Vindicator lays hands on himself twice.
Half-dead, Steel Sentinel looks to Melina.
Psykoblade shys away, though he was injured it was not anything lethal. More to the fact there was little he did to contribute to the matter.
" Only by the initial wave was I wounded. I am much better off than our allies however. If you have the resources I will not scorn them. "
Further down the tunnel, you encounter no more resistance, led by Sentinel's dungeoneering prowess.
In the center of the sewers, at a large intersection of surprisingly clear waterfalls, you find an army of large spiders waiting for you, as well as an insane woman in a costume festooned with spider-webs.
"SO! You have ventured into the LAIR OF THE SPIDER QUEEN, have you? Have you come to JOIN THE CAUSE? Too long have our SPIDER BRETHREN gone unloved, their contributions forgotten, and then crushed UNDERFOOT by callous HUMANS! You look like SEEKERS OF JUSTICE! Join me, and we can SAVE a downtrodden race!"
"Question. Why spiders, and not like...goblins? Or Half-Orcs? I mean, if you wanna talk about downtrodden races, why not a race that can actually...talk, I guess? Although I guess you can't really make swarms of half-orcs, that'd be terrifying."
"Call us biased, but we're gonna side with the humans on this one."
"Seems a bit excessive to breed huge masses of spiders to terrorize folk. Most people know spiders keep bugs away."
Vindicator hesitates, as he does not take pleasure in beating up the mentally ill.
"Perhaps you could come with us to speak to a cleric, who could then preach a message telling people to treat spiders more kindly?"
"SPEAK TO A CLERIC?" she screeches.
"They're the worst of the lot! Always poking and prodding and CASTING their little mind erasers on me!"
She looks at all of you suspicously.
"You're NOT here to join me, ARE YOU? You're the ones who MURDERED my spiders earlier, RIGHT?"
Vindicator puts up his hands in a placating gesture.
"Ma'am, it pains me greatly that you have had bad experiences with people who are supposed to serve Goodness and Justice."
"I know an excellent cleric who would never stoop to try to damage your mind. How about this: we'll go see him, and if you don't like him, we'll come back here, and then we can fight if you want to?"
"You can even tell us about your spider friends on the way!"
"I've always thought that spiders have such a bad rap-might be that you're going about this in the wrong way. Trust me when I say that sometimes fear isn't the best way to go."
Psykoblade would speak but at the moment he couldn't fathom anything him saying not making the situation either awkward or weird.
The crazy lady calms down...slightly. She looks to all of you, and especially perks up at Melina and Blackjack's offers. She starts muttering to herself.
"Maybe they are friends to the spiders. And me? Friends have your best interests in mind, right? But maybe it's a trick. Kind words to lure me away. Yes, that's probably it. But maybe not. Let's see."
"I won't leave my SANCTUARY for your possible tricks! Bring the Cleric here!"
Thomas hesitates, briefly. "Ok. Do you want one of us to stay here so you know we're not trying to pull a fast one?"
"Onetwothree not it." Blackjack murmurs.
"Yes! Stay!" she orders.
Vindicator volunteers to stay.
"Yes, I think that would be a good idea."
Steel Sentinel glances at Vindicator.
"You gonna be okay by yourself? I could stay here too if you like."
==================
Ice is somewhat lost with all the people talking at the same time, he doesn't understand why they are not cutting to pieces the crazy lady of the spiders, but ok, let's wait to see what happens.
"I'll be fine, but you can stay if you want."
Blackjack gathers information about the most powerful clergy in the city.
"If you say so." Sentinel shrugs and leaves with the rest.
Scarrow also looks around for a cleric.
She pulls her companions aside at one point-"Hey, so once we do find a cleric, how're we gonna get him down to scary spider lady? We could try talking, or I guess we could just kinda pull him into a dark alley or something? Just a thought."
There are many powerful Clerics in the city, the issue is deciding which ones might help. Your best bet is probably one of the higher priests of Sarenrae, but even then convincing one to venture with unknown heroes into a spider infested sewer to see to a crazy woman is a tall order, particularly since you likely can't afford their service fee.
Alternately, you could attempt to track down a more mercenary caster, either a Cleric of a less merciful god, or a powerful arcane caster and solicit their help, but they're likely to ask a steep price for their services.
Perhaps a friend/comrade of Melina?
Due to their general duties, pure Clerics of Shelyn are rare, particularly in a city this size since she is not one of the most prominent deities. There are no Clerics powerful enough in Melina's temple.
You find a sufficiently powerful Sarenite. She looks almost sickeningly pleasant, and is somewhat plump.
"Well HELLO! What brings you to my temple, children of light?"
Helping a lost soul that wants to redeem and abandon her dark for a more peaceful existence, basically. - say Ice while still somewhat annoyed that the encounter with the spider lady didn't end in bloodshed.
"The woman behind the assault on town with the spiders seeks a Cleric. Perhaps to aid in her redemption." Siege shrugged armoured shoulders with a clank. Whether the woman could be redeemed was...difficult to say. "If you would agree to accompany us, we could escort you to her."
"I'm going to be straight with you though. The b@~#+ is crazy. Like...crazy cat lady, only the cats are spiders. But we'll do our best to protect you from them."
"I am glad to help a soul in need. Where is this woman?"