"Don't worry, it's just the wind."

Ah...feels great to get back to homebrew. And to validate that wreck which was, what, the second thing I posted on this forum which someone necromancied back onto the front page?

No particular inspiration this time, just wanted something awesome.

[hr]
Wind on the Sand
Medium Outsider (Incorporeal)
HD 10d8+40 (85 HP)
Speed 50 ft. (10 squares)
Init: +14
AC 28; touch 28; flat-footed 18
(+10 Dex, +8 Deflection)
BAB +10; Grp -*
Attack Blade of Wind +20 (1d8/18-20) or Blade of Sand +20 (2d6+5/x3)
Full-Attack 8 Blades of Wind +16/+16/+16/+16/+11/+11/+11/+11 (1d8/18-20) or 4 Blades of Sand +18/+18/+13/+13 (2d6+5/x3)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Walk the Sands
Special Qualities (Wind) Darkvision 60 feet, Incorporeal Traits, Whirling Winds, Outsider traits
Special Qualities (Sand) Darkvision 60 feet, DR 5/adamantine and bludgeoning, Sandsquall Dance, Outsider traits
Saves Fort +11 Ref +17 Will +12
Abilities Str -*, Dex 30, Con 19, Int 17, Wis 21, Cha 26
Skills Perform (Dance) +24, Balance +25, Concentration +15, Escape Artist +23, Hide +23, Jump +15 or +20, Listen +18, Move Silently +23, Sleight of Hand +23, Spot +18, Tumble +25
Feats Weapon Finesse (B), Multiweapon Fighting*, Improved Multiweapon Fighting*, Skill Focus (Perform: Dance), Improved Initiative
Environment Windy deserts
Organization Single, Pair, Whistle (3-6, Squall Troupe (6-24)
Challenge Rating 8
Alignment Always Chaotic Neutral

The wind twirls the sand around you, and you feel like you can almost see a shape in the floating sand. A figure, crouched like a dancer, with long streams of sand stretching from where the arms would be. As it twists in the air you can't tell for a moment whether there are two or four streams, steams which seem somehow in the wind and sand to be edged like a blade.

*Walk the Sands (Su): Wind on the Sand exists in two states. It's standard state is one of a ghostly wind traveling over the surface of the desert, with swirls of sand interspersed with the streams of dust which cling to its incorporeal shape. While in this wind form, the Wind on the Sand is incorporeal and makes attacks with a set of four wind blades.

However, when it wants to enter the realm of the physical, the Wind on the Sand can pull sand to itself and manifest into a lithe sturdy humanoid form with a smooth sand surface. When in this form, the Wind on the Sand gains a +12 Natural armor bonus in place of the +8 Deflection bonus which it loses along with the incorporeal subtype, giving it a normal AC of 32, Touch 20, Flat-footed 22. It gains the feats Two-Weapon Fighting and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting in place of Multiweapon Fighting and Improved Multiweapon fighting. It gains a Strength score of 20, giving it a grapple bonus of +15. When in this form, the Wind on the Sand attacks with two larger sand blades.

Whirling Winds (Ex): When in its Wind form, there is little visible presence to the Wind on the Sand, merely the twisting shapes of sand in the wind lining its body. Because of the sand kicked into the air by its wind, when in Wind form, the Wind on the Sand always has full concealment.

Sandsquall Dance (Ex): When in its Sand form, the Wind on the Sand is capable of using its physical momentum to enter a wild streaming dance, picking up and dropping sand constantly as it moves and fights. Entering this dance requires the creature to succeed on a DC 30 Perform (Dance) check as a full-round action. Once begun, it requires only a DC 20 Perform (Dance) check as a free action every round to sustain. While under the effects of Sandsquall Dance, the Wind on the Sand acts as if under the effects of a haste spell, and has concealment.

It is said that the first Winds of the Sands were Githyanki refugees fleeing the worlds spanning illithid empire during it's decline. Hunted across a dozen planes by their former masters a band of the outsiders found themselves trapped in an endless desert between the elemental planes of earth and air. Proud and determined they trudged through the barren landscape until thirst and exhaustion claimed them one after another. When the last one finally succumbed to the sands the elemental lords of that bleak realm, impressed by their determination, fused their spirits with the plane itself, granting new life.

Interesting possibility for the backstory, although a bit too specific for a lot of settings and uses. Fun though, I'm always a fan of the Githyanki.

Supposedly the souls of nomads lost to magical accidents all across the worlds, Winds of the Sands are a strange sort of afterlife for such petitioners; despite their deaths, they continue to wander on, divested of all but the sand that once clung to their shoes and the iron will that continues on into forever.