Mustahdir Al'arwah the Necromancer (DnD Story)
From D&D Wiki
Mustahdir Al'arwah sat in his wagon pulled by great Bactrian Camels as the sun finished setting. The Sargoss sea winds began to whip up across the great desert sands and a cold front was coming in, Hopefully a heavy storm from the sea might bring some life to this parched land.
As he meditated he focused his spirit to travel from his body and traverse across the desert sand in it's astral form. His spirit glided effortlessly across the night sands, illuminated by the full moon and he was searching for tracks, specifically the tracks of the pale hyenas which haunt the sands. thankfully he found their tracks and followed them for what felt like several hours but in real time was maybe no more than 30 minutes of deep meditation. That tracks in the sand led his soul past hidden springs of sweet water, the sun bleached skeletal carcasses of camels and ibix all the way towards a rocky canyon... there he found a deep cavern near the edge of the cliffs, strewn with boulders of colossal size, his soul could hear the loud jabbering and yaps of the hyenas.
He ventured his spirit deeper in the dark caverns, there he noticed in the red sand the remains of broken bones. as he ventured into the deeper darkness he could no longer see so the Necromancer conjured wisps of light that darted ahead of him into the darkness of the great cavern. Suddenly he came upon a massive cavern littered with bones, untold number of skeletal remains from thousands of years that this clan of hyenas have dwelled in the deep caverns under the earth. There was such a plentitude of skeletons that it was like the entire floor was paved with skeletons. These striped hyenas were different from their cousins of the savannahs, These creatures seemed more shy but also more sinister... some powerful dark energy was emanating from deeper in the caverns of pale hyenas. As Mustahdir moved deeper into the caverns he came upon a horrific sight, the striped pale hyenas where feasting on the carcass of a camel... they must have dragged it deep into the caverns... but some of the Hyenas where larger by far than the others... and when the orbs of light passed them by... these Hyenas suddenly stood up on their hind legs... their bodies where large like powerful men, yet still very bestial like their fellow pale Hyenas... these must be the Qori Ismaris... the dreaded were-hyenas of legends. Savage tricksters who pretend to be humans in need of assistance in the deep deserts who beg for water and food... only to transform upon foolish nomads and caravans and turn into giant savage hyenas or even hybrid hyena men and devour the innocent alive. These lycanthropic beasts where not just savage but also masters of illusions, transforming themselves or even projecting images and mirages to confuse caravans and nomads into their traps.
The Qori Ismaris stood erect and began to yelp and cackle in the speech of hyenas, they knew that enemy magic was afoot... suddnely the ears of the lesser hyenas also picked up and they began to cackle and yelp in anger.
