Broccli_Head
Explorer
Nice Skirmish!
Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
- Thread starter Lazybones
- Start date
Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 74
“That little bugger’s dangerous... we can’t give him a chance to recover,” Arun said, as he pounded down the hall, the top of his body vanishing as he passed through the globe of darkness.
They found Mole just around the bend in the corridor, leaning against the corridor wall with her crossbow loaded and ready. “He went into that second door on the left, there,” she said. “He didn’t see me, I don’t think. Did you see the way he was walking on the ceiling? That would be useful, I bet. I wonder if it’s a spell that does that, or if he has some sort of magical item that grants the power?”
“He’s very skilled—and dangerous,” Zenna said. “Those spells he fired off aren’t simple enchantments.”
“That’s not all,” Dannel pointed out. “One of those rogues got away, and it’s likely we’re going to be getting some more company right quick.”
“I hope you’re not suggesting we withdraw,” Arun said.
“Not at all, dwarf. But we’d best be expecting a bit more trouble... perhaps more than we can handle.”
“Maybe we should get moving, then?” Illewyn suggested.
Warily the companions headed down the corridor, past the door to the guardroom that they’d come through earlier. They reached the door that Mole had indicated, and after a quick look to ensure that all of them were ready, Arun drew it open.
They were immediately greeted by a rather unnerving sight; the room beyond the door was completely filled with spiderwebs. And these were not simple strands that one would expect to find in a long-neglected storeroom; the webs formed a blanket over the floor and ran up well along the walls, fashioned of strands that were closer to cables than thin strings. On the far side of the chamber they could see a natural-looking tunnel that extended further ahead, likewise choked with webs.
“You’re sure he went this way?” Zenna asked.
“Positive,” Mole returned.
“Well then, friends,” Dannel said. “Do we go in after him?” He probed the floor ahead tentatively with his boot. “It’s not sticky, a bit awkward, but I bet we could manage it.”
“Are you crazy?” Illewyn asked. “Do you know what lives in spiderwebs like these?”
“Of course,” Dannel replied. “I’m not saying it’s not a trap. But if that little halfling went in here, then there must be more to it than just a nest of giant spiders. Remember, we’re looking for some stolen items in here, in addition to this cult.”
“Maybe we can just burn ‘em out?” Mole suggested.
“I’m not sure if these webs will burn,” Dannel replied. “And if they do, we’re likely to destroy anything of value beyond... including, perhaps, those wands that we need to find.”
“Bah, all of this talking is a waste of time,” Arun said. He strode boldly into the room, the webs quivering madly as he progressed. He came to a halt about five paces in, shaking his foot with a look of disgust on his face.
“There’s a few sticky spots in here,” he cautioned.
“Best let me go ahead, and probe for a workable path,” Dannel suggested.
And with that, the companions moved ahead into yet another unknown danger.
Illewyn’s divinely-conjured light began to fade, so she paused to refresh the spell. As she was once again in the rear of the small company, long shadows darted ahead of the rest of the companions as they moved deeper into the webbed cavern. Dannel, probing ahead carefully with the heel of his bow, identified several other places where the webs were still possessed of their adhesive property, allowing them to avoid getting entangled further.
They passed a side corridor that broke off to the left, running back in the direction they had come. That passage was likewise choked with webbing, falling in strands that formed curtains of sorts across their field of vision. But they could see that a larger chamber opened up just ahead, so they pressed on in that direction.
The chamber was clearly of considerable size, although the presence of the interminable webbing made it seem smaller than it was. Illewyn’s light revealed another exit on the far side of the room to their left, but before they could explore further, skittering noises from within the dense networks of webs indicated that they were not alone.
Dannel spun, drew, and fired in a single fluid motion. His arrow struck a bulbous, huge spider hovering over the entrance of the room, its segmented body easily five feet across. It let out a mad scree as the arrow sank into its body, and it leapt from its perch to land in the webs adjacent to Arun. That proved to be an ill choice of destination, as the dwarf’s hammer landed solidly in the center of the spider’s head a moment later, crushing it instantly.
But their victory was short-lived, as Illewyn held up the light, revealing nearly a half-dozen other shapes moving closer through the webs.
“That little bugger’s dangerous... we can’t give him a chance to recover,” Arun said, as he pounded down the hall, the top of his body vanishing as he passed through the globe of darkness.
They found Mole just around the bend in the corridor, leaning against the corridor wall with her crossbow loaded and ready. “He went into that second door on the left, there,” she said. “He didn’t see me, I don’t think. Did you see the way he was walking on the ceiling? That would be useful, I bet. I wonder if it’s a spell that does that, or if he has some sort of magical item that grants the power?”
“He’s very skilled—and dangerous,” Zenna said. “Those spells he fired off aren’t simple enchantments.”
“That’s not all,” Dannel pointed out. “One of those rogues got away, and it’s likely we’re going to be getting some more company right quick.”
“I hope you’re not suggesting we withdraw,” Arun said.
“Not at all, dwarf. But we’d best be expecting a bit more trouble... perhaps more than we can handle.”
“Maybe we should get moving, then?” Illewyn suggested.
Warily the companions headed down the corridor, past the door to the guardroom that they’d come through earlier. They reached the door that Mole had indicated, and after a quick look to ensure that all of them were ready, Arun drew it open.
They were immediately greeted by a rather unnerving sight; the room beyond the door was completely filled with spiderwebs. And these were not simple strands that one would expect to find in a long-neglected storeroom; the webs formed a blanket over the floor and ran up well along the walls, fashioned of strands that were closer to cables than thin strings. On the far side of the chamber they could see a natural-looking tunnel that extended further ahead, likewise choked with webs.
“You’re sure he went this way?” Zenna asked.
“Positive,” Mole returned.
“Well then, friends,” Dannel said. “Do we go in after him?” He probed the floor ahead tentatively with his boot. “It’s not sticky, a bit awkward, but I bet we could manage it.”
“Are you crazy?” Illewyn asked. “Do you know what lives in spiderwebs like these?”
“Of course,” Dannel replied. “I’m not saying it’s not a trap. But if that little halfling went in here, then there must be more to it than just a nest of giant spiders. Remember, we’re looking for some stolen items in here, in addition to this cult.”
“Maybe we can just burn ‘em out?” Mole suggested.
“I’m not sure if these webs will burn,” Dannel replied. “And if they do, we’re likely to destroy anything of value beyond... including, perhaps, those wands that we need to find.”
“Bah, all of this talking is a waste of time,” Arun said. He strode boldly into the room, the webs quivering madly as he progressed. He came to a halt about five paces in, shaking his foot with a look of disgust on his face.
“There’s a few sticky spots in here,” he cautioned.
“Best let me go ahead, and probe for a workable path,” Dannel suggested.
And with that, the companions moved ahead into yet another unknown danger.
Illewyn’s divinely-conjured light began to fade, so she paused to refresh the spell. As she was once again in the rear of the small company, long shadows darted ahead of the rest of the companions as they moved deeper into the webbed cavern. Dannel, probing ahead carefully with the heel of his bow, identified several other places where the webs were still possessed of their adhesive property, allowing them to avoid getting entangled further.
They passed a side corridor that broke off to the left, running back in the direction they had come. That passage was likewise choked with webbing, falling in strands that formed curtains of sorts across their field of vision. But they could see that a larger chamber opened up just ahead, so they pressed on in that direction.
The chamber was clearly of considerable size, although the presence of the interminable webbing made it seem smaller than it was. Illewyn’s light revealed another exit on the far side of the room to their left, but before they could explore further, skittering noises from within the dense networks of webs indicated that they were not alone.
Dannel spun, drew, and fired in a single fluid motion. His arrow struck a bulbous, huge spider hovering over the entrance of the room, its segmented body easily five feet across. It let out a mad scree as the arrow sank into its body, and it leapt from its perch to land in the webs adjacent to Arun. That proved to be an ill choice of destination, as the dwarf’s hammer landed solidly in the center of the spider’s head a moment later, crushing it instantly.
But their victory was short-lived, as Illewyn held up the light, revealing nearly a half-dozen other shapes moving closer through the webs.
Broccli_Head
Explorer
They should have burned the webs!
C'mon Dannel! Don't you know that Magic Items have good saving throws?
C'mon Dannel! Don't you know that Magic Items have good saving throws?
Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 75
Numerous additional spiders scuttled forward to the attack, including a pair of hulking monsters that were each easily the size of a good-sized horse. The companions prepared to meet the assault, but before the two forces could join in battle, Illewyn stepped forward boldly, holding up her holy symbol with its shining glow of magical light driving back the shadows. It also more fully revealed their charging foes, three more of the medium-sized spiders in addition to the two larger specimens that skittled forth without hindrance through their maze of webs.
“Illewyn, what are you doing!” Zenna shouted in warning, but the cleric, caught up in the divine song of her god, paid no heed. A soft sound came from the young woman, words of power that flowed through the room. The light flared and spread outward in a burst of soft blue that was gone so quickly that none of the other companions were quite sure it had existed at all. They could feel, however, the pulse of emotion that accompanied the cleric’s spell, as their fears eased and their anxiety softened, replaced by a feeling of contentment and security.
The feeling clearly affected the hostile spiders as well, as they abruptly stopped, shaking slightly as they stood in place, their eight legs trembling on the strands of webbing, the light reflecting in their bulbous eyes as their sharp fangs snapped at the air. It was as if Illewyn had frozen them in place, death held at bay through the channeled power of her patron.
“Um, so they’re not going to kill us?” Mole asked, looking out from behind the comfortable bulk of Arun, her crossbow loaded and ready in her hands.
“It would appear not,” Dannel said, his own bow ready with a long shaft held against the string. “How long will the effect last?” he queried.
For a moment Illewyn just stood there, her back to them, the concentration evident just in the way she held herself rigid. “A few moments, no more,” she said. “As long as I can maintain my concentration...”
“Bah, let ‘em come then,” Arun said, slapping the head of his hammer against the edge of his shield, letting out a ringing note of challenge. The spiders reared and hissed as the sound reverberated, but they remained rooted to their positions.
“Perhaps we can be a bit more... strategic,” Zenna suggested.
Dannel glanced at her and nodded. “If we retreat to the corridor, we can keep them all from coming at us at once.”
“Exactly my thought.”
“I have the alchemist’s fire,” Mole reminded them.
“No!” Zenna replied, a bit too loudly, perhaps. “No,” she repeated, “We don’t watch to get caught in our own conflagration...”
“Whatever you’re doing, do it quickly,” Illewyn said, the strain showing in her voice.
“All right,” Dannel said. “Let’s back it up then, slowly...”
They gave way, Arun holding his position until Illewyn had passed him, and then taking up a blocking position as they retreated back to the corridor. As they gave way Dannel started to hum a soft tune, a lilting melody that seemed oddly out of place in these circumstances, but which picked up until he added voice to the song. The words were in elvish, which none of them understood, but somehow the meaning of the song, offering reassurance in the face of mortal danger, made it through, easing them as the afterimage of Illewyn’s spell had done earlier.
“Bah, a good dwarven war-song is what we need here,” Arun growled. But he didn’t ask the elf to stop as he took up position at the mouth of the corridor.
“The big one on the right,” Zenna said, lifting her own crossbow. The others nodded, preparing their own weapons.
Illewyn sagged slightly, lowering the holy symbol as its light flickered slightly for a moment.
The spiders surged forward, at the same instant that the companions unleashed their fire.
Numerous additional spiders scuttled forward to the attack, including a pair of hulking monsters that were each easily the size of a good-sized horse. The companions prepared to meet the assault, but before the two forces could join in battle, Illewyn stepped forward boldly, holding up her holy symbol with its shining glow of magical light driving back the shadows. It also more fully revealed their charging foes, three more of the medium-sized spiders in addition to the two larger specimens that skittled forth without hindrance through their maze of webs.
“Illewyn, what are you doing!” Zenna shouted in warning, but the cleric, caught up in the divine song of her god, paid no heed. A soft sound came from the young woman, words of power that flowed through the room. The light flared and spread outward in a burst of soft blue that was gone so quickly that none of the other companions were quite sure it had existed at all. They could feel, however, the pulse of emotion that accompanied the cleric’s spell, as their fears eased and their anxiety softened, replaced by a feeling of contentment and security.
The feeling clearly affected the hostile spiders as well, as they abruptly stopped, shaking slightly as they stood in place, their eight legs trembling on the strands of webbing, the light reflecting in their bulbous eyes as their sharp fangs snapped at the air. It was as if Illewyn had frozen them in place, death held at bay through the channeled power of her patron.
“Um, so they’re not going to kill us?” Mole asked, looking out from behind the comfortable bulk of Arun, her crossbow loaded and ready in her hands.
“It would appear not,” Dannel said, his own bow ready with a long shaft held against the string. “How long will the effect last?” he queried.
For a moment Illewyn just stood there, her back to them, the concentration evident just in the way she held herself rigid. “A few moments, no more,” she said. “As long as I can maintain my concentration...”
“Bah, let ‘em come then,” Arun said, slapping the head of his hammer against the edge of his shield, letting out a ringing note of challenge. The spiders reared and hissed as the sound reverberated, but they remained rooted to their positions.
“Perhaps we can be a bit more... strategic,” Zenna suggested.
Dannel glanced at her and nodded. “If we retreat to the corridor, we can keep them all from coming at us at once.”
“Exactly my thought.”
“I have the alchemist’s fire,” Mole reminded them.
“No!” Zenna replied, a bit too loudly, perhaps. “No,” she repeated, “We don’t watch to get caught in our own conflagration...”
“Whatever you’re doing, do it quickly,” Illewyn said, the strain showing in her voice.
“All right,” Dannel said. “Let’s back it up then, slowly...”
They gave way, Arun holding his position until Illewyn had passed him, and then taking up a blocking position as they retreated back to the corridor. As they gave way Dannel started to hum a soft tune, a lilting melody that seemed oddly out of place in these circumstances, but which picked up until he added voice to the song. The words were in elvish, which none of them understood, but somehow the meaning of the song, offering reassurance in the face of mortal danger, made it through, easing them as the afterimage of Illewyn’s spell had done earlier.
“Bah, a good dwarven war-song is what we need here,” Arun growled. But he didn’t ask the elf to stop as he took up position at the mouth of the corridor.
“The big one on the right,” Zenna said, lifting her own crossbow. The others nodded, preparing their own weapons.
Illewyn sagged slightly, lowering the holy symbol as its light flickered slightly for a moment.
The spiders surged forward, at the same instant that the companions unleashed their fire.
Guillaume
Julie and I miss her
Just caught up recently on your story hour. I am currently running the Adventure Path in a PbP here on ENWorld. You can be sure that I will use this for inspiration. It is just too good to pass up ! 
I think that you have a very good grasp of pacing as you seem to intuitively know when to cut your messages so that the readers come back for more. Keep up the good writing !
I think that you have a very good grasp of pacing as you seem to intuitively know when to cut your messages so that the readers come back for more. Keep up the good writing !
Lazybones
Adventurer
Thanks, Guillaume! I appreciate the feedback.
* * * * *
Chapter 76
Zenna cursed as her shot went wide, the bolt striking a dangling strand of webbing that dislodged it enough to narrowly miss her target. The others, however, were more accurate, with Mole’s shot catching the spider in its fat body just to the right of its maw, while Dannel’s arrow sank deeply into a black eye. Arun hurled a light hammer, which smacked it in the body just above the row of remaining eyes. Still it came on, its jaws glistening with venom as it sought out the flesh of those who had harmed it. Behind it the other spiders charged on in its wake, just as eager.
Arun growled out a challenge as he hefted his warhammer and set his shield to meet their rush.
The spider charged into him with enough force to drive even the sturdy dwarf back a step, and there was a moment of doubt as the dwarf’s footing nearly gave out on the tangled map of webbing. But the paladin kept his stance, and the spider’s fangs snapped in vain against the hard front of his shield. With a roar Arun countered with a powerful underhanded sweep of his hammer that came up into the creature’s head from below. Stunned by the force of the impact, the spider wavered... but somehow, despite the grievous wounds it had suffered, yet stood.
“Blast you, die already, you blasted vermin!” the dwarf shouted, bringing the hammer up to try and finish it before the spider could recover to attack again.
The second large spider couldn’t fit into the tight confines of the corridor, with its brother engaged with Arun in the narrow space. The smaller spiders—small being a relative term, since each was the size of a wolf—spread out and crawled up the walls to slip in around their larger cousin. One even skittered up a dangling length of web to the ceiling, clinging to the threads like a tightrope walker immune to the tug of gravity as it slipped into the corridor from above.
Dannel met the first medium spider to dart into the corridor with an arrow that sank almost to the fletching in its hairy body. The spider twitched spasmodically but then sprang forward, narrowly missing the elf to land in the midst of the companions. Mole let out a reflexive shriek and dodged back, falling into a cluster of webs that thankfully weren’t sticky enough to hold her. Zenna, standing right before the spider, held her ground as the wounded creature turned to face her, and calmly fired her crossbow directly into its head. The spider shuddered, and collapsed.
Illewyn, who’d also been caught off guard, could only hold her mace limply, looking at Zenna with an amazed look on her face while the tiefling reached for another bolt and reloaded.
The large spider recovered just as Arun smashed into it with another blow that knocked it backward, flying end-over-end to land in a tumbled heap of legs and mashed innards. Before he could even reset, however, the second large spider darted in with uncanny speed, stabbing its fangs into the dwarf’s armored shoulder. Arun cried out as the spider’s powerful bite crunched through plate, digging into the flesh beneath and pumping liquid death into his veins.
But the dwarf was made of stern stuff, and he quickly shook free and bashed the spider in the head with his hammer, driving it back enough to give him room to work.
Dannel fired as quickly as he could fit arrows to his bowstring, unleashing shots that bit spider flesh more often than not despite his haste. He hit the spider crawling in across the ceiling with a shot that staggered it, and before it could recover followed with a second that hit with enough impact to send it flying, narrowly missing Arun even as he struggled against the remaining large specimen. Two more medium spiders came scrambling around the edges of the corridor, along the walls. Dannel drew and fired a shot that slammed into the first spider’s maw, through its body, and jutted out through its hindquarters, its momentum finally spent. The spider stiffened and dropped. The second twitched and leapt, forcing the elf to duck to narrowly avoid its leap. The spider landed right in front of Mole, who had pulled herself from the webs but thus far had been unable to get a clear shot at anything in the tight confines of the battle. She lifted her crossbow, but the spider lunged and bit at her before she could shoot, dragging a pair of gashes in her forearm with its fangs.
“Ow!” Mole yelled, darting back from the creature’s reach before it could snare her again.
Zenna fired at the spider, but her shot merely glanced off of its leathery body. It turned to face her, but Illewyn leapt into the gap to challenge it, catching it with a glancing blow from her mace. The spider, clearly not impressed by the strike, lunged at the priestess’s leg, but its fangs only caught the hem of her robe as she pulled abruptly back.
Mole, now brandishing her sword, leapt forward, her magical boots allowing her to spring up around the spider to flank it. The spider, still fixated on Illewyn, failed to react in time to save it as the gnome took advantage to slip her blade into a joint in the creature’s body, slaying it.
Arun, meanwhile, had just finished a titanic struggle with the second of the larger spiders, crushing it with a final blow of his hammer. He was clearly weakened, though, with a second wound in his weapon arm where the spider’s fangs had again penetrated through his protections. Even as the spider died, and the room grew quiet again, the dwarf sagged against the bewebbed wall, his hammer and shield leaden in his hands.
“Is everyone all right?” Zenna asked.
“Look out!” Dannel cried, reaching for another arrow. Before any of them could react, however, an object hurtled out of the darkness from the far exit. It was a net, fashioned of spiderwebs, that settled around the tired dwarf, pinning his arms and securing him against the wall. Arun struggled, but in his currently weakened condition could not break free.
The web-hurler was revealed a moment later as it moved forward into the room, shuffling into the edge of their light. It was a terrible thing, looking like nothing other than a cross between a spider and a man, walking upright while its bestial jaws clacked eagerly, shining with the telltale glisten that marked poison. Behind it, a second creature was visible.
“We’re not done here yet!” Dannel cried, drawing his bow and sighting down the length of the shaft.
* * * * *
Chapter 76
Zenna cursed as her shot went wide, the bolt striking a dangling strand of webbing that dislodged it enough to narrowly miss her target. The others, however, were more accurate, with Mole’s shot catching the spider in its fat body just to the right of its maw, while Dannel’s arrow sank deeply into a black eye. Arun hurled a light hammer, which smacked it in the body just above the row of remaining eyes. Still it came on, its jaws glistening with venom as it sought out the flesh of those who had harmed it. Behind it the other spiders charged on in its wake, just as eager.
Arun growled out a challenge as he hefted his warhammer and set his shield to meet their rush.
The spider charged into him with enough force to drive even the sturdy dwarf back a step, and there was a moment of doubt as the dwarf’s footing nearly gave out on the tangled map of webbing. But the paladin kept his stance, and the spider’s fangs snapped in vain against the hard front of his shield. With a roar Arun countered with a powerful underhanded sweep of his hammer that came up into the creature’s head from below. Stunned by the force of the impact, the spider wavered... but somehow, despite the grievous wounds it had suffered, yet stood.
“Blast you, die already, you blasted vermin!” the dwarf shouted, bringing the hammer up to try and finish it before the spider could recover to attack again.
The second large spider couldn’t fit into the tight confines of the corridor, with its brother engaged with Arun in the narrow space. The smaller spiders—small being a relative term, since each was the size of a wolf—spread out and crawled up the walls to slip in around their larger cousin. One even skittered up a dangling length of web to the ceiling, clinging to the threads like a tightrope walker immune to the tug of gravity as it slipped into the corridor from above.
Dannel met the first medium spider to dart into the corridor with an arrow that sank almost to the fletching in its hairy body. The spider twitched spasmodically but then sprang forward, narrowly missing the elf to land in the midst of the companions. Mole let out a reflexive shriek and dodged back, falling into a cluster of webs that thankfully weren’t sticky enough to hold her. Zenna, standing right before the spider, held her ground as the wounded creature turned to face her, and calmly fired her crossbow directly into its head. The spider shuddered, and collapsed.
Illewyn, who’d also been caught off guard, could only hold her mace limply, looking at Zenna with an amazed look on her face while the tiefling reached for another bolt and reloaded.
The large spider recovered just as Arun smashed into it with another blow that knocked it backward, flying end-over-end to land in a tumbled heap of legs and mashed innards. Before he could even reset, however, the second large spider darted in with uncanny speed, stabbing its fangs into the dwarf’s armored shoulder. Arun cried out as the spider’s powerful bite crunched through plate, digging into the flesh beneath and pumping liquid death into his veins.
But the dwarf was made of stern stuff, and he quickly shook free and bashed the spider in the head with his hammer, driving it back enough to give him room to work.
Dannel fired as quickly as he could fit arrows to his bowstring, unleashing shots that bit spider flesh more often than not despite his haste. He hit the spider crawling in across the ceiling with a shot that staggered it, and before it could recover followed with a second that hit with enough impact to send it flying, narrowly missing Arun even as he struggled against the remaining large specimen. Two more medium spiders came scrambling around the edges of the corridor, along the walls. Dannel drew and fired a shot that slammed into the first spider’s maw, through its body, and jutted out through its hindquarters, its momentum finally spent. The spider stiffened and dropped. The second twitched and leapt, forcing the elf to duck to narrowly avoid its leap. The spider landed right in front of Mole, who had pulled herself from the webs but thus far had been unable to get a clear shot at anything in the tight confines of the battle. She lifted her crossbow, but the spider lunged and bit at her before she could shoot, dragging a pair of gashes in her forearm with its fangs.
“Ow!” Mole yelled, darting back from the creature’s reach before it could snare her again.
Zenna fired at the spider, but her shot merely glanced off of its leathery body. It turned to face her, but Illewyn leapt into the gap to challenge it, catching it with a glancing blow from her mace. The spider, clearly not impressed by the strike, lunged at the priestess’s leg, but its fangs only caught the hem of her robe as she pulled abruptly back.
Mole, now brandishing her sword, leapt forward, her magical boots allowing her to spring up around the spider to flank it. The spider, still fixated on Illewyn, failed to react in time to save it as the gnome took advantage to slip her blade into a joint in the creature’s body, slaying it.
Arun, meanwhile, had just finished a titanic struggle with the second of the larger spiders, crushing it with a final blow of his hammer. He was clearly weakened, though, with a second wound in his weapon arm where the spider’s fangs had again penetrated through his protections. Even as the spider died, and the room grew quiet again, the dwarf sagged against the bewebbed wall, his hammer and shield leaden in his hands.
“Is everyone all right?” Zenna asked.
“Look out!” Dannel cried, reaching for another arrow. Before any of them could react, however, an object hurtled out of the darkness from the far exit. It was a net, fashioned of spiderwebs, that settled around the tired dwarf, pinning his arms and securing him against the wall. Arun struggled, but in his currently weakened condition could not break free.
The web-hurler was revealed a moment later as it moved forward into the room, shuffling into the edge of their light. It was a terrible thing, looking like nothing other than a cross between a spider and a man, walking upright while its bestial jaws clacked eagerly, shining with the telltale glisten that marked poison. Behind it, a second creature was visible.
“We’re not done here yet!” Dannel cried, drawing his bow and sighting down the length of the shaft.
questionmark
First Post
*bump
Great Story LB
Great Story LB
Lazybones
Adventurer
Thanks for the bump, and welcome to the story, QM.
* * * * *
Chapter 77
Dannel’s shot hit the spider-man, although the missile caught the creature in the fleshy part of its shoulder, rather than square in its heart as the elf had intended. The beast, along with its companion still within the darkness of the far corridor, elected however to withdraw rather than advance into the room to attack. Mole fired her crossbow after them, but it was doubtful that she hit anything through the screening webs and darkness.
Keeping an eye on the exit where the two creatures had vanished, the companions turned to help Arun free himself from the enfolding webbing. The dwarf sputtered and protested as they cut him free, cursing as he tugged persistent strands from his face and the cracks and crevices of his armor. This was one case where not having a beard was proving an advantage, Zenna thought.
Illewyn moved forward and laid hands upon the dwarf, calling upon the power of Helm to purge some of the lingering effects of the spider venom from the dwarf’s body. Zenna suspected that the paladin was still weakened somewhat, but she knew that Arun would never admit to such. Still, the dwarf was at least somewhat gracious, nodding to the cleric in gratitude as he took up his hammer.
“Bah, I’m starting to think this is all just a big trap,” he growled, trying in vain to shake off some of the lingering threads that hung from his shield. “That blasted wizard might have doubled back on us... why would he come into this nest of vermin?”
Zenna nodded—it was a sound point—but Dannel, still focused on the far exit, another arrow fitted to his bow, shook his head. “Those creatures... ettercaps, they are called. They’re intelligent, not mindless hunters like the spiders. I suspect that the mage might have had an arrangement with them; it’s pushing the bounds of credibility to expect that this cult would lair in such close proximity to such creatures otherwise.”
“I can do no more against the bites of the spiders this day,” Illewyn reported. “We should be cautious.”
Zenna moved deeper into the room, away from the dark exit to their left, careful lest she step into one of the stickier areas of webbing. After waiting a moment to verify that no more spiders were hiding in the tangle of webs in the rear of the room, she opened her mind to the power of the Weave, reciting the simple trigger phrases of a minor cantrip.
“What are you doing?” Mole asked her.
Zenna didn’t respond at first, concentrating to focus the power of her spell as she scanned the room. The others turned to watch her as she finished her sweep. “I am checking for magical auras,” she said. “To see if our invisible friend was lurking nearby.”
“Ah, that’s a good idea,” the gnome said. “Although I’m actually sort of glad he’s not,” she said, rubbing her chest where the lingering memory of the halfling’s magic missiles remained.
Zenna nodded, but her attention was drawn to a faint resonance that she detected with her spell. She started in that direction, pausing as she stepped into a patch of webs that tugged at her boot annoyingly.
“Careful, Zenna,” Dannel said, from where he was covering Arun. The dwarf had moved to the mouth of the corridor where the ettercaps had retreated, scanning for any ambushes. “There might be more little spiders in the webs.”
“Did you find something?” Mole said, hopping lightly across the strands of webbing to where Zenna had paused before an unsightly clump of tangled webs that formed a ball of sorts about a foot across.
“There’s a magical aura coming from within there,” Zenna reported.
Mole needed no further encouragement; drawing her dagger she went to work on the bulb of webs. Her little cry of glee reported her success, and soon she was stuffing handfuls of coins into her magical haversack, pausing every now and again to bend and grab one that skittered away onto the carpet of webs.
“We can worry about the loot later,” Dannel persisted. “We can’t give our enemy time to prepare.”
“I’ll just be a second,” Mole insisted. She found something else in the cache and handed it absently to Zenna. It was a slender wand of polished wood; the tiefling examined it with fascination, sensing the magic pulsing within it even without the aid of her spell. Closing her eyes, she focused her perceptions upon it, trying to draw out the secret of its power.
“It’s not like they don’t already know we’re here, and that we’re coming,” the gnome went on. Having secured the treasure, she slipped her pack back on and took her crossbow again, traveling lightly in small hops across the sea of webs to where the others waited. Zenna followed behind, having tucked the wand into a pocket of her cloak.
Grimly, they pressed on.
The rough corridor continued for a few dozen paces before opening up into yet another natural cavern similarly choked with webbing. A wider entrance, perhaps opening onto another chamber beyond, was visible on the far side of the place. While the entire room was covered in webs, they formed a more or less flat expanse in the center, like a intricate and plush carpet laid over the hard stone of the floor. Seeing no immediate foes, Arun started forward, before Dannel grasped him on the shoulder.
“If I were a canny defender, I would lay a trap in the center of this room, the easiest route of approach,” he warned.
The dwarf nodded, and the two split up, moving around the edges of the room, prodding ahead for any surprises. Zenna and Mole covered them with their crossbows, while Illewyn, who had not brought a missile weapon, held her mace tightly and muttered the words of a prayer.
The faintest stirring amidst the webs that curtained the far exit was their only warning.
“Incoming!” Mole cried in warning, at the same time that Dannel, who had seen it too, stepped back and drew his longbow. With his low-light vision he could clearly mark the ettercap half-hidden among the webs, but as he released his boot slid on a slick strand of webbing, and his shot went awry. A pair of web-nets shot out from the creatures’ vantage, targeting the elf and dwarf. Dannel, recovering quickly from his misstep, smoothly dodged back and avoided the cast.
Arun, predictably, was completely snared.
But the others were not idle during those moments, and both Mole and Zenna hit with shots that sank with a meaty thud into the body of one of the ettercaps, mere inches apart. The creature, already wounded by Dannel’s arrow earlier, released a ear-rattling screech and staggered backward, into the chamber beyond. The second creature, apparently eager to avoid a similar fate, joined it before the two women could reload. Dannel sent an arrow after it as it withdrew, but there was no indication that he scored a hit.
Illewyn had already moved to assist Arun, whose curses formed an unbroken string of syllables in Dwarven as he struggled to extricate himself for the second time from a prison of sticky webs. The paladin now looked quite a sight, with white strands covering his armor and shield, and pasted over his helm and dangling from his hair. He looked about ready to charge full on into the chamber where the ettercaps had disappeared, but once more Dannel forestalled him.
“Let me be,” Arun said. “I’ve got me a score to settle with them blasted bugs.”
“Let us not abandon caution,” Dannel said softly. “I sense that a dire confrontation looms ahead.”
He did not know just how right he was.
Wary of another ambush, the companions moved slowly to the exit. Arun in the lead, clanking slightly with every movement, Dannel with a ready arrow just behind, Zenna and Mole side by side with crossbows pointing in every direction at once, and Illewyn bringing up the rear.
The third and final chamber in the complex of webbed caverns was somewhat larger than the first two, with a ceiling that rose as high as twenty feet above the floor. Every nook and cranny was filled with webbing, tendrils of which dangled down from the uneven ceiling, stirring in the faintest hint of a breeze that likely drifted in through the web-choked cracks and crevices in the walls.
“You were fools to follow me here,” came a voice from somewhere across the room, its source impossible to discern with precision.
“Hand over the wands, and maybe we can talk,” Zenna offered.
“No, I don’t think so,” came the voice. “In fact, I think you’re quite about to die.”
Forms moved in the webs along the edges of the rooms, resolving into the outlines of the ettercaps they had faced earlier. But then their attention was drawn to something... big that shifted high along the far wall, near the ceiling. As Illewyn came into the room, the light from her holy symbol drove back the shadows, revealing more details of the form.
Zenna drew in a startled breath, and she wasn’t the only one.
“By the gods,” Illewyn whispered, her face suddenly white.
* * * * *
Chapter 77
Dannel’s shot hit the spider-man, although the missile caught the creature in the fleshy part of its shoulder, rather than square in its heart as the elf had intended. The beast, along with its companion still within the darkness of the far corridor, elected however to withdraw rather than advance into the room to attack. Mole fired her crossbow after them, but it was doubtful that she hit anything through the screening webs and darkness.
Keeping an eye on the exit where the two creatures had vanished, the companions turned to help Arun free himself from the enfolding webbing. The dwarf sputtered and protested as they cut him free, cursing as he tugged persistent strands from his face and the cracks and crevices of his armor. This was one case where not having a beard was proving an advantage, Zenna thought.
Illewyn moved forward and laid hands upon the dwarf, calling upon the power of Helm to purge some of the lingering effects of the spider venom from the dwarf’s body. Zenna suspected that the paladin was still weakened somewhat, but she knew that Arun would never admit to such. Still, the dwarf was at least somewhat gracious, nodding to the cleric in gratitude as he took up his hammer.
“Bah, I’m starting to think this is all just a big trap,” he growled, trying in vain to shake off some of the lingering threads that hung from his shield. “That blasted wizard might have doubled back on us... why would he come into this nest of vermin?”
Zenna nodded—it was a sound point—but Dannel, still focused on the far exit, another arrow fitted to his bow, shook his head. “Those creatures... ettercaps, they are called. They’re intelligent, not mindless hunters like the spiders. I suspect that the mage might have had an arrangement with them; it’s pushing the bounds of credibility to expect that this cult would lair in such close proximity to such creatures otherwise.”
“I can do no more against the bites of the spiders this day,” Illewyn reported. “We should be cautious.”
Zenna moved deeper into the room, away from the dark exit to their left, careful lest she step into one of the stickier areas of webbing. After waiting a moment to verify that no more spiders were hiding in the tangle of webs in the rear of the room, she opened her mind to the power of the Weave, reciting the simple trigger phrases of a minor cantrip.
“What are you doing?” Mole asked her.
Zenna didn’t respond at first, concentrating to focus the power of her spell as she scanned the room. The others turned to watch her as she finished her sweep. “I am checking for magical auras,” she said. “To see if our invisible friend was lurking nearby.”
“Ah, that’s a good idea,” the gnome said. “Although I’m actually sort of glad he’s not,” she said, rubbing her chest where the lingering memory of the halfling’s magic missiles remained.
Zenna nodded, but her attention was drawn to a faint resonance that she detected with her spell. She started in that direction, pausing as she stepped into a patch of webs that tugged at her boot annoyingly.
“Careful, Zenna,” Dannel said, from where he was covering Arun. The dwarf had moved to the mouth of the corridor where the ettercaps had retreated, scanning for any ambushes. “There might be more little spiders in the webs.”
“Did you find something?” Mole said, hopping lightly across the strands of webbing to where Zenna had paused before an unsightly clump of tangled webs that formed a ball of sorts about a foot across.
“There’s a magical aura coming from within there,” Zenna reported.
Mole needed no further encouragement; drawing her dagger she went to work on the bulb of webs. Her little cry of glee reported her success, and soon she was stuffing handfuls of coins into her magical haversack, pausing every now and again to bend and grab one that skittered away onto the carpet of webs.
“We can worry about the loot later,” Dannel persisted. “We can’t give our enemy time to prepare.”
“I’ll just be a second,” Mole insisted. She found something else in the cache and handed it absently to Zenna. It was a slender wand of polished wood; the tiefling examined it with fascination, sensing the magic pulsing within it even without the aid of her spell. Closing her eyes, she focused her perceptions upon it, trying to draw out the secret of its power.
“It’s not like they don’t already know we’re here, and that we’re coming,” the gnome went on. Having secured the treasure, she slipped her pack back on and took her crossbow again, traveling lightly in small hops across the sea of webs to where the others waited. Zenna followed behind, having tucked the wand into a pocket of her cloak.
Grimly, they pressed on.
The rough corridor continued for a few dozen paces before opening up into yet another natural cavern similarly choked with webbing. A wider entrance, perhaps opening onto another chamber beyond, was visible on the far side of the place. While the entire room was covered in webs, they formed a more or less flat expanse in the center, like a intricate and plush carpet laid over the hard stone of the floor. Seeing no immediate foes, Arun started forward, before Dannel grasped him on the shoulder.
“If I were a canny defender, I would lay a trap in the center of this room, the easiest route of approach,” he warned.
The dwarf nodded, and the two split up, moving around the edges of the room, prodding ahead for any surprises. Zenna and Mole covered them with their crossbows, while Illewyn, who had not brought a missile weapon, held her mace tightly and muttered the words of a prayer.
The faintest stirring amidst the webs that curtained the far exit was their only warning.
“Incoming!” Mole cried in warning, at the same time that Dannel, who had seen it too, stepped back and drew his longbow. With his low-light vision he could clearly mark the ettercap half-hidden among the webs, but as he released his boot slid on a slick strand of webbing, and his shot went awry. A pair of web-nets shot out from the creatures’ vantage, targeting the elf and dwarf. Dannel, recovering quickly from his misstep, smoothly dodged back and avoided the cast.
Arun, predictably, was completely snared.
But the others were not idle during those moments, and both Mole and Zenna hit with shots that sank with a meaty thud into the body of one of the ettercaps, mere inches apart. The creature, already wounded by Dannel’s arrow earlier, released a ear-rattling screech and staggered backward, into the chamber beyond. The second creature, apparently eager to avoid a similar fate, joined it before the two women could reload. Dannel sent an arrow after it as it withdrew, but there was no indication that he scored a hit.
Illewyn had already moved to assist Arun, whose curses formed an unbroken string of syllables in Dwarven as he struggled to extricate himself for the second time from a prison of sticky webs. The paladin now looked quite a sight, with white strands covering his armor and shield, and pasted over his helm and dangling from his hair. He looked about ready to charge full on into the chamber where the ettercaps had disappeared, but once more Dannel forestalled him.
“Let me be,” Arun said. “I’ve got me a score to settle with them blasted bugs.”
“Let us not abandon caution,” Dannel said softly. “I sense that a dire confrontation looms ahead.”
He did not know just how right he was.
Wary of another ambush, the companions moved slowly to the exit. Arun in the lead, clanking slightly with every movement, Dannel with a ready arrow just behind, Zenna and Mole side by side with crossbows pointing in every direction at once, and Illewyn bringing up the rear.
The third and final chamber in the complex of webbed caverns was somewhat larger than the first two, with a ceiling that rose as high as twenty feet above the floor. Every nook and cranny was filled with webbing, tendrils of which dangled down from the uneven ceiling, stirring in the faintest hint of a breeze that likely drifted in through the web-choked cracks and crevices in the walls.
“You were fools to follow me here,” came a voice from somewhere across the room, its source impossible to discern with precision.
“Hand over the wands, and maybe we can talk,” Zenna offered.
“No, I don’t think so,” came the voice. “In fact, I think you’re quite about to die.”
Forms moved in the webs along the edges of the rooms, resolving into the outlines of the ettercaps they had faced earlier. But then their attention was drawn to something... big that shifted high along the far wall, near the ceiling. As Illewyn came into the room, the light from her holy symbol drove back the shadows, revealing more details of the form.
Zenna drew in a startled breath, and she wasn’t the only one.
“By the gods,” Illewyn whispered, her face suddenly white.
Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 78
The thing was a bloated, sick monstrosity, a spider covered with no-doubt sharp spines that jutted from its body, huge jaws that slavered with poison-dripping fangs, and eyes that shone with the terrible gleam of intelligence.
But while the terrible spider held their attention for several heartbeats, the skittering of the ettercaps reminded them that they were not alone. Arun snarled and stepped forward onto the spongy mass of webs that covered the floor, drawing their attention to himself.
“Enough of stickin’ me with your blasted webs!” he shouted, and lifted a vial to his lips.
Almost immediately the dwarf began to surge and grow, enlarging until he had reached a height of nearly eight feet. Zenna swallowed, impressed with the effects of the draught they’d taken from Tongueater, and glad that Mole had pressed it upon the dwarf.
The dwarf’s dramatic action shook them from their reverie, and the companions launched into action. An ettercap, the one already bleeding from the hits they’d inflicted upon it, huddled now among the webs to their left, gathering a web to cast at them. Dannel saw it and fired, his arrow catching it square in the face, putting it down for good.
Illewyn called upon the power of Helm, shrouding them all with a blessing. Zenna scanned the shadows, the darkness of the chamber no match for her darkvision, but she could not see where the halfling wizard was hiding. Biting her lip in frustration, she took aim on the giant spider.
But she was surprised as Mole stepped ahead of her, clutching a fat object in one small hand. “Desperate situations call for desperate measures!” she cried, and hurled the flask of alchemist’s fire at the spider.
The missile arced through the air, but instead of hitting the spider square in the face as she’d intended, it glanced off one of the long spines that jutted from the top of its body, sticking in the webbing that surrounded it without breaking.
“Damn!” the gnome cursed.
The spider responded so quickly that they were all caught off guard. The spider’s jaws opened wide, and sharp projections shot out of its body across the room on long tentacles, like harpoons fired from the bow of a whaling vessel. Mole yelled and narrowly dodged one of the deadly fangs, which snapped at her and almost instantly began retracting back into the spider’s body.
The second harpoon-fang hit Illewyn squarely in the chest, driving her back roughly a pace as the sharp edges tore through the links of her chain shirt into her flesh. She cried out and staggered as the tentacle quickly drew taut, yanking her off her feet and pulling her roughly across the room.
“Illewyn!” Zenna cried. Without any spells that might be effective against the spider in her mental inventory, she could only aim her bow and fire. The missile sank into its fat body, but did not hinder the spider from drawing in its victim. Illewyn screamed as the spider pulled her closer, lifting her off of the ground and up into the air toward its perch. Gleaming fangs like sharp daggers had unfolded from within its widely-stretched jaws, snapping in eagerness to claim their prey.
Arun had started toward the terrible spider, his reach now easily enough to assail it from the ground, but two more ettercaps emerged from the webbing to assault him from both sides. The normally cautious creatures, drawn to a frenzy by the presence of their “god,” attacked heedless of concern for their personal safety. Arun made that cost them as the first lunged within his extended reach, bringing his hammer with its considerably-enhanced punch down on the ettercap’s shoulder. The blow staggered the creature, but Arun couldn’t adjust in time to stop the second monster as it leapt at him, snapping its sharp fangs at his hip. Fortunately for the dwarf, his armor held, and the ettercap was left to snarl in frustration as its envenomed fangs slipped off of the steel plate.
Even as he lifted his hammer to finish off the first creature, a shadow seemed to fall over the embattled dwarf. Looking up, his eyes widened in surprise as a dark form approached, slowly taking substance. It was a vague, indistinct form, but it embodied all of the fears and terrors that lurked in the dark corners of a man’s mind.
But such fears held no terror for the paladin, shielded by the iron dedication of his faith. Skaven’s phantasmal killer began to dissolve even before it touched the dwarf, finally shattering into a wisps of shadow and dream, harmless.
Hidden within his nook high along the wall, the halfling bit back a curse, belatedly realizing the true nature of his foe.
Zenna had only barely sensed the wizard’s spell as a tickle upon the edges of her consciousness, but she realized that the wizard was still a deadly threat, as deadly as the spider that had assaulted Illewyn. She moved forward into the room, coming dangerously close to where Arun was still battling the ettercaps, scanning everywhere... there, a shadow barely distinct from the webs of shadow that filled the room, something not quite... right.
Zenna called upon the power of Azuth, challenging her power into that spot. “Approach,” she said, the word reverberating with power.
Dannel, meanwhile, had also moved forward, drawing another shaft as he drew bead on the terrible harpoon spider. His first shot missed, sliding past it to stick in the morass of webs behind it, while the second hit a protruding spear of rock and glanced wide. Mole ran past him, heedless of her own safety, loading her crossbow as she came, trying to get under the creature.
Despite the cleric’s struggles, the spider pulled Illewyn up to it, snapping at her with its terrible fangs. Illewyn cried out as the sharp points jabbed into her torso, injecting their venom into her body. She tried to tear free, but the spider held her tightly, wrapping its foremost limbs around her struggling form.
She managed to lift her mace, but as she stared into the unholy visage of the creature, she knew that she had little chance of doing enough damage to save herself.
Then her eyes drifted to the fat object hanging in the webs just over its body.
Skaven actually took a step before his disciplined mind cut through the force of Zenna’s command, restoring order within his body. The halfling shifted his attention from the enlarged paladin beating up on the ettercaps to the woman who’d assaulted him with magic. He’d initially pegged her as a wizard, perhaps a sorceress, but the spell she’d hurled at him had been divine in origin. Normally he would have scoffed at the idea of an enemy spellcaster injuring him with magics of the mind, but this was twice now that she’d discomfited him, first with the darkness in the corridor, and now with this simple spell that had quite nearly had him...
The halfling wizard, still fairly secure in the shroud provided by his earlier consumed potion of hiding, cast a quick spell that sharpened his senses and focused his aim, and then he launched into one of the most powerful magics left in his repertoire. Whatever she was, the woman would pay the price for her attacks upon him.
Illewyn could feel her muscles stiffening and twitching, her limbs becoming leaden as they began to disregard the commands sent to them from her brain. She imagined that she could feel the spider’s venom burning through her system like a wildfire, destroying the pitiful resistance put up by her body. When the spider thrust its fangs into her again, she could barely feel it.
One thing gave her focus as her body drifted out of her control; the white hot fire that was the presence of Helm’s light within her. With a cry that was half desperation, half determination, she lunged forward awkwardly with her mace, striking not at the spider, but at the clay flask of alchemist’s fire suspended in the webbing just above it. She could not even feel the force of impact as the iron head of her weapon smacked into the webs, slipping from her hand...
But she could see the white-hot flare that erupted before her, blossoming into an eager red flower that spread to engulf the entire upper body of the harpoon spider. The spider reared back and issued a terrible screech that echoed through the room. Illewyn, in a last desperate effort, the heat of fire burning through her poison-induced haze as liquid drops of flame settled on her robe, lifted her legs and kicked against the spider’s face. She felt something give, and was falling. The ground wasn’t that far below her, and padded with webs, but the cleric had taken enough of a beating already. As she hit, her head grazed something solid, and she lost consciousness.
Even as the flames spread, and Illewyn freed herself, the other companions continued their assault upon the spider and his allies. Arun slew the ettercap he’d already wounded with a powerful stroke that relocated its head about in the center of where its shoulders met. The second creature lunged at him again from behind, and this time secured a hold where it could stab its fangs into the joint where his armor folded at the knee. Arun roared in pain and anger, and shifted to face the second creature. The ettercap lifted its bloody jaws and snarled at the dwarf, who drove the enlarged haft of his hammer like a spear into the gaping hole of its face. The ettercap, choking on the shattered remnants of its fangs and its own blood, staggered back and slumped to the ground, dying.
Mole leapt into position under the spider as it assailed Illewyn, cursing as her boots took hold in a sticky patch of webbing. She didn’t let it hinder her attack, however, shooting her crossbow up into the belly of the creature. The shot barely seemed to hinder it, however; not like the reaction it showed when Illewyn burst the flask of alchemist’s fire upon it. Mole looked up at the blaze of flame in amazement, then belatedly realized that her current location placed her in a rather precarious position. Sliding her bow across her back, she went to work trying to free herself from the webs.
Dannel’s unlucky streak finally came to an end. Even as Illewyn fell free, and the flaming spider withdrew, he fired a shot that smacked solidly into its body. The spider hissed at the elf, and showed that it still had a lot of fight left in it as it shot one of its harpoons at him. Dannel staggered as the sticky head of the tendril tore into his shoulder and stuck, threatening to draw him into the same fate that had befallen Illewyn. But instead of falling, the elf ran forward, keeping his footing as the spider reeled him in. He dropped his bow and drew his sword, and as he was drawn up into ring of fire that was spreading on and around the spider, he lifted the weapon and prepared to strike.
A beam of twisting black energy streamed from the darkness high along the cavern wall, extending greedily from its summoner to strike Zenna squarely in the chest and spill out around her in an enfolding embrace. The enervation only lasted for a few moments, but even as the shadow-lance faded, Zenna staggered from the impact of the negative power of the halfling wizard’s spell. She realized with horror that she was... diminished, the clerical spells she had memorized wiped from her memory, along with some of the wizardly potential that she had fought so hard to accumulate. She felt small, weak. She trembled as she realized how close she had come to having her very life force snuffed out by that dark ray, and for a long moment just stood there while battle raged around her, unable to stop herself from shaking.
Skaven chuckled to himself as he observed the effect of his spell—there wouldn’t be any more trouble from that one—but he quickly sobered as he realized that the rest of the battle was turning against him and his allies. He had a few more offensive spells left, but he was all too aware of the spreading flames, and it really wasn’t in his nature to fight to the last in a dangerous situation. Fighting back the urge to gloat a bit before withdrawing, he drew out a vial, consumed it, and dissolved into a small plume of mist that blended in with the thickening smoke as he slipped quietly from the chamber.
Mole slashed at the webs holding her with increasing concern. The alchemist’s fire had set a considerable portion of the webbing along the wall and ceiling ablaze, and flaming strands were falling onto the floor around her, lighting smaller fires that were getting progressively hotter. Smoke was starting to fill the room as well, and she resisted the urge to cough—she had to free herself! She realized that she could just step out of her new magical boots, but she wasn’t quite ready to go to that extreme... not just yet.
Dannel found himself drawn into the maelstrom of fire, but his full attention was on those snapping fangs and the black eyes above them. Finally, as the spider drew him up with one more solid jerk, he thrust, his sword sinking with a sick plop into the spider’s gaping maw. The spider screamed and twisted to the side, losing its grip on the wall as its legs failed to find purchase on the fire-scorched rock. Dannel found himself falling with it, resigning himself to an uncomfortable landing.
At that moment Mole looked up, and her heart froze in her chest as she saw the spider, with flames still licking across its back and Dannel attached to its front, slip off the wall and start falling.
Straight toward where she was standing, still struggling to get free.
The thing was a bloated, sick monstrosity, a spider covered with no-doubt sharp spines that jutted from its body, huge jaws that slavered with poison-dripping fangs, and eyes that shone with the terrible gleam of intelligence.
But while the terrible spider held their attention for several heartbeats, the skittering of the ettercaps reminded them that they were not alone. Arun snarled and stepped forward onto the spongy mass of webs that covered the floor, drawing their attention to himself.
“Enough of stickin’ me with your blasted webs!” he shouted, and lifted a vial to his lips.
Almost immediately the dwarf began to surge and grow, enlarging until he had reached a height of nearly eight feet. Zenna swallowed, impressed with the effects of the draught they’d taken from Tongueater, and glad that Mole had pressed it upon the dwarf.
The dwarf’s dramatic action shook them from their reverie, and the companions launched into action. An ettercap, the one already bleeding from the hits they’d inflicted upon it, huddled now among the webs to their left, gathering a web to cast at them. Dannel saw it and fired, his arrow catching it square in the face, putting it down for good.
Illewyn called upon the power of Helm, shrouding them all with a blessing. Zenna scanned the shadows, the darkness of the chamber no match for her darkvision, but she could not see where the halfling wizard was hiding. Biting her lip in frustration, she took aim on the giant spider.
But she was surprised as Mole stepped ahead of her, clutching a fat object in one small hand. “Desperate situations call for desperate measures!” she cried, and hurled the flask of alchemist’s fire at the spider.
The missile arced through the air, but instead of hitting the spider square in the face as she’d intended, it glanced off one of the long spines that jutted from the top of its body, sticking in the webbing that surrounded it without breaking.
“Damn!” the gnome cursed.
The spider responded so quickly that they were all caught off guard. The spider’s jaws opened wide, and sharp projections shot out of its body across the room on long tentacles, like harpoons fired from the bow of a whaling vessel. Mole yelled and narrowly dodged one of the deadly fangs, which snapped at her and almost instantly began retracting back into the spider’s body.
The second harpoon-fang hit Illewyn squarely in the chest, driving her back roughly a pace as the sharp edges tore through the links of her chain shirt into her flesh. She cried out and staggered as the tentacle quickly drew taut, yanking her off her feet and pulling her roughly across the room.
“Illewyn!” Zenna cried. Without any spells that might be effective against the spider in her mental inventory, she could only aim her bow and fire. The missile sank into its fat body, but did not hinder the spider from drawing in its victim. Illewyn screamed as the spider pulled her closer, lifting her off of the ground and up into the air toward its perch. Gleaming fangs like sharp daggers had unfolded from within its widely-stretched jaws, snapping in eagerness to claim their prey.
Arun had started toward the terrible spider, his reach now easily enough to assail it from the ground, but two more ettercaps emerged from the webbing to assault him from both sides. The normally cautious creatures, drawn to a frenzy by the presence of their “god,” attacked heedless of concern for their personal safety. Arun made that cost them as the first lunged within his extended reach, bringing his hammer with its considerably-enhanced punch down on the ettercap’s shoulder. The blow staggered the creature, but Arun couldn’t adjust in time to stop the second monster as it leapt at him, snapping its sharp fangs at his hip. Fortunately for the dwarf, his armor held, and the ettercap was left to snarl in frustration as its envenomed fangs slipped off of the steel plate.
Even as he lifted his hammer to finish off the first creature, a shadow seemed to fall over the embattled dwarf. Looking up, his eyes widened in surprise as a dark form approached, slowly taking substance. It was a vague, indistinct form, but it embodied all of the fears and terrors that lurked in the dark corners of a man’s mind.
But such fears held no terror for the paladin, shielded by the iron dedication of his faith. Skaven’s phantasmal killer began to dissolve even before it touched the dwarf, finally shattering into a wisps of shadow and dream, harmless.
Hidden within his nook high along the wall, the halfling bit back a curse, belatedly realizing the true nature of his foe.
Zenna had only barely sensed the wizard’s spell as a tickle upon the edges of her consciousness, but she realized that the wizard was still a deadly threat, as deadly as the spider that had assaulted Illewyn. She moved forward into the room, coming dangerously close to where Arun was still battling the ettercaps, scanning everywhere... there, a shadow barely distinct from the webs of shadow that filled the room, something not quite... right.
Zenna called upon the power of Azuth, challenging her power into that spot. “Approach,” she said, the word reverberating with power.
Dannel, meanwhile, had also moved forward, drawing another shaft as he drew bead on the terrible harpoon spider. His first shot missed, sliding past it to stick in the morass of webs behind it, while the second hit a protruding spear of rock and glanced wide. Mole ran past him, heedless of her own safety, loading her crossbow as she came, trying to get under the creature.
Despite the cleric’s struggles, the spider pulled Illewyn up to it, snapping at her with its terrible fangs. Illewyn cried out as the sharp points jabbed into her torso, injecting their venom into her body. She tried to tear free, but the spider held her tightly, wrapping its foremost limbs around her struggling form.
She managed to lift her mace, but as she stared into the unholy visage of the creature, she knew that she had little chance of doing enough damage to save herself.
Then her eyes drifted to the fat object hanging in the webs just over its body.
Skaven actually took a step before his disciplined mind cut through the force of Zenna’s command, restoring order within his body. The halfling shifted his attention from the enlarged paladin beating up on the ettercaps to the woman who’d assaulted him with magic. He’d initially pegged her as a wizard, perhaps a sorceress, but the spell she’d hurled at him had been divine in origin. Normally he would have scoffed at the idea of an enemy spellcaster injuring him with magics of the mind, but this was twice now that she’d discomfited him, first with the darkness in the corridor, and now with this simple spell that had quite nearly had him...
The halfling wizard, still fairly secure in the shroud provided by his earlier consumed potion of hiding, cast a quick spell that sharpened his senses and focused his aim, and then he launched into one of the most powerful magics left in his repertoire. Whatever she was, the woman would pay the price for her attacks upon him.
Illewyn could feel her muscles stiffening and twitching, her limbs becoming leaden as they began to disregard the commands sent to them from her brain. She imagined that she could feel the spider’s venom burning through her system like a wildfire, destroying the pitiful resistance put up by her body. When the spider thrust its fangs into her again, she could barely feel it.
One thing gave her focus as her body drifted out of her control; the white hot fire that was the presence of Helm’s light within her. With a cry that was half desperation, half determination, she lunged forward awkwardly with her mace, striking not at the spider, but at the clay flask of alchemist’s fire suspended in the webbing just above it. She could not even feel the force of impact as the iron head of her weapon smacked into the webs, slipping from her hand...
But she could see the white-hot flare that erupted before her, blossoming into an eager red flower that spread to engulf the entire upper body of the harpoon spider. The spider reared back and issued a terrible screech that echoed through the room. Illewyn, in a last desperate effort, the heat of fire burning through her poison-induced haze as liquid drops of flame settled on her robe, lifted her legs and kicked against the spider’s face. She felt something give, and was falling. The ground wasn’t that far below her, and padded with webs, but the cleric had taken enough of a beating already. As she hit, her head grazed something solid, and she lost consciousness.
Even as the flames spread, and Illewyn freed herself, the other companions continued their assault upon the spider and his allies. Arun slew the ettercap he’d already wounded with a powerful stroke that relocated its head about in the center of where its shoulders met. The second creature lunged at him again from behind, and this time secured a hold where it could stab its fangs into the joint where his armor folded at the knee. Arun roared in pain and anger, and shifted to face the second creature. The ettercap lifted its bloody jaws and snarled at the dwarf, who drove the enlarged haft of his hammer like a spear into the gaping hole of its face. The ettercap, choking on the shattered remnants of its fangs and its own blood, staggered back and slumped to the ground, dying.
Mole leapt into position under the spider as it assailed Illewyn, cursing as her boots took hold in a sticky patch of webbing. She didn’t let it hinder her attack, however, shooting her crossbow up into the belly of the creature. The shot barely seemed to hinder it, however; not like the reaction it showed when Illewyn burst the flask of alchemist’s fire upon it. Mole looked up at the blaze of flame in amazement, then belatedly realized that her current location placed her in a rather precarious position. Sliding her bow across her back, she went to work trying to free herself from the webs.
Dannel’s unlucky streak finally came to an end. Even as Illewyn fell free, and the flaming spider withdrew, he fired a shot that smacked solidly into its body. The spider hissed at the elf, and showed that it still had a lot of fight left in it as it shot one of its harpoons at him. Dannel staggered as the sticky head of the tendril tore into his shoulder and stuck, threatening to draw him into the same fate that had befallen Illewyn. But instead of falling, the elf ran forward, keeping his footing as the spider reeled him in. He dropped his bow and drew his sword, and as he was drawn up into ring of fire that was spreading on and around the spider, he lifted the weapon and prepared to strike.
A beam of twisting black energy streamed from the darkness high along the cavern wall, extending greedily from its summoner to strike Zenna squarely in the chest and spill out around her in an enfolding embrace. The enervation only lasted for a few moments, but even as the shadow-lance faded, Zenna staggered from the impact of the negative power of the halfling wizard’s spell. She realized with horror that she was... diminished, the clerical spells she had memorized wiped from her memory, along with some of the wizardly potential that she had fought so hard to accumulate. She felt small, weak. She trembled as she realized how close she had come to having her very life force snuffed out by that dark ray, and for a long moment just stood there while battle raged around her, unable to stop herself from shaking.
Skaven chuckled to himself as he observed the effect of his spell—there wouldn’t be any more trouble from that one—but he quickly sobered as he realized that the rest of the battle was turning against him and his allies. He had a few more offensive spells left, but he was all too aware of the spreading flames, and it really wasn’t in his nature to fight to the last in a dangerous situation. Fighting back the urge to gloat a bit before withdrawing, he drew out a vial, consumed it, and dissolved into a small plume of mist that blended in with the thickening smoke as he slipped quietly from the chamber.
Mole slashed at the webs holding her with increasing concern. The alchemist’s fire had set a considerable portion of the webbing along the wall and ceiling ablaze, and flaming strands were falling onto the floor around her, lighting smaller fires that were getting progressively hotter. Smoke was starting to fill the room as well, and she resisted the urge to cough—she had to free herself! She realized that she could just step out of her new magical boots, but she wasn’t quite ready to go to that extreme... not just yet.
Dannel found himself drawn into the maelstrom of fire, but his full attention was on those snapping fangs and the black eyes above them. Finally, as the spider drew him up with one more solid jerk, he thrust, his sword sinking with a sick plop into the spider’s gaping maw. The spider screamed and twisted to the side, losing its grip on the wall as its legs failed to find purchase on the fire-scorched rock. Dannel found himself falling with it, resigning himself to an uncomfortable landing.
At that moment Mole looked up, and her heart froze in her chest as she saw the spider, with flames still licking across its back and Dannel attached to its front, slip off the wall and start falling.
Straight toward where she was standing, still struggling to get free.
Similar Threads
