The cat interposes herself between the spiders and humanoids.
As soon as the first spider closes, the Cheshire Cat lunges forward with two vicious and powerful bites. The head of the cat seems to distort space itself as it appears five feet ahead of the body.
The first spider's rush towards Straehan is brutally interrupted. The cat looks at the elf with smug satisfaction.
That is how it is done on the outer planes.
I'll rule that, since the one on Straehan died before Kayosin moved, he went for the one on Vak instead, so as to not waste that crit. Both spiders fall and Straehan's falls before it gets to him.
EDIT: excellent, thx
It was all over so fast.
Kayosin puts a boot on the spider's chitinous hide to yank the blade free from its neck. He gives the Vudrani warrior a look as he cleans his blade as best as he can on a few handfuls of grass. "You alright?"
All the while his hands shake visibly, and – despite how fast it all happened – his breaths are fast and heavy.
He spends a few seconds resetting the blade into its wrist-sheath and cranking back the spring mechanism.
Ikshvaku relaxes as Kayosin finishes the spider facing him, and the blades in his hands vanish back to wherever he called them from. "Is everyone all right? I have only a scratch from this one."
Tanooki continued to sleep on top of Sumisu's head, despite the commotion. At first the small figure was a bit agitated but he soon calmed himself back to his normal lively self. Immediately after the fight, though, Sumisu repacked his backpack to make certain things more accessible. He hoists his pack back on his shoulders and with all of the commotion that it causes one really has to wonder if Tanooki isn't faking being asleep.
"I'm..not hurt, but I need to..defend as well as attack. I wish I could have contributed more than noise, though."
He shakes the blade, which vanishes into green mist, and dissipates into nothing.
Braydon reviewed his actions, noting he failed to call his armor, loose his shield, shapechange, or fight defensively.
"I.. left myself wide open. Bad, bad, bad. Luckily, I have very skilled people with me."
Braydon notes Vak's injury, and says "Best let me check it for poison."
Heal:
"..no, it didn't get the chance to inject any. If you don't mind, I'll bandage it. Swamps are bad places for any open cuts, no matter how minor."
Ajerviskanis watched and listened to the sudden and brief burst of violence. When the commotion dies down, he moves among the group, nodding accordingly.
"Most capable, I see."
He stands by Ikshvaku and taps his shoulders and his foot with his stick in turn.
"I think, perhaps, being more reactive may have kept you from being thus harmed, yes? The patience of Suyuddha again proves worthwhile."
He grabs the man's forearm, and mutters under his breath. A surge of healing energy flows into the wound, and he smiles
"We live only so that we might learn."
"..Or that works, too."
Kayosin listens as the old man makes his combat suggestion to Vak, doube-checking his own equipment's travel-readiness. "I don't know... I thought he did alright."
He looks back up the path, "Either way, I think scouting would be smart from here forward. Since the group can only move as fast as Master Fulanke can walk, I'll get a ways ahead and scout quietly... maybe we can be a bit more prepared."
Fibek looks around, satisfied.
"Well done."
Fibek removes a large knife and quickly attempts to salvage the poison sacks and dissect the spiders for valuables. He quickly sees if he can find a nearby lair or tracks leading to a lair.
Not having any luck, he follows the quick and quiet scout ahead.
The satisfied cat looks at the elf with a disappointed shake of the no longer disembodied head. She seems to look at Kayosin with a look of approval.
I guess I can't pick my 'master' :-)
"What were they doing over the hill when we arrived? said a small tenor voice as everyone busied themselves with leaving. ""If they attacked us, they may have attacked some of the people we are looking for. We should take the time to find them."
Inspite of all this, Tanooki is stubbornly asleep, although with all this disturbing of his rest, he might have to take a nap later too.
As the group heads out, Ikshvaku responds to the atypical gnome, "You are correct. I apologize for making the unwarranted assumption."
Strae nods, "Forgiven; Forgotten. I'm maybe a bit over-touchy about..." His sentence goes unfinished as the spiders rush to attack and are just as efficiently cut down before they get close. The gnome does little more than look astonished.
"What were they doing over the hill when we arrived?" said a small tenor voice as everyone busied themselves with leaving. ""If they attacked us, they may have attacked some of the people we are looking for. We should take the time to find them."
Inspite of all this, Tanooki is stubbornly asleep, although with all this disturbing of his rest, he might have to take a nap later too.
"I think the owl's perch may be correct." He adds with a touch of humor, "Those bugs dropped something to come after us. Best go see what it is. Won't take a moment."
Putting it to action, Straehan quickly jogs towards the far side of the hillock.
Braydon grabs a bit of the butchered spider, and gives it a good sniff. With the scent this strong, tracking should be pretty easy.
Track (Survival)[scent]: DC10 for a fresh trail..
Braydon should be able to find their recent path & prey.
Kayosin shadows the group, keep his eyes and ears open for additional threats as they search for the origin of the spider ambush.
You follow the spider trail back with ease, finding a nest with several lumps of varing sizes and what looks like an egg sack.
In the lumps you find the bodies of 2 goblins, 4 animals of varing types, and one human male.
In the remains, you also find:
on the human; leather armor, a shortsword, a crossbow with 18 bolts, a light wooden shield and 6 gold.
on the goblins: 1 dog-sticker, 1 horse-chopper, 1 shortbow with 7 arrows and 1 odd, foot-long tube with a small cord sticking out of one end.
"Poor fellow. Do any of you recognize him?"
Kayosin looks down at the corpses between keeping an eye out for threats. The human body holds his interest.
The strange tube brings a frown, "What is that?"
@Kayosin: You think it might be Vasil Sarneski, a fur trader/trapper who often travels between Riddleport and Magnimar.
Straehan puts a hand across the human's throat, feeling for body heat or a pulse and then moves on to each of the animals, leaving the goblin till last.
When he eyes the goblin, his voice becomes pragmatic. "Was that bounty on left ears or right?"
One of them, the goblin who was carrying the odd tube, is still twitching, but badly poisoned by the spiders.
Kayosin recoils as the goblin twitches, "Holy Sh!T! That one's moving!"
Careful to avoid touching the twitching goblin, Kayosin turns the human's face up towards himself, "This looks like Vasil Sarneski. Local fur trapper."
@Kayosin: You don't. Koya might.
Kayosin grins at the gnome's pragmatism as he considers Vasil's body. On the one hand, there might be someone in town that would look kindly on the group securing the body for later recovery or burial. On the other hand, time was possibly against them if those kids were alive but in danger at the ruin.
He shakes his head, "Nothing for it. When we get back to town, I'll tell Koya and Hemlock about Vasil. If he had friends or family in town, they can come back out or hire someone when time permits. We need to keep moving if we can."
The small figure leans in on the collected booty and weaves his fingers in an intricate pattern, letting things that would normally be hidden be seen.
"Should we bring the surviving goblin along with us for later questioning? I, for one, would like to know about this tube it was carrying."
Kayosin shrugs, "Tie it up and bring it along, i guess. You think that tube is related to their collection of the frog-poison?"
"Nevermind the fireworks they seem to be enjoying so much lately, yes?"
Ajerviskanis will examine the odd tube contraption whenever he gets an opporunity.
Kayosin shrugs, "Never fired a firework before."
"Perhaps this one has? Or knows where they found them."
The gnome starts stamping on the egg sacs to eradicate the next generation of spiders while he considers the situation.
"Assuming that tubey-thing is a firework, why is this fellow carrying it around and where was he going? I can't imagine their chief would just start handing them out like party favors. Goblins aren't much for sharing. Maybe he stole it or found it."
@Straehan: yes, you can tell his, um, her (?) condition with a heal check.
"Should..we say something? Or..or wait until he's taken back to town? I'm not a cleric, really."
Braydon looks over the field of found goods..
"Should we take his things back to town? As proof of his fate, not for selling, I mean. Leaving them here, I don't know, someone could steal them. If we didn't take it first, I mean. Which would be stealing them. How does this work out in the wilds?"
The goblin is just under 0hp, and could survive if healed. the poison has dome some damage but the goblin seems to have shaken it off.
"Well, if we wanted to, I could heal him, charm him and get him to tell us all about what his people have been doing lately. There's a chance the charm won't work, but one of you could always intimidate him instead. I took the trouble of learning Goblin yesterday, so if he can't speak common, we can still get information." Sumisu said this all with little variation in his voice, as if he were discussing the weather. Tanooki looked like he had a more restful sleep without all the varied movements and inflections of his perch.
Fibek looks at the goblin.
"Well, we are headed to Proudstumps. Might as well bring the goblin along and interrogate him on the way."
Kayosin nods, "That all sounds great... as long as the goblin is in-hand and we can keep moving. We're wasting time."
It's clear Kayosin doesn't consider it his job to keep the goblin 'in hand' as he moves forward to scout the way, his curved blade in-hand.
"Well, he seems stable, if unconscious. If anyone is handy with a rope - tie him up. I'm all thumbs at that sort of thing. Best I can do is string a bird for roasting."
The group, plus one, continues along the track as it slopes down to the marsh.
A quick consult of your map indicates that this Poudstump's home is near the shoreline and across at least two bridges.
Ajerviskanis:
Braydon:
Fibek:
Goldilocks:
'Vak':
Kayosin:
Straehan:
Sumisu:
When you reach the first bridge, several of you (Ajer, Fibek, Goldie, Vak, and Sumisu) notice movement under the bridge.
Ajer, Fibek, and Sumisu recognize the creature swiming toward a lumpy nest on the bank as a crocodile. It's about 40' away.
Init:
Ajerviskanis:
Braydon:
Fibek:
Goldilocks:
'Vak':
Kayosin:
Straehan:
Sumisu:
crocodile
Round 1 actions:
Sumisu
Vak
Kayosin
Straehan
Goldielocks
Fibek
Braydon
Ajer
crocodile
Ikshvaku follows its movement with his eyes. "I suggest we move past it, and not attack if it does not attack us."
@Group: The creature will need at least two moves to reach you. it seems more intersted in reaching the nest at this point.
"Your caution is admirable. I agree. Our scaly friend here will be no threat if we avoid threatening him, yes?" He taps his walking stick on the ground twice as emphasis.
From the bridge, the gnome regards the creature that could swallow him whole speculatively. "I don't know... I need a new pair of boots and I hear croc eggs are delicious." He waves the thoughts aside as the idle fare they are.
Sumisu pulls out a scroll and starts taking notes. "Are these creatures usually non-agressive?"
"Let us avoid the croc. They are territorial."