The swirling mist makes him jumpy, and limits his vision. But he swears he just saw something move on the rocky tor above them.
Moklik hisses and grabs the nearest other person. "Something moves above! Ware, we are not alone!"
Tupilek looks down at the smaller man grabbing his arm and nods. The mammoth rider hefts his large club and keeps his eyes peeled on their surroundings.
Moklik's warning is just in time. The mists part briefly to reveal the sickening sight of an enormous spider, the size of young deer and covered in short tufts of rough black hair, creeping down the rockface above. It twists its abdomen around, revealing red markings, and a spray of white liquid descends on Moklik, hardening instantly into a sticky web that restricts and binds his limbs.
Behind the first spider, a second, slightly smaller, emerges from a hidden crack in the rock. It tenses its many limbs and then springs, mandibles dripping poison as it leaps for Tupilek. The creature slams into the mammoth rider, and sinks its fangs into his shoulder. Tupilek feels the spreading cold of the poison immediately begin to seep into his blood.
Wheatbeard hears indistinct shouting from up above, but cannot make out what has caused the commotion. He straightens from examining the orcs, and hears the soft clatter of hard spider chitin on stone. Through the archway behind him appear two bloated, black hairy spiders, almost as large as him. One immediately runs up the wall of shaft towards the surface, legs moving in the obscene manner of its kind. The other inspects the dwarf-sized meal in front of it, its multiple eyes glittering in the light from above.
"Spiders... It just had to be Spiders..."
Caedmon Draws his axe and attacks the one that just climbed from the hole.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzm2DNZNJqxnQzFKdWdlcGt3LWs/edit?usp=sharin g
New and improved - now with co-ordinate system
Tupilek lashes out at the spider that just bit him.
Moklik nearly gags as the sticky webbing catches him. He hurls his spear at the nearest spider (S3), the draws another.
It was now clear from what the poison came. Alone in the pit, Wheatbeard had no choice but to defend himself against the beast; he didn't like his odds though.
Being away from the others, he bent the winds to his call, blowing at the eyes of his would-be assassin. Drawing his spear afterward, he hoped the creature would get impaled before he did...
Reacting without thought Bonewright lashes out with his staff.
The Bonewright, without time to prepare his magic, reacts instinctively, taking a few steps forward and lashing out with his strange, skull-tipped staff. Trailing a mystical vapour, the weapon swishes through the air, well over the top of the chittering spider.
Tupilek twists, the sting of the poison lestening, swinging his mighty bonewood club at the creature that bit him. He lands a firm blow on the soft part of its body, and there is an obscene squishing noise as it distorts.
Moklik, entangled in the sticky webbing, hurls a spear at the creature that had just emerged from the pit, but the missile barely makes it out of his hand, having stuck to the adhesive webbing. He draws another, with some struggle, from his belt.
Caedmon strides forward, his axe swinging and a look of disgust on his face. He too strikes at the one that had emerged from the pit, and his aim is true. A gout of green-black ichor spurts from the wounded spider, who squeaks in pain and annoyance, and turns to face its attacker.
Down in the pit, Wheatbeard calls on the powers with him, blowing hard until his spirit-enhanced breath buffets and knocks the spider around, as if a mighty gale had been summoned from nowhere. The unprepared spider slips and slides a few feet on the sandy surface, and Wheatbeard pulls his spear as the beast prepares to spring.
Asheru dreams.
Above Moklik, the spider remaining on the cliff again squirts forth a spray of webbing, this time aimed at Tupilek. The big mammoth-rider is covered in a sheen of sticky webstuff, limiting his movement and hampering his limbs.
Seeing its opportunity, the spider that Tupilek had wounded darts in for another bite, but even trapped in webbing, Tupilek dodges out of the way with a grunt.
Dribbling ichor from its wound, the furious spider lunges at Caedmon, but the hunter is canny, his movements smooth and practiced. The spider's mandibles close on empty air.
Below, the spider in the pit recovers from its buffetting, and leaps at Wheatbeard. The dwarf desperately swats it aside with the but-end of his spear, and it lands on the sand beside him.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzm2DNZNJqxncmJyRDVWdjJpUWs/edit?usp=sharin g
Asheru rushes to assist Tupilek in fending off the spider attacking him.
Surprised at his ability to skirmish with the spider, Wheatbeard continued their duel with a thrust of his spear. The venemous beasts were deadly, evidently, and he had no desire to let the thing's fangs near his skin.
Caedmon swings his axe again hoping to clear out the Spiders as soon as possible.
Moklik, entangled and feeling trapped, growls deep in his throat. He strains, trying to burst the web!
Tupilek tries to break free of the webs with a flex of his mighty thews.
Striking again, bonewright takes more careful aim.
Again, Bonewright swings his great staff - closer this time, but the heavy head still passes way above its target.
Tupilek flexes his body, straining with all his might against the sticky webbing that encases him. The webstuff cannot resist, splitting with a wet, rending sound as the mammoth-rider pulls himself free.
Inspired by his companion, Moklik attempts the same. Although he does not have the mass of the westerner, his feral might lends strength to his limbs, and he too pulls free of the mass of sticky webbing.
Caedmon swings his axe again, but the spider sees the danger this time, pressing itself flat against the ground, allowing the blow to go wide.
Wheatbeard, alone against his enemy, jabs at the spider with his spear. To his astonishment the blow connects, piercing the body and causing a gout of black ichor to splash onto the sand. The spider chitters in pain and its eyes glint evilly at the dwarf.
Asheru, finally realising that what he sees is actually happening, and not some phantasm of his mind, strides forward, his club ready. With a mighty swing, he brings it down on the head of the spider attacking Tupilek. There is a crunch of chitin, and the spider staggers briefly on its feet, before collapsing to the ground.
The spider on the cliff-face, seeing its webs ineffective, leaps from the rock, throwing itself at Moklik. Although the hunter dodges, the vermin lands next to him, and its fangs sink into his free arm. .
The spider clubbed to unconsciousness by Tupilek and Asheru does not move.
Caught between the staff of Bonewright and the axe of Caedmon, their spider twists and turns, before snapping a bite towards the hunter, which he easily avoids.
Wheatbeard's opponent lunges towards him again, poison dripping from its fangs in eagerness. The dwarf throws himself backwards to avoid the attack, and the fangs close inches from his face.
Moklik cries out in anger more than pain when the spider sinks its fangs into him. He stabs back at the beast with his spear, aiming for a vital spot. for damage.
The Bonewright thinks furiously, but there is no spell or trick in his repertoire that might turn the battle without risking his companions also becoming targets. Resolving to think of something should the situation occur again his hand falls to his pouches, then back to his staff.
Valor rising within him as he saw the task before him was not impossible, Wheatbeard pressed his advantage, hoping to impale the arachnid.
With one spider dispatched, Asheru wastes no time in attacking another.
Bonewright, seemingly having no tricks for this situation, again swings his mighty staff, and again can hit only air. The long, heavy staff seems clumsy in his hands.
Tupilek moves to assist Moklik, his bonewood club at the ready. With a mighty heave it brings it down on the spider crushing one of its legs and causing it to trill menacingly with pain.
Moklik screams, and feels the icy venom begin to foul his blood. He stabs wildly at the injured arachnid next to him, but his arms spasms, and his blow just goes wide.
Caedmon presses on, the swings of his axe deadly and relentless. The spider ducks and dodges, but cannot avoid a vicious blow, which tears a rip across its swollen abdomen, releasing a spray of black blood.
Asheru, calm and serene as though he walked in a meadow, not a battlefield, strides confidently towards the same injured spider and with a single blow of his club dispatches it. The spider's head is crushed under the blow, and it simply drops, not even having a chance to realize it is dead.
Wheatbeard, his confidence as a warrior growing, stabs at the creature again, again drawing a gout of ichor.
The wounded spider next to Tupilek staggers slightly on its injured legs, before lashing out with a savage bite.
Down in the pit, the creature facing Asheru decides that this meal is not worth the pain and suffering it has been facing. It skitters off into the tunnel leaving the winded dwarf alone with his victory.
With only a single spider remaining on the surface, and four angry warriors, plus Bonewright, to contend with, it does not stand a chance. It is battered to a pulp without presenting any further threat.
Tupilek shakes off the poison before looking at the two deep bite wounds in his flesh. "Ouch."
Yay! Second level, he we come!
"Hopin' you're okay up there, but I'll be heading into the tunnel after I catch my breath," came Wheatbeard's voice from below. He was fortunate to have survived, but with the main (he assumed) threat out of the way, the cave was ripe for exploring. What secrets lay within? He mosied forth to find-out.
Elenid, who had been cowering back against the wall during the spider attack, creeps cautiously forward to examine the corpses, a look of disgust on her face.
"We have such creatures in the forest, but they usually never attack anything larger than a rabbit." she opines, tentatively prodding one with her foot. "Some of the druids have one as a..." she struggles for the word... "friend-animal."
She turns to Caedmon. "Is it safe to remain here, Captain?"
"Wheatbeard - some of those up here have been bitten. Do you know much of poison?"
Bonewright had through some strange chance come through unscathed - but though the thought of exploring a ruin from before the world was entrancing it was obvious some of his companions needed rest.
"All go down inside, rest there." Tupilek says, climbing down the rope into the darkness.
When Elenid speaks he is already heading down and motioning for the rest to follow.
"Not much," replies the Dwarf,"But I know death from venom when I see it."
Seeing the the others descending, Bonewright carefully descends.
Asheru unslings his medicine pouch. "I'll tend to the spiderbites."
Asheru's mundane healing cannot help any of the wounded - only time or magic will do that - but the good news is that neither Moklik or Tupilek are badly poisoned, although Moklik feels a little weak. The bites were shallow, and not much poison made it into their blood. Perhaps, after their battle with the orcs, the spiders' poison was weak and depleted.
The sandy floor of the pit is stained with spider ichor from Wheatbeard's wounding of his foe, and and small splashes of the stuff lead off into the darkness of the tunnel. The group descend the rope into the crowded space, although Elenid takes one look down into the pit, and declares that she will not descend, electing to retreat back down the hill, and keep Pikuvelli company.
Wheatbeard has already pushed slightly ahead into the tunnel while everyone else descends. He can tell that it appears to be a natural feature of the rock that has been enhanced - worked and widened in ages past. The walls are rough, and slick with moss and water seeping from above. Whisps of spider webbing hang everywhere, with the shells of innumerable trapped beetles and other vermin trapped in them.
He can see that the tunnel runs about 30 feet into the rock, descending slightly, before reaching a small chamber. In that chamber, a rough-hewn stair both ascends towards the peak, and descends further into the rock. The trail of spider ichor leads upwards.
Caedmon has the torch he dug out on his belt and draws it to light it."Anyone got any fire? I seem to have misplaced my Flint..."
"I have a flint" Bonewright offers
Caedmon's torch flares into flickering life, casting dancing shadows along the tunnel, and illuminating the back of an inquisitive dwarf.
The uneven torchlight, the constantly dripping water and the webbing waving in an indiscernible breeze make the tunnel seem constantly alive with motion, increasing the sense of unease that it instills.
The torchlight also reveals a small patch of wall where the moss has fallen or been brushed away by a passing spider, revealing deep, straight, scratches on the stone below.
"Looks like our friends, the spiders, went up. I have no care to see them again soon, so let's go down, shall we? Besides, any people would not be making camp around those beasts." Looking mostly unused except by the spiders, Wheatbeard wondered where the descending passage would lead. The one going up was also a curiosity, but it would necessitate an end before long. Going down though? Who knew.
Though he was able to see just fine in the dim conditions and into the darkness, Wheatbeard knew his ears were much more useful usually in a place like this. Webbing would cover much of the details he'd be after in the rock for a ways, and bends in the stone meant hearing traveled farther than sight. He strapped his spear to his back once more, hoping it would not come into use again, and walked carefully, slowly, sure to keep his footing on the slippery surface due the spider fluid.