September 22nd arrives after a quiet night, bringing with it warmer temperatures, gathering clouds and rising winds out of the northeast.
You are back on the road an hour after dawn, following it as it wends and winds east-northeast. The clouds continue to thicken, until it seems more like evening twilight than morning. Finally it starts to rain...a heavy, steady downpour driven into your faces by the gusting wind.
Behind you, you hear a distant howling...followed by another...and another...
There is silence for a time...then you hear the baying again...much closer this time...
Peering back into the dimness behind you, you see nothing, though.
"It appears we are being tracked", says Raz stating the obvious.
"Wolves?" wonders McTavish. He loosens his sword in its sheath and loads his heavy crossbow.
Ayazin attempts to identify the type of canine making the baying, based on the sound.
Farad looks at McTavish. "Would you find hell hounds in such a desolate place?"
"Hell hounds? Hope not...else my flame tongue'll be useless."
Farad gives the rest of you a look. "If they are normal dogs, let me try and mindblast them first."
Britans pulls off his helmet to get a better feel of which way the wind is blowing and then says, "Normal dogs would have trouble tracking us in this rain. But if the wind is carrying our scent to them, well then by the looks of the land hungry dogs can track even better." Then Britan puts his helmet back on.
"I would object to that, but I do not believe they are normal dogs, or anything from nature. In that case, mindblast away." says the druid.
Farad gives a curse for all druids. "Just like Bel" he mutters under his breath. "If they attack us, they are as good as dead, over your objections or not."
"If they were normal, wouldn't they survive the mindblast as opposed to us having to cut them down manually?" Illyana draws her bow. "I don't see why they should be tracking us." She looks up at the clouds. "Can we be tracked through the rain? If they are still tracking us, perhaps they aren't normal creatures."
Aldarin looking very serious, "I am for treating the land and animals with respect, but if a pack of salavating mad dogs appear then we will be trying to wash the smell of burnt dog hair from our clothes when I am finished."
Raz laughs quietly upon hearing Aldarin's comment...
Farad chants a spell that turns him invisible.
Raz smiles and begins casting a spell of his own...
When he is finished he looks at the group and says, "Now don't be alarmed if a few monsters show up to help us out...I've enlisted some aid....just don't start attacking anything until we know that it is here to attack and not defend."
You hear no more for several minutes but for the sound of the blowing wind and the driving rain.
Then, out of the mists come six troglodytes...horrid-looking reptillian creatures they are. They immediately go over to where Raz sits on his horse and look at him expectantly.
Before he can command them, though, you hear the baying again...both behind you and to either side. Very close now, you still cannot see the source of the howling in the dim light and pouring rain.
Many of you feel an unreasoning sense of terror well up inside you, and your horses shift uneasily...but then you look at Britan, sitting tall in his saddle, and you draw strength from his calming presence in the face of this unknown threat.
Your fears ease.
Raz directs his troglodytes to take up sentry positions 6' radius about the group....telling them to defend the group from any creatures that attack.
The monsters move into position.
Banquo looks at Britan and rolls his eyes saying, "Easy stomach."
He draws his sword and a throwing dagger, "Now these calm me in the face of a threat."
He also fishes around in his pouch for awhile, then pulls something out.
Ayazin mumbles some mystic words, and his skin turns tougher, like bark.
He then readies his shield and a javelin.
Suddenly the baying is heard again...as nine shadowy forms in the shape of enormous dogs leap out of the rain at you.
Aldarin, Sharone, Illyana, McTavish, Kelar, Ayazin, Raz, Humphrey and Britan are the targets.
Aldarin feels canine teeth tear into him for 2 hit points. McTavish is nipped for 6 hit points.
A monster bounces off of Raz's stony hide.
Humphrey is bitten for 4 hit points.
The rest of you are missed.
The trogs move to your aid.
Banquo goes to throw his dagger at the shape and then groans in agony, dropping the blade...as he reopens one of his wounds.
Raz defends himself with his staff. To his complete surprise he clobbers the shadowy beast over the head.
Illyana drops her bow and draws her two handed sword. "Any spells people?"
Ayazin tries to attack the monster with his javelin, but the creature fades back into the murk before he can strike at it.
Farad thinks about loosing a mind blast, but the creatures came on the party too fast...and now are everywhere. Instead, he unsheathes his longsword and moves to attack.
Aldarin swings his flame tongue...but where the monster was an instant ago...it is now gone.
Sharone backs her horse away from the shadow-dog. It comes after her...growling.
McTavish swings his sword with a cry at the monster on him and connects, though. The dog yelps and attacks.
Kelar fans with his scimitar.
Humphrey, his smile looking slightly forced, attacks with both weapons. His glowing sword connects and the monster yelps in agony.
Britan like wise connects with his sword...making it look easy.
Raz's troglodyte army attacks. One bites and claws into the dog going for Sharone, another does likewise to the monster on Illyana, another hits Kelar's monster...and the dog on Raz is nearly killed.
Humphrey again slashes with both swords at the soon to be dead dog. The fighter is bitten for 9 hit points first, though, before he decapitates the monster.
Aldarin attacks the nearest one with his sword.
The elf has a chunk bitten out of him for 11 hit points before he lands an equally heavy hit on the attacking canine.
Realising that fighting from horse-back is not one of her strengths Sharone slides to the ground, reading her shield and new flail. Relying on her natural speed and hopefully (?) the strength of her new suit of chain to keep the fangs away,she lashes out at the dog. Keeping herself between the horse and the dog she yells " begone ! you nasty beast. "
Both she and the dog miss.
Illyana makes short work of the monster attacking her with two qick swings with her two-handed sword.
McTavish does likewise against his foe.
Kelar dodges a bite but his attacker fades away into the murk before he can retaliate.
Ayazin is sent reeling for 15 hit points of damage when the dog on him attacks from behind. He spins about, lashing out with his javelin...but the dog has gone again.
Raz is nipped for 4 hit points as Farad comes to his aid...easily dispatching the beast.
Britan dodges a bite...but is unable to hit the attacker before it fades away into the rain.
The trogs attack again...killing the dog on Aldarin and scratching the monster on Sharone.
As far as you can tell, four of the shadow-dogs remain.
Ayazin, feeling extremely weak, casts Cure Light Wounds on himself.
The canine, seeing the opening while Ayazin pauses to cast the spell, leaps for his jugular...tearing his neck open for 10 hit points.
The druid collapses, blood spewing everywhere.
Farad will move to attack another beast, jumping at the one that now stands over the bloodied form of Ayazin. He nearly kills it with a single sword thrust...but not quite...but then McTavish also leaps into the fray and kills it.
Illyana attacks another dog. "What are these things?"
Humphrey goes and helps Britan...who has just wounded the monster again...and finishes it off.
Banquo says, "Gakkkkkkk," and proceeds to bleed on the nearest dog, hopefully distracting it long enough for someone to axe it.
Sharone attacks again as the dog on her tears her flesh for 10 hit points of damage. However, her flail swings through nothing but air as the dog seems to become nothing more than a shadow...
Aldarin moves over to her side.
Kelar and the dog on him trade misses.
Illyana charges over and barely misses the monster...then lands a glancing blow on it.
The dog on Sharone reappears again...clamping his teeth around her thigh...but her chain mail protects her. She misses with her flail...but Aldarin connects with his flame tongue...killing it.
The bodies of the dogs, you note, fade away after they are slain.
Kelar strikes the last dog with his scimitar as Illyana misses. Farad charges in and kills it.
You bind Ayazin's wounds.
Ayazin comes to, to find himself bandaged up and lying beside Banquo on McTavish's groaning wagon.
There is no sign of the dogs.
Raz's troglodytes, of limited use since the DM kept forgetting about them, have gone also.
The rest of the day's journey is uneventful...though you do pass another merchant caravan heading for Brach Prol in the afternoon...laden with supplies and heavily guarded by orcs and gnolls.
It continues to rain.
Ayazin tries to cure himself but is too weak to do so.
"I think I was over-confident. I was told that my magic cloak would protect me from the first attack against me, by making me appear to be somewhere else. Apparently I was misinformed."
Humphrey looking at Ayazin in his cloak. "Well I tried to stop that last attack on you but was to slow. Hmm, if I remember right, that type of cloack helps against all types of physical attacks except those who do not depend on sight, by making you harder to hit. Now, if you are talking about missle weapons, then you are right. The first attacker to shoot at you, who is unaware of your cloak, will miss you.
Now could someone heal me please."
Farad heals all who are injured, but Ayazin and Banquo remain very weak. "Any idea what sort of creatures those were, McTavish? Do you think their wounds will have any side effects?"
McTavish shakes his head.
"Never seen the likes o' them," he says. "Hope I never do, either. Must be demonic."
Humphrey looks over to McTavish, "Aye, never seen the likes of them. They would be right in front of you and then melt into the shadow. Demon Dogs. Thought I was gone lose it for a second, but then I felt a calming. Thanks Cavalier, I believe that you were responsible for that."
Britan looks around and says, "Those were certianly strange it was like they were part of the shadows or something. Your welcome Humphrey but I didn't do anything It was the combine overwelming courage of this Magnificent group that made all of us stand up straight and face the evil square in the face and kick its ass and send it back to Asmodeus with there tails between there leg."
"Oh, gag me," mutters McTavish, rolling his eyes.
Aldarin, trying to fix the opening in his pants where the creature bit him, after Farad has healed him, "I have heard stories of shadow dogs, called Mastiffs, that are from the demi-plane of shadow. These creatures are said to be made of the same material as the plane itself. Either way, I agree with McTavish. If I never meet any of them again, it will be fine with me."