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"CALLED IT!" shouts Brenna excitedly. "You stay away from my bard, you witch! Nobody writes ballads about saggy boobs and warts!"
(DC equal to 10 + the target’s Hit Dice + the target’s Wisdom modifier)
Lyres body reacted before his mind had caught up. When the woman transformed and Zoso yelled, Lyr had an arrow flying before he realized he'd drawn it.
Brenna brings the full force of her (considerable) personality on the hag in an attempt to intimidate as the arrows fly in. However, one arrow finds its mark particularly well. The hag yanks Lyr's arrow out of her, snarls at him, and then collapses face-first in the ground.
End of Combat
"Well, that's one way to do it," Brenna says with a chuckle. "Nice shot, Lyr."
Saphren moves up and regards the hag, asking Is she dead?
Saphren pokes the hag with his toe. The malformed, wobbly, very naked green lady snores loudly.
The rogue stands over the sleeping hag, falchion raised. He looks to the others in case someone thinks this creature does not deserve to die or might be of use alive before he strikes.
"Drow poison." Lyr said with a self-effacing shrug.
He retrieved his arrow, cleaned it up and put it back into it's slot in his quiver, pushing it up and down a few times like he was stabbing the arrowhead into something at the bottom of the quiver.
Saphren puts a quick end to the monster, and kicks her body into the swamp. Yu make your way to the hut that she was in and find an elven man. His clothing and possessions are in a pile on the floor and he lies naked on the floor, covered in claws and bite marks. He appears to be alive, and unconscious. You also find the hag's possessions.
- a wand of magic missile, caster level 3 (21 charges)
- a masterwork longsword
- a scroll of black tentacles
- 323 gp in various uncut gems
- 86 gp, 20 silver
Anyone recognize him?
"I guess he would probably be one of the soldiers, lured away by the hag, but... maybe someone back in the city will recognize him. Or does he have a uniform or something in his gear?"
Saphren says Gimme a moment before trying to wake him. He quickly goes through the man's gear for some clue to his identity and roll in this battle.
A quick look-over of the man's equipment shows the same equipment you've seen all over the elven army. Longbow, longsword, studded leather, shield, and helmet with a green tabard over top.
Looks like standard gear. Nothing here to tells much.
Wake him if you can.
Hi insignia looks like the elven equivalent to a private, and he appears to be quite young - as far as elves go.
You shake him and he starts to mumbling incoherently. His eyes are unfocused, it doesn't take much to realize that he's been drugged in some fashion.
You manage to get the poor soldier back on his feet after a good hour or so. Thankfully camp is not far from the edge of the swamp, and you send him on his way. He is very silent as the drugs wear off. Whatever he's had to endure, he'd prefer not to speak of it.
After a couple more hours of trailblazing, you manage to come around to the north side of Celwynvian, having avoided the worst of what is in the city. You cut right from the forest to the back of the alchemist's shop that appears to be the source of the drow alchemical weapons and poisons.
This laboratory was once a much larger structure but most of it has crumbled away. All that remains now is a dome. The dome appears to have only one visible entrance, but this approach is blocked by rubble and ponds of alchemical waste.
Happy t scout again? Saphren volunteers.
"Ready to back you up at a holler," says Brenna. "Now a good time for those antitoxins again?"
Brenna nods and ingests one of the antitoxins that she carried. "Ugh. Chalky."
The rogue drinks his antitoxin as well. Heading first east and then south around the larger structure Saphren pads off to investigate.
Saphren moves in a circle around the dome of the building to explore what's going on with the alchemical waste ponds in the south and the entrance. As he moves, he spots something perched on the walls of the ruin, and quickly hides before he is spotted.
The dry rasping of spidery legs brings this hideous monstrosity into view—a nightmarish, centaurian fusion of drow and spider.
This creature is a drider, a drow fused with a spider. They are the result of a horrific experiment with special poisons and elixirs. Driders are resistant to spells, immune to sleep, can use webbing, and are potent spellcasters.
The creature is perched around 10' above the ground on a bit of wall, scanning the city. Its back is to Saphren.
Well that is not good, whatever it is. Worth going back and reporting. Saphren backs out of the cover and heads back to the group. Once there he reports what he has seen and quietly describes the monstrosity as best he can. You are not gonna believe this...
"Sounds like it needs killin'," says Brenna pragmatically.
"A Drider. They are... magical experiments. Most of them do it to themselves. They think it brings them closer to their goddess. They are all spellcasters, and possess the usual abilities of both elves and spiders."
"Very dangerous. Their favored tactics are to catch foes in webbing, then attack them at distance with magic while on walls or ceilings away from the reach of swords."
"Uuuuuugh," says Brenna with a roll of her head to underscore her disgust. "Really? I have to climb up a wall to hit it with my axe? Guh. Might as well stick with the bow."
Lyr drank an antitoxin. "They are spellcasters. Expect defensive magic. Bows might be thwarted if we give it time to defend itself."
"If you cannot get close enough to engage, hold your shots until you see it begin to cast."
Shall I look on the other side as well? There might be more than one.
Staying close to the wall of the building Saphren stealths around in the cover of the brush and looks for more of these spider drow. He does not get far enough around the building to see the original enemy.
Saphren moves quieter than most, but not as quietly as he likes. As he moves up to the side of the ruined workshop, he hears a quick chanting from the southeast. Peeking around the corner, he sees the drider has vanished.
Without hesitation Saphren heads back to the others. Drider is gone. Likely we were spotted or heard. I heard some chanting from where it was. Might be invisible or something. Be ready. With that Saphren moves in the cover of the bushes and disappears.
"Any objections?"
(+2 in surprise)
The group head towards the wall, cautiously looking around for the drider. As they move up, suddenly it appears, hovering in mid-air above one of the walls, and it blasts the group with lightning! Saphren, hidden safely in the bushes, is well out of the way of the spell, but the rest of you are blasted.
Trig (-9)
Brenna (-19)
Zoso (-9)
Lyr (-19)
Saphren
---
Drider
Zoso does his best to inspire the group to attack while Saphren judges his next move.
Inspired by the bard Saphren makes his move. Keeping behind cover until the last moment the rogue pulls his bow as he closes the distance and fires.
Spread out I bet he can do that lightning thing again.
Brenna groans with frustration and rolls her head, then stows her shield and pulls out her bow.
Grimacing beneath the cloth covering his face, Lyr notched an arrow, but did not fire.
Trig flattens herself against the side of the building, out of line of sight, and starts casting a summoning spell.
The group quickly start trying to arrange a counterattack to the floating spellcaster, and Saphren throws a great sling bolt, that simply bounces off of the drider's tough exoskeleton. Rather than following up with a lightning spell, it casts once more...
And his arrow goes wide. Sticky webbing suddenly shoots out over the battlefield, attaching itself to trees and the building.
Brenna shouts, "I'm really getting annoyed!" as she struggles her way out of the web, then raises her bow and fires at the drider.