Shadow of the Spider Moon

[NoOneofConsequence]

Part 9: Demonweb Test II

Descending the stairs, we found ourselves in a simple room cut from the earth. The floor was dusty and the whole area seemed to be lit by some indeterminate means, so that everything seemed to be in dim twilight. Through the dust on the floor we were able to make out the tracks of the Golden Band, heading north across the room and up a passageway. Following the tracks, we came first to an intersection with a branching passage to our right. Although the Golden Band’s path led straight north, we paused to investigate this branching passage, nervous of allowing any potential enemies to get around behind us.

The branching passage led to another small room. As we made our way quietly to the doorway we could hear a disturbing hissing sound coming from ahead of us, as well as another, stranger sound – the laughter of a child. Reaching the doorway, we looked in to see three monstrous spiders, each larger than a dog, wrapping a small figure in silk. The figure was an elven child and as the dire process continued, the little one laughed and giggled to himself as though it were all a game. We charged swiftly into the room and had at the spiders without hesitation. Our ambush served us well for all three beasts were dispatched in a single volley of strikes. Even with its captors dead, the elf child continued to giggle madly. There is something disturbing about laughter in the face of danger, especially from a child, and the whole situation made us all uneasy and cautious.

Harmony searched about the room, while Aria, Pax and I attempted to talk to the child. No matter what we said, the boy would not talk to us. I wondered if perhaps he was delirious from some drug or perhaps the venom of the spiders, but Aria and Harmony could find no signs of poison or drugs. As my frustration grew to my shame I began to threaten the child and I even poked him lightly with the tip of my sword. Although the others insist that this was the point when the illusion was dismissed, I continued for several moments more to interrogate a small wooden statue, convinced that it was an elven child. Eventually my smirking comrades appraised me of the truth. We left the wooden dummy in the otherwise empty room and went back to tracking the adventurers from Lerick.

As we headed north, there were two more branches in the passage, one to the left and another to the right. To swiftly explore the passage to the left, Aria cast a spell of invisibility upon herself and snuck down alone. She found another intersection with two more rooms. The southern room appeared to contain some bones and an altar. The north room was covered in dried blood, sprayed about as if from a battle or something similar. Since a quick perusal indicated that neither room was occupied, Aria returned to us and we continued following the Golden Band.

At the final right branching, the tracks changed, looking as though a skirmish of some sort had occurred and, following that, the bodies of the Band had been dragged further north. We could just make out a large room ahead through the gloom. However, a sense of thoroughness drove us to investigate the final branching passage first. At the end of this one we found another simple room, just like the others. In the middle of this one was a chest, made of wood. As we watched, the lid of the chest sprang open and then shut, with a noise like a heavy door slamming in the wind. Most of us moved to investigate the chest, while Aria searched the rest of the room.

The chest continued to spring open and closed at irregular intervals. None of us fancied trying to stick our hands into it when it opened, since broken fingers were the almost certain result. Even the nimble Pax was unwilling to take the risk. After watching for a moment, I thought I might be able to beat the chest; using my sword like a bat in a stick-ball game, I waited for the chest to open again and then swiped at the helmet that I saw inside. I was not fast enough however, and my sword shuddered in my hands as the tip of the blade was caught by the slamming lid. When the lid opened again I retracted my sword to discover that not only had I missed the helmet, I had actually shattered one of several glass vials also contained in the chest. The pale liquid dribbled down the sword’s edge.

In the meantime, Aria had discovered a fresco in a corner of the room we were in. The fresco depicted a multitude of small spiders with elven faces in a large web, beneath another, larger spider with a female face and a malevolent grin. A carved caption in the language of the drow was beneath. Aria leant against the wall, concentrating hard, as she did her best to decipher the script. In a little moment, she slapped her palm against the wall in triumph and declared “We are all Lolth’s food.” As she did so there was a loud clicking noise and the chest lid flew open one last time. Once it became clear that the lid would not again close automatically, we withdrew the helmet and flasks from the chest.

Harmony was pleased to inform us that the flasks contained healing unctions and poison antidotes and that the helmet was magical, but she could tell us no more about it. After a moment’s close examination, Aria declared that the helm resembled a famous sort that was sometimes called a “foe maker”. People who wore such helms frequently lost many friends turning their backs on old alliances and relationships. We put the helm into my rucksack and Harmony took possession of the potions.

Knowing now who was most likely behind this strange complex under the jungle, we continued following the tracks of the Golden Band, though we now held out little hope of finding them alive. The dusty passageway ended in a vast, domed vault, with a roof stretching into the darkness. The centre piece of this hall was a huge statue of a spider with the face of a beautiful drow woman. We suppressed a shiver as we entered the area, hoping to find some sign of the lost adventurers. In spite of the great vault’s apparent emptiness, Tellara’s instincts told her that we were not alone.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Test of the Demonweb III

“I hear something!” cried Tellara.

“I hear it too!” cried Mark. “Coming from near the statue.”

The whole company turned to face the statue in the middle of the chamber, with Mark and Tellara taking the flanks, aiming bow and crossbow in turn. As we scanned the area it was clear that we could hear something moving near the statue, but we could not see anything.

“Perhaps it is invisible,” offered Pax, in a moment of insight.

“We’ll see,” said Aria, and she invoked a spell to dismiss invisibility enchantments. As the power of Aria’s magic shifted the interplay of mystical forces about the statue a form came into view; a form so unrational that the mortal mind could almost not accept it. Standing upon the statue and observing us keenly was the face of a dark elf female, a not unattractive drow. Her arms and chest were clad in the admantite chainmail characteristic of her race and she wielded twin short swords of the same metal. This unremarkable figure was however fused at the base of her torso to the thorax and abdomen of a gigantic black widow spider, so that she went about on eight legs like a perverted centaur. Several of us swore at the sight of this creature, but it was Pax who gave the monster its name.

“Drider!” she whispered hoarsely.

When the drider realised that it was no longer invisible it crawled from behind the statue and leapt to the floor. Brandishing both swords it announced in a loud voice, “ We are all Lolth’s food. Surrender your spirits to the Queen of the Demonwebs, and your lives will be spared until she calls upon you for sacrifice, as she calls upon us all.”

No words passed between the party members, but with our weapons already drawn, we threw down and charged to the fray. Bowstrings hummed as first Mark and then Tellara fired accurate shots, piercing the carapace of the drider’s lower body. The creature screamed and reared, but fell back to the ready in time to receive the charge from Pax and myself. Whipping her spiked chain in a wide circle, Pax didn’t even need to close with the beast in order to rake its bare skull. I was forced to contend with the two short swords however. I ducked a brutal slash from a short sword to get inside the drider’s reach and drive my own long blade upwards under the chainmail and into its heart. The thing’s black blood splashed to the floor as it fell, dying on the flagstones. Pax walked to the dying monster and, wrapping her chain about its throat, choked the life from its body. The battle was over as swiftly as it had commenced.

Feeling especially pleased with our easy victory, I turned to my friends and said, “I guess someone should tell Lolth, dinner’s served!”

----

Leaving the drider’s body for the moment we decided to head down the western passageway, since we could not find any more tracks of the Golden Band. The floor of this wide passage was covered in glittering stones that offered the promise of gems or jewels. Like a greedy and overeager greenhorn I strode quickly into the passage, examining stones at random, expecting junk rocks but hoping for wealth. Bent over as I was, not to mention separated some distance from my companions, I was easy prey for the monstrous spider which was lurking in the shadows on the ceiling above. It’s pony sized bulk dropped from the roof onto my back, its envenomed fangs scraping along my breast plate. I was thankful beyond measure that the thing’s bite never struck my skin, only my armour, as I sprang away and turned to face my ambusher. A hail of arrows and a swift pass with my sword put an end to another of Lolth’s pets/meals. After some close examination by Aria and Mark, we came to the conclusion that the whole area contained only a single gem of any worth. The rest of the apparent “horde” was merely paste. I felt especially foolish to have fallen for such an obvious trap.

To the north of the gemstone passage were two small rooms, probably chapels, as each contained a small altar to the drow’s spider goddess, not to mention more carved admonitions that we were “all Lolth’s food.” Each of the two rooms gave palpable impressions of enchantment and we none of us felt comfortable standing there. However, it was in the western of the two rooms where we found more than just a chapel. Close inspection of the walls revealed a secret passage, leading down stairs and into darkness. The nearest steps showed signs of bodies having been dragged, making us think that perhaps we had found the trail of the Golden Band once more.

As we descended the stairs, torches at the ready, we came to a long passageway of simple stone, cut from the earth. Less than twenty feet down the passageway was a curtain of darkness, impenetrable to our torches. Walking closer to the curtain made no distance and passing a hand into the darkness caused the extremity to disappear as though passing beneath water and then reappear upon withdrawal. There was no doubt in our minds that we faced more magic. Aria used the last of her day’s art to try to dispel the darkness. However her spell was either mistargeted or else lacked the necessary power, for the darkness remained.

Faced with being forced to relinquish our quest, it was decided that we would press on in the hope that the darkness would not last for long and that we might be able to come out on the “other side” of it. Using one hand to trace the wall of the passage, and with my sword held ready, I went first into the realm of darkness. For many paces I groped my way along, doing my utmost to not stumble or fall. It didn’t count for much because there was a sudden groan and shaking and then the roof fell on me.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Test of the Demonweb IV

The earthquake didn’t last very long, but when it had passed my body was battered and broken and I was very nearly at death’s door. Moaning and peering through the dust, I realised that the darkness that had been blinding my progress had gone with the earthquake. With Pax’s help, Harmony pulled me from the rocks and set to healing my injuries. There’s something disconcerting about watching a twisted limb straighten itself and then relocate at the joint with a loud “pop”. Still, I didn’t complain.

After I had been healed and following Mark’s report that nothing had come up behind us, that the passage was still clear back to the main complex, we were faced with the question of what we might do next. Clearing the rock would take great effort and time. We weren’t sure how long it would take but the longer we stayed underground in this complex the greater the chance that we would be found and set upon by more spiders, driders, drow or whatever else the spider goddess saw fit to throw at her impending “meals”.

However, we were still loath to give up on the Golden Band, having given our undertaking to find them. Pax took her Horn of Blasting from her pack and, pointing it at the rockfall and speaking the command word, she blew a long blast. The air before the horn shimmered like it was boiling hot and then the rock in the passage began to vibrate and shake. The sound reverberated off the walls, pressing painfully into our ears. The fallen rocks began to crumble into dust and soon a channel, roughly one foot across, had formed at the top of the blockage. It was not quite large enough for a human to fit through however and it took the better part of an hour for us to clear sufficient rubble.

Once we had a passage I scrabbled through, swiftly followed by Pax, who was reaching the end of her tether as far these delays and enemy magics were concerned. While Pax helped Harmony and Aria through the newly made opening, I thought I saw something in the shadows near a bend in the passage. Heedless of my safety (for the third time this day) I chased the movement around the bend and saw a spider, not much larger than the size of a gauntleted fist, fleeing down the passage. Considering its size, and my own personal frustration for the day’s pains and sufferings, I pelted after the little beast, bent on making a corpse of it.

Many people know the feeling of someone “walking over your grave”. Imagine if you will, that feeling taken and then forged in the black reaches of the Void until it was a solid force, like a hammer head or a mace. Then imagine that mace of death striking you with the force that only a giant or ogre can muster. Such is what I felt, as though rocks from a mountain of death and emptiness had collapsed upon me. I staggered back, winded. No matter how I tried I could find no strength in my body, not even enough to make my heart beat. I had been touched by death itself, I thought, and I lay curled on the floor until my companions discovered me. Again I was in need of Harmony’s tending.

Ahead, the passage ended in a flat stone wall and no sign of the spider could be found. Whatever power it had utilised against me was great enough to make us think that the wall at the end of the passage had been conjured to prevent our pursuit. Given the destructiveness of the attack, I doubted that our company possessed the power to assault whoever or whatever lay beyond the wall, even if we could devise a way through it, which we could not. The pursuit ended at the wall. Cursing and dejected, we left the passage we had struggled so hard to explore and returned to the rest of the underground complex, hopeful of finding some sign of the Golden Band elsewhere.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Test of the Demonweb – Part V

Returning to the main complex, we continued our search of the various chambers. To the south of the gem room we found a chamber covered in a rust coloured powder which it didn’t take us long to determine was in fact the blood of some long dead being. The blood was sprayed about the room, as though someone had been torn apart in an act of the most savage frenzy. We were encouraged when Harmony declared that the blood was probably several years old, and therefore did not belong to any members of the Golden Band.

Beyond the blood room, connected by a short southward passage, we came to a very large rectangular chamber. Mark brought us up short at the entry, pointing at the floor which was covered in sticky white webbing. Forewarned, we quickly scanned the entire room for the certain ambush that awaited us within. In the shadows of the far corners I was able to make out two figures, pressed high up into the join between the two walls and the ceiling, one in each corner. Their bodies were bulbous, seeming bloated and fat, but their limbs were thin and spindly, making the creatures seem misshapen. Having spotted them, I fired upon the one to the left with my musket, while calling the location to my comrades. Mark took aim on the creature in the right hand corner with his crossbow. Firing into the shadows, I misjudged my shot and missed, the ball striking sparks and dust from the rock wall near my target. Mark’s eyes were better suited to the darkness and his target squealed as his quarrel hit home.

The two creatures began to slide down the walls to the floor, and they spat great gobs of the same webbing that covered the floor. Most of the webbing harmlessly struck the walls to either side of the entryway, but one globule hit Mark with full force, exploding like a grenade, to cover him in thick, sticky strands. Pinned in place by the webbing, he could neither move nor fight. He struggled to work his way free, and had almost succeeded when a second gob of webbing struck, pinning him even more securely.

In the meantime, Harmony had used her druidic powers to conjure a sphere of flame and she was rolling it along the floor in front of us to clear a path through the webbing already spread around the doorway. Realising that we would be at a significant disadvantage if we continued to trade missile fire in this fashion, Pax and I resolved to take the fight to our foes. While Harmony manoeuvred the flaming sphere out of our path, the two of us ran full pelt down the burned path and threw ourselves headlong over the remaining webbing, hoping to clear it in a single desperate leap. Pax’s foot touched down right at the edge of the webbing, clearing it by a cat’s whisker. My leap was stronger, clearing the webbing by a full foot, but as soon as I had touched down I was struck by a spit of webbing from the nearest ettercap – for we had realised that that was what these creatures were. The webbing stuck me fast, causing me to come to a wrenching halt.

Pax roared past me, calling out her eerie battle cry, now lost in a battle rage. Trapped as I was I knew that my danger was acute. Seeing no alternative, I conceived of a mad plan to get myself free in time.

“Harmony,” I called. “Use the sphere to burn me free.”

“But you’ll burn too,” she objected.

“Better that than eaten alive! Just do it woman!”

In spite of her misgivings, Harmony did as I asked. The roiling ball of fire scorched my agonised flesh and choked on a savage cry of pain. Nonetheless, the sphere did its job and in short order I was free. I stepped up beside Pax, who was already engaged with the nearer ettercap, and with my sword drawn struck the beast down in a single furious blow. The second ettercap had been charging to engage us as well, but seeing its fellow fall, turned to flee. It had nowhere to run though. Pax brought it down with a whip of her spiked chain and I fell upon it, hacking its body to pieces. With my body still smouldering from Harmony’s flames, I felt that I had well and truly earned my battle name, Prentice Ash.