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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 3801829" data-attributes="member: 11760">The cavern is at least 20 feet wide, and extends to the southwest another 40 feet or so. The air is damp and the group can hear the constant patter of dripping water. The uneven floor slopes gently to the south, covered by several large stalagmites, rotting timbers and rubble.As the party approaches the stalagmite, Kat runs his finger across it and licks it. With room to swing a dead gnome, as he thinks it's said, Ragglus puts away his dagger and draws his longsword.Kat bends down to examine the debris for clues as to what it may have been originally, and how they may have ended up in the cave in the first place.Tock darts his eyes around, bow drawn and ready.As Ragglus enters, rubble sliding under his feet, forcing him to move carefully, the light is shined more fully into the room and he sees that some of the timbers are, in fact, desiccated small animals wrapped in some sort of pale fabric.By the magical torchlight, the group can see something that appears to be made out of silver reflecting between several of the stalagmites.He looks up to the group and holds his hand out, palm down. He extends his fingers and bends them down, wiggling them menacingly. He then brings his hand up to his face and pushes two fingers down into a phantom object, making sucking sounds.When he looks up from his pantomime, Ragulus is staring at him, Renraw's eyebrow is raised, and Tock is simply shaking his head and sighing."Um," Kat says quietly. "Spider. Big. Maybe.""My mother would have been deathly afraid of giant spiders," Renraw whispers, pointing the light in the direction Kat scans. "And I imagine they don't much appreciate having their legs plucked off one by one. But more importantly ..."His voice trails off and he slowly, carefully, walks toward the glinting silver, taking the light with him.Katadid tenses as he watches Renraw move hungrily toward the silver."But, it's BAIT," he hisses. He looks up toward Ragglus and back toward Tock helplessly.Renraw halts in his tracks, profound disappointment washing over his face."Of course it's bait!" he snaps. "You think I'm not aware of that? I-I'm being self-sacrificing! You know how I can be!"Fairly certain Renraw has never previously used the words "self" and "sacrificing" together in a sentence to describe himself, Ragglus decides to trail the wizard into the cave. He keeps more than a few steps behind, not wishing to steal any of Renraw's newly acquired boldness.Renraw sees Ragglus moving forward and then quickly ducks behind him, urging him onward."I'm right behind you!""Keep your light up, at least," the fighter says with a sigh, his own giant shadow looming before them as Renraw cowers behind him. The wizard finally re-extends the staff overhead, and Ragglus continues forward to investigate the silver glint, shield at the ready.In the flickering light of the magical torch-staff, for a fraction of a second, it looks like the debris moving is just a trick of the light. But before Ragglus can have time to even consider this, the debris near the silver dagger is thrown back, revealing itself to be the top of a crude trapdoor.A furry gray spider the size of a table at The Cat & The Fiddle bursts out, leaping at him with a screaming hiss.The beast slams against Ragglus' shield, its fangs making two thick gouges in the wood, but cannot reach his face and it drops back, tensing for another spring.Renraw leaps back into Kat as the spider attacks. As Renraw spins around, he sees Tock unsheathing his bow to aim for a shot past the crowd, and he saw Katadid looking at Renraw, shaking his head ruefully. Spinning back around and hopping to the side like a crazed marionette, Renraw quickly holds his staff out in front of him, preparing to strike if necessary.Ragglus maneuvers sideways so as to give Tock and the wizards a profile view of himself and the spider. With a grunt, he swings at the enormous spider, but it twitches down, beneath the blade, springing back up as the longsword sweeps past it in a long arc.The beast squeals in surprise as Kat fires a sling stone that bounces off one of the creature's black eyes.Renraw steps forward, swinging his staff at the spider with a grunt, but meets empty air just as Ragglus had: The beast has already recovered from its shock at being struck by the sling stone.At the back of the room, an arrow snaps against stone in the darkness, having flown wide from Tock's bow.With a squeal of rage and hunger, the spider leaps forward, plunging its two thick fangs into Ragglus' shoulder, the twin sacs at the base of its fangs pumping furiously, flooding his body with the beast's poison.Renraw squeaks as he suddenly realizes that he's in the middle of close combat with a giant spider and withdraws, keeping his eyes glued on the arachnid for any sudden movements."Well then," Kat mutters, watching Ragglus struggle under the creature. He sets down his sling and reaches into his pocket to pull out a small pouch. Opening the pouch, he pours sand into his palm and rubs his hands together muttering an incantation.The spider slows for a moment, but then, with a motion like it's tearing through a web, it keeps coming, leaping on Ragglus once more. But this time its fangs fail to penetrate his armor, and it slips back, hissing in rage.Sparing a glance over to Kat, Ragglus can't help but notice that the wizard is no longer casting, leaving him to deduce that whatever spell he was preparing to use, it either failed or he gave up.Tock's arrow goes wide, bouncing off the stone floor and then splashing somewhere in the darkness beyond the glow of the magical torchlight.The poison continues to pump through Ragglus' system, but it no longer weakens him; adrenaline seems to burn the rest of it from his body. But his sword thrust at the beast is easily dodged by the spider, leaving everyone in a standoff."Its legs! Pull the legs out!" Renraw shouts helpfully.Ragglus leaps forward, stabbing with his sword, the spider pulling back and avoiding the blade. The arrow flying from Tock's bow flies past as well. But the spider is hit by a small whirling sling stone once more with a wet sound.The spider leaps on Ragglus again, but it cannot get its fangs through his armor quite so well, and he shrugs off the venom injected into the wound.As Katadid places another stone into his sling, he finds himself soothed by the repetition of it all. Stone. Spin. Throw. Stone. Spin. Throw. A beatific smile crosses his face and the meaning of the events drop away before him, and he sees them only as tableau.The spider pounces onto Ragglus, its fangs biting deeply, but it doesn't pump enough venom into his veins to have any effect for the moment.He shoves it off with his shield, but reeling in pain, his sword doesn't even scratch the beast.Katadid's sling stone pings off the rock ceiling, plopping into unseen water on the ricochet. But a moment later, Tock's arrow thuds into the beast's body, and it squeals in pain."Chaplain!" Renraw screams. "Gods damn it! Making me waste my magics on this ..."The wizard pulls out his own handful of dust, raises it in the air, lowers his head, and then lets the dust fall through his fingers, all muttering softly. "AND NOW, WRETCHED VARMINT: SOMNOLENCE!"Before it can attack again, the spider slumps to the ground, unconscious, sand trickling down its head.Renraw angrily tromps over to the prone arachnid and smashes it it with his staff.The quarterstaff sinks into the spider's head, going all the way through to the stone cave floor below. A yellow goo leaks out of the spider's head and a tremor ripples through its body. Then it lays still, dead.</blockquote>

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