Dune Runner

Elven dune runners retain all aspects of their former profession. They retain the possessions carried at the time of their demise, and they have the same level of skill in their given profession. They retain the ability to cast spells and may use any psionic abilities possessed when they were alive (in addition to those gained as accursed dune runners). In undeath, they also gain deadly special abilities; hence, no two dune runners are exactly alike. As the runner approaches, any elf in the party has a chance to recognize the creature as being undead. Anyone, regardless of race, who is unfortunate enough to be near a dune runner must suffer the consequences. Any intelligent creature the runner passes may be be compelled via its psionic powers to accompany the runner on its trek that night. Victims will be unable to stop running and will lose quickly lose stamina. If not forcibly stopped and restrained, victims will continue to run until they will collapse and possibly die. Even surviving the run can still result in death later if the victim doesn’t rehydrate quickly. An elven victim that dies during the evening becomes a runner himself and forever joins the runner in its nightly quest. The slain becomes the dune runner’s eternal companion, following the runner quite possibly until the end of time.

Each dune runner is different. Each had its own lives, loves, goals, and desires. Night after night, they harangue and haunt travellers who cross their path. These haunted creatures have transcended physical limitations and run each night for the sheer pleasure of it. Their evil fixation is so consuming that they compel the living to join them in their crazed, headlong run into oblivion. Few individuals have ever run the entire night with a dune runner in order to find out what happens to them at dawn; the ones who live often refuse to speak of that night for the rest of their lives.

The dune runner is a bane to any caravan travelling across country. It has been reported that some small caravans have been found deserted along a known dune runner’s path. The traders are often found miles away, dead from exhaustion and dehydration. Larger, more experienced trading caravans will even delay their travel a half-day rather than cross or camp along a dune runner’s trail near dark. Some believe it is possible to fulfill the runner’s quest and grant it eternal rest, but no proof of this has ever been provided.