NoOneofConsequence
First Post
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.
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.