Garradalaigh, Audreena

Weird chimera that trades magical good deeds for the gift of mammal friendship. A large fey.

Imagine for a moment a winged unicorn, except this one seems way off upon closer inspection: six legs, four goat eyes, a horn more akin to a rhinoceros’s, fleshy wings, and a neck that is actually a caterpillar’s body.

Silent wisdom, Equine strength, Arcane majesty.


 
HD: 5 Armor: none
Hit it: normal Dodge it: normal
Move: fast, fly normal, swim fast  

It is immune to anything not adjacent to it (it only exists when close). It resists mundane weapons and spells (because it’s a fairy). It can speak telepathically with any warm-blooded creature, breathe underwater, and see very well. Also, as a imaginary creature, willpower must be used for attack rolls against it instead of dexterity. Out of combat, it can cast divination and illusion-themed magic, and it knows who all wizards are.

Attacks (1/round)

Ram. If it has the space for it, the audreena charges with its horns (1D8). On a hit, targets with less than 7 Fortitude fall prone.

Kicks. The audreena makes two melee attacks (1D6).

Spellcasting. Confusion, Improved Invisibility, Clairvoyance.



Random Encounter
  1. Monster: 1 audreena.
  2. Lair: A window to a snowy, sunny mountain.
      OR
    Omen: Fresh mountain air.
  3. Spoor: A pop sound followed by an arcane caster recovering a Spell Dice.
  4. Tracks: High concentration of magic.
  5. Trace: An open treaty on Garradalaighs.
  6. Trace: A window to nothing but whiteness.
D6 What the Monster Wants
  1. Taste new potions … but for what?
  2. Learn new spells … but for what?
  3. Somebody who has used magic to do good.
  4. Somebody who has researched a new spell that will do good.
  5. A wizard who just bravely escaped death.
  6. A wizard willing to become an hermit.
Salvaging the Body

So this thing was real in the end and you killed it. Its flesh is a potent hallucinogenic that lasts days.

Garradalaigh Flesh. You can see figments of your imagination as real for 1D4 days, but you can only describe them as subject and verb, with the referee finishing the description.

Accepting and audreena’s boon will inspire a wizard to write a spell with the word Speach in it.

Audreena Boon. Allows you to speak with all warm blooded creatures.

Credits

Garradalaighs are weird creations of the TSR Birthright setting made for AD&D 2e. I really love to discover new monsters like this one which really seems rooted in mythology but isn’t. My adaptation is true to the original, if a bit simplified in its stats. It’s as if these monsters were already contemporary in their originality.</details>

Written on November 14, 2020