I recently bought a lot that included a slim paper module.
While I was bidding on the lot I saw the front cover and did not know what it was, but a fellow Acaeum member (Plaag) knew exactly what it was and told me.
I just got around to reading this adventure.
Citadel by the Sea
Designed by Sid Fisher
A 16 Page Fantasy Adventure Module published in The Dragon Magazine Issue 78, Vol. VIII, No. 4; October 1983.
Won 1st place in The Dragons Module Design Contest: Category A-1.
For 4-8 Player Characters of Levels 1-3 (with NO Half-Orcs)
Or
Alternatively, ONE Half-Orc PC of Levels 4-5; as a solo quest.
Includes a few mild Wilderness encounters (Mapped), a village (UNmapped but partly detailed), and a citadel (mapped and very detailed with a ground level and 2 lower levels).
Basic background.
Many centuries ago, an ancient Elvin citadel/fortress by the sea was overrun by a horde of Orcs.
The Orcs then inhabited the place for a very long time, though eventually they abandoned the place for some unknown reason.
One of the many rumors is that some sort of curse (from the vanquished Elves?) ran them off, but not before killing many of them first.
Recently a band of archeologists have taken refuge at the site of the ancient citadel in order to research the history of the place, including the battle, orcish living conditions and culture and to gather any found artifacts (using the bone digger meaning of the word, not magical).
Turns out one of those bone diggers is actually a half-orc posing as a human and he is after something very different from what the human bone diggers are digging for.
Start point:
The PCs are traveling along a worn road headed in the direction of a remote village near the coast.
They see travelers coming from that direction.
When the PCs stop some of them to ask why the remote road is so busy; it is learned that the travelers all come from one village and are running from some unknown curse, famine, or pestilence… each person stopped gives a different story.
But all of them agree that they wont go back and they have all their worldly goods with them (no treasure though... poor villagers).
Once the PCs arrive at the village they note it is now about 50% abandoned.
Eventually some few villagers might indicate that this village was the base for the archeologists, and some might note that the group has not returned for more supplies in a long while, as they often did.
Rumors and stories about the ancient citadel can also be learned.
Long story short, the Half-Orc posing as a human archeologist is searching for a long lost legendary Orcish artifact/weapon rumored to have magical powers when wielded by an Orc.
He wishes to obtain the artifact and become king of the Orcish nations and make them a great and feared race once again.
This looks to be a very entertaining adventure scenario and I will probably run my grandkids through it one day.
Go find your boxes filled with your dusty Dragon Magazines and check out some of the Adventures inside.
Those magazines are more than simply collectables sitting on a shelf or in some dusty box in the attic storage space.
