<<Can't see... WHERE GONE!>>
Daina breathes out softly. <<I think we lost them...teleportation is very hard to track, if not impossible...>>
"No... he says... we don't want to destroy artefacts of antiquity... he says... all that knowledge must be kept... he says...," Gorkhan mutters as he loses the tracks in the sand. "How do you like them apples now? Oh wait... the dead doesn't need to worry about the end of the world... Thanks guy...,"
<<They may not have teleported away,>> Gorkhan transmits, back to business. <<I saw some tracks headed towards the bay, but the sand's obscured them...>> The bard then blends into the sand moving in the direction their enemy may have gone, in hopes of spotting something or someone. <<Perhaps your new friend in your sphere can offer some assistance...>> he continues dryly, referring to their undead (temporary) captive.
The hasted huge cat that is Grit bounds through air looking for any foe. He sees Raun strike the master and sees with frustration the contingency take the enemy out of his pounce range. He screams his anger in a mighty cat roar and seeign Gorkhan moving in the sand races in that direction looking for for or sign of foe.
Huge Dire Tiger:
Init +3; Senses low light vision, Scent; Perception +13
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Defense
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AC 29, touch 13, flat-footed 24 (+7 armor, +2 Dex, +6+4 natural, +1 Deflect, -1 Size )
hp 69 (6d8+18)
Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +9; +2 vs. Poison and Disease
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft. +10= 50+ Haste
Melee 2 Claws +15 (2d6+9) + Grab, +15 Bite (2d8+9) + Grab
Pounce, Rake for 2 Claws +15 (2d6+9)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
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Statistics
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Str 28, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 12
Base Atk +5; CMB +15; CMD 31
Elemental Template:
*Darkvision 60’
*Damage reduction 5/-. This increases to DR 10/- at 11th level.
*A 50 percent chance to ignore critical hits, bleed, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning. The chance to ignore increases to 75 percent at 11th level.
*Immunity to fire, cold, electricity or acid (choose one when you change form).
*Once per use of wild shape, as a swift action, you can shroud your limbs in the energy type to which you are immune. For one round per level your natural attacks deal +1d6 points of damage of the chosen energy type.
Elemental Wild Shape
You can infuse your wild shape with the power of the natural elements.
Prerequisite: Wild shape class feature, Knowledge (nature) 5 ranks.
Benefit: When you use wild shape to take the form of an animal, you can expend an additional daily use of your wild shape class feature to add the elemental template to your animal form. This form grants you the following abilities:
*Darkvision 60’
*Damage reduction 5/-. This increases to DR 10/- at 11th level.
*A 50 percent chance to ignore critical hits, bleed, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning. The chance to ignore increases to 75 percent at 11th level.
*Immunity to fire, cold, electricity or acid (choose one when you change form).
*Once per use of wild shape, as a swift action, you can shroud your limbs in the energy type to which you are immune. For one round per level your natural attacks deal +1d6 points of damage of the chosen energy type.
Frostbite on Grit and Ral
Longstrider on Grit and Ral
Barkskin on Grit and Ral
Resist Energy Fire (20) Communal
Delay Poison Communal (1 hour)
Resinous Skin
Freedom of Movement
Airwalk
Deathward
Haste
With Gorkhan's mention of tracks Raun likewise gives chase, charging after he and grit.
There is no sign or scent of the master, whose psychoportation power could have carried him leagues away. But sniffing the dust-laden air, Grit lopes off in the direction of the tracks Gorkhan spotted. Ten yards from the hole leading into the buried chapterhouse, he finds a discarded clay vial, the last drops of liquid dripping into the sand. A closed eye is carved into the outside of the vessel.
The Viper was flying the last time Grit saw him below. There are no tracks in the sand, but Grit smells the scent of the man in the wind, moving east toward the silt bay with speed. Grit gives chase but quickly realizes he risks losing the scent if he follows at full speed.
The others fly up to the surface, leaving Orryn and Ral below with the trapped Destroyer. Nnn'tkklik'l, who is moving much slower levitating with his belt, draws the attention of the shining creature from the librarian. Careful to avoid the golems, the creature flies around to the south before unleashing another blinding ray of light that blasts into the slowly moving thri-kreen.
Nnn'tkklik'l floats up more, manifesting Vigor on himself.
Without stopping Grit sends <<I smell the rogue. He has consumed some potion of concealment, likely Invisibility, and flies towards the silt bay. I shall track him. Run ahead of me and expose him if you can. Perhaps they have a ship there. >>
Raun pushes on ahead even before Grit's comment, heading in roughly the direction Grit was with an occasional glance back at the shapeshifted mul. She keeps her eyes peel for signs of the Viper, other foes, or the vessel on which their enemies had arrived here.
Raun and Gorkhan rush out into the blowing sand, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Viper as Grit follows more slowly, intent on the trail. Filling his nose with the dusty air, the wildshaped druid is able to follow the thief's path unerringly toward the shore of the silt bay, still several hundred yards away. But he senses that he is falling farther behind already.
Moving swiftly, Raun and Gorkhan see nothing in the swirling silt, although they feel the psychic connection they share with their companions gradually fading.
In the central chamber, Nnn'tkklik'l continues levitating toward the surface, buffering himself with psychic energy in case of another assault from the shining figure. Another ray of light flashes out a moment later, but the burning arc is not a direct hit like last time, scorching the thr-kreen's carapace but not seriously.
The 'kreen continues to move in the direction of the party, touching down on the surface as soon as possible to move faster.
Raun just keeps hustling forward with all speed since it didn't seem the viper was attempting any further evasion, pushing more for speed to reach the boat first.
While still within the range of the collective Grit sends <<I still have the scent but I am falling behind. We need someone who can see through invisibility here or we may never find him. Perhaps we can find his ship? Should I continue to track or run forward?>>
Woki goes flying after Grit and zips forward with all the speed the spirits can pump into their magics to hold her aloft.
Raun and Gorkhan race ahead across the dunes as Grit follows more slowly, nose high as he follows the Viper's scent where it blows on the wind. Woki flies behind, quickly catching up with the shapeshifted druid. With the silt and sand billowing off the dunes, seeing anything is difficult - spotting an invisible thief is near impossible.
As the task seems most hopeless, however, Raun's head jerks up at the sound of rocks falling. Ahead about 200 feet, she sees a wind-scoured pillar of stone - perhaps an ancient statue - jutting from the sand. Several loose stones have just been knocked loose, with pebbles still falling. The half-giant thinks she might have heard a stifled curse.
Carried up by his levitating belt, Nnn'tkklik'l clears the crumbling lip of earth at the surface and takes cover near Daina, safely out of sight of the burning thing below.
Rays of awful light stream off the shining creature as it screeches in frustration. Apparently unable or unwilling to pursue the thri-kreen to the surface, it instead turns south. The golem Nnn'tkklik'l positioned in the doorway slashes at the shining thing as it flies by, but the wound doesn't stop it. It screams again as it flies into the central chamber and up, out of reach, its burning eyes fixing on the trapped undead gladiator - and beyond it, Ral and Orryn.
Spying the rocks and hearing the voice on the wind Raun arrows straight for the pillar, her powerful legs easily carrying her to the jutting stone before she spins around.
Grokhan draws on the power of his stalker's mask that grants an ability to see the unseeable before continuing.
Grit moves forward following the scent.
The 'kreen will keep up with the group as best he can.
Daina casts invisibility on herself and quietly goes back in to the shining child. If the creature looks intent on killing the undead gladiator, she will dismiss the spell protecting it.
Nnn will support Daina, heading that direction.
<<Orryn, get safe. Leave. Take big cat with. Back way you came in.>>
Hearing Nnn'tkklik'l's mental warning, the villichi girl grabs a tufts of Ral's green fur and pulls herself onto his back, her legs gripping tight at the tigone leaps and bounds through the rubble toward the tunnel the group dug earlier.
Flying back down into the north chamber, Daina establishes line of sight to the force field enclosing the undead champion, then wills it to dissipate.
With a shriek, the shining creature immediately aims a beam of searing light at the armored warrior. The light hisses and smokes as it touches the undead flesh, but the damage from the blast appears to be blunted by some resistance to fire.
Harsh laughter echoes from the undead champion's helm as it flies upward to engage the shining creature. The alien form shudders and dims as the gladiator's steel scimitar cuts deep into its body, flickering shadows forming within the wounds.
Above on the surface, Raun and Gorkhan approach the wind-worn statue from opposite sides, Gorkhan using his mask to see invisibility as he flies, slowing his advance somewhat. As the enchantment takes effect, he sees the bald half-elf come around the statue to where a tall, robed form leans against the rock, cradling the ribs Raun broke earlier. As Raun rounds the corner, the half-elf says something that causes the robed master to look up and grasp his hand. From Raun's perspective, the half-elf appears out of thin air as the master lifts his arm. Before Gorkhan or Raun can make a move, the two figures vanish, leaving behind a few smears of blood on the rock and a puddle of vomit on the sand.
No
Raun roars her frustration as their foes appear before them, and then disappear again. She charges forward anyway, hammering at the spot where they'd been, pounding the stones repeatedly in thwarted rage, before whirling around to see where they might have gone now.
The kreen will try to get eyes on the undead champion battle, wondering if the Master will return for his thrall. The kreen keeps all possible distance he can, though.
If Grit can see what transpires he will run to move to the rock where the enemy disappeared from. He knows he cannot scent across dimensional movement.
If Grit can see what transpires he will run to move to the rock where the enemy disappeared from. He knows he cannot scent across dimensional movement.
Woki flies toward where Raun is trying to crush rocks as she continues to look about, "Tall-tall-one find dead heart?"
"Magic go-away again!" Raun yells in reply to Woki's question, not stopping her efforts to pulverize the local area.
Hearing Raun's roars of outrage, Grit and Woki converge on the worn statue, which teeters under the force of the enraged half-giant's blows. On arrival, they see that their quarry is gone - Grit smells the Viper's scent, fresh but fading fast, along with the coppery scent of the master's blood and the sour stench of vomit. There also is a hint of ozone, which the druid has come to associate with the master's teleportation powers.
Below, Däina and Nnn'tkklik'l watch as Orrin and Ral flee from the central chamber into the makeshift tunnel the group dug earlier, although the tigone can be seen to visibly slow as Däina's haste spell expires.
Meanwhile, the badly wounded creature from the library claws at the undead gladiator. The searing light cuts deep into the gladiator's pale flesh, and the sword blows it retaliates with are weak and off-center. But the undead warrior quickly returns to form, delivering a roundhouse blow with his razor-edged shield that appears to cleave the shining creature's head from its body. The terrible dims, then darkens completely before the creature's remains drift like dust to the floor.
The helmeted warrior turns its glowing eyes north, toward Daina and Nnn'tkklik'l.