FREQUENCY: Uncommon
NO. APPEARING: 2-5
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVE: 15" (3")
HIT DICE: 1 + 1
% IN LAIR: 40%
TREASURE TYPE: 10% chance each of types J-M
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 bite or 2 horns
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4 or 1-3/1-3
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Poisonous bite
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S (4' long)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: II/28 + 2/hp

    Corkies are giant rodents that inhabit
hilly regions, so named because they dig
burrows that descend in corkscrew spirals.
The creature has short legs (which can
move its body at impressive speed above or
below ground), a stubby tail, and a head
shaped like a groundhog's at the front of its
long and heavy body. Two daggerlike
spikes, used as goring weapons, project up
from the corkie's muzzle between the eyes,
pointing left and right. Corkies have light
brown fur with rust brown stripes. A furrier
will pay up to 10 gp for a corkie pelt.

    A corkie burrow spirals down from an
entranceway usually hidden under an overhanging
rock and further concealed with
sticks and brush, giving would-be intruders
only a 10% chance of noticing the entrance.
The main entry spiral drops 10' to 30' and
then opens into a chamber about 5' high
and 8' in diameter, from which several other
tunnels may branch off going up, down, or
straight. All up/down tunnels have the same
corkscrew shape. Various chambers may be
set off to the side of the entrance spiral or
other up/down passages; the overall layout
of a corkie burrow is rather chaotic, and
mapping one can be difficult. Rooms and
chambers may be used for food storage,
hibernation rooms, nursery rooms, and so
forth. Tunnels connecting the chambers are
3' in diameter, and rooms vary in size from
5' to 10' across.

    Abandoned corkie tunnels have been
used at times by small demi-human and
humanoid races, not to mention other sorts
of creatures. Halflings, kobolds, gnomes,
goblins, and dwarves, being more able to
move in such confined spaces, may negotiate
corkie tunnels without trouble even if
armored, and may conduct melee normally
if weapon length and space permits. All
races larger than these take a -2 penalty on
"to hit" rolls, cannot use shields or armor
heavier than leather (to avoid becoming
stuck), and must move on hands and knees
(3" movement). Abandoned corkie lairs are
sometimes used by such monsters as giant
ants, small wolves and wild dogs, and giant
rats.

    Corkies are easily frightened and rarely
do harm to any creatures, since they eat
only vegetable matter. However, they will
defend their lair at all costs, biting (50%
chance) or ripping with their two horns
(50%) in any particular round. Anyone
bitten by a corkie must save vs. poison or
suffer the effects of a neurotoxin in the
creature's saliva (to which corkies are immune,
though other poisons affect them
normally). The poison causes temporary
damage to the victim's nervous system;
dexterity is lost at a rate of 1 point per
round after being bitten, until a dexterity
score of 1 is reached, at which time the
character bitten is seized by uncontrollable
shaking and twitching, unable to attack or
move. In addition, those affected by the
poison will go blind 2-8 rounds after being
bitten. The effects of the poison last for 3-12
hours but leave no aftereffects.

    There is a 10% chance of finding 1-3
young corkies (1-4 hp each) in a burrow
with the 2-5 adults; they have no effective
attack. The adults, if hard pressed by intruders,
will snatch up the young by the
scruffs of their necks and flee the burrow by
an unobstructed exit.

    Corkies collect little treasure and are
generally left alone by trappers and hunters.
At times, a corkie lair will extend into old
cavern or dungeon complexes, and in such
cases the tunnels are used as unconventional
entrances and exits by the inhabitants of the
complex or by adventurers. Gnomes may
communicate with corkies, as they can with
all burrowing mammals; corkies will generally
not attack gnomes and may even allow
them to pass through or stay in their
burrows for a short while.
 

    by Roger Moore