The Scorpion

The group decided to investigate the scenes of disappearance, and accordingly set off into the snowy wastes around Belegond. After a couple of days' travel, they found themselves at the location of the most recent - a patrol of five elven soldiers. Sack was well in front, keen to isolate any tracks before the others could disturb them, and had already marked where said tracks stopped dead by the time the rest arrived at the scene.

Hansen and Hildraft gazed quietly around at the empty clearing, and then realized that Surya was staring directly at the tracks' terminus. The wearer of the Robe of Eyes had perceptions not available to normal mortals, and his augmented vision saw a quite different scene.

He saw, scattered around the tracks' end, five bodies, clearly the missing soldiers'. They were misty and indistinct, similar and yet different to things he was accustomed to the Robe showing him on the Ethereal plane. He drew his comrades' attention to this, and passed the Robe around so they could view it for themselves.

Hildraft, as the group's most knowledgeable planewalker, examined it closely, finally declaring it to be a demiplane, very close to the Prime Material, but rotated slightly out of phase with it - hence Surya's ability to see the contents.

With a visual fix, the dwarf was able to cast a Plane Shift and take the group onto the demiplane. Instantly, everything reversed itself; the bodies were clear, while the "real" world became misty and dim.

Examining the bodies, it was easily apparent that each had died from blows that could only have been placed by a foe they could not see - and probably couldn't touch either. There were no signs of struggle or blood on the Prime Material, which seemed to indicate they'd been translated instantly to this demiplane and killed there.

Exploring, Sack discovered that the demiplane was quite finite in its' scope, covering only the area in which the missing elves had disappeared. A few hours' walking in the grey emptiness was sufficient to discover the remaining corpses, both Shadowguard and soldiers. 

Hildraft cast a Speak with Dead spell, and queried the  corpses about their fate. Each reported the same; being suddenly precipitated into this strange otherworld, and set upon by blades they could not see or deflect. Various of  the victims reported attempting to use magic - including Dispel Magic, Protection from Evil, Banishment and True Sight - all with no effect.

He queried the Shadowguard corpses about their special abilities. They responded that their Shadowstep (the facility to leap from one place to another which had so confounded the garrison of Cyrn Radelin) was useless here - as there were no shadows. This was true; the light here, though dim and flat, was universal and cast no shadows.

Gathering the bodies, they shifted back to the Prime Material, and Hildraft used a Sending to communicate with Shadow Leader Gorion back in Belegond, to tell him that they had located the missing elves and to send sleds to retrieve the bodies.

While waiting for these to arrive, Sack, selecting from his seldom-used ranger spells, cast a Summon Nature's Ally, followed by an Animal Friendship, ending up with an allied viper.

Surya and Sack collected some items from the slain Shadowguard; some of their swords (the spell Identify revealed them to be Swords of Concealment), and one of  the trademark colour-changing tight leather suits they wore.

Hildraft worked a Divination, asking "what and who has slain these men?". His answer was not encouraging; "A Kin named The Scorpion."

Vorsand, Tarlanor, 9^th January 1602

Sack decided to do some research on this information, and Teleported to Vorsand to discuss it with Skufruss Dragonlord - who wasn't there. Bruukr was profuse in her apologies, and revealed that the Dark Lord was prone to wander around Alair like this; his last trip was around a month and a half ago, and he was expected back in about a week.

Dorsal, Enning, 9^th January 1602

Sack then moved on to Enning, wishing to check Thevian Tyrkor's reaction to his news, but discovered that he also was out, and due back in a week or so. Sack began to wonder if there was some sort of Kin conspiracy brewing, but returned to his comrades to wait the week before trying again.

Vorsand, Tarlanor, 17^th January 1602

A week later, Sack presented himself once more at the doors of Vorsand, and was rapidly shown into the Dark Lord's presence.

When he explained himself (with the aid of slate and chalk), Skufruss looked concerned. He acknowledged knowing the Scorpion - Sack had half-expected him to deny it and was watching for him to betray deceit if he did - and gave a brief definition of him. 

An older Kin than Skufruss himself, the Scorpion was a strange individual, even by Kin standards. His particular powers made him differerent, and had left him with a burning resentment and hatred for those more normal. Skufruss described him as a loner and a mad dog, whose motivations were never quite clear.

Sack, already worried by how dangerous Skufruss obviously thought the Scorpion was, asked for more information on the powers Skufruss had mentioned. The answer confirmed his suspicions.

"The Scorpion exists coterminously on all possible planes of existence," began Skufruss in his best instructional tones. Sack looked baffled, and Skufruss elaborated, "At the same time." The half-orc gestured for him to continue.

"He remains one person, one consciousness," continued Skufruss, "so I presume he must have a single point-of-view, a concentrated attention in one place at once. But he doesn't need to travel between the planes; for any given plane, if he wishes to visit it, he is already there - or not as he desires." Sack shook his head in concern. The ramifications were obvious; if he were attacked, the Scorpion would simply be somewhere else when the blows landed. Likewise with magical effects. This was clearly how the unfortunate elves had met their end, slain by an attacker who simply wasn't there.

With a heavy heart, he thanked the Lord of Dragons and moved on to Enning, where the Seer-Lord confirmed Skufruss' account, adding a recommendation not to tangle with this one of his brothers if they could help it.

He also passed on a message, for Sack personally, delivered there a few weeks ago, and signed by Thend the Shaman.

Sack returned to his comrades, to give them the news. Much thought was then given to the metaphysics of how to slay such a being. It occurred to Hildraft that a weapon of absolute Law or Chaos, such as Zero-One or Ancorir, could be used to effect, as these would respectively probably reach any Lawful or Chaotic plane he was hiding on - which was brilliant but useless as both weapons were unavailable.

Finally, they simply decided to sit it out in the open for another two weeks, until the rough date another kill would be expected, and see if they could tempt the Scorpion to an attack. Hansen had recently learned the Leomund's Hut spell, so the extended camp in the snowy wilderness was not too onerous.

Vorsand, Tarlanor, 31^st January 1602

On the last day of January, as he was returning from a hunt with a seriously perforated deer slung over his shoulder, Sack caught sight of Hansen approaching their campsite from the other direction.

All of a sudden, he saw a shimmer surround the Bard, and a group of shadowy figures appear near him. All but one were totally indistinct, like humanoid cutouts made of shadow-stuff, but the exception towered over them, overwhelming them with his presence.

Armoured in strange and elaborate armour, with pale grey skin and an eldritch mark or tattoo spread across his face, this surely had to be the Scorpion. His long, powerful arms were already reaching for Hansen, who strangely seemed unaware that any of these creatures were there at all, and was waving cheerily to Sack.

Without hesitating, Sack dropped his dinner and Teleported across the clearing to Hansen's side. Whipping the Bag of Holding from his hip, he ripped it open and jammed it down over Hansen's head, knocking the Scorpion's arms from him as he did so. In a trice, the bard had vanished, and only Sack remained, his outstretched arms holding the Bag between himself and the Scorpion.

The tall Kin reached forward, and to Sack's horror his hands plunged into the Bag through the side, seeking after his lost victim. Desperately, Sack Teleported again, leaping a couple of miles away to safety.

That night, Sack, without telling anyone where he was going, teleported away.