...Meanwhile the spider-elf abomination floating over the chasm drops the strands connecting it to Dingus and twists its elf part to face Kaul...
Dingus writhes in the webs hoping someone might try to cut him out before he has to light himself up. Corlisses call down another bolt to strike the large spider body clear of Kaul. It hits, but strangely, the magic disipates without causing any apparent harm.
"Hold still, mate." Jim draws his kukri and slashes at the webs cocooning the sorcerer.
Wrapped in silk and hanging by his claw, Kaul leers a grin and tries a swing at the carapace;
Jim begins slashing at the webbing covering Dingus and nearly frees him. Dangling from the Claw, Kaul swings Lopper with his free hand. It his though his entangles condition prevents getting enough arc on the cut to really hurt.
The spiderwarped elf frees a heavy mace from her side and begins beating at the dangling thug.
Writhing escape attempt. Dingus tries to wriggle and undulate like a snake in order to escape the webbing.
And finds that his moving about coincides perfectly with Jims cuts leaving him free to move but with a fine cloak made from the webbing.
"Ha! Free at last!
He then looks at the webspinner. "I like Snakes... not spiders".
To Corliss, the drow-der's drawn mace looks more like a lightning rod. ZAP!
Dingus sheds the silky slip and repurposes it as a cloak. Corliss keeps directing lightning at the spider elf. The half-orc grappling her foils her dodge and the bolt hits again, but this time it leaves a charred spot in the carapace.
Jim sheathes his rapier and readies his bow.
Kaul takes his lumps with a mako grin;
"Hur. Nice tickle... Ye hit like a bug. Let Ol' Kauly show ye how its done!"
The brutal barnacle swings Lopper once again:
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Jim takes a more restrained approach to the floating foe and retrieves his seldom used bow and arrow. Meanwhile, Keelhaul makes like a barnacle and holds fast as he chortles taunts. Having had a taste of blood, Lopper seems to give a metallic keening sound as the binding strands part before the cruel edge. Kaul pulls himself up as he swings the weapon and it prunes the mace wielding arm off at the shoulder. Blood sprays from the socket as mace and arm plummet into the chasm!
The fleshwarped monstrosity groans and mutters a dark prayer as she struggles to rip the blood soaked orc from his hold. Perhaps the dark deity is listening or perhaps it is the slimy blood that has poured over the claw, but the "barnacle's" grip slips and Kaul plummets after the falling arm!
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"Wait! Kaul! You don't know how to fly! Did you forget!"
Dingus quickly reacts and sends out an invisible snakeskin parachute to arrest his plummeting friend.
"Don't fight it! It's me. I'll grab you when you get back to a safe place... and no flying".
Kaul jerks to a stop as Dingus' spell hits him midair. As he hovers, he glances down and see that he was caught just in time as the chasm is only about 50 feet deep. A narrow stream winds its way across the rough floor of the rift.
"Hey, b!tch! Over here!" Jim sends a pair of arrows at the wounded elf-der.
Kaul braces for an impact that never comes, instead he floats gently like a rotten leaf on an ill wind...
Grinning the brute gives a lobster clawed salute;
"Hur. Thank 'e matey! Saved Ol' Kauly from a few more bumps. Hur. Hur-hur."
The thug mulls the situation;
"Ye could pop me downward Ding, then try an' send the spidelf plummetin' to me? Me an' Lopps'll do the rest!"
Corliss breathes a sigh of relief as Dingus saves Kaul from a messy fate. Then he resumes his lightning show.
The bleeding abomination turns its attention back to the other side of the rift as arrows fly past and a lightning bolt dissipates upon impact. The sigil scar on the white-haired spiderelf's forehead glows purple as she focuses on the hand hanging from Dingus' neck that radiates brilliant light. The monster appears dazed by her grievous wounds though and is unable to dispel the light.
Dingus sends a couple of Vapor Vipers towards the teetering queen.
VV
"Down? Are you sure? Is there a grand treasure down there"?
Corliss moves to the edge of the chasm to make sure he doesn't accidentally zap the Besjeesus out of Kaul; then he calls more lightning.
Dingus leaves Kaul to hang a moment as he focuses he sends to magic missiles at the bleeding elfder. The Vapor Vipers vaporize on impact causing no harm as does the Corlisses lightning bolt. The weird creature seems to have some sort of innate resistance against most spells.
Jim shakes his hand around a couple of times to loosen it up before he shoots again.
Jim finally hones in his aim and the mutated elf proves not resistant to arrows. The piercing wound proves more than the creature can take and its spider legs convulse inward while the elf body sags and the levitating mass begins to drift downward like a leaky balloon, slowly at first and then faster as it plummets toward Kaul!
A floating Kaul mugs a grin and attempts to line up a chop at the falling arachnelf.
[
Seemingly made for the skies Kaul steadies himself as he floats and measures up a slicing chop...
"Here, mate, I think she's already dead. Give us a second to loot the bodies up here, hey?"
"Might wanna loot Lady Eight-Legs, Kaulie" Corliss calls to the half-orc. "Or see iff'n she's got a stash down in yon chasm."
Hanging in midair, Kaul times his swing perfectly and just before he's pounded into the ground by the falling corpse, the heavy axe bites and spins Kaul away enough to avoid the impact if not the wave of goo that sprays from the burst abdomen of the monstrous spider body.
Dingus directs him to the ground where he can take a look around. He finds the heavy mace still held in the severed arm's grasp and a gold ring with three gems on a grasping finger. Looking around a bit, Kaul spots a few suspicious stray strands of silk on the cliff side. Further inspection reveals a false wall of silk and rock dust with bags of coins and a dozen spindle gems scattered about the hole inside.
Soaked in slimy viscera, Kaul seems in his element as he picks o'er the corpse of the spidelf and her treasure nest.
The brute bosun waves waves the severed arm in his claw with a hacksaw laugh;
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"Well come along you. I'm assuming you have a rope"?
Dingus levitation should still be in effect as he uses it to descend beside Kaul taking care to use the anchoring rod to keep him away from the worst of the mess.
Kaul shoots Dingus a furrowed scowl;
"Hur. No rope... See... Ain't you got any rope trick spells or the like? Seen a couple of them street fakirs performin' it like."
Jim scavenges the dead elves or at least the two that aren't mostly digested by Gom by now. The elves were armed with standard chain shirts, finely made elven recurve bows that have a strong pull (masterwork strength 14 longbows), and rapiers (mw). Their pouches hold a total of 23 ancient silver coins and two vials of clear liquid.
The Taldan grins. "I was thinking about getting a bow like these, and now we've got two."
Corliss examines one of the strange bows, certain that he'd be as awful at wielding it as he is with a rapier in hand...actually, probably worse. "Anything magical?" he asks Dingus. In a slightly apologetic tone, the priest adds, "Dingus detects for magic; I make sure we've always got fresh water near at hand."
Corliss calls down to Dingus who is perched on his anchor rod above Kaul who seems to be wondering who's going to give him a lift.
Jim digs around in his pack, finally coming up with a coil of silk rope. "How far down are you, mate? I've got fifty feet of rope here."
Jim's rope is just about the right length and the cliff walls rough enough that Kaul easily climbs out. Once everyone is out of the chasm, Dingus conducts a magic detection. In the light, you all can see that the gold ring is set with a blue, a green, and a red stone. It is magical. Also, one of the spindle gems from the cache detects as magical. They are all a translucent light blue-green color, but the magical one has an iridescent sheen to it.
Otherwise the weapons are all very finely made, but not magical.
"Well that beautiful ring is magical... and I'll be happy to accessorize with it. and so is that spindle gem".
Dingus holds the ring up to the lantern light to see if he can decipher any further details about it.
"So Kaul. How did you like flying"?
Kaul grins and shakes his noggin.
"Nah mate. Ain't one fir the air... Let the wee stinker Dibbs be the floatin' on wind con-nah-sewer. Give me bloody cobbles or red chummed waves... Hur."
Dingus looks closely at the silver ring, finely etched and set with emeralds. He thinks the etching might be Elven script. It radiates a strong conjuration magic. The iridescent gem has a trickier aura, but Dingus thinks it is strong transmutation.
"Corliss, I think we're all a mite the worse for wear. Got some healing 'fore we move on?"
"Aye," the Besmaran replies to Jim. Gathering the others close, Corliss uses his first positive energy channel of the day before giving the group the once-over to decide if extra healing is required.
Corliss calls on the Pirate Queen for some healing while Jim ponders whether going deeper into the underrealm is really such a great idea. Gom shuffles up making kind of nasty slurping sounds and seems to focus his line of oyster-like cap eyes on Dingus as the sorcerer admires the ring.
Jim squats down to put himself closer to eye level with the friendly fungoid. "Is that the ring that your friend asked us to get back? I guess that'd make the spider lady Inexora, hey?"
The fungal friendly points to the ring with an appendage and makes a looping motion. "Gom."
Dingus shrugs and hands the ring over. “This one is kind of plain for my tastes anyway”.
Gom extends a thin mycellium finger to accept the ring and spins it in the loop shape while mumbling something that sounds almost Elvish punctuated with goms.
A circular portal wreathed in glowing green leaves appears in mid-air. On the other side is a bright chamber of shining white marble .