You move along a bit. After a while, the trees thin somewhat, allowing some light through.
Off in the distance, in the direction the Ettercap fled, the ruins of a stone watchtower stands above the trees.
Darius ponders the sight he has been shown and gives an eye to the group. " It seems we have located their base, though we have no particular requirement to purge the entire nest of filthy abominations. It would make the trek for other such persons easier. I'm saying if you all would like to do so.. It seems we can simply continue on, Ettercaps and cowardly creatures. They also are not my expertise, I could send another of my House to clean this up later. "
"Eh. Webs are flammable, right?"
" Yes... very much so Samuel... "
"I suppose I could bother to burn the whole thing down."
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"As long as this doesn't delay us for too long. I hope that I needn't remind you of the urgency of our mission."
"The Whispering Way is already a weeks time ahead of us, I have my doubts that a few minutes of killing creatures that pose a legitimate threat to honest merchants is going to delay us anymore than we already are."
"Furthermore, is it to believed that you are opposed to the threatening of old women, but not that of commoners? If so, I'd say your concern with Daramid was far more about her gold than her well being. Interesting."
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Jones rubs his eyelids.
"We are not pursuing the Whispering Way solely to put Daramid's worries to rest, nor is her gold my primary motivator for pursuing this matter. If the Way succeeds in releasing Tar-Baphon from imprisonment, he will pose a serious threat to the entire world, and it may be impossible to replicate the tremendous effort and fortunate circmstances that led to his previous defeat."
It is not known exactly why they came into conflict (though the prevailing theory is that Tar-Baphon sought immortality, and looked down on Aroden for "cheating" and gaining such by the power of an artifact rather than achieving it by his own merits), but they did so, and Aroden eventually slew him in battle.
Over 2000 years later, he somehow used the power of the Whispering Way to arise as a Lich. Styling himself the Whispering Tyrant he amassed an enormous Orc army and conquered the nation of Ustalav (where you currently reside). This was mostly a ploy to once again attract the attention of Aroden, but the god did not deign to respond this time.
Frustrated, he ruled Ustalav with a bony fist for several hundred years, permitting no dissent to his rule. He threw his armies into battle on numerous occasions, each time wiping out his enemy to a man, with no thought to the casualties they could inflict...after all, he could simply raise them again in unlife to fight for him, along with teh enemy's corpses as well to swell his armies.
It took 500 years, an army of Paladins and other holy warriors, the death of Aroden's Herald (Arazni), and the destruction of a major artifact (the Shield of Aroden) to finally weaken him enough that he could be sealed beneath his capital, Gallowspire, where he remains to this day.
"So yes, I do find that more urgent than disposing of some pests in a forest. I believe that every second counts, so please, if you must do this, do it quickly."
"I forgot how antsy you were the other night when we were drinking."
"If it were you who were fighting, Tar-Baphon might very well be raised by the time you were finished. Luckily, I'll be the one handling this."
"So why don't you go relieve yourself in that nearby shrub, and by the time you're finished; so will I."
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"We stick together. Darius, you take point."
Sledge lights his candlehat and lantern.
The Bickering Mongrels move off into the shrubbery, and arrive at the tower after about 10 minutes of walking.
As you get closer, you can hear the soft, haunting melody of a harp, and make out the tower more clearly.
The tower stands about three stories tall; blood ivy and grayish-
green lichen blanket the stonework of the tower’s crumbling exterior, while passing winds whistle softly through its darkened, gaping windows.
Quietly humming a countersong he heard once, Sledge passes out earplugs to the rest of the party.
He'll also stuff some behind his own ears in case of emergencies.
"We hit 'em fast and hard. Jones, Acute Senses, if you would be so kind."
"I'm sure the power of pure, untarnished pride will protect your ears quite well."
Jones plugs his ears, gives Sledge an Actute Senses infusion, and drinks a Dex mutagen, Shield, and Barkskin.
"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am." says Z, setting off to the tower.
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Just before everyone reaches the tower, Sledge holds up a hand.
"I've done this sort of thing before back when I went dungeon-crawling all the time - so all of you listen closely. Any differences we may have, they don't exist while we're in there. We trust each other absolutely until we walk away safely. Got it?"
"Of course. We cannot function as a team otherwise."
Darius twitches as they approach
He begins casting some lesser magics and imbibing his feral mutagen, quaffing it and giving a massive sigh. The follower of Sarenrae unfurled his whip as the change started to overcome him.
" First of all let's get something straight here as I've been listening to you all speak. Jones, don't try to justify being inconsistent in your choices and berating Zin when she has shown to be integral to many encounters that even you or myself would not have been able to defeat. There is a difference between Pride and shown capability, Do not use the current mission as a justification for innocents being not important.. they either are or are not. Two, Zin I swear, you need to not react to opposition like you have, it's unnecessary.. if you are correct just let it be. However you are somewhat consistent... Just remember that your choices have consequences.. that And what I told you if you 'borrow' my whip ever again. As for Sledge, you have recently joined the group but I would advise you not try anything without a suggestion first.. and I am not one you order around. Otherwise your effort to simmer the issues have been noted. Now.. I suppose we should kill some pests and be on our way. "
Z bows to the group, "Sorry, this kitten has claws."
"Let's make amends."
Z's hands begin to pour fire, "Come here Sledge."
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Jones thinks for a few seconds before responding.
"Very well. Zin, I did not wish to imply that you are incapable - on the contrary, I agree with Darius that you have handled a fair number of encounters quite expertly, sometimes with little or no help from the rest of us. Please understand that I do respect you, despite our previous...disputes."
"I also apologize, to all of you, for allowing the scope of our primary objective to overshadow the potential consequences of ignoring this Ettercap problem. Having taken a moment to reassess the situation, I now realize that the few hours we might save by ignoring it are not worth the potential danger these creatures could present to innocent bystanders in the future."
He sighs. "I have a tendency to become impatient and narrow-minded when my mind is set to a task. I will try not to let that cloud my judgment in the future."
After Sledge decides to approach Z or not, more fire will coalesce around her, before traveling along her body to her back where they form a pair of wings.
Which she stretches as if they were an actual part of her, "What do you think? Should I scout out the top of the tower?"
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"That would be quite helpful."
Darius is filled with the haunting melody, one of the most beautiful he's ever heard...but the feeling passes after a moment, and it's just music again.
After another minute or so you reach the entrance to the tower.
Long, taut strands of shimmering silk fill the ruined tower’s interior, forming an intricate pattern running from floor to ceiling. Half a dozen large cocoonlike shapes (vaguely humanoid in size) hang from the ceiling, suspended above the tower’s hard-packed dirt floor. In the far corner, between two larger chunks of rubble, a wide burrow opens into the ground.
Darius looks at the burrow slightly enraptured with the music. " This... is a very elaborate trap.. I can only guess what is down there. But the cocoons above can give me some clues. Zin circle around *grrrr* I've a feeling there is a welcoming committee in there.. or perhaps a queen? Though I am not sure Ettercaps have such a thing. " Darius's clawed had holding a bomb to toss into the Hole.
"Well, start checkin' for magic."
Sledge will not drink the Acute senses yet, and will instead shift it into his second wrist sheath.
"But first..."
Sledge, Jones, and Darius listen closely.
"Some of those people might still be alive."
"Im going to scout, be back in a minute."
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There are no windows, as the top of the tower is broken and jagged, open to the air. There is nothing inside.
A few moments after you enter the tower and start looking around, the harp music ceases.
The sound of a single creature breathing comes from the tunnel below.
Darius tosses a bomb blindly down the hole.
Based on the sound try to lob it so it goes as deep as possible down the hole.\
There come a screech from below as Darius hits the creature below wth a splash of fire.
Zin (22)
Creature (19)
Jones (18)
Darius (14)
Sledge (13)
The creature screams again, in pain and anger, and steps from under the overhang. It is enormous in size, resembling a huge maggot with a feminine form jutting from the top, melding humanoid and insectile features.
It's not sure who just burned it, so it picks one of the two visible.
Settling on the menacing wolfman as the primary threat to its safety.
It entangles Darius with a web cast from its fingers, and begins reeling him in.
"Hey Jones, got an Alchemists Fire on you? See if you can't burn those webs off Darius."
"Also, side note, what is this ugly b&$%@?"
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Jones Studies the creature, then moves in and stabs it in one of its...fleshier looking parts.
This is a Weaverworm, a Huge sized Aberration. They have webs and paralytic nails, in addition to their Song.
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With a shink, the Enlarge Person extract springs into Sledge's hand and he chugs it.
He then moves towards the worm thing.
Darius growls as he rips at the webbing with his claw and mouth then whips down at the Weaverworm. " Watch its claws! Unless you want to be a statue. "
His body swells with divine power.
Z turns to Jones, "Hey Jones, help me out here. At which point when whatever insane God was creating this thing, did they decide a rocking rack was a requirement?"
"I'm not saying I feel threatened, I'm just saying the competition is a little fiercer than it probably has any right to be."
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