Tomaru calls upon the grace of his goddess to give health to his allies.
Channel Positive Energy exclude the giant spider.
"Quick, quick" Rhianni shouts to Sheleu.
Kellen offers to use his greater size to carry all of the wounded people out, if needed. "Sounds like we can get out of here."
The webs convulse one last time as another high-pitched death-chitter cuts through the din.
Then all is quiet.
From the far corner, the man separates himself from Shalelu to look at her. If its possible, he has suffered more than the others. He manages a weak smile, followed by a grimace of pain.
"Why...how...Get out of here...they'll catch you and...and...the things..they do..." He collapses back into her arms, unconscious from the effort.
"Not on your life, or what's left of it. You've got some questions to answer," she says with a hard edge to her voice. With a surprising show of strength, Shalelu lifts the man and slings him over her shoulder, and starts out of the cage.
- Ok, I've got it like this:
- Praxim has a readied action to fire.
- Thordak is ready in the door.
- Rhianni has an action readied - you can cast a spell, or something if the spider appears.
- Tomaru is in the cage, having channeled.
- Kellen is big, and working to carry the two wounded men, you have one in each arm.
- Lym has just cast knock, and could do something, call it having a readied action.
Kellen just gets the men under his arms and takes a step when the hideous spider bursts like a flash out of the funnel and places itself between him and the door on the catwalk, its mandibles working a froth of foaming spittle. It's wounded and clearly mad with pain and rage.
Praxim, a model of composure, stands firm as the spider appears out of nowhere.
"Give my regards to Ungoliant when Pharasma remands you to her care," Lym says, thrusting a single hand out towards the spider. "In the name of my eight-legged legion: Sagittae magicae, omne errore vacuae, volete!" Four bolts of energy fly howling towards the spider, striking it in its bulbous hindbody.
Rhianni takes out a wand and and points it at the spider sending a missile at the creature.
Given that he's lugging the two guys around, I think all Kellen can do, until we hear the results, is standby for the bite and protect these guys from attack.
The spider reels under the assault from all sides, it's hideous bulk scorched by magic and pierced by arrows. A sickly greenish ichor drips from its wounds, staining the webs below. It lunges forward, mandibles dripping, tearing at Kellen's legs. The pain is great, but the spider fails to catch hold of the enlarged rogue.
Praxim sends an arrow into the beast.
"Augh! Gods be damned, that hurts," is all Kellen can say as he works to keep hold of the two men and get out of the beast's way.
Praxim's arrow buries itself in one of the beast's eyes, disappearing as it passes into the orb. The spider rolls over, down the funnel, coming to a rest near the bottom. You can just see it down there, legs curled up into the air. The shaking of the webs as it falls show a glint of gold at the bottom of the web, reflected in the light.
Shalelu carries her burden through the door and out into the other section of the barn.
Praxim sighs in relief as the spider goes down. Glancing at the webs he says "Anybody else thinking that, once we're sure there's nobody else in this place, that setting this webbing and barn on fire mightn't make an excellent distraction or lure for whatever is waiting in the house?"
"Hold a moment! There's gold in them there webs!" He points, trying to show them. "I've got to find out what it is! How do I get down there? Is there a better way besides, you know, just jumping and breaking most of me bones?"
"You could try the stairs. Out there" he points back the way you came.
After channeling positive energy, Tomaru checks on the condition of the prisoners.
Heal
Perception:
Heal
Perception:
"You could try the stairs. Out there" he points back the way you came.
"Good idea. Thanks." Thordak will then head that way. Down the stairs to investigate the shiny gold reflection.
Kellen does his best to bring the men down to the lower level for Tomaru's healing and checks. At the dwarf's question, he also adds: "Double doors down here should give you access with having to climb down. They were locked from this side; I guess now we know why." At this last comment, he unconsciously rubs at the wound on his leg from the spider's bite.
"Please hurry," Lym tells Thordak. "The next attack is probably not far off."
The Wizard turns her back on the barn once she is outside, and eyes the surrounding area in a suspicious manner.
Rhianni follows Thordak downstairs to help him search for anyone left trapped in the webbing below. "Life before gold, Thordak." she lets out quietly to the dwarf as the meet down by the other door, which might open into the web's recesses.
You come back into the other room of the barn to find Shalelu kneeling on the floor with the injured man's head lying across her lap. She is administering a potion of some sort to him. Once he takes it, he begins to breathe easier.
All three have been beaten, burned, and worse. Tomaru can see that all have several broken bones, and the cause of some of their wounds makes him sick to think about. After the various healing, they are unconscious on the floor. The elf ranger continues to hold her charge in her lap, looking down at him. There is a mix of emotions crossing her face as she does. Everything from concern to anger, and she goes back and forth between them repeatedly.
The double doors are indeed locked from this room, with a large bar. Easy enough to remove, but the doors are stuck fast with the webbing on the other side.
"Please hurry," Lym tells Thordak. "The next attack is probably not far off."
The Wizard turns her back on the barn once she is outside, and eyes the surrounding area in a suspicious manner.
With a quick peek through a crack in the doors, Lym can see:
The house remains silent.
Tomaru sees the emotions that show plainly on Shalelu's face and offers the use of his Wand of Cure Light Wounds. "It is full and unused." He's also willing to use it on the other two.
Using his enlarged strength, Kellen tries to force the doors open despite being stuck.
Tomaru sees the emotions that show plainly on Shalelu's face and offers the use of his Wand of Cure Light Wounds. "It is full and unused." He's also willing to use it on the other two.
Using his enlarged strength, Kellen tries to force the doors open despite being stuck.
[dice=Str]1d20+3
Your going to need an assist on this...
"Here let me give you a shoulder," Praxim says going over.
The door bends and flexes as you pull, the webs stubbornly holding it shut. Suddenly it springs open, throwing both Praxim and Kellen to the floor. The doors formed the back of the spider's den, now exposed to the group. There are various piles of bones and dessicated bodies, with no gear anywhere to be seen. The glint of gold you saw comes from a small sack, split open and spilled over on to the floor. There are 573 gp in all.
"Thank you." She says to Tomaru. "He has to live, because if he doesn't, I'm going to kill him." She says, looking down at the man's face.
As the doors fly open, "Nice work, fellas." Thordak then moves into the room and finds the gold. He takes the lot before making his way back out. "Just coin," he tells the others.
Kellen lumbers up from the ground and offer a hand to Praxim, muttering "No problem," as the dwarf swings by.
At Shalelu's words, a look of curiosity comes over him. "Listen, Miss Shalelu, I ain't clearly in the know about who you are as most of these folks, but given yer behavior I have to ask: who is he and what's the story? I thought we came for these men because they were soldier's from Ft. Rannick."
"And not to seem indelicate, but we need to know what happened and if there are more prisoners that have survived." Tomaru notes the bones and the house as he speaks. "Because it there aren't, then perhaps we should have any discussion in a safer place."
Rhianni's face screws up as she sees the remains in the web. She goes over and collects the bones and bodies, bringing them out "Perhaps we can give their remains some dignity in death." she says softly to Tomaru. She looks into the webbing for their possesions to give some hint as to who they were in life.
"I'll say a few words, but we may not have time for a proper funeral. The living must keep living, as the saying goes."
"We may not have time for a funeral, but we can make them a bonny pyre," Lym says, grimly. She closes her fist, and magic flame briefly flickers out from between her fingers. "It will be my pleasure to spark the blaze."
"Wait." Shalelu says to Lym. She sets the man's head down gently on a rolled up cloak, and stands up. She walks slowly to the doors and peers out through a crack. Satisfied, she tuns to you.
"That," she begins, pointing at the man, "is Jakardros. He is a Black Arrow, a ranger of these parts. And he is my adopted father." She sighs heavily, leaning back against the huge barn doors. "I grew up near the Mierani Forest, in a small village called Crying Leaf. I never knew my real father. Jakardros here arrived with a band of adventurers, and helped drive off a scuttle of ettercaps that were following a green dragon. His band were all slain, and he, nearly so. My mother nursed him back to health. They grew...close. He was like a father to me for years. Then the dragon came again, I don't know how, and my mother was killed. Then...he just...left. No goodbyes, not even a note." She pauses for a moment, looking down at him.
When she looks up, you can the tears rimming her eyes, maybe the first time you've seen the tough facade fall. "No goodbyes, nothing. He needs to tell me...to tell me whether he loved my mother, or whether he was just using her. And I'll know. If it's the latter...well...I'll finish what the Grauls started."
The silence is palpable. Then she speaks again, softly. "You all go and finish whatever hillbilly ogre hell is waiting in that house. I'll guard them." She holds up a hand to stop any protests, and the old Shalelu is back. "Don't worry, I won't kill him until you all get back."
Tomaru looks to see Praxim's response to Shalelu.
At the explanation, Kellen merely nods and more quietly adds,"Alright then, Miss...I appreciate yer candor." He turns to look towards the house and mutters, "Know what it is to hunt down some sonava of b&&#+ who left his kid."
Thordak looks to the ranger with raised eyebrows. "Well, I guess that's good for him, right?" He shrugs.
Praxim is uncertain of how to respond to Shalelu. He has always respected her strength and ability, and it's unsettling to see her so raw. Her current state is far too similar to his state after the death of Markus for him to do more than clasp a hand on her shoulder, grunt something incoherent, and prepare for Lym's ignition of the barn. "I recommend finding a defensible position when we set it ablaze. Would it be possible to cut our way through the wall opposite the house? If something is watching us, it will see the flames and not our emergence. We could then circle round the house and approach from the opposite side while they're attentions are directed here."
"Let's not burn the barn until we've done for who- or whatever lurks in the house," Lym suggests. "Probably Mother Graul, the matriarch..."
"If you don't want to burn the barn as a distraction, then the tactic of cutting through the rear wall and sneaking around is still sound."
"Agreed." She says to Lym. "These wounded can't move, and I need a place to defend that isn't exposed. This is as good as any. No worse than a goblin hole, eh?" She spends a moment, looking at Praxim, before continuing. "Besides, there may be more Black Arrows inside, and I don't want them murdered just because the Grauls are in a hurry to get outside."
"If they are alive while locked in with an Ogress who wanted meat for the pot, we have no more time to waste," Lym says. "Thordak! That axe of yours may have been forged for battle, but I'm willing to bet it can cut us a fine back door out of this barn. Want to give it a try?"
You can see that there are crude tools in the barn. The walls are thick and rough-hewn. You know that hacking your way through will cause a lot of noise, but a saw perhaps...