Not seeing much more she could do, Tialara launched another bullet at the back spider.
Krass and Harbug each kill a spider, then back up to give the others a chance to fire at the lone remaining critter. Tia's rock cracked into it as Shabbezz's spell fizzled, the rock opening a small gap in the crab spider's hard exoskeleton. The crab rushed in and scrambled up Harbug's already wounded leg, biting the orc once more. It landed on its back when Harbug jerked his leg, though it quickly righted itself.
Two more down!
Harbug takes [b]1 damage[/g] and must make a DC 14 Fort save or take another Str damage.
Initiatives:
harbug 4
krass 19
angelica 17
tialara 16
shabbezz 15
enemies 8
Krass steps up and swings at the head of one of the spiders.
Careful to remain ensconced behind the fighter, Shabbezz lets another acid dart fly.
Harbug winces at the bite as the poison sinks in, then slashes at the creature as he backs up from it.
;
Tialara concentrated and pointed at the creature attacking Harbug. Ice formed into an icy short sword and shot towards it.
The last of the crab spiders fell to magic and steel, leaving pieces of cracked chitin and viscous fluids on the floor. To the south, it is clear that the hallway ends after a half dozen cells.
Congratulations! 160 XP to everyone.
Krass immediately moves down the corridor and checks if the place is a mirror copy of the hallway to the north - cell doors and a dead end, with nothing of value behind the damned doors.
Harbug limps behind Krass with his falchion ready.
Krass and Harbug do indeed find that the southern hall is a replica of the northern one, with six cells along one wall and the hallway ending after the last one.
"Urgathoa's onions, fate really wants us to pay a visit to clicky legs.. can we handle 'it'? Or should we rest first? I'm feeling just fine, but some of you .." and the hobgoblin eyed the changeling and orc to finish his sentence.
Shabbezz, wiped the moisture off her brow and reajusted her backspack.
"I can keep going for a while longer, but a rest would allow me time to sleep and study my spellbook for the next leg of the journey."
Angelica returns with her usual cocky smirk "Hey big guy, don't worry about me, I ain't too proud to say when I'm not ready to go on. I still feel a little weak from the spiders that bit me earlier, but I have the energy to continue." With that she lifts an eyebrow, before adding what she wanted to say earlier, "Now, bear in mind that some of us are at our best right up in our enemy's face, and we need to open up our front a bit. Maybe lure the enemy out a little so we can better surround them. Ya know? Holding all those girls at the stairs was good, but if we're dealing with not as many, we can expand a little."
She turns to Harbug, "Or, we need to get you some type of armor or something like Krass has going on, because you keep stepping up unprotected. Now you hit hard, but seem to get hit a fair amount in return."
"I've heard there are some arcane ways to protect one's self from physical attacks, but I've never had the opportunity to learn about them... Maybe when we're next in town I can pick something up for that, and--for that matter--I've been wishing I had a damned longspear to attack things from behind you two, but for now I think we're stuck with what we've got." The orc responds. "Anyway, I don't think we need to rest quite yet. I have some healing spells ready that can take care of the bites on me and you, but the poison will take too long. Let's at least find the short king's 'Clickylegs' before we take a break."
"Alright, then it seems that we're still on the hunt. Which way should we go from here?"
"Back to the east and then south. All ready? Let's go."
Shabbezz follows behind the others as they backtrack and head down the opposite passage.
Backtracking, the webbing on the floors and walls gets thicker as you head south. By the time you have gone forty feet, the sheets of webbing all but obscure the passage. Wary of any signs of movement, you press on, wondering if the next step will reveal a large chitinous form. Finally, the hallway opens to a large room, with columns running down the center. There look to be side passages or chambers off the main room, but it would be difficult to tell without proceeding into the room.
Tialara closes her eyes and listens very carefully for any indication of things moving in the web.
"Maybe we should just burn out these webs..." Harbug mumbles as he swipes his path clear with his sword.
Angelica just nods, with a muttered "Sounds good to me."
"As long as we still have room to move and breathe, I say have at it," Shabbezz agrees, prodding at the webbing with the end of her staff. "Anyone have a flint and tinder on them, or better yet, a torch?"
"I've got a flint and steel." the Orc says as he rummages through his pack, "but all I have to light is candles, not torches."
"That should suffice, Harbug; spider webs tend to burn quickly. Let's light them up."
Angelica
Harbug
Krass
Shabezz
Tialara
enemies
A few strikes of the flint and steel, and Harbug's candle was burning. He tried to keep the wax from dripping on him as he held the candle up to the nearest web. The gossamer strands caught fire with a satisfying blaze, quickly burning out and filling the corridor with the stink of burning spider silk. The blazing webs continued to burn the last ten feet of the hallway, stopping as they got to the larger chamber. The glow of the burning webs dazzled everyone, but as the fires went out, you can see the large forms of fuzzy-legged spiders, each the size of a small pony in the room beyond.
Initiatives:
enemies 12 (already gone)
Krass 12
Angelica 8
Harbug 6
Shabezz 5
Tialara 5
The hobgoblin moves up and assumes a defensive position. He waits for the oversized spiders to come crashing into them..
Following Krass' lead, Harbug readies his falchion to serve as back up.
;
;
Tialara closes her eyes and taps into the innate magic of The Crow. Using the ambient mystical power, the Druid channels the energy she stored for one of her spells into summoning an ally from the Plane of Water. "Come, Child of Farrigath," she called. Mist started to coalesce just around the corner from Angelica.
Shabbezz exhales through her nostrils and steps forward as her companions move on ahead toward the spiders. At her current spell selection he could afford to add little to this battle other than support fire, but it was better than nothing.
Angelica is not eager to rush into a room filled with webbing, even less so when it still has spiders in it. Luckily, she may not need to, as the bugs will probably rush them like all the others, and they can deal with them at the doorway.
The fighters move forward in a defensive posture, ready to strike down any spider that gets too close. These spiders, though, know the bite of steel and stand back, firing thick, ropy strands of webbing at the lead fighters. Krass and Harbug both are engulfed in the sticky webbing, and struggle to break free. As they did, the mist rising from Tialara's spell coalesced into a small water elemental.
Krass and Harbug must both make a DC12 STR or Escape Artist check or be entangled
Initiatives:
enemies 12 (already gone)
Krass 12
Angelica 8
Harbug 6
Shabezz 5
Tialara 5
Imitating the mighty groans of the legendary hobgoblin warrior Ahnol Swazanegah, Krass focused all his might into avoiding and overcoming the sticky trap.
He then moved forward to slay the foul beasts that besieged him and his comrades.
Harbug struggles to break free from the webs, but they hold him fast. Grunting and growling he awkwardly shuffles his way to the spider that shot at him and takes a swing at it.
The water elemental moved forward and struck at the closest spider.
Tialara moved up to Harbug and slashed at the webs with her claws.
Angelica moves up to beside Krass, standing protectively near him much like he has done for her during most of their time in here. With her sword drawn she is ready to hit any one of the bastards that gets too close.
Shabbezz scuttles behind the hobgoblin as he attempts to break free of the web, as she waits for the spiders to come closer.
Krass tears his way through the webbing draped about him, raising his sword to threaten the nearest spider, which scuttled backward and hit the hobgoblin with another sheet of sticky webbing. Angelica, coming up to support Krass, was caught by another web from the second spider moving in. The water elemental let out a gurgling scream as it moved forward to attack, but the spider deftly evaded its clumsy blow. Meanwhile, Tialara helped Harbug free himself from the webbing around him, but his target was too nimble, and it too scooted away while trapping the orc in another layer of webbing.
Krass, Angelica, and Harbug must make a DC12 STR or Escape Artist check or be entangled, as a standard action. Web has 2 hit points and and AC of 3 (automatically hit if you take a full-round action).
Initiatives:
enemies 12 (already gone)
Krass 12
Angelica 8
Harbug 6
Shabezz 5
Tialara 5
"These things are starting to piss me off!", the hobgoblin screams as he wades forward and attacks a damned spider.
Angelica nimbly wriggles free of the sticky webbing, much like she used to do with small windows, a not so new experience for her considering her previous line of work. Irritated, she advances on the one by Harbug, hoping to block its escape somewhat.
While Tialara helped Harbug to get free of the web, Shabbezz realized she was the only one free enough to take a decent shot. Not wanting to piddle around with a cantrip before the spider attacked her or her companians, she quickly cast the best offense spell she knew at the moment.
Harbug struggles with the webbing around him, but the earlier spiders' venom has worked its damage--he fails to break free. "Damn these bugs! he cries in frustration.
Seeing the Orc struggle, the Druid once more slashed at the webbing.
Meanwhile, the Child of Farrigath moved forward took a swing at one of the spiders.
Angelica wriggled out of the webbing around her, easily maneuvering out of the sticky strands and into a position where she could support Harbug. Unfortunately, the orc was stuck fast, and not even Tialara's claws could get him out. While she was watching, Shabbezz's magical missiles ripped into the spider nearest, sending ichor dripping through crushed carapace. Angelica was so intent on that spider that she didn't see the one coming from the darkened room to the east until it was too late. She managed to pull away before the spider got too good of a hold on her, but the searing pain burning into her right leg told her that she had still been poisoned.
On the other side of the room, Krass thrashed and tore at the silky webs. He managed to break free and move in to attack, but his opponent faded away once more. Sticky sheets of webbing flew out and again ensnared the fighter. To his right, the water elemental smashed a spider to the floor. The arachnid quickly scuttled backwards, slinging a web to envelop the watery form.
Krass, Angelica, and the elemental must make a DC12 STR or Escape Artist check or be entangled, as a standard action. Web has 2 hit points and and AC of 3 (automatically hit if you take a full-round action).
Angelica needs to make a DC 14 Fort save or take Str damage.
Initiatives:
enemies 12 (already gone)
Krass 12
Angelica 8
Harbug 6
Shabezz 5
Tialara 5
Harbug slashes the last of the webbing holding him down.
Broken free from the web once more, Harbug steps forward and attempts to cleave the spider bewteen himself and Angelica in two.
"GRRRRAAHH! I hate these stupid bugs! Quit biting me!" Angelica releases her rapier, not expecting it to go too far in the sticky webbing. She lashes out with her claws, webbing be damned, as she is willing to suffer it to thrash with wild abandon at the bugs.