
large size. Silkie seals have one ramming attack for 2-8. When fighting
enemies who are in small to medium-sized boats, Silkie often hy to ram
the boat en masse, oveúuming it, then drowning their victims by force of
numbers. Silkie often travel with 2-12 seals (4C6, Move 24", fÐ2, ram
attack 1-6). They may surÌìmon 1-10 dolphins, provided the dolphins
are no further than % mìle away (l-10 tums away swimming at normal
speed).
Silkie are allied to dolphins and Aquatic Elves in their war against
Sahuagin and Sharks. Good will exists between the Silkie and the
non-aquatic races of Elves and Half Elves (except the Drow). Silkie are
tolerant toward Tritons, Locathah, Mermen, and any Huma¡ to whom allows for weather control, It is usually the climate of early suÍImer or
they are related. Silkie are antipathetic toward Ixitxachitl or any other late spring in Land Under 'Wave. Fruits and vegetables grow all year
evil sea race, and Neutral toward all other races. Silkie do sometimes round (the only meat Silkies eat is that which they catch while as seals).
feud with fishermen, particularly if the fishermen also hunt seal pelts, net Land Under Wave is a wonder. Buildings are made of multi-
Aquatic Elves, or over-fish an area to near depletion. colored, polished marble, heavily ornamented with gold, silver, and
All Silkie are descended from Angus MacOdrum. In the legendary jewels. The architectural style is light and airy. All buildings are inter-
past, Angus, a highJevel Magic-User and Fighter, led an Aquatic Elven connected by passages under the sea floor. More than half the land area
army to victory against a Sahuagin incursion. Angus married 12 Aquatic is taken up by intricate formal gardens with flowing brooks and foun-
Elven sisters; from these unions came the Silkie race (Silkie enemies tains. Land Under Wave would be a paradise were it not for one fact: All
claim this legend is an invention, and that Angus was merely an overly servants are captured Humans.
proud magician whom the gods cursed and who passed this curse on to The Silkie roam isolated rock skenies and beaches at night to dance
his descendants). Clan MacOdrum encompasses Silkies, Humans, and under the moonlight Whenever they manage to find an unguarded
Aquatic Elves in approximately 50%-25%-25% ratio. The MacOdrum Human baby or child, they will steal that child, replacing it with a soulless
of MacOdrum is always a Silkie, who takes the name Angus upon changeling. Human MacOdrums are never taken, as they are kin, but all
mounting the Clan throne. other Humans are fair game.
An occasional Silkie family builds a sea cave lair but most (90%) The captured child is raised in Land Under Wave. The captivity is far
Silkie live in Land Under Wave. Land Under Vy'ave is composed of from harsh. The child attends Silkie schools and is adopted into Silkie
several unnamed cities built completely under water. The cities are families. Still, the child is a captive, and must serve a full fifty (Human)
separated by hundreds of miles but are linked into one by a magical years from the time the child leams its jobs until the time of release. Even
teleportation mass-transit system. Each city is kept by by a magical so, captivity is looked upon as a blessing. Time flows differently in Land
bubble dome. The same magic maintains a constant supply of fresh air Under Wave and the period of fifty-year service ages the Human
and the artificial sun which powers the city and provides light, heat, and servant but a decade.
The Dragon Vol. V. No. 3

Furthermore, the Silkie are natural Magic-Users and teach their cannot dive deep enough to reach Land Under Wave). As long as the
seryants many useful spells, besides rewarding them handsomely with captor continues to act honorably, the Silkie will faithfully fulfìll its part of
gold and jewels upon release. Many captives choose to remain in Land the bargain. Any dishonorable or treacherous act on the captor's part
Under Wave rather than retum to the surface world. frees the Silkie from obligation.
Land Under Wave is filled with magic. The elder Silkie al1 settle Silkies, in human form, may cast the following spells: Friends,
down to a life of elegant leisure intermingled with magical ¡esearch. Mending, Unseen Servant, Read Magic, Forget, Fools Gold, Gust of
Only the younger Silkie venture out of Land Under'Wave to mingle with Wind, and Lightning Bolt All spells are cast as a sixth-level Magic-User.
other races and dance beneath the moon. A captive Silkie is under magical geas not to use its spells against its
Unlike other lycanthropes, Silkie can only change into seals by captor. The geas holds only so long as the captor's actions remain
donning a magical seal skin. Any individual who captures a Silkie seal honorable with respect to the Silkie, The elder Silkie have much more
skin can force that Silkie to do his bidding. A controlled Silkie cannot lie powerful spells, particularly sea magic and weather magic, but they
to its master and will perform any reasonable seryice or promise any venture out of Land Under Wave only on extreme occasions and are
reasonable ransom for the retum of his seal skin (without which he encountered very rarely.

TombToppcr
The Thaalud, or "Tomb Tappers," dwell in the depths of the
earth and are rarely seen by men, The echoes of their massive
hammers are sometimes audible through the rock for great distances
as they hew new caverns and passageways. They shun almost all
other creatures, but this tendency is often overcome by their lust for
magic.
Tappers spend their lives in an etemal search for the Source Of
All Magic, which they believe to be somewhere deep in the earth.
They are somewhat in awe of earth elementals, believing them to be
created at this mysterious source, and are reluctant to attack them for
this reason. Tomb Tappers often burrow up to plunder magical
devices from tombs (hence their name), or try to seize such devices
from creatures they encounter. They never use magical items in
battle, but protect and venerate them. The only other treasure
Tappers have consists of pretty rocks, such as quartz, jade, agate,
and amethyst (i.e., not gems which are dull when uncut). These they
keep in caverns of glowrock in the utter depths.
Naturally long-lived, Tappers are externally identical, and their
sexual activity remains a mystery. No pregnant Tappers have ever
been seen. When killed, Tappers tum to stone in l-2 rounds. They
save vs. petrifaction at -2, and are immune to Charm, Fear, Sleep,
and Fire and Cold - based spells. Electrical attacks do balf or (if save is
made) no damage.
Tappers are tall and humanoid, with very hard, blue-gray skin
and great claws which can dig through solid rock. They are some-
times called "the Faceless" due to their featureless heads. Tappers
"see" by a form of sonar, accurate tp to 44", and require no light.
Thus, they are able to locate Invisible creahrres, and are unaffected
by lllusíons, Hypnotic Patterns, and other sighrrelated spells.
Tappers can communicate with their own kind through a series
Created by Ed Greenwood of humming sounds made by skin vibration and with other creatwes
through the use of psionic Telepathy. (Individual Tappers will have
FREQUENCY: Very Rare 158+6d8 psionic strength points.) Tappers have the natural ability to
NO. APPEARING: 1-12 Detect Magic at will, and can Animate Rock once every 12 turns. The
ARMOR CLASS: -2 latter spell lasts for 4-6 rounds, and up to 9 cubic feet of rock may be
MOVE: 10" affected.
HIT DICE: 8+4 Tapper have gigantic mouths in their abdomens. These jaws can
% IN LAIR: 30% crush rock, from which Tappers extract mineral sustenance. Tappers
TREASURE TYPE: See below can take in water through their skin (which is hairless and varies in
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 porosity as the Tapper wills).
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 4-20/4-20/10-30, or 6-18 (hammer) Tappers customarily wield great (10' long) hammers of arenite,
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below an alloy they derive ftom magma. It is heavy, very durable, and
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below harder than most rock. Tappers may wield these hammers one-
MAGIC RESISTANCE'. Standard handed (-2 to hit), and throw them with great accuracy (+2 to hit
INTELLIGENCE: High due to "sonaf").
ALIGNMENT'. Neutral Tappers occasionally aid or cooperate with dwarves, whose
sJzE L (15-21' tall) magical items they will leave unmolested. They also have no interest
PSIONIC ABILITY: 164-2 12 in the magic of Drow. They hate Umber Hulks, sometimes enslaving
Attack/Defense Modes: E/F,J specimens from birth. Tappers and Xom tend to ignore one another.

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