You make your way back to the campsite, where apparently Derendil and Eldreth have been taking turns trying to dig you out. Stool is also nearby as are Jimjar, Topsy and Turvy. Buppido is nowhere to be found, however. They don't seem to notice you and continue to furiously dig with their bare hands.
"Yous can stop digging, we are over here!"
Turvy tugs at Topsy's armor faulds pointing at Kriv "Stop it, we're concentrating." and slaps his hand away. Topsy grabs Turvys head and spins it manually around with a slight *crack* and Turvy's eyes alight "It's them! They're back!" They all seem quite relieved and hurry over to hear just what the hell happened.
Then, Jimjar releases the scream of a little girl "Son of a b+%@$, a gelatinous cube! Lookout!" drawing his weapons. It seems Glabbagool has followed you.
"It's lucky you all weren't trapped in that cave in as well! It was pretty rough in there. Oozes all over the place. We even met one that talked! I wonder where that one got off too. Ohthereheis! Don't worry, he's friendly!"
Theyve collected nearly all of your camping supplies from the rubble. At Froog's comment Jimjar screams again "Oh no, the madness has taken the Cap'n! We're doomed!" the others look a bit tense, not sure what to believe.
”If the bloody thing wanted to eat us it wouldn’t be followin’ along. Apparently it can talk. Probably transmutated or somesuch, whatever the fingerwagglers call it. And it ate a Drow, an’ gave me this mace. Anyways, is this really the weirdest thing ye’ve all seen?”
The very badly burnt dwarf likely didn’t seem crazy...just in pain, and very tired. Though he did no yet cry manly tears. For he was not an elf.
"Lets find some secure ground and then we can tell the entire story, for now, half of us are dead on our feet,in some case almost literally."
Vic rolls his eyes, and he looks at Ed.
Great. A gelatinous cube for a companion. What next?
Gael was curious about the crow weapon that had been claimed and went about to each of them asking to see it. He had heard of drow magic and first-hand knowledge of their arcane prowess.
------------
"Khaz is correct, it had every opportunity to attack us but it didn't!"
It has a consciousness. I don't think that is normal. It was hit by my spell still has been cooperative."
They raise an eyebrow, dropping their guard a bit. Jimjar approaches the cube giving it a heavy once over saying "A consciousness? How does it talk...? There's no orifices. You cant speak without an orifice, I know that much at least! Oh, sign language I bet!"
You all hear the voice on the edge of your mind, or perhaps you are all insane ::"I can understand you just as you can understand me!"::
shocking everyone.
Eldeth mentions "Buppido went to go find help, I suppose we should camp here until he returns..." she says reluctantly.
"Which way did Buppido go? Maybe we just follow him, because we're heading there anyway, right?" Edlethron suggests.
"Lad. I need some healin'. Look at these burns. Hurts somethin' fierce it does. If it is all the same to ye, mayhaps we could get some rest here while all o' our wounds be tended to."
"I am all for that Khaz, I think I might have got the worst of it back their but at least we all made it out alive."
Indeed, the party had a full day on the water before camping and the earthquake.
Jimjar seems to now be at ease with the cube, fascinated. He is tossing small chunks of meats into the nearly transparent cube and watching it float there, digesting.
"I think a bit of rest would do wonders. Sorry I can't do anything more immediate to sooth your burns guys.
Edlethron sides with the captain to rest.
I am wounded too, and I could use a rest.
In the morning, Topsy looks at Jimjar and then to you all and mentions "Id say were a few hours south of the Silken Paths. We'll have to hire a guide, since the strands are...what?" Turvy is shaking him by the shoulder and mumbles something "...oh yeah, hmm. None of you are scared of heights, right?"
"I....I do not do so well with them, but I will manage."
Heights are not an issue.
"Silken path? Heights? Does that mean we will have to deal with spiders?"
Gael also echoed the questions that the others had, "So out with it. Tell us more about these 'silken paths' so we can be better prepared to survive them."
Also in the morning you feel a connection to the new weapons...
Vic, you receive a vision of the rapier's construction by drow magics, a process that took 130 years. Typically the time spent constructing a weapon signifies its quality and this "hundred years blade" would be quite eyebrow raising to most. It is inlaid with ashen pearl in a spider motif down its foible, and cuts through the air without sound. ()
Kriv, on closer inspection the handaxe blade itself is of duergar make, with an afterthought attached drow haft. You spend nearly an hour inspecting its razor sharp edge and can not find the smallest chip or crack. There is a single rune displayed in a highly artistic manner that Derendil recognizes as 'Betrayer'. ()
Whoever attunes to the mace (Khaz?), you notice a subtle location on the mace haft that seems to attract your thumb like lodestone. A tiny obsidian disk. After working up the nerve to actually press it, a word echoes through your mind in drow: 'drachirath', or 'moonfire'. Speaking the word softly in confusion causes the mace head to alight with a toasty blaze that nearly singes the beard. ()
Jimjar explains "Chasm, 500 ft deep and nearly 2000 ft wide. Yeah, filled with spiders...they've raised webby strands all over criss crossing here and there, reaching up and down...its a tangled mess! But we can get through, do it all the time. Just need the right guide...the strands change often with age and passage. Eh, do we even have any coin? The guides aren't free."
"Topsy, are the Silken Paths like where we were imprisoned?" Edlethron asks.
He had been up on watch for many hours letting his non-elven companions sleep restfully.
”A Drow mace.” Khaz said the command word, causing it to light up. ”Shoddily made. An’ just like the knife ears to make somethin’ impractical like a torch in the Underdark. It must be valuable though.” He said the last as an afterthought. ”We can offer this. We have nay coin. But this is valuable. That...” his voice became sad. ”...I want me hammer fixed. Proper dwarven make. A gift from The Gods themselves. An’ like a fool I let it get so damaged. As if some flimsy elfling torch could make up for it!” Seething with sudden anger and shame he gave out a mighty ”Bah!”
The smell of Darklake at last leaves your nostrils as you penetrate farther north towards Blingdenstone. The air gets much more dry and the volcanic rock transitions to a light, powdery dust. Something about the region seems much more ancient, but at the same time more touched by civilization.
It quickly becomes apparent that Glabbagool is slowing you down. You'll never be able to travel faster than a slow pace with him in the party.
Fast: -5 to passive perception, no foraging, greater chance to get lost, 8 miles per day
Normal: 6 miles per day
Slow: improved foraging, stealth available, less chance to get lost, 4 miles per day
Looking at Khaz play with the mace, Edlethron asks, "Hey, Topsy. Are the spider webs flammable?"
"Oh yes, that's their main weakness. They will wisp away to nothing...I've seen it happen. Even a tiny spark can negate everything in a 30 ft sphere. We'll have to be very careful, its a long way down..."
"Is that the only way . .. cause it sounds really dangerous and spidery. I mean we'd want more than a guide. Is there a way to go that doesn't run through the literal sticky traps of monsters?" He shurgs. "Seems a foolish for bugs to knock on a spider's door."
"True, but its always been part of what makes Blingdenstone hard to reach. No one just casually gets through the web maze...well, 'cept the drow I guess...they love that kind of crap."
Gael neared the elven tracker and offered his outdoor skills to his service, "Here, maybe I can help some. I was watching the area and I think you're right on the money."
--------------
With Gael's help, Edlethron looks again.
In a few hours, you reach the torn tip of the great chasm. Glistening white strands of web extend in every direction, and you think you see small humanoids approaching rapidly from the edge of your vision. Topsy squints as he gazes ahead "The hell is that...their legs aren't moving...?"
Cade looks toward the approaching figures and readies himself instinctively.
Froog casts a spell and peers through the darkness at the approaching figures. "what do you mean their legs aren't moving?"
Cade, it sort of looks like 2 goblins, and sure enough, their legs aren't moving. They seem to be sliding along the strands on their feet at a high speed, balancing masterfully while smiling and yipping.
"They are gliding on the webs.'
They are carrying weapons but not wielding them at the moment. They seem to be having a good time. Part of you might want to try it yourself!
"Huh looks like they are having fun."
They rapidly slide down besides the party "Yeeeaeh! Welcome to the Silken Pat--woah, surfacers? What are you, some kind of geological society?" he elbows his companion "What do you make of it, Spiderbait?"
The first one is short and muscular and has a clever face, Spiderbait is tall and skinny and looks sort of dumb. They each carry rusty scimtars and a large stoppered gourd. Their spider-exoskeleton moccasins are covered in a thick buttery grease.
"Uh...mushroom farmers?" he responds.
”Does nay matter who we be. We are lookin’ for guides to get us all safely through these webs. Willin’ to make a trade. This.” He held up his mace, said moonfire, and caused it to burst into flames. ”For gettin’ us all safely to the side o’ this closest to Blingdenstone. Nay barterin’, nay lies, easy an’ simple.”
They look at each other then back at you before laughing "Say no more! We would be honored to serve an epic dwarven magician such as yourself. I'm Yuk Yuk, and together with Spiderbait we're the best Web Runners of the Silken Paths! Need proof?! Seeing is believing, so lay your eyes on this..." he pulls the cloth back to reveal his wrist, with what looks like a few old dagger scars "...thems spider fang marks, sire! You not find any other Runners that have faced the great Lloth children and lived to tell the tale. Now, Blingdenstone is it? There's a march.
Say no more, say no more..." he rummages in a vest pocket, producing a crude contract written in troll s#%$ perhaps "...just sign here and the deal is done!"
Spiderbait notices Glabbagool "Uh...Yuk...? Cube."
"What...? Oh...hmm. Yes. Now look magister, we've Run nearly all there is to Run but never a G-cube. I've got no guarantee of its safety, I mean the coefficient of friction for one those things has hardly been experimentally discovered, let alone codified. But we're willing to take the risk! Other Runners would just balk and turn you down, and that's the truth."
Kriv sights dejectedly.
"I get the feeling I am not going to enjoy this"
Vic rolls his eyes, reassuringly touches his new rapier, and glances at Ed. He then mimics his posture and demeanor as best he can as he stands next to him.
"Glabbagool, do you think you can stop yourself from eating the webs? It sounds like it might be tricky for you to come along. You'll have to be very careful. Don't worry Kriv, with Lathander's help we can get through this easily enough."
Froog doesn't exactly look excited to be crossing spider webs again but he is putting on a good face.