Since Lhienne can slip past everybody shall she take front, or are we leaving Unchained as forward?
Zukhan and Lhienne, being the most limber of the group, lead the way into the narrow cleft in the ivory rock, followed by the Unchained, Iliberos and Brother Theo. The inside of the rock tunnel has an almost coral-like texture, with plenty of easy hand-holds.
With Brother Theodor beginning his descent, Djal turns to climb after him- only to feel the slap of sharp fingers against his waist! A trio of spider-eye goblins attempt to grab him from the darkness, but the troubadour dodges into the tunnel behind Brother Theo! The goblins screech and clamber after him, their call answered by what sounds like at least ten more voices back in the Chasm!
Zukhan and Lhienne clamber down the tunnel and drop into an odd stone chamber. What could once have been called finery has been placed haphazardly throughout the chamber. Chaos is the dominating element of design, with soiled, hacked and bloodstained tapestries draped across the floor and walls. Shattered pieces of stolen goods and furniture looted from caravans and travelers are haphazardly shoved into niches or stuck into cracks in the walls.
In the center of the room, sitting so still that you first mistook him for a statue, an oversized spider-eye goblin sits with arms crossed. He rises to his full height- as big as a dwarf and nearly as burly. When he unfurls his arms, you realize that he has two extra sets of limbs- eight in all- like the fallen titan Spiragos!
He inhales with a snort and unleashes a roar that shakes the room!
Combat Initiatives!
Zukhan- 13
Spider-eye Champion- 12
Lhienne- 11
Spider-eye Goblins- 11
Djal- 10
The Unchained- 10
Brother Theo- 9
Iliberos- 8
Zukhan and Lhienne are in the chamber with the Spider-eye Champion, The Unchained is about to drop in.
Djal is at the top of the tunnel, with spider-eye goblins massing behind him trying to drag him out. Brother Theo is in front of him moving toward the Champion with Iliberos in the very middle in the tunnel.
Zukhan gets first move, followed by the Champion.
"Uuuh, folks. We've got a big one down here!" Zukhan places his Hunter's Mark on the Champion with his bonus action and takes a shot with his short bow while strafing to his right.
Zukhan's arrow strikes true, piercing one of the Champion's shoulders. With a howl, he leaps at the Asaathi and claws at him with his eight arms!
The ranger tries to dodge around the Champion's claws, but there are just too many of them! Taking advantage of his overwhelming number of arms, the champion brutally slashes Zukhan and draws a gout of snake man blood. Teeth bared, the spider-eye goblin tries to bite the ranger but Zukhan fends him off for now.
Back at the mouth of the tunnel, a pair of scrawny goblin arms attempt to drag Djal back out into the open!
But the bard swats them away with ease in the narrow opening.
The Unchained moves to attack the spider-eye champion.
Lhienne thrusts with her blade before moving out away from the ladder.
then cunning action disengage to move further around the room.
"Ack! Watch out for that third hand, those claws are sharp!"
DC=10
Iliberos fires his bow at the creatures that have swarmed Djal and the way out.
Longbow Attack
Longbow Damage
His shot skips off of the ceiling and clatters uselessly to the floor.
Lhienne makes a running attack at the Champion, but the Spider-eye goblin is quite nimble himself and dodges out of the way. Djal stabs his attacker, his rapier being a perfect weapon for the narrow confines. With a headsman's swing, The Unchained deals a mighty blow to the Champion, sending the eight-armed freak reeling! Iliberos' aim is spoiled by the narrow tunnel, his arrow clattering against the rocks.
Brother Theodor calls upon the Redeemer's sacred flame, sending a divine fire to burn Djal's assailant!
The spider-eye goblin yelps as he is lightly singed!
Zukhan drops his bow to the ground with a clatter and draws his scimitar. The Asaatthi pushes forward at the eight armed creature, spinning and slashing his blades to push the advantage in the after effects of The Unchained's blow.
Harried by the Champion, Zukhan slashes the monstrously large spider-eye goblin with his blade. A gout of green blood sprays the already filthy tapestries as the eight-armed Titanspawn staggers. For a second, you think maybe it's too stubborn to die, but the thing finally bellows its last warcry and topples over with its eight arms curling up and twitching.
The spider-eye goblins at the top of the "ladder" are silent for a moment before releasing a mournful wail that echoes through the Chasm, retreating into the darkness.
"All sorts of these things. At least this one wasn't riding a spider." Zukhan gives the titans spawns corpse a prod with his toe.
Looking around the room: "Do you think all of this stuff was it's treasure? Maybe the little ones were paying it tribute or something."
Zukhan will start looking through the various stuff crammed into the cracks in the walls.
Renewing his light spell, Brother Theodor helps Zukhan search the various nooks and crannies, using the light on his spear tip to pinpoint areas of darkness and shadow.
While a thorough investigation of the soiled finery in the chamber turns up nothing of value, Zukhan does find that one of the tapestries conceals another tunnel through a similar ivory-colored and coral-like stone. After making certain no traps or surprises await you, the party descends to find what looks like a throne room/treasure room.
Haphazard piles of gold, fine cutlery, jewelry and other bits of treasure likely taken from travelers through the March are piled throughout the room around an ornate mahogany chair. In the chair sits a mummified female spider-eye goblin, her two lower arms at rest on the chair while her two upper arms reach above her head, secured by strands of spider silk.
In one hand she holds aloft a shortsword with a serrated blade made of an odd blackened metal. The pommel is tarnished silver, resembling a stylized twisting spider.
On her other upraised hand, the mummified spider-eye goblin wears a black band shaped like a spider, four of its legs extending on either side and encircling the mummy's finger. The eight eyes of the spider are tiny emeralds.
The asaatthi picks up the short sword and gives it a closer look. "Ah, I wonder if any of these are the same as the items drawn on our map? They don't look exactly the same, but.. artist's interpretation maybe?"
The Unchained cleans his sword, while keeping an eye out for threats.
Theodor take a look at the ring the mummy was wearing, keeping it close so it will benefit from Djal's detect magic spell
Iliberos will also cast a spell to detect magic in the trove, "A truly amazing find in a place of such filth and darkness.
Who knows how many such hidden places there will be down here..."
Djal can see that both the shortsword and the ring are the only magical things in the chamber.
From what little he knows of spider-eye goblins (and his great breadth of knowledge of funerary rites) this was likely the matron of the clan that gave birth to the eight armed champion in the other room. Since she was blessed with a child similar to Spiragos, the Titan they worship, the goblins may have incorporated ancestor worship into their belief system- the shortsword and ring being the other focus of their worship.
"I think this is probably the most defensible room we are likely to find in this place. Should we set up camp here?"
"Any of you learned types know what they do then? Much as I don't like all the spider motifs, I'm practical and will put anything to good use."
"If spend some time down here, we can look at them a little more closely. We should be able to figure out what they do eventually."
"Sounds good to me...now who is in need of my services!"
Brother Theodor begins to unpack his healing kit and ready to use it on whoever is in need.
Moving over to Djal, Brother Theo takes out his various bandages and splints and goes to work on the man's injuries.
Healing:
Moving over to Djal, Brother Theo takes out his various bandages and splints and goes to work on the man's injuries.
Healing: 1d6+4+2
Among the purloined supplies and treasures, Iliberos finds a satchel with fine inks and materials suited for scribing spells into his spellbook.
It's a creepy evening or day spent in the depths of Chasm, literally silent as a tomb after your assault on the spider-eye goblins' fastness. With some time spent with the artifacts, you get a sense of what each is capable of.
You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls for attacks you make with this magic weapon; despite being the size of a typical shortsword, it can be wielded without penalty by anyone proficient with either a shortsword or a dagger. If you apply poison to the weapon, that poison's saving throw DC increases by 2.
Once per day, you can use a bonus action to cause thick, black poison to coat the blade. The poison remains for 1 minute or until you hit a creature with the poisoned weapon. When you hit a creature with the poisoned weapon, the target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target becomes poisoned for 1 minute and takes 11 (2d10) poison damage.
You must be a druid, sorcerer or warlock to become attuned to this ring.
If you are a druid, then starting at 5th level, you can use your wild shape feature to transform into a giant spider.
If you are a druid, sorcerer or warlock, while you wear this ring you gain the following:
Spells You add bestow curse, spider climb, and web to the list of spells you know or have prepared.
Spider Friend Three times per day, you can cast the charm monster spell (save DC 13) without using any components. This spell targets only spiders, whether the normal or of the giant variety, and monsters that are spider-like in nature.
Virulence Whenever you cast a spell that deals poison damage or imposes the poisoned condition, the saving throw DC of that spell increases by 1, if applicable.
Web Walker You ignore movement restrictions caused by webbing.
After you've rested, each of you feels more confident and more resilient after your trials in the Chasm of Flies. It was difficult and dangerous, but you're stronger for the experience.
The Unchained flexes his muscles, "I feel stronger."
Lhienne looks up at the unchained with a sparkle in her eye. [b]"I've learned some new tricks."[/i]
"I...think I can ask my god for more help!!"
The Chasm is silent as a tomb as you begin climbing up the boulder pile back toward the light of day, your every move echoing off the metal walls of the Chasm depths.
It's only after reaching the apex of the boulder pile that the nagging question of the Gauntlet's whereabouts finally falls into place. The iron walls, the two columns of ivory stone, five tunnels and a stone/coral channel through the largest....
You're in the Gauntlet of Spiragos, along with the fallen Titan's severed hand.
"Is there a market for titan bone?" Lhienne wonders, perhaps they could chip some off?
Zukhan can definitely use the shortsword/ dagger in place of his scimitar, but if Lhienne is going to be in melee, she could keep it.
I don't think any of us can use the ring, right?