[D&D 5e 2024] Heroes of the Borderlands

[Lazybones]

Chapter 16

“No, wait!” Leana cried, but her calls went unanswered as both sides reacted to Vinx’s unexpected attack. The sling stone seemed to be flying straight toward a point between the goblin boss’s eyes, but at the last instant one of the warriors stepped in front of her, his shield raised. The missile bounced off it with a heavy thunk.

The other goblins spread out to face the intruders, dodging and darting as they came. Greghan drew his sword and stepped forward to protect Leana, who was still trying to defuse the situation. Neither side seemed eager to leap into melee, so for the first few moments they just faced each other across fifteen feet of open space, waiting for the other to make the first move.

That changed a moment later as Vinx launched a second missile, this time right at the goblin protecting the boss. The stone conked the warrior solidly on the head, and he stumbled back, his shield dropping to his side. That left and opening for Ravani, who fired an arrow into his chest. The goblin let out a soft sigh and collapsed to the floor.

The goblin boss shrieked, and produced her own bow. She started to aim at the elf, but saw Folgar’s hands start to glow as he pointed at her. She released her shot just as the wizard launched a spray of magic missiles. The arcane darts struck her in the hip, chest, and shoulder, and she shrieked in pain as she sprang behind the cover of the throne. In turn, her arrow stabbed deep into Folgar’s arm. He grimaced and fell back to the shelter of the doorway. The boss launched a second arrow a moment later, but it shot past all of them without hitting anyone.

“Kill them!” the goblin yelled. “Kill them all!”

Her remaining warriors obeyed. Two spread out to flank Greghan, but his long arms and longer weapon gave him the initial advantage. He swung hard at the first one; it wasn’t the most elegant stroke, but as the heavy blade struck the side of the goblin’s head his skull literally came apart, spraying the wall with blood and brains and bits of bone. The other one yelled and slashed his sword across the back of the warrior’s legs. His coat of mail protected him from being completely hamstrung, but he cried out as the rough edge of the goblin’s sword bit deep long the back of his left thigh just above the knee. He stumbled forward, clutching the wound as he tried to remain upright.

The last goblin took a swing at Leana, but she ducked under the stroke. Clutching her mace in both hands, she smashed the weapon hard against his shoulder as he turned. The goblin cried out and staggered back a step, badly hurt.

As the battle in the center of the room devolved into a violent, close-quarters melee, Vinx dropped her sling and rushed forward. As she ran, she drew something out from behind her back. It was a small sword, its bare steel glimmering brilliantly as it caught the light of the torches. The dwarf muttered a curse as she made a beeline for the throne, and the waiting boss. The goblin saw her coming and drew her own sword. She raised the weapon to strike, but at the last instant Vinx ducked her head and threw herself forward. She rolled and came up as the goblin cursed; her sword had gotten embedded in the side of the throne. The dwarf smiled, then thrust. Her blade drove through the goblin woman’s side, the tip piercing the links of her mail shirt with ease. The two came close together as the dwarf pushed her back against the back of the throne.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” the dwarf said. The goblin spat in her face, so Vinx pulled her sword out, then drove it in a second time, hard enough that the tip held in the back of the throne.

The goblins howled as their commander perished, but they were in no position to go to her aid, not with the four adventurers in their faces. Folgar blasted the one that had cut Greghan with a ray of frost that splashed across his legs and back, leaving a crust of ice covering his coat and leggings. The goblin feinted at the warrior, just enough to cover his retreat as he limped for the nearest exit, a narrow opening in the wall next to the throne on the right. The one that Leana hit beat him to it, vanishing through the gap even as the goblin boss breathed her last and slumped down against the sword impaling her against the throne.

“They’re getting away!” Ravani yelled, sprinting after the fast-moving goblins. The one Folgar had iced had been somewhat slowed, but it still managed to duck through the exit before the elf could get off a shot. There was another door in the back of the room, easy to miss in the confusion, but thus far no threats had emerged from that sector.

“Wait!” Leana yelled as Ravani sprinted past her. She took a step after him, but hesitated. “Grimdark! Are you all right?”

Blood was still dripping over the warrior’s boot and onto the floor, but he nodded as he hastily bound a rag tightly around his injured leg. “I’m fine, I’ll be right behind you!” Leana looked back at Folgar, but the wizard had already removed the boss’s arrow, and he was doing much the same with some bandages from his healer’s kit. Seeing both of her wounded companions in decent shape—or at least not in immediate threat of dying—the priestess hurried after her reckless friend. Vinx, she saw, hadn’t joined the pursuit; she appeared to be trying to disassemble the throne, looking for something.

The gap in the wall led to another staircase that was similar to the first one, bending around a sharp corner as it descended. Ravani reached the first landing at the bend just in time to see one of the goblins rushing for a side passage that presumably led back to the exit, if his mental image of the place’s layout was accurate. The main corridor continued past that before disappearing around another turn to the left. The goblin was limping but was picking up speed as he shook off the ice crystals covering his stubby legs.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t outrun Ravani’s arrow.

The elf reached for another arrow, looking for the last goblin. He had been wounded as well, but given that he hadn’t been slowed down like the one Folgar had hit, he was probably well gone by now. But even as the thought passed through Ravani’s mind, he heard something; a soft clicking that was coming from somewhere ahead. He lifted his bow, ready to take a shot.

What he saw, however, was not what he’d expected.

A massive spider came around the far bend at the end of the passage. It was clinging to the ceiling, but that was in no way hindering its advance. The elf stared at it, and as his hands trembled he realized that he was still holding onto his bow; he’d forgotten about it in the sheer terror of the moment.

He lifted the bow, but before he could draw the string back the spider twitched, flicking its backside forward in a gesture that felt obscene. Ravani didn’t immediately realize what it had done until a thin, almost invisible filament drifted over his shoulder. He tried to duck away from it, but knew it was too late even as his arm was pinned against his side, and he was yanked violently off his feet, further entangling him in the strands of webbing. By the time he rolled to a stop at the top of the second flight of stairs, it was all he could do to twist his head enough to see the spider coming.

“Help!” he yelled, as the monstrous creature skittered forward along the ceiling.


Game Notes:

This fight was like the echo of the centipede fight; this time it felt like the characters couldn’t miss. Because of the way the Initiative rolls worked out, the goblin warriors (and several party members) technically went before Vinx in the order, but despite some tweaks to the narrative I kept the results as indicated by the dice (e.g., Vinx has two attacks with her sling, so I just described the first [a miss] as the one that kicked off the battle). The dwarf did get the kill on the boss, with two hits that combined for 15 damage. Way to steal the heroes’ thunder, NPC.

 

[Lazybones]

As I noted at the start of this story, I’ve been a long-time participant in National Novel Writing Month, which challenges writers to complete a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. Sadly, the nonprofit that organized this event and ran the website became defunct this year. But I’m going to continue the tradition and write the third book in my latest series set in the world of “Forgotten Lore” (see the story hour of that name in this forum for more details).

Because of this, for next week and all of November I’m going to trim back updates to this story to twice a week. I’ll post new chapters on Tuesdays and Fridays. Once we’re through to December, I’ll resume my focus on this story.


Chapter 17

Ravani screamed as a giant spider out of nightmare rushed toward him.

Leana came around the corner. Her eyes widened as she saw the monster, but she ran forward and tried to help Ravani up. She saw the spiderwebs binding him before she touched him, so she stepped in front of him and held up her holy symbol toward the spider.

“Back, foul thing!” she yelled.

A deep, sonorous tone filled the dungeon corridor, and the spider hesitated for a moment, shaking its head back and forth as if to clear away the sound.

Greghan appeared a moment later, his greatsword clutched in one hand. On seeing the spider his face drained of color, and for a moment it looked like he might turn around and head back the way he had come. But he grabbed onto the sword with both hands, and raised the weapon.

“The web!” Ravani yelled. “Cut the web!”

The warrior complied, swiping down at the strands covering the elf’s body. Ravani let out an involuntary shriek as the edge of the blade came close enough to slide of his leather armor, but the densest part of the webs parted, and he was free. Greghan grabbed his shoulder and yanked the elf to his feet, thrusting him behind him. “Look out!” Ravani cried as he thumped against the wall.

The warrior turned just in time to see the spider leap off the ceiling, coming right toward him. It was sheer luck that saved him, the sword coming up as he recoiled and nearly stumbled on the edge of the topmost step. The blade got caught between him and the spider’s darting fangs, which snapped viciously scant inches from his face. A tiny bit of spatter from those dagger-like teeth hit his cheek, where it burned like fire. Someone was screaming, and the part of his mind that was still capable of clear thought was surprised to find that it was him.

The spider shuddered, and the warrior thought it was about to break free and drive those deadly, envenomed blades through him. It did pull back, but instead of attacking him again it spun on Leana, who’d come up behind the thing while it was attacking him. She had her mace clutched in both hands, and something churned in him when he realized the shudder had been a hit, that she’d damaged the spider and drawn it off him.

That feeling turned to a white-hot, blinding rage when the spider pivoted, moving far faster than any of them could have managed, and lunged at her. She let out a yelp and ducked under its body, her small size giving her a brief but fleeting advantage. The spider raised itself up on all eight legs, removing any possible cover.

Grimdark roared in challenge as he leapt forward off the stairs. The spider turned toward him, but he now knew how fast it was, and as its head spun around he brought his sword down in a violent arc, the fully power of his body and the descending weight of his body behind the swing. The blade clove into its head, shattering its skull and almost tearing it from its body. The spider jerked and smashed into the far wall of the passage, knocking Leana down as it spun and gyrated for a few more paces before finally falling still.

“Are you… all right?” the warrior gasped, as Leana pushed herself up.

“Yes… did it get you? The poison?”

“No…” He looked down at his hands, which were shaking violently.

“Gods above and below,” came a voice. The warrior turned to see Folgar standing there, his hands wreathed in the pale cold glow of his magic. Ravani was next to him, and as Greghan went to help Leana the elf turned against the wall and vomited.

* * *​

Vinx allowed herself a soft sigh of relief as she saw the gleam of natural sunlight ahead. She wanted to rush ahead into that warm glow, but she kept her wits about her, carefully checking each of the side passages before making her way forward. The bundle of the family tapestry was a reassuring weight across her back, and the odd clockwork amulet she’d found in the goblin throne was a nice bonus.

She’d felt a brief twinge on leaving her new companions behind, especially when the sounds of them fighting something big and gods-awful had come from that narrow opening in the wall, but that was not her concern. She’d learned the hard way that you had to look out for yourself in this world, since nobody else would.

She passed the side-tunnel where she’d been tied up—those bastards had paid for that, by the Forgekeeper’s beard!—and after checking to make sure the exit was clear, made her way forward toward the light.

“Leaving so soon?”

Vinx turned reflexively toward the sound. The elf had been hiding around the sharp edge of the corridor that protected the guard station across from the entrance; he must have been waiting there. A moment later, Leana and Folgar appeared out of the other passage. The dwarf considered a moment; no doubt the warrior was waiting just outside. If he’d been killed, the others would be rather more upset than they looked.

Not that they didn’t look upset now.

She turned, keeping both hands clear of the hilt of the sword jutting through her belt. “This is all a big misunderstanding,” she said.

“Which part?” Leana asked. “The part where we rescued you, the part where you started a possibly unnecessary fight, or the part where you abandoned us in the middle of the fight?”

“Those goblins would have betrayed any deal you might have made,” Vinx said. “They’re thieves, I told you.”

“Well, we know they like cake,” Folgar said.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Leana asked.

“My family tapestry?” Vinx asked. “Yes, I’ve got it right here. I can show it to you, if you like.” She started to reach for one of the straps holding the bundle, but she stopped immediately when Folgar raised his hand slightly, the glow surrounding it clearly visible.

“Maybe later,” Leana said.

“That sword,” Ravani said. “You hid it in the barrel, didn’t you? I can’t believe I didn’t notice that move.”

“Well, you were keeping watch in the other direction,” Folgar said. “We’re not as suspicious as you are.”

“Maybe you should be,” Ravani said. “It’s magical, isn’t it?”

Vinx didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Then give it to us for our trouble, and you can be on your way,” Ravani said.

“This sword is…”

“A precious family heirloom, yes, yes,” Leana said. “Normally I would be more conciliatory, but I’m afraid I have to side with my elven companion right now. But for a bit of luck and a lot of bravery, one or more of us could be dead right now, and I can’t help but see how you are mostly responsible for that.”

Vinx’s eyes flicked back and forth again, calculating. Ravani made no attempt to hide his own reach for his sword; he grasped onto the hilt and shifted his weight slightly, like a coiled spring. And a shadow shifted in the entry, confirming her earlier suspicion.

“Fair enough,” she finally said. She drew the sword out from her belt and tossed it onto the ground between them. It made a sharp metallic clatter on the stone. None of the three made any move toward it.

“Nice knowing you,” Ravani said, nodding toward the exit. “And in case you’re thinking of coming after us, maybe pilfering that back, I wouldn’t. We see you again, we won’t be as friendly.”

“Understood,” the dwarf said. She looked at each of them again, as if fixing the details of their faces in her memory, and then she left.

Ravani waited until she was completely gone and Greghan had come into the cave before he scooped up the sword. “Anyone else mind if I keep this?” the elf asked.

“Not like either of us can use it,” Folgar said for him and Leana. The elf looked to the warrior, who shrugged. “Bit small,” he said.

The elf smirked as he tucked the sword through his belt. “You think she’ll make a play?” he asked Leana.

“If she does, we’ll be ready for it,” she said. “Are you two all right?” she asked, looking at Folgar and Greghan. “How’s your leg?” she asked the warrior.

“It’s okay,” he said. “The cut wasn’t too deep. I can make it back to the Keep.”

Leana nodded and let out a sigh. “I could use a break, and I should really take a look at those wounds you two took, but we need to get back before nightfall. Ravani, are you up to taking the lead?”

The elf nodded. “I don’t plan on letting my guard down until I’m in my room back at the Keep.” After taking a moment to make sure he could quickly draw his new sword, he led them out of the cave and into the waning afternoon sunshine.


Game Notes:

The spider must have borrowed Grimdark’s dice; it rolled a natural 1 and a 3 on its two attacks. Leana and the fighter split the damage against it, doing 13 each to just barely kill it. Still a dramatic fight, since it could have killed any of them outright with a single hit. The 5e2024 version of the giant spider is a lot scarier against low-level foes, since it removes both the saving throw against the poison and the effect that causes foes reduced to 0 hp to just be paralyzed. Given that the thing can do up to 23 points of damage with a single hit (even the average damage is 14!), it’s an absolute terror against a first-level party. With a crit, it could easily kill a second- or even third-level character. The adventure has a wilderness encounter that features two of these guys (along with a 50% chance for each character starting in an already-webbed area), but hopefully most DMs running this adventure will save that encounter until their parties have leveled up.

Just a note on leveling: per the instructions in the Caves of Chaos book, I raised the party to second level after completing (i.e., fully exploring) the second cave. It’s not how I handle leveling in my home games; usually I require at least a Long Rest if not some extra down time to develop their new skills. However, in this instance, letting the heroes level immediately will be quite helpful…

Vinx’s weapon is the +1 shortsword from the Magic Items deck.