The elf zig-zagged but could not shake his pursuer loose; then he saw it. Mendi screamed as the sand shark emerged from the ground. Short sparse hairs covered its wrinkled pink skin along the entire length of its sausage-shaped body, from broad nose to long rat-like tail. A closer look revealed a blunt, strong head, four powerful shovel-like feet, and a mouth filled with razor-like teeth. Its teeth curved inward and were all of equal length, specially designed for biting off chunks at a time. Its 10-foot long body appeared in a spray of sand and its immense teeth filled jaw opened letting loose a fetid breath. Its forward thrust brought it right on top of the elf who dove desperately to the side. The sand shark missed the elf and continued its thrust. The ground opened up again and swallowed the predator whole with only a pile of sand left to mark the trail.

The elf reached his companions screaming for help with two monsters in hot pursuit. The kreen druid was running towards the group from the opposite direction as four distinct sand trails were doing their very best to try and catch him…

ROUND 1

"By all the Spawn of all the Gith on Athas! Sand Sharks!" Gaigin clutches his spear tightly and tosses his light pack on the ground. The ex-guard had once seen a pair of Sandsharks rip an entire Caravan to shreds, Inix and all...though he had been lucky enough to survive by hiding in an armored argosy and forcing the monsters away with thrown spears and rocks... Now he was facing the beasts unarmored, in a vast expanse of shelterless sand. Cursing aloud, Gaigin ran to the front to face the beasts.

Realizing the danger of the situation, Gaigin lets his tactical instincts take over. "Ptellac! Beside me! Set spear to receive charge! Koreth! Aryus! Stand by to flank and kill this thing if we manage to pin it down! Shoot for the thing's eyes if you can manage! Tak! Elric! Join up with Chit' and help Rayne! First team to take a beast down does no camp chores tonight!" Moving to take his own advice, Gaigin tightens his own grip on his spear and hopes for the best.

The warrior sees one of the beasts rushing forward with the momentum of a rampaging Mekillot, and quickly flicks his bizarre face mask over his face with practiced ease. Setting his feet wide apart, the big fighter braces the butt of his crude spear against his left instep and lowers the point, shifting his weight as far forward as balance allowed. The new tip, acquired from the megapede yesterday, glinted darkly under the red sun, a sharp piece of chitin, viciously serrated and set hard on the wooden pole by strips of corded leather, would hopefully serve Gaigin as well as it had its original owner. With a final tug on the spear shaft to set it well, Gaigin completes his preparations, which had barely take more then a second. He even managed a viscous grin under his mask as one of the beasts plunged into him head on.

The creature rose out from the ground and Gaigin had a terrible sight of vicious, gnashing jaws filled with countless razor sharp teeth surging towards his armorless body. Then his spear hit, bending the wooden shaft but not quite snapping it. With the full force of its own strength, the shark impaled itself on the chitinous point, and drove itself deeper and deeper along the shaft. Gaigin let out a roaring battle-cry as he leapt to the side, tearing his spear from the wounded creature and preparing for another attack. The shark squeals its pain and but its jaws close on empty air spraying sand as it snaps shut. The creature finally disentangles himself and as it falls to the ground, a huge hole is opened as if by magic which swallows the beast leaving a pile of bloodied sand as the only marking of its passage. Gaigin smiles under his mask gripping his spear tighter.

The elven peddler recovered his wind and suddenly appeared very concentrated, his gaze distant. He was already gone into the mindscape to fight the beasts. Mendi gathered his inner will, and began to weave his thought and mental power into a powerful leash that fell on the closest sand shark's neck. The ghostly image of the shark told the elf that it should be fairly easy to breach its mind. Unfortunately, the beast recoiled, and bit through the leash. The elf jumped back at the unexpected and successful defense the shark put up. Cursing wildly, "By Kalak's rotten tongue! Kank dung!", the elf prepared tried to gather his will once more.

Koreth immediately drew his bone blade, its pale yellowish surface glinting in the light of the sun. <Bloody ashes!> he thought, not recognizing the strange beasts which pursued his two companions. He pulled his baazrag helm onto his head and upon hearing Gaigin's orders, he took up a position to Gaigin's right flank. His sword held ready, he waited.

Koreth drew up his will, knowing well that he would need it in this battle. Power trickled out from his nexus, traveling along his limbs and into every muscle of his body. His will faltered, power trickling into but draining out of his limbs. <Blood and ashes > he cursed. His attention quickly focused on the sand sharks rushing towards himself.

Aryus' stomach twisted in knots and sweat formed on his brow. There was a general feeling of dread and fear amongst his companions as they watched Chit and Mendi running for their lives pursued by four trails of sand fast approaching coupled with Gaigin's recent exchange.

"I know what these are." Aryus says gripping tightly to his spear, "I had 'em back home in the north, called them sand leeches, sand sharks, sand worms, and even desert dragons. Either way they are dangerous and the best way to kill them..." Aryus holds his spear up high and turns the spear's point to the ground. The windmage then demonstrates a fake thrust into the sand "... is to peg them in the sand before they come up, if you can do it of course." Aryus motions to Ptellac and the other spear wielders in his group. "Get ready."

The second monster suddenly surfaced right in front of the windmage but he was ready. He thrusts his spear at the creatures body but the sharp point skids on the tough, rubbery hide of the shark. The beast continued its momentum and landed on top of the air cleric. It bites a gory wound on the mage's shoulder and thrashes its head about as if to tear away the limb. The group turns to the windmage but Ptellac was there first. The pterran sticks his spear deep into the beast's side drawing blood which forces it to release Ayrus' shoulder. The sandshark waves its short stubby legs and is quickly covered in sand. The telltale mound is seen for a few feet and then is lost from sight as the sandshark dives deeper into the ground leaving the windmage with very bloody wound.

A few feet away, the other group of companions faced much harder odds as four of the telltale mounds signifying four beasts were steadily coming closer towards them. The beasts dove deeper into the alluvial wastes which even though slowed down their movement significantly, it gives them the chance to surprise their opponents surfacing right underneath them.

Seeing the Elf and Kreen running for their lives, Rayne bends low allowing the halfling to spring off her shoulders and prepare himself for whatever was coming directly at them. Drawing her sword and tortoise-blade, Rayne prepares for the incoming danger.

The mul stood very still as she looked towards where the shark should surface. In a lightning fast movement, she steps back and ducks low as the creature leaps forth in attack. Using her tortoise-blade as defense from the creature's bite, the lean mul puts all her force into her upward thrust of her sword as the sand shark soars towards her with a teeth-filled maw wide open. The mul's bone sword does not penetrate the creature's hide and all that fills her view is 600 pounds of hungry beast. Rayne puts up her tortoise blade but it is knocked aside by the sheer mass of the sandshark. The mul manages to dodge the attack at the last moment but the beast still hits a nasty, ripping wound before it disappears into the ground again.

Prey only succeeds when it escapes the hunter, or turns into the predator itself. Chit-Zik knew he couldn't get away. Seeing a battle line form among his companions, he moves toward them, just ahead of the sharks, giving his companions time to prepare. He then leaps over them, as opposed to, of course, slamming into their bodies. He also hopes to bring the beasts close to the surface as he does.

Immediately after he hits the ground, the nimble thri-kreen spins around and pulls his gythka just in time as the ground splits up in front of him and spits forth another beast. The gythka sinks deep into the creature's flesh, bringing forth a yelp of pain. The sandshark snaps his jaws but is not able to break the hard chitin carapace. The thri-kreen immediately withdraws his blade before the creature sinks back into the ground.

The Sand Sharks were unlike anything Tak’ had ever faced. One minute they were above ground, rending and tearing with their cruel teeth - and the next they were beneath the surface, stalking their prey from the safety of the sands. Hearing Gaigin call out and move to set his spear - Tak’ felt a glimmer of hope. <At least one amongst us has faced these things and lived>.

Picking up his short spear, Tak’ ran forward to be beside Rayne. He held his weapon close, his grip slippery with nervous sweat - wary of a surprise appearance by these subterranean beasts.

As Chit-Zik ran with what seemed to be four of these beasts on his tail, Tak’ had whistled out - hoping the ‘kreen would hear and veer off to join the mul and himself in their small defensive line. Picking out one of the Sand Sharks, Tak’ went into the Mindscape - knowing that this attack would have to be timed well - or it would fail.

MINDSCAPE
The desert landscape was features and flat. The sky was glowing eerily - but there was no sign of wither sun nor moon. Tak’ spotted the Sand Sharks almost immediately - their faintly glowing forms bursting into light as they surfaced from the sand (in the real world). Mendi too was radiant here - using his own knowledge and skills against these creatures.

Tak’ knew he needed something that would quickly crush these beasts. Then he knew what he had to do. Constructing a harbringer he had perfected over the last few weeks, Tak’ brought into existence a mountain of water - channeling it towards the Sand Sharks. The water built up momentum, an unstoppable wave of liquid - the volume undreamed of by many in Athas - and for creatures who lived in the desert, Tak’ hoped this harbringer would be both alien and deadly.

The Flash Flood built up speed - as Tak’ wrested for control - trying to slow it down, to co-ordinate it striking the Shark just as it surfaced - to avoid the Flood washing harmlessly over the top of the subsurface monster. With all his strength, Tak’ pulled back at the Flood - keeping its force in check, its forward motion only gradual. Then the Shark surfaced - and Tak’ released his reign - instead letting his harbringer slam into the Shark - pummeling the beast with strong currents. In the real world, the Shark let out a strangled gasp as it choked for air, and spasm as the fury of the waters rushed over it. (DM note: Mind breached).

The shark was distracted but still continued its onslaught hoping to bite of this smaller morsel in perhaps one bite and so it opened wide…The small halfling rolled to the side and the shark went over his head to land in what seemed like the hard packed ground. The ground splits just as the sandshark reached it engulfing the creature entirely.

Elric reaches his hand up and undoes the broach of his dune colored cloak as he watches the approach of Mendi, Chit and the Sand Sharks. Dropping the shredded cloak to the ground, Elric kneels and calls softly to the young tagster cub. "Here little one, this is a battle you can not fight." The cub moves toward Elric though its attention is clearly on the danger ahead, a soft growl can be heard deep in the cub chest. The cub is situated on the cloak along with Elric’s pack.

Stepping away from the cub, the warlock slips his longbow into his hands. With an unusual calm, Elric draws an arrow to his check and sights a target. Hearing the soft growl from behind him, he couldn’t help but grin as he sighted down the shaft of his arrow. All of the sudden, the telltale mounds were no more as the beasts dove deeper into the alluvial. The warlock held his shot until he could see the shark but has second thoughts of this tactic, the shark will be on top of him when he surfaced. He doubts and is about to take out his short swords but something told him to wait; so he sighted and waited…

With a loud hiss and a spray of sand surfaced a huge beast. The warlock drew at point blank and released his deadly shaft. A meaty thud told the warlock of a solid hit deep within the creature's face before Elric was thrown to the ground with a huge beast on top of him. The warlock throws away his bow and scrambles free but the creature still nips him on the thigh before it dives deep into the sand.

ROUND 2

As if on cue, all of the sandsharks rise and move about close to the surface disregarding the stealth of the deeper sands. A couple of them even skipped and jumped through the sand showing their hideous bodies. The companions could now see their attackers even though to some this site was more than frightening. The whole school had gone into a killing and feeding frenzy that few on Athas have ever survived. Gaigin swallowed hard and warned, "We must kill them quick or by the Dragon's gut, we will be food this morning."

Moving lightly, Gaigin moves back from the now wounded and enraged beast, twirling his spear once above his head before bringing it down again. Leveling the tip, Gaigin rushes forward, anxious to draw blood once more. Gaigin stepped back rapidly, trying to avoid the oncoming rush of the deadly creature. Knowing he wouldn't last long against this beast by running, he suddenly shifts momentum, hurling himself at the creature with his spear, aiming desperately for one of the slight eye slits in an attempt to blind and distract the creature. The blood-mad beast sprung again disregarding the warrior's spear which failed to draw blood this time.

There was no shortage of blood however as the beast clamped his jaws tight on the warrior not once but twice thrashing its huge head from side to side scoring a deep wound. Gaigin managed to disengage from the shark and let the beast sink into the ground again. He gasped as he surveyed his upper arm and wished for his armor more than ever.

Mendi took advantage of the entangled shark and focused on his nexus once again. The elf formed a powerful kirre in the mindscape. The noble beast ran toward the sandshark and attacked it wildly. The kirre racked its powerful claws on the shark's back, deeply sinking his claws in the beast's neck, and blood appeared on the shark. (DM note: Mind breached)

The flow of curses stopped as the elf tried once more to gather his will, shaping a gigantic hand that reached for the sand shark. The hand reached the monster, and in the mindscape, a giant face of Mendi appeared, yelling mental orders at the subdued shark. The shark although shocked did not succumb to Mendi' will. It swam away despite the mental link that the elf had on it.

Another sand shark plowed towards Ayrus again, and Koreth was ready for it. His sword flashed as he held it high. He grinned as he brought the blade down with all his strength. The blade sliced easily through the creature's hairy, pink hide. Blood adding red to the pale yellow of his blade. Koreth quickly side-stepped as the beast finished its charge, wary of its next move and of the other sand sharks.

Ayrus was quick to step in and try to finish the sandshark but it was far from over. The sandshark bared its teeth again and lunged for the windmage who luckily stepped aside. Ptellac came in from behind and pinned the beast down with one mighty lunge of the iron-tipped spear. The weapon pierced the sandshark near its tail; the beast thrashed about a few times and moved no more. The pterran was wild with joy and shaken with nervousness; he let out a mighty cry and plunged his spear again into the downed beast.

The other group smiled albeit the situation, they could see the sandsharks circle around and quickly set out again for the group. The smell of blood and gore was in the air and the sharks felt it and responded with renewed madness.

Rayne's pleasure is short lived as another shark leaps in her direction. Rayne side-steps the attack with a graceful agility, but it is not enough to escape the razor jaws of the beast. The beast bites deep again but the mul puts her tortoise blade into the creature's mouth. The blade is torn from her grasp and the sandshark flounders about snapping its jaws. Rayne takes her long bone sword with both hands and plunges deep into the creature's body. The sword sinks halfway into the creature almost pinning it down. The shark is too weak to dive into the ground but it still is a formidable opponent as it thrashes its head from side to side.

Chit-Zik held his ground as one of the telltale mounds approached him. The sharks came out of the surface in its mad frenzy and could be seen from time to time. It sunk deep at the last moment and surfaced right on top of the kreen. The druid smashed down on is snout with his bone gythka scoring another slight hit drawing blood yet again. The creature continued its lunge and its jaws closed on one of the kreen arms biting through the chitin. The beast did not have enough strength to snap through it but black ooze seeped through the cracked chitin. The beast thrashed its head, tried to bite again and disengaged from the druid.

"Rayne!" Tak’ called out, as the Sharks bore down on them, "cover me for a moment!" Stepping behind the burly mul, Tak’ hoped she could protect him for the short time he required...

MINDSCAPE
The Shark's battered image crawled slowly around the Mindscape - incapable of the powerful tunneling it performed earlier. Summoning his Will once again, Tak’ let the Earth shake, tearing the desert landscape asunder. Huge cracks appeared in the ground - the sand of the desert pouring into as the ground rocked uncontrollably. The sandshark paddled frantically away from the huge cracks with a frenzy that belied its size. The beast managed to get away from the earthquake with an influx of energy coming from fear, the terrible fear of going under in the earth forever.

Tak’ cursed. Rayne may think him a Master in the Way - but today he was not strong enough to succeed where his life and the lives of his companions were on the line. Coming back to basics - his spear gripped tight - Tak’ awaited a Sand Shark - a trail of sand indicating that one had chosen to make the short halfling its meal this morning...

The beast surfaced and looked huge compared to the small warrior. Its 10 feet and huge girth dwarfed the halfling and its immense teeth-filled maw was enough to bite through his head. Tak set his spear but fell over as the sandshark emerged right underneath him. The hunter only had time to roll over and put his hands out in front of him. The fetid breath engulfed him and more importantly the huge maw closed down twice on the halfling. Tak heard bone snapping and teeth grinding and the next thing he knew was that the sandshark was past him leaving him with a mess of blood and gore he wasn't quite sure where it was from.

Elric had again picked up his bow now that the beasts had gone into a frenzy, at least the warlock could see them from a certain distance. He held his shots until the beast skipped along the hot sand. With a brief glance to insure the safety of his new ward, Elric loosed another arrow. The missile skidded of the hard skin of the shark and had little effect. The next would have to be placed in a vital area to be effective. Calmly following the shark’s movements, Elric watches as the small eyes open to the light. The arrow leaves the bow with a twang and streaks to its target. Too late, it seems that Tak's recent ordeal only a few feet away from him had loosened his hand before it was time. The shark dives deep into the ground and the arrow sinks itself into the desert sand. The beast emerges in front of the warlock and bites deep again into his side drawing blood again. Elric pushes the beast aside and watches it go as it chews on something and dives into the scorching sand again.

The sharks not only smelled the blood and gore but most had tasted it as well. The frenzy they had worked up themselves into was only shadowed by the great fear and sullen expectation the companions had worked themselves into.

Your actions…

OUT OF CHARACTER

HEALTH STATUS

Remember the scale:

Healthy (H) 100% hitpoints remaining

Slightly Wounded (SiW) 75% to 100% hitpoints remaining

Wounded (W) 50% to 75% hitpoints remaining

Seriously Wounded (SeW) 25% to 50% hitpoints remaining

Mortally Wounded (MW) 0% to 25% hitpoints remaining

Group 1

Gaigin (W) Shark (W) Mind Breached

Mendi (H) (SiW) PSP

Koreth (H)

Ayrus (SeW) Shark (Dead)

Ptellac (H)

Group 2

Rayne (W) Shark (MW)

Chit (SiW) Shark (W)

Tak (SeW) (SiW) PSP Shark (H) Mind Breached

Elric (SeW) Shark (SeW)

GENERAL

Good playing here. Please give me actions for 2 rounds, please.

WATER SITUATION at the end of the 11th day

Questions, comments, and suggestions please.

L8r,

Fabian