Ether Strider

This spider-like creature is woven from semi-solid, smoke-like strands, its wispy body loosely encased in a patchwork exoskeleton of armored crimson plates.

Ether Strider (CR 6) XP 2,400 N Huge construct Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0 --- AC 18, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +8 natural, –2 size) hp 73 (6d10+40) Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +1 Defensive Abilities ethereal jaunt; Immune amorphous, construct traits --- Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft. Melee bite +11 (2d8+10 and grab) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks ethereal ambush, web (+6 ranged, DC 13, 6 hp) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th) Constant (while on the Material Plane only)—blink --- Str 24, Dex 15, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 1 Base Atk +6; CMB +14 (+18 grapple); CMD 27 (39 vs. trip) --- Environment any Organization solitary, pair, or cluster (pair plus 1–6 phase spiders) Treasure none --- Ethereal Ambush (Ex) An ether strider that attacks foes on the Material Plane in a surprise round can take a full round of actions if it begins the combat by phasing into the Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane. Ethereal Jaunt (Su) An ether strider can shift from the Ethereal Plane to the Material Plane as a free action, and shift back again as a move action (or as part of a move action). The ability is otherwise identical to ethereal jaunt (CL 15th).

Ether striders are the war machines of the largest phase spider nests. Their bodies are woven from the same strands of ethereal webbing that phase spiders use when constructing their nests, and are fitted with plates of crimson chitin harvested from dead xill. Chitinous plating notwithstanding, ether striders are only tenuously solid. This is particularly true on the Material Plane, where an ether strider will blink in and out of existence, but even on the Ethereal Plane, the webwork body contained within its exoskeleton is slightly amorphous.

Ether striders occupy a curious place in phase spider culture. While often employed in raids and other frontal assaults, an ether strider's traditional purpose is the defense of the nest and the young that reside there. Phase spiders growing up in large nests often view ether striders as parents of a sort, and have strong familial feelings towards them. In some nests, this feaux ancestral relationship takes on religious overtones, with ether striders serving as animate idols. And even in nests where ether striders are not objects of worship, it is rumored that their creation involves profane pacts with any number of monstrous deities, and the phase spiders that create them frequently serve as clerics.