Had a PC death Wednesday night.
Though the spider PC died, the few rounds that he held the lieutenant back allowed a couple more arrows to hit, and a couple more spells to land. It was nearly a TPK wipe, but his sacrifice ended up saving the party, in all likelihood.
I regretfully announce another PC death this past Wednesday night. The party faced off with a huge demonic creature, standing nearly twenty-five feet tall. The fight took place in the presence of a powerful demon (with whom they had made a bet), and was fought ten feet or so from a 250 foot deep crevice leading into the hells.
In the first full round of combat, the demon slapped the sage PC with his club, killing him instantly and flinging his body into the crevice. The remaining warrior, summoner, necromancer, and witch (a friendly NPC) finished off the monster within one round, but it was a bittersweet victory.
The observing demon retreated back into the crevice (as per the rules of the bet), and has agreed to stop any more demons from coming through for one year. The sage may have died, but his bravery helped secure safety for the surrounding towns for the next year, and his comrades have promised to return in one year's time to close the crevice for good, in his memory.
However sad the death was, the sage was in his late fifties, and had lived a very full life. He was a storyteller, bard, magician, ladies man, scholar, librarian, and mischief maker. His brothers and sisters will miss him, but as he was the nephew to a warlord, they will want for nothing due to his passing.