Hound of Law

In its true form the hound is a dimly glowing orb no brighter than a firefly, a kind of will o' wisp. By vibrating rapidly it makes buzzing sounds that let it speak a little. It can also take the shapes of ordinary animals to travel unnoticed; these look lean and strong but may be anything from sleek to filthy.

Keen senses grant +1 to its surprise rolls and a 50% chance to spot invisible creatures. At will it can turn invisible or slip into the Ethereal or Astral plane, and from either it can materialize to strike Prime Material creatures, who suffer -5 on surprise rolls.

It cannot attack in orb form, but in animal form it uses that animal's attacks, with better ratings than a normal beast; some forms can dive for +2 to hit, and some constrict for 1d8 per round after a first hit. It can change form once per round in a few seconds and still move and attack. Returning to orb form for 1d4 rounds restores 10-60% of damage taken in the previous form.

Of all spells, only magic missile, maze and protection from evil (good) affect it. It gains +1 to hit chaotic foes, while chaotic attackers suffer -1 to hit and -1 per damage die (minimum 1 per die).

Hounds of law exist only alongside the wind lords, appearing wherever those masters have interests. A lone hound is almost always on an errand, with at least one master close by.

The wind lords bred them deliberately. The few raised by the wandering wind lords share those masters' lawful good alignment.

A hound tracks by sight and scent using the tracking proficiency at a base score of 16, ignoring penalties based on vision such as darkness or concealed trails. If its quarry flies or teleports by magic, the hound can follow the leftover energy automatically on a tracking roll at -2, applying only trail-age modifiers; a failure loses the trail. If a teleport killed the quarry, trapped it in solid matter, or stranded it on another plane, a successful roll lets the hound sense the disaster without following. It can carry 250 extra pounds when following a teleport.