As Braggi rushs the beast he passes inside it's reach, the beast lashing out with a but missing wide as he sidesteps the lunge.
Braggi's strike cuts deep into the large spider-thing, hacking apart a leg and gouging deep into it's side, one not filled with normal squishy bits but tough and fibrous, like a rotting sapling or waterlogged mast from a sunken galley. In response the creature puffs out a billowy cloud of green and grey spores which momentarily cuts off vision before slowly drifting in the air, the particulates hovering slowly, not yet settling to the ground.
The spider reacts itself to the blow by rearing up and at the offending sailor, it's mandibles tearing feebly at his shoulder for
Initiative Order
First Group: Braggi, Larger Spider
Second Group: Filnefillan, Musami, Zokama, Smaller Spider
Though he seems to resist at first glance, the huge amount of poison in his organism finally takes its toll, debilitating the sailor but not before having left the spider literally open for his companions to finish.
While Braggi feels the strange spores clinging to his lungs and making breathing a coughing raspy endeavor it is the burning sensations firing across his nerves that alarms him , tightening his muscles and twitching at his extremities, making movement stiff and uncomfortable.
Musami wades into the green cloud.
He then swings his mace at the big spider.
Zokama shoots at the smaller spider.
Musami's mace glances off the strange spider at an angle, doing little more than dislodging a few bits of fungus and puffing more spores into the air.
Zokama's arrow finds a narrow gap in the smaller creature's shell, burying itself in the beast.
Filnefillan fires off a burst of which burst against the smaller spider as well, causing it to hiss in an annoying, high pitched manner, moving along it's webbing towards the tree line, gesticulating as it does so.
The smaller spider creature responds by releasing a spore cloud of it's own, the spores only different in that they seem to give off a faint bio-luminescent glow. The creature then warily dances from side to side on the webbed bushes it made for it's home.
Initiative Order
First Group: Braggi, Larger Spider
Second Group: Filnefillan, Musami, Zokama, Smaller Spider
Zokama shoots again at the smaller spider, hoping to remove one of the threats.
Braggi roars wildly, eyes rolled back, enraged by the feel of the poison inside him.
With the deadly venom debilitating his muscles, he still finds an opening to slash at the giant spider.
Braggi feels his lungs starting to burn from the strange pollens clogging his chest and embedding themselves into his tissues. He takes and becomes Fatigued.
Despite the pain in his chest and limbs Braggi hacks mightily into the body of the large spider, a cut feeling much like chopping wood rather than squashing a bug.
The spider in return, hissing like it's counterpart, strikes at the sailor with it's , , the fangs piercing his side for and injecting further venoms, his blood burning fiercely and an evil coldness flowing into the bite mark.
Elsewhere, a swarm of spiders somewhat the size of a meaty man's hand rush out of the webbing near to Zokama, focusing on and rushing the young bard. They begin to sting and web her, doing and forcing her to [occ]Fort Save vs Distraction DC 13 as well as an additional Fort Save vs Poison.[/ooc]
Initiative Order
First Group: Braggi, Larger Spider, Spider Swarm
Second Group: Filnefillan, Musami, Zokama, Smaller Spider
Pulling his mace back again he swings at the large spider.
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Musami smashes his mace into the large spider, finishing the death that Braggi started. With it's death however the cloud fails to dissipate, the wind and air still close and stale in this canopied clearing of such ancient and valuable hardwoods.
Zokama steps back from the swarm of strange spiders, creatures in miniature like unto the large and fallen beast, many still clinging to her and crawling about, their efforts somewhat lessened while separate of their larger enmasse. Her arrow misses the smaller spider, deflecting off it's curved abdomen, shipping away only a small cluster of fungal protrusions and adding a bit more spores to the thick fog of the place.
Filnefillan steps aside and flings a pair of mystic missiles at the smaller spider, catching it for , the projectiles smashing it near to it's many faceted eyes, angering it even further, and causing it to slip a bit from it's perch.
The smaller spider rushes forth from it's webbed nest and launches itself at Zokoma, spitting at her with it's , covering her it the sticky mass, a long trailing bundle leading back to her many legs, it's mandibles snapping eagerly in anticipation.
Initiative Order
First Group: Braggi (fatigued), Spider Swarm
Second Group: Filnefillan, Musami, Zokama, Smaller Spider
Being unable to rush to the remaining enemies due to the fatigue caused by the poison, Braggi slowly drags himself towards the small spider, then discharges a powerful blow...
Zokama is grappled and can't escape this turn.
The swarm of spiders loses interest in Zokama, covered as she is by the webs of their mother, and instead rush to swarm over Filnefillan, stinging, biting, and webbing the wayward wizard. The elf seems taken by surprise by the move, and ill-prepared to defend himself from the beasts, swatting and stamping at them ineffectually. The tiny beasts fail to notice as Braggi rushes their only remaining sire, killing her with his last blow, even as he momentarily exposes himself in her cloud of spores in the process.
Initiative Order
First Group: Braggi (fatigued), Spider Swarm
Second Group: Filnefillan (Nauseated/Grappled), Musami, Zokama (Grappled)
Musami charges the smaller spider and swings his hammer.
Zokama steps out of the web. She is tempted to cast spark to burn up some of the webs around her, but worries that it will endanger the trees. She thinks about summoning some of the spider's natural predators to have a feast, but isn't sure yet whether there are more large spiders in wait somewhere. So, she ends up just casting mage hand and starting to clear the web off the nearby bushes .
Filnefillan panics and drops himself to the forest floor, starting to roll back and forth trying to crush the spiders biting and feasting on his elven form.
Initiative Order
First Group: Braggi (fatigued), Spider Swarm
Second Group: Filnefillan (Nauseated/Grappled), Musami, Zokama
Braggi starts to feel the effects of the strange spores and venoms as he looks towards the mass of spiders engulfing Filnefillan, effects too strong to ignore. He pauses trying to decide what weapon he might have that could save the elven caster, coming up blank.
The swarm continues its engulfing of Fil, webs growing thicker as he begins to struggle less and less, the sounds of him retching and gagging beneath the living mass reaching out to his comrades as he lays crumpled and barely moving before them.
Initiative Order
First Group: Braggi (fatigued), Spider Swarm
Second Group: Filnefillan (Nauseated/Grappled), Musami, Zokama
Braggi can't find anything that he has that could help the poor Fil, short of setting him on fire. "He wouldn't take it too good, I guess."
Frustrated at not being able to help Fil, Zokama realizes that killing the swarm necessitates a risk to his life. Since it looks like he is going to die anyway if she does nothing, she pulls out a bead of force and throws it at Fil, hard.
She worries it might kill him, but if he survives, it should keep him safe until they can finish wiping out the spiders.
The blast knocks the prone elf aside, tossing his body much like a rag doll back up the trail away from Zokoma and the others. The swarm however, the few not currently a pasty white ooze on the exterior of the purplish globe, are trapped within the sphere and too few to ever be much of a threat or concern again.
Making your way around the magical barrier you find Filnefillan unconscious, mildly poisoned, covered in sticky webbing, stable and still alive.
Plans? Next actions?
Once combat - but not danger - is over, Braggi relaxes and feels all the weigh of the fatigue on him. He can barely move, and chooses a rock to sit while Zokama collects the ingredients needed and they can go back to the village. The day is wasted between the travelling, the fighting and the recovering, and Braggi can only hope tomorrow they are in good shape to go back to the moat. With their holy man disappeared, this might be quite costly if they want to rush the healing.
[ooc]Considering that Rage lasts for the combat, encounter, or until voluntarily ended, with Braggi already Fatigued and facing Exhaustion, I would not allow him to continue raging once the threat was eliminated, even if only to keep the Save Bonus active. Had he failed would he have continued raging until down or out of Rage Points? The Save was successful either way considering the bonus I allowed for only trace exposure to the second cloud, but I was curious if I was missing a bonus somewhere.
Zokama investigates the fungus to see if it is also affecting the trees, or where it could be coming from. With Fil hurt, she doesn't know if pursuing this further is wise, but she wants to make the effort to see if there is a way to solve the problem that is within their power.
She casts Unseen Servant to clean off the webbing from the grove while she investigates.
Zokoma finds a small, crude ceramic statuette of a humanoid looking toadstool within the larger nest, the one used by the bigger spider. The item was clutched in the skeletal hand of some kind of humanoid, too few bones remaining to give a definitive identification. The piece is cracked, but a central gemstone which had been fitted into the base is whole and intact, giving off a faint purplish glow and emitting a faint whiff of mold and mildew, though whether from itself or the filth glummed over the icon is difficult to determine.
Zokama takes the gem and compares it to the other purple gem that she picked up. She cleans it off with prestidigitation, hoping that it isn't the source of the contamination but perhaps was just used to power whatever it was. (Unless anything special/different is noted about it, she stores it in a bandolier pocket with the other one.)
She also removes the cracked statuette, looking at it with detect magic to make sure it is inert. She brings it with her to show the woodcutter, and if it isn't radiating any kind of magic she will then smash it to bits so it isn't easily repaired. (If it is, they will likely need to investigate further.)
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The gemstone is nearly identical to the previously found stone, similar size, cut, and clarity. It radiates in a manner consistent with the other stone, and once removed from the figurine only the stone continues to possess mystic qualities.
Okay, we find a safe place for Fil to recover and go to find the boar.
Does anyone want to attempt to search the area for tracks of other indicators of the boar, or follow the rough directions to where the boar's supposed den is located?
As they go closer to the area where the boar is supposed to be, Zokama keeps an eye out for signs of it.
Anyone else? Musami or Braggi?
Musami is no tracker. He will follow Zokama to where he was directed to look.
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"Uf... It hurts... Let me help you, but only a bit..."
The sailor tries to be attentive at any signs, though he has a difficult time focusing.
Zokama casts Cure Light Wounds on Braggi:
After nearly twenty minutes of trudging through the brush your small band finds tracks of recent rooting and rustling of a large animal, after a few minutes longer finding prints from a boar, and judging from the size and depth, roughly the size of a pony.
A short distance later you find a clearing heavily trampled and trafficked by the large beast. On the far side a dead-fall has built up with heavy brush, tumbled stones, and a hefty mass of overgrown foliage. A dark and hollow looking opening appears to the left of the mass, little larger than a chubby youth.
From a few feet back Musami will look into the dark opening.
Musami focuses on the darkness and feels the darkness looking back at him, imagining shadows and movement, dark things undreamt of, but is ultimately unable to determine fact from fiction. Whether this is from lingering effects of the spores, realization of how close Fil came to the end, or merely the stress of a long day the dwarf cannot decide...