This time, Nnn'tkklik'l has little trouble worming his way into the thoughts of the west-most b’rohg. As he pulls the creature into the collective, it stalks forward, the wild look in its eyes tempered by caution as Raun advances to the edge of the embankment.
Suddenly, a wave of fear washes over the half-giant. Behind her, Gorkhan is overcome with horror, as well, and Fen can be heard screaming, slipping and sliding as he seeks cover in the dry wash bordering the camp.
Däina and Nnn'tkklik'l feel the same wave of emotion but reflexively resist the mental assault, preventing the fear from taking hold.
On the right, Grit and his tigone take defensive positions just north o the kank pen. Safia, standing among the bugs, blows a trail of smoke toward the eastern b'rohg, which snorts up the wisp of smoke and begins babbling and tearing at the ratty scrap of hair protruding from its sun-scorched scalp.
On the left, Raun catches a flicker of movement in the darkness beyond the camp, but loses sight of it as the b'rohg in front of her draws close. Approaching the stone pillars, the b'rohg uses its two left arms to scoop up a boulder before lashing out with one of its right limbs to try to sweep the shaking half-giant from her feet. Swinging her hammer, Raun strikes a solid blow to the monster's arm but is knocked to the ground as it howls in pain.
"There's something else out th-ahhh!" Raun begins to growl before it turns into a startled yelp as she is assaulted with knee-trembling fear. She holds her ground, but it is enough to unsettle her sufficient to upset her stance. She manages a wild swing as the creature comes closer, but is forced to overextend when she relaizes the creature's superior reach, and the b'rohh capitalizes, taking her feet out from under her, sending her sprawling to the ground.
Thoroughly rattled by the turn of events Raun tries to roll to her feet, but in her haste leaves herself open to another attack. Once she clambers up she looks around, unnerved by finding herself outmatched in sized. She looks to the right at the rocks, and while she could likely retreat within them the creature could likely still reach her if it chose... Turning back to the creature she decides to make a stand despite the sweat beading on her forward. She shuffles back from the creature, trying to draw it forward and plants her feet. Always so instinctive until now she finds herself consciously psyching herself up, pushing the fear away and trying to draw up the beast within. Her chest rises and falls more swiftly as her pulse starts to race, and after a few seconds she lets out a roar of anger.
Move action: to see where whoever is responsible for that wave of fear is
Standard action: try to pull the fear-creator into the collective if i see them; OR if i see no one, ready action to Drain Health on a b'rohg once someone is hit by one, and heal that person.
As Däina nearly finishes casting her spell she steps forward and turns, vanishing and re-appearing closer to Raun. She continues forward, planting her feet and shouting the incantation one last time. The air splits open and releases three white and blue colored zhackal's in front of Raun. At the same time another appears behind the party members on the other side of the hill. Däina shouts out "Attack anybody with four arms that's taller than the half giant!"
Gorkhan pulls out his bow while moving to a better vantage point and fires an arrow at one of the creatures.
Grit calls upon his command over the elements and the sky, calling down a bolt of lightning that momentarily lights up the surrounding area brightly in an 30 streak that is 5' wide and strikes the creature.
Then, taking advantage of the creature's confused condition, Grit and his Togone move to flank the creature.
Heat lightning illuminates the surrounding badlands - which appear empty but for the b'rohgs - as Grit's spell slams into the already confused creature on the right.
On the left, Raun scrambles to her feet. A heavy fist smashes into her as she rises , but she makes it to her feet and roars a challenge back at the towering b'rohg.
The air around the shaken creature suddenly fills with blue light as three glowing zhackals appear and begin biting at the b'rohg's legs. Roaring in fear, the b'rohg flings a boulder at Raun - the half-giant ducks as the missile sails into the dry gulch - before pounding the zhackals with its two remaining fists, crushing two of the summoned creatures.
Gorkhan, meanwhile, darts forward with his bow, sending a shaft flying into one of the b'rohg's thick thighs.
On the right, Grit and his tigone rush forward toward the scorched and confused b'rohg. The tigone darts in, tearing at the creature's unprotected leg. Its senses clearing, the b'rohg roars and spins as it flails at its attackers. One heavy fist smashes into Grit , another hits the tigone and a third nearly crushes the summoned zhackal .
Däina frowns as her zhackals begin to return to their plane. She glances at Raun, then shouts "Circle around him!" to her summon on the left. The creature arcs around the creature, nipping at its heels as it does so.
She mentally runs through her spells. Web needs anchor points, a lesser summon wouldn't help, a... She looks down, then grabs her cinnabar necklace and points to the b'rohg. "Ixen Garmth!" A miniscule red bead flies from her fingertip, passing right by the b'rogh. As soon as it get a bit behind him it explodes our violently, covering the area in fire.
Grit and his Tigone, still flanking, focus their attacks trying hard to bring the creature down.
delayed round: Nnn'tkklik'l tries to siphon health off of the damaged b'rohg and into Grit (DC 19 will halves damage, it takes a -2 on this save)
current round: the kreen searches once more for the source of the wave of fear.
Nnn'tkklik'l once again waits for a party member to be damaged (readied action) and siphons health into them. (If no one is damaged and he does spot the source of the fear wave, then he will try to pull them into the collective if possible.)
Gorkhan looks askance at Daina and her actions, linking the new creatures to her previous strange muttering and seeing the small ball fly from her fingers to explode out on the field. He launched another arrow at the beast but his distraction caused the arrow to fly wide.
Having lost her temper at last Raun doesn't think any more about tactics, or how Daina's summoned creatures interfered with her own, she simply leaps into the fray taking the creatures blow if it comes, and delivers one of her own.
Responding to Däina's command, the summoned zhackal attempts to circle around behind the b'rohg, but is smashed flat before it is able to attack. Seconds later, the glowing bead Däina throws explodes behind the four-armed giant, charring the skin from its back and setting its matted dreadlocks aflame.
The screaming b'rohg swings weakly at Raun as the half-giant charges in for the kill but fails to connect. Eyes wide with fear and blood lust, Raun crushes one massive knee with her hammer before caving in the b'rohg's skull as it collapses to the sand.
On the right, Grit, his tigone and the remaining zhackal swarm the other b'rohg, slashing tendons and carving into its flesh with blade and claw. Howling, the creature falls to its knees, its scream abruptly cut off as Nnn'tkklik'l drains the last of its life force to heal Grit's scratches.
As you scan the darkness for other foes, an almost inhuman scream of pain and fear pierces the night. Fen! you think as you turn toward the sound echoing from the gulch to the south.
"Fen!" Däina runs back to him, sprinting as far as she can and jumping through space.
Guard Fen! Grit commands his Tigone as he sets his continual light stone around his neck and begins to move towards the caravan owner himself. The tigone takes off at a brisk hasted move of 70.
Raun turns at the scream, peering back the way she came, taking off as fast as she can given the intervening terrain.
Seeing everything going down so fast makes Safia blink for a moment. She had taken one of those things out of the fight, that was good, but she didn't get the chance to sink her blade into it.
Then the scream came. Safia simply turned and ran. Something was going on there and she has to do something.
Gorkhan spins around and tears off after the sounds of Fen's cries.
Fen's screams trail off as you run to the edge of the dry wash. You see the merchant's body stretched over a slab of rock, still thrashing.
A dark shape hovers over the body. In the flickering light of Raun's light rock, Däina's half-elven eyes can make out a kank-sized lizard, its rough scales seeming to shift color to match the wavering shadows.
Safia's darkvision offers more detail - she sees claws and fangs, shiny with the blood that is splashed over the nearby rocks.
It's all a blur of shadow to Gorkhan's human eyes, but his psicrystal senses all.
<<An id fiend!>> it thinks, broadcasting a mental image to Gorkhan.
You've heard tales of the beasts - massive psionic lizards that sometimes stalk their prey for days, feeding on fear rather than flesh and blood. As it turns toward your approach, you see that this one has been at a feast - in one claw it holds Fen's dripping heart, which shudders and goes still.
"Feeen!" Hot tears rolling down her face, Däina angrily pulls out a small spider web and tosses it up, shouting "Hamir cre!" The web vanishes, only to reappear around the lizard on a much larger scale.
Raun's momentum continues to carry her forward until she leaps at the creature. Flying through the air Raun barely even notices as she punches through a sticky patch of webs bringing her hammer up, readying to strike.
The mul moves to where he can see the reptilian threat and motions to the sky with an outstretched hand, seeming to pull a bolt of lightning down from the sky to strike the threat.
The Tigone double moves to stand defensively over Fen's body.
just spoilering this since it is a lot of IF A=B, THEN C, etc etc
Nnn'tkklik'l will move up to to the rest of the party (putting him within 60ft viewing, but keeping him 60ft from the beast) and try to pull the fiend into the collective (DC 19 will negates).
If that works, his next action will be to siphon life from it (DC 19 will halves, save at -2) as a standard action.
If it doesnt, he will expend focus to try once more as a move action to pull the creature into the collective.
If THAT works, then he will try to siphon health. if at this point he STILL doesnt have the creature in the collective, he will try one last time as a standard.
this all makes sense to me, please let me know if it doesnt make sense to you.
Gorkhan's eyes widen now that the creature was illuminated by the giant's approach. "Damn that's ugly," he says before launching off an arrow at it.
The id fiend's dripping maw splits into what seems to be a grin as Däina cries out. The beast moves quickly as she casts her spell, lithely dodging the webs that settle over the gulch, creating a sticky net stretching from the canyon wall to the floor. Although surrounded by the web, the creature doesn't appear to be trapped by it.
Oblivious to the spell, Raun leaps into the gulch, landing among the webs next to the creature, hammer held high. Grit's tigone companion, meanwhile, slips through the sticky webbing to the east, taking a position next to Fen's body. The druid, meanwhile, calls lightning down from the dark sky. The bolt crackles over the id fiend's scaly hide but seems to cause little damage. Gorkhan looses an arrow that sinks into the creature's flank, as well, as another battle plays out mentally.
Seeking to draw the id fiend into the collective, Nnn'tkklik'l engages the creature's psychic avatar. Rebuffed by a curtain of blackness, the thri-kreen tries again, expending his psionic focus. Burning away the darkness with the light of the twin moons, the thri-kreen snares the id fiend before siphoning some of its life force through the link.
The id fiend is quick to retaliate. Standing its ground on the physical plane, it sends another pulse of fear, targeting those that were out of range of its earlier attack. Accustomed to staring into the abyss, Safia shakes off the fear, but Grit and his tigone companion are unsettled .
Simultaneously, the id fiend launches a mental assault against several nearby attackers. Gorkhan and Daina resist the attack, but Raun is taken off as the creature's thoughts worm into her own, temporarily taking control as she struggles with her own limbs. .
Däina holds up a hand, weaving the other around it, then acts as if throwing something forward and shouts "Jedark!" A ball of force springs from her hand and streaks towards the Id fiend.
Gorkhan launches off two arrows at the creature.
Raun's fear finally overwhelms her despite her rage which falters and fades as she takes off along the dry gulch.
Attempting siphon health, DC 19 will halves at -2 to the save
The glowing missile Däina launches at the id fiend strikes true, but just barely. One of Gorkhan's arrows sinks into the creature's flesh, drawing a hiss of anger or pain, but the other glances off a thick scale. It hisses again as Nnn'tkklik'l siphons some of its life force into the collective.
Clutching at her head and thrashing wildly, Raun turns away from the id fiend and claws her way back up the hill, ignoring the threads of Däina's web as she flees toward the rock spire.
As she flees, her light goes with her, plunging the dry gulch into darkness. You hear a ripping sound, followed by a heavy impact and scrabbling on the slope near Däina. With their darkvision, Grit, Safia and the thri-kreen see the id fiend leap from its rocky perch toward the half-elf and Gorkhan, whose psicrystal informs him of the beast's advance.
At the same time, the id fiend launches another mental attack, this time targeting Gorkhan, Däina and Nnn'tkklik'l. This time Gorkhan succumbs, dropping his bow and scrabbling at his temples as the id fiend invades his mind.
Grit will once again strike the creature with his lightning, calling a bolt from the skies. He will use his move action to place his continual light stone around his neck and step 5' closer. At the same time he will whistle to his Tigne to close and flank the creature with Diana.