Kalem: Tumble through occupied space to attack spider, DC 12,
Bashiel: Attack spider in direction of Varor
Gregor: Attempt to 5' step up and attack spider.
Ilsa: Move up and look around
Varor (prone): Stand up.
Quinn:
Brin:
Kalem attempts to tumble past the spiders but their unnaturally long limbs manage to prevent him from advancing, one of their sets of fangs sinking into the leather of the tiefling's boot. It's a pyrrhic victory for the spider as Kalem's hammer comes down and annihilates it.
Bashiel moves up into the gore splattered space at the bottom of the stairs and swings at the spider attack Varor. His mace connects with devastating results adding to the pile of giant insect gore spilling onto the deck around you.
Gregor sees the immediate threat to Varor is dealt with and stabs at the spider near him and Kalem, but the blade is deflected entirely by the creature's carapace.
A respite bought by his colleagues, Varor stands up and orients himself with only the barest of shudders.
Above on deck, Ilsa and Quinn observe and consider what to do next while Brin continues to search the Fishery.
As Ilsa looks around, she sees a multitude of armored legs reaching out from under the door... a pair of the drain spiders come squeezing their way through the holes in the rotting door.
Back down in the hold, the last of the spiders turns towards Bashiel and sinks its fangs deep into his ankle, pumping additional venom into the man.
Begin Round 4
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The dark forms claw at the edges of her consciousness, but Ilsa continues moving toward the sound of battle.
Suddenly, one of the shadows takes a definitive shape, that of a monstrous spider.
This one seems so real! Could my new companions see this one, or just me!?
Her gaze locks onto the shadowy spider, and she is suddenly filled with steely determination. Her stare penetrates the creature. Whatever is in her eyes would cause even the mighty to hesitate.
She raises the sap she had acquired from the shop and drops it, heavily, on the spider trying to squeeze through the hold.
Though her blow is solid, when the sap lands, the creature feels some of the anguish the young woman carries, causing it additional damage.
With one last bit of built up rage, Kalem swung his hammer at the nearest spider. As he does so, his hammer erupts one last time in flames.
As the flames died away, he was left panting heavily. Slumped over, with both hands gripping his hammer, he tiredly wrenched it out of the ground.
Bashiel kicks and shakes his leg, knocking the last remaining spider free. He grits his teeth at the burning sensation running up his leg.
Feeling the sudden onset of weakness, Bashiel mutters "Damn, they're venomous. I'll count on your three to finish this one."
He backs away 5ft from the remaining spider and expertly prods the veins along his leg, forcing the spider's venom back out the wound it came in by.
Blood, muddled slightly by the black venom, seeps out of the puncture wounds left behind by the spider.
Round four.
Brin examines the locked door and see if either of those keys I found work. And if nether of them work I will go check on the rest of the group going around the side of the building. Whistling like there is not a care in the world.
"Stay back if you need to Bashiel, we'll cover you." He shouts out.
Then slashes out at the spider again, attempting to put it down.
Brin Rounds 2-3 gathering up gear (whatever's fair) from both places. then checking the keyhole on the first floor room we didn't go into because I found 2 keys.
A wooden desk sits in one corner of this room, its side preventing the western door from opening all the way. The table is heaped with dozens of slate boards covered with chalk scrawls, while to the east a cabinet slouches against the wall.
The slates on the table are covered with transaction records, addresses of customers, and other accounting notes. Otherwise, the room appears empty.
Kalem: Attacks
Bashiel: 5' step back and Heal Check
Brin: Search
Gregor:
Quinn: Pending
Varor: Pending
Quinlan steps up to the last spider he can see and strikes at it with his rapier.
... but sadly, he's no fighter and his attack is both weak, and badly aimed.
Round 4
Brin searches this room for anything of interst. with cookie helping.
"Cookie!, Help me with this stuff...."
[dice=Perception "cookie"]1d20 + 7[/dice]
Try as they might, Brin and cookie are unable to turn up anything more than the slates on the desk. They could constitute some sort of evidence, perhaps, depending on their content.
Ilsa swings wildly as the spiders emerge from the doorway, missing with her first strike but summoning her latent powers manages to destroy one of the beasts on her second blow. Quinn tries dispatch the other but misses.
In the hold, Kalem slays the last of the spiders there while Bashiel withdraws to tend to his throbbing wound, already turning green from the spider's venom.
[ooc]Hit. 1 pt damage and another Fort save[/dice]
The last spider lunges again at Ilsa, digging a fang into her thigh as it dodges Quinn's strike.
Begin Round 5; just one spider left on upper deck; leaving map as is for now
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Ilsa cries out in pain as the spider's poison courses through her veins. Feeling a little dizzy but determined, she raises her sap once more.
She stares at the spider and wishes she had more help here with her.
Abruptly, behind the spider appears an image of Ilsa, but this one is something out of a nightmare, with glowing black eyes and filthy claws. It draws the spider's attention for for a moment, then Ilsa brings her sap down again in a sickening thud.
Bashiel heaves a sigh as he starts to feel the poison receding. "After falling through the deck, that could have been a lot worse. Thanks for coming in after me. I might've been in trouble if you didn't" He gives a grateful nod to Kalem, Gregor and Varor. "Sounds like something going on up top too."
He eyes the hole in the deck that he came in by, then shakes his head. Probably won't be able to climb up that way in my present state.
Instead, Bashiel heads for the stairs and ascends. He checks the stairs for any traps as he does so.
Ilsa swings her sap, managing to connect with the last of the spiders, and sends it careening off the side of the decrypt trawler and into the black waters of the Jeggare.
Bashiel ascends the stairs, finding no traps. The stairs ascend into a shuttered cabin at the aft of the ship. Spider webs hang thick in the room but seem to be relatively clear between the doorway and the top of the stairs.
Belatedly Kalem follows up the stairs, wiping sweat off of his brow as he does so. He had gone all out in the last few fights and it had taken much out of him.
Quinlan kneels by Ilsa's side when she falls, checking her for signs of life.
but for all his book learning, he is relatively clueless where such things are concerned, and fears she is dead... "Oh no! someone help please! I'm no healer... but I think we've lost Ilsa!"
When she wakes up, he's shocked... "Oh, hello... I thought we'd lost you! How do you feel? You don't look so well. Do you feel up to getting to your feet? If you do, let me at least help you do that much. You were quite brave killing that spider... you sent it right into the briny deep of the harbor." He stands and offers Ilsa his hand to help her up.
Gregor is hesitant as the group collects himself. "The kid said Lamm goes this way? How with these damned spiders..." He looks at Ilsa the poison affecting her greatly. "You did good, hold back if you need to but that kid couldnt have lied to us maybe theres a hidden hatch?"
Pain pulses through Varor's head as he tries to take stock of the situation. There doesn't appear to be any more danger around but outside of that he can't make any observations, it's too hard to think.
Clutching the symbol of Sarenrae hanging around his neck, Varor brings his right, hand still clutching his sword, to his head to heal it...
...As the magic moves through his body traveling up his arm it eases the pain of the spider bites as it reaches its destination fixing the torn flesh on his head and resetting the layer of skin. The only sign visible that remains of any injury is the noticeable blood atop his head.
Let me know when I catch up going around.
Brin looks around the totally messed up group after their fight with the spiders, and crashing through the deck. "Did I miss anything?" Brin shrugged sheepishly.
Brin will then pull out the loot and ask if anyone needs anything. and I will show Bashel the notes on the operation and see if there is anything in the notes about the lost kids we are searching for.
I wish to keep the wand however.
Bashiel makes his way out onto the deck in a rush as Quinlan's panicked plea for help reaches him. Busting out the door, he sees an awoken Ilsa and Quinlan calming down, and and his building concern completely dissipates.
"Ilsa, you killed two spiders yourself? I thought you said you ran a shop?" Bashiel eyes the spider juices staining her sap and then smiles. "It looks like you've handled yourselves well up here." And here I was worried I'd have to babysit the girl.
Turning around now that it seems the danger is past, Bashiel checks the rest of the group. "Varor, you're looking much better." He gives the elf a boisterous clap on the back as he arrives. Those were prayers to Sarenrae I heard. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that he's a cleric of hers.
When Gregor speaks, Bashiel responds "I agree Gregor, seems strange that Lamm would go this way. There's not much more down there than the spiders and their webs as far as I saw. No obvious exits or ways further down into the hold. But I doubt that kid would just lie to us. There must be something we missed. I'll join you in your search as soon as we have everyone together."
When Brin arrives, Bashiel waves him over with a tight smile. "Just a swarm of venomous spiders. But they've been dealt with." Bashiel looks through the slates that Brin brought and tries to see if there is any further detail on them about Ilsa and Gregor's kids, or if there are any hints as to where access to the rest of Lamm's base may lie.
Kalem walked over to Ilsa and slapped her on the shoulder with a sweaty hand. He mumbled "Good job, kid." He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. " is that we've all caught our breath, let's get this show on the road. I hope Lamm didn't use this as an opportunity to escape.
With the chaos of combat behind them and a few moments to collect themselves, the group takes stock of their injuries and begins to look for clues as to Gaedren's whereabouts. Convinced there must be something more to the Kraken's Folly than meets the eye, Gregor turns his keen eye to the cargo hold of the old trawler.
The hold smells of mildew and rot. Several barrels, crates and other containers lie stacked here and there while dust and grime cover much of the floor except where river water has collected in puddles (or is seeping in through cracks created by the recent fight).
On the port side of the hull, near the bow of the vessel, between two piles of crates, Gregor spots something curious. Wood worn smooth as if rubbing against something.
He finds a hidden door built into the ship's hull. After inspecting it for traps, he opens the door and finds on the other side an underpier.
A narrow space exists under the fishery, without about three feet of room between the floor of the eastern side of the building and the languid, foamy river water below. Wooden likings support the building, and thick mats of moss and cobwebs hang from ropes and rusted chains between them. A wooden walkway floats on the river's surface, winding along the inner wall of pilings that support the buildings frame above. The walkway leads from the sodden ship to the east all the way to the west to a small two-and-a-half foot square door that leads into an underground structure below the fishery's land-bound half. The pilings below this understructure are densely arrayed, leaving only narrow gaps into the water below that area.
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"Thank you," Ilsa says in response to Bashiel and Kalem. "I am a shop girl...there are spiders to kill in shops. Only generally not that big. But beginner's luck and all that, right?"
Still feeling the effects of the poison, Ilsa leans against the ship as the others search it and find the secret door.
"How did he get past the spiders?" Ilsa wonders. "He must have had some trick."
As they look into the darkened area below the dock and fishery, Ilsa holds her glowing stone aloft.
"Am I the only one who sees the waters moving, or do the rest of you see that, too?"
"I see it, but I'm not too familiar with how water moves... just never paid that much attention to it before, but even being a bit ignorant of such things, that doesn't look natural to me... maybe like there's something big moving the opposite way from the current down there. Any idea what it might be?"
As Bashiel heads back into the hold after Gregor he responds "Ilsa, beginners luck doesn't work for something like this. When I've seen untrained people thrust into a life or death fight, more often than not they either run or completely freeze up. You killing not one but two of those spiders makes me think that you have a gift for this." Or, you're not what you claim to be...
When Gregor locates the secret door, Bashiel whistles "And you have a knack for these things. I didn't even spot what you did to open it."
Bashiel peers out across the water and nods in agreement with Quinlan and Ilsa "Something big. It might not be a problem if we can keep out of the water. But if there are any traps or the floating walkway gives out... well, we'll have to be careful with our steps." Bashiel's brow furrows as he examines the walkway more carefully. "More importantly, this can't be the only way in or out for Lamm and his men. Not just the spiders... think about the tide rising and falling with this walkway here. At times you'd have to crouch or crawl across this path. And the doorway over on the far side is a real squeeze for larger rats like Lamm."
"I'm not liking what I see. Lamm probably has another, easier way in through a tunnel. Maybe through one of the other houses or warehouses around. And he's heard us upstairs so he knows we're coming. We can only hope that because of how few of us there are he might think he can stay and fight."
Brin walks over to where the other two are at on the top deck while they are looking at the water. Claping both of them on the back he goes below. noticing the spiders, "Good job lads, lady, glad I wasn't around ;I hate spider's." Whistling a jolly tune along the way.
"I knew that kid wouldn't lie, something had to be here. But I've no idea how they would get past these damn spiders." He says looking through the secret door attempting to get a better look before stepping through. "You think there's something in the water? Could it just be a passing ship?" He looks back up as Bashiel, then back thought to the dock. "I'll go first, we need to push on Tom is down here. It seems like quite a squeeze for you lot." Gregor step carefully onto the secret dock looking about for anything hidden and keeping a close eye on the water.
Sheathing his saber Varor moves to follow Gregor. As he's going he thinks about Varor, the closest thing to a father he ever had, and wonders how he would have dealt with the situation. But the answer comes as quickly as the question itself, swift, brutal, murder. And as he thinks that he begins to wonder if he should be handling the situation the same way, with everything considered there is little doubt that Gaedren will not accept any help that he is offered.
Still, he has to try.
Doors lay before you, locked to your touch.
Bashiel inspects the walkway as he follows after Gregor. With whatever is down there in the water, this would be a perfect place to leave a trap. He whispers "Careful..." half to himself and half as advice to those of his allies nearby.
If everything looks stable and there aren't any traps he detected, he'll follow Gregor all the way to the door. Once they're there, he'll stow his mace and take out his longsword again.
Bashiel and Gregor head out onto the planks. Gregor may be slightly hunched over while Bashiel is forced to crawl on hands and knees, the water occasionally lapping at his hands. In the underpier, the chains clink and clank softly in the wind, muffled by the moss. The water stirs, a slap of flesh against fluid, from the corner of your eye...a fin?
And then it slips back beneath the water.
Gregor arrives at the small door first.
Brin watches the others go through the secret door, he takes one look a the under planking and shakes his head. Not unless I have to. Brin stands at the entrance and gets ready the light crossbow he found.
@Ilsa He says "Its a little dark in there dear, why don't you stay here with me." noticing her obvious discomfort. Another woman wont die because of me.
Moving slowly over the boards, the cramped conditions making it all that much more intense.
He moves next to the door checking for traps listening to anyone beyond it and if it's locked.
Gregor inspects the door and listens through it but the lapping of the water and the knowledge that something large is swimming so near proves enough of a distraction that he's unable to hear anything. However, he detects no traps on the door but does believe it is locked.
Gregor wave her off as listens at the door, tension building in the group as the large thing below seems to swim closer. Pushing at the door he moves in slowly.
Looking around desperate to spot Tom or Lamm, his nerves get the best of him as he steps aside for everyone else to move into the room too.
Bashiel fishes out the key he pulled off the halfling guard in the first room. Leaning over Gregor's shoulder, he tries the key in the door's lock.
"Anyone else find any keys? If not, Gregor, we'll need you to pick this one." Hm, Its still locked... they didn't leave this way.
Kalem thought to himself, discontentedly, that if he wasn't so damned tired already he'd just kick the door in.