Bother Around Beregost

[Wilphe]

The spider lunges at Korik again, grabbing hold of his arm and tearing it in it's mandibles, Korik tears himself free but a deep jagged wound has opened his right bicep almost to the bone. Venom seeps in through his mangled flesh and he begins to go dizzy.

Executing a practiced tactic he and Grim have polished through dozens of skirmishes the two companions step sideways and seek to bring down their opponent from opposite sides. Grim grabs hold of a leg and pulls it clean off whilst Korik's sickle neatly cleaves another legs off where it joins the body and is it writhes in pain his hammer neatly comes down and crushes the exoskelaton over it's brain - killing it outright.

It still reflexively twitches in an unpleasent and unatural looking way but it is effectively dead. Korik is not in much better shape either, greviously wounded and still giddy from the effects of the venom.

As he rests and catches his breath he can hear faint, muffled sounds come from behind the bushes the spider came from.

[sblock]
Rolls:
http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?u=Wilphe&limit=on
http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?u=Korik&limit=on

Spider -9/22
Korik 11/39 + 7 points STR
Grim 14

[/sblock]

 

[industrygothica]

If Korik still has the presence of mind after suffering the effects of the spider's venom, he'll make use of his healing wand to bring him back up to manageable condition. Afterwards, he'll attempt to find a little cover or some higher ground to gain an advantage should the battle continue.

When he gets settled, he'll take hisonly vial of antitoxin. Hopefully it's not too late.

 

[Wilphe]

As he drops back out of sight into the bushes Korik's trembling hands unstopper the vial of anti-toxin and gulps it down, while it does nothing to stop the debiliating effects he has already suffered - it does prevent any further damage. Without it he'd probably soon have been unable to walk. Feeling slightly better the ranger pulls out the wand Thalantyr gave him and feels the healing rush of positive energy flow over him as he pumps four charges into his aching body.

There doesn't seem to be any sign of any further combat, the spider appears to have been alone. The sounds from the bushes it sprang from sound like muffled moans and groans, humanoid in some way but not any language Korik can make out.

[sblock]
Heals 25 points of damage with 4 wand charges
now at 36/39 hit points and 7 points of STR drain

PS:
I've just noticed that that his Armour and Bracers shouldn't stack, so if you want to swap the bracers out for something else (Potion of Restoration?) feel free to do so

For my own reference only
[sblock]530 XP
98sp
MW Heavy Steel Shield
[/sblock][/sblock]

 

[industrygothica]

[sblock]You actually told me about the bracers a long time ago, I just forgot to modify the sheet. Sorry about that, but I took them off. I didn't bother adding the potion of resoration (thank's for that, btw), because he's getting ready to drink it straight away anyway.[/sblock]

Weak, Korik reaches in his pack and pulls out the vial he'd hoped never to have to take. With a grimace he turns up his nose and swallows in a huge gulp, trying not to taste it.

When he feels his strength returning, he will go and investigate the sounds from the bushes.

 

[Wilphe]

Korik manages to get the potion right down his throat, missing his taste buds entirely. Almost instantly he feels the the lingering effects of the poison disipate and the full power of this mightly thews return. As an added benefit the ache in his feet and legs from the days travel also vanishes, leaving him feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Advancing through the bushes he finds the spiders lair, a small hollow where it could crouch out of the rain. Littered around and the bones and debris of previous prey animals, mostly deer and the ilk, though it appears to have taken humanoid prey as well. There's the scattered crude spears of a few tasloi, as well as a well made and untarnished large steel shield that the thing had pushed to one side. There's also the telltale sight of tarnished silver spilling out from a decayed and fraying pouch.

All of this however, is of much less immediate importantance than the wrapped silk parcel nearly six feet long which is stuck to the side of the hollow. It appears to be roughly humanoid in shape, and the groan is coming from it as whatever is inside thrashes weakly against the cocoon that surronds it.

 

[industrygothica]

"Stand guard, old boy," Korik says to Grim as he rushes to the struggling shape in the web. Using his sickle he gently slices the webbing open to reveal the moaning creature inside. If he can tell which end is up, he'll only cut away the area around the head, leaving the rest of the body bound until he's sure what it is.

 

[Wilphe]

Korik reckons that the head is where the the most noise is coming from, which means that the spider secured this particular individual upside down. The silk cuts fairly easily, and as it peels away from the creature's head it takes a fair ammount of rotting skin and flesh with it and the stench of death and decay is heavy in the air.

At the proximity of Korik's warm flesh the zombie struggles and moans even more, but is totally unable to get free.

 

[Wilphe]

Ivellious: the weather is warm and while it might rain later on there's no immediate prospect of that happening. If it wasn't for the the fleeing wildlife, the deep sense of unease and the mysterious mists emmenating from points west and north of the stone circle he'd been based at.
Fortunatly, the druid circle isn't large, and those that do come to it tend to respect each other's privacy. Having Elspeth, one of the circles lesser members, come to you in the morning and tell you that there were reports of zombies out to the south and that Thalantyr's scout was supposed to be coming that way pretty solved the "What shall I do today?" question. Hence the young elf is out on the trail, heading south looking for zombies and an ally.

 

[industrygothica]

Korik take sa step back at the sight of the zombie. "Not really what I was expecting," he says to Grim. Repulsed at the sight, he draws back his hammer and puts the thing out of its (and Korik's) misery.

Korik will take up a few spears if he has the room, just in case. He'd like to take the shield, but he knows it will only weigh him down. He will take the tarnished silver coins, however.

When he's sure the zombie is truly dead, he'll cut open the rest of the caccoon to see if it had anything useful. It obviously won't be needing it anymore.

When he's finished pillaging, Korik will continue on course hoping to reach the Stone Circle sooner rather than later.

 

[Wilphe]

Korik smashes the zombie to pieces, thereby ending it's unlife. Cutting it out of the cocoon is an unpleasent job that reveals the zombie to have nothing of worth or interest, except a lot of puncture marks where the spider was clearly trying to pump enough venom into it to kill it.

The spears are crude, but functional and would probably be best suited as thrown weapons as they might well break and splinter in melee. Much like the race that made them, they are more suited for a quick strike than a protracted fight. The coins come to a tidy sum, maybe a hundred or so*

This being done, Korik heads off north seeking his next destination by nightfall and aware that other zombie may still be about.

OOC:
* 98 actually