A ways back in 2018, I wrote about the cover of Nehwon (1990), which features a guy in an eye-patch who, I speculated at the time, was an attempt to give the Lankhmar campaign setting a recognizable mascot who wasn’t the Twain. Well, I have a new theory. I think he is a self-insert for designer Slade Henson, who wrote Slayers of Lankhmar (1992) (Fred Fields, who did the Nehwon cover, kind of famously used coworkers as models, so this isn’t a huge stretch).

Here we have a less cool, more harried-looking Eye-patch on the cover, by Roger Loveless. He is Elad Edals (Slade and Dale, Slade’s given name, backwards) and he is a thief on the run after being falsely fingered in a brutal murder. He’s in the Hlal Forest and teams of hunters, including the players have gone in after him in order to claim the bounty (or, I suppose, in the player’s case, accidentally come across a means of exonerating him), with Edals acting as Rambo, hiding and using traps to winnow his opposition (there are 40 such “attacks” provided and situationally many more should naturally present themselves). 

The manhunt is an elaborate affair conducted across 160 quadrants. There are set encounters as well as events that occur across a timeline. The other hunting parties are a bit like gangs from The Warriors. It’s a lot to manage, probably, but I think the overall effect is quite good. And unique! I’ve never encountered a scenario structured quite like this, which is unusual!

Not much in the way of art, and points deducted for the bizarre use of D&D Trading Cards to illustrate the NPCs (one of which is clearly depicted Fafhrd?). I don’t know of any other adventure to do this, which is a good thing. Otherwise, a highlight of the Lanhkmar line!