Jarvis continues his singing, hoping that the few ranged abilities they have at their disposal will benefit.
"Weren' ye lot jus' talkin' 'bout makin' me big th'other day, af'er ye ye had all them troubles gettin' 'cross th'boardin' rope?!?" Culder asks seeming somewhat dismayed, "all that talk 'n' ain' a one o' ye can act'lly do it?!? Sonofab!tch..."
Culder keeps his oar at the ready but starts looking around for a something suitable to throw: a rock, a coconut, a willing halfling...
Again Jordan's arrow clips a spider's carapace, inflicting more light damage; this time, however, Vincent adds to the barrage with a magical jolt of electricity. Even so, the spider's a decent ways from dead. As Culder looks around for something to throw, he finds a few small stones and broken tree branches that might work in a pinch, but then Jarvis presents the cymbal he summoned. The Captain now is faced with a choice of which to grab and hurl: the cymbal, or Jarvis.
Meanwhile, the smart (or chicken) spiders continue to close on the clustered group, staying in the relative protection of the jungle canopy. While dangling precariously, the arachnids spray new volleys of sticky webbing at Vincent and Culder. Both men are covered in the gooey fibers and find their motion restricted.
Again the mysterious voice whispers: "Pirates brought the curse to this isle...with their greed and murderous treachery!"
Culder and Vincent are entangled and find that the webbing is wetter than expected; Fortitude saves from each of you, please.
Spiders
Aghon suddenly remembers that one of his magical tidbits granted by Hanspur is to throw harmful icicles and he does just that. Eat cold icicle, you skittering arachnids!
Aghon's magical icicle flies true, adding more damage to the eastern spider, which gives a weird little hiss of pain or annoyance as the cold missile strikes it.
Meanwhile, Vincent escapes from the webbing, noting an oily sheen on it that glimmers with the hues of the rainbow when a shaft of light hits it.
"What kind of curse?" Jordan asks. "Can't say it looked cursed when we saw it. Actually thought it looked quite quaint until the spiders showed up." Again, he sights an arrow to the spider climbing along towards the right of the group.
This one looks like it may have hurt, so Jordan decides to step behind a nearby tree to get some cover.
Finally, Jordan fires an arrow that does more than just clip a spindly leg: the latest one embeds itself into the spider's bulbous abdomen. The creature twitches in severe pain, one leg trying to scrape the arrow from where it has lodged.
Jarvis flies through the air, one hand and his feet scrabbling to gain purchase in the branches near the spider. Drawing his arm back, he stabs out at the hideous creature with his dagger.
Jarvis continues his singing, closing his inner ear to the chittering of the spiders.
Vincent tries to cast snowball but finds that the clinging webs ruin the somatic portion of the spell and he loses it.
Culder grabs the cymbal, with a bemused grimace, and throws it at the spider Jordan wounded...
,
Culder's discus toss goes wide of the mark, nicking the truck of the nearby tree with a slightly musical crash before whirling away into the underbrush. This brings an immediate response from the unseen whisperer: "Quiet! You'll bring the Gravedigger down upon yourselves!"
The spiders reposition a bit, letting themselves down on strings of webbing. The one near Vincent bites the entangled sorcerer ; the one near Culder is now within easy biting range of the big man or easier webbing distance if it opts to spray Jarvis or Aghon.
Culder and Vincent find that their skin tingles where the spider's gooey webbing touches bare skin: Could there be a sort of contact poison on the arachnids' webbing as well?
for
"What's the Gravedigger?" Jordan asks the voice. "Can't say it looks like there's many graves 'round here."
Stepping around the tree, the archer looses another arrow at the spider that has bitten Vincent. "How many arrows is this goin' to take?" Jordan mutters to himself.
Aghon wastes no time but immediately summons a healing burst to help his spider-bitten friend, making sure to mentally focus out the two spiders.
Jarvis continues singing, happy that he hadn't become a missile that time around. Grinning at the Captain, he summons another large cymbal.
Here you go, Cap'n. Another toss might do the trick! He says with a chuckle, holding it aloft for the large man.
Jordan answers his own question by putting his latest arrow between the spider's many eyes. The great arachnid spasms in its death throes, slowing sinking down to the jungle floor on its attached line of webbing before moving no more.
Aghon's channeled energy heals Vincent of all the physical damage caused by the beast's fangs, but the sorcerer still feels the venom coursing through his system. On the positive side, he's able to escape from the poisoned webbing without it affecting him, but the venom injected by the spider bite begins to affect his senses .
Jarvis keeps inspiring with his song and summons a second cymbal for the Captain to throw, but Culder may have a different idea....
Culder grits his teeth in rage and swings his oar hard at the offending spider...
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Culder's oar connects solidly with the dangling spider, the force causing it to spin away a few feet on its web line. As it swings back toward the mighty sailor, the spider decides that maybe this prey is beyond its ability to take down. It attempts to withdraw back up its safety line, scrabbling back up into the safety of the jungle trees a lot faster than it descended.
The hidden voice again makes itself known, giving a brief raspy laugh before saying, "Well done! Perhaps...perhaps you are strong enough to defeat the Gravedigger and end his curse. Let us speak on this matter further."
A pale, dark-haired, apparently naked male human half-emerges from behind the trunk of a jungle tree to the northeast; he stands on a large branch about 20 feet off the ground. His facial expression is neutral and his limbs thin but not weak-looking. His skin is paler than you'd expect from a jungle inhabitant here in the tropics, and from what you can see of it there are no cuts, bruises, insect bites, or even dirt marring it.
"I am Lythric, and I have dwelt on this island since being shipwrecked here three years ago. Obviously, you have not yet encountered the Gravedigger. Tell me--have you seen the pirate ghosts?"
Culder pulls out his dagger and cuts his way free from the webbing as quickly as possible.
after vincent frees himself from the webbing and see then naked man, he says "oh dear lord, where are your clothes and why aren't they on you right now?"
"Ah, yes--my clothes," the strange fellow in the tree repeats, thinking of how to answer what seems to be a very sane and understandable question from the sorcerer. "I haven't used my clothes since I was shipwrecked here; I usually go about...just in my skin. I suppose I could go get dressed, but...you are all in danger. The less you move around the better. Let me tell you what I know of the terror known as the Gravedigger. I think he was once human--like most of you. He and three other pirates--so far as I can tell--came together to this isle, each to bury his own share of a plundered treasure. Apparently, one of the four wasn't content with just his share and wanted all the loot, so he somehow spied on or otherwise found out where the others buried their shares and killed his ex-mates. Well, one of the dead came back as an undead spirit of the earth. I'm guessing he took revenge on his murderer and now haunts this isle, burying alive any unfortunate soul that dares set foot on this cursed isle. Damned near caught me once--that's why I keep to the trees now."
vincent nods as the naked man relates the story of the Gravedigger "So a spirit is hunting this island is what you're saying? well I can certainly believe that, weird things seem to happen on islands all the time, but if you don't mind me asking lythric, how did you come about this knowledge?"
"I pieced it together, mostly, from the moanings of the spirits. The Gravedigger...he doesn't say much of anything." Lythric gives Vincent one of his blank, emotionless stares. "Murder, betrayal, and vengeance--all powerful actions and emotions. No wonder these pirate folks' spirits can't rest."
"Why not ask them yourselves? One of the spirits haunts a clearing near a big boulder about a quarter-mile east of here."
Lythric, you wouldn't happen to have access to any weapons or tools that can help handle the spirits, if needed? Jarvis asks quickly.
"I actually think that, that may be a good course to take" with that he turns to the rest of the party "what do you all think about this matter?"
Aghon is wary of this nude dude.
I, uh... That is to say... Um. Yeah, ghosts, right, dead pirates, for sure... Buried treasure?!
Aghon is wary of this nude dude.
Jordan takes off his cloak and hands it to Lythric. "Till we can get you some proper clothes," he says. "Perhaps this spirit nearby can give us some insight to how this Gravedigger can be defeated."
Lythric waves off Jordan's offer of the cloak (a difficult exchange in any event, as the weird fellow is still 20 feet up in the tree). "No, no--I have clothes, I've just fallen out of the habit of wearing them!"
To Jarvis he says, "I have a few spears and shortspears I've made over the years which I could lend you all...if we can come to some sort of accord. Do you promise not to harm me if I offer my help against the Gravedigger?"
vincent shouts up into the tree"I'll promise not to hurt you if you give your word that you wont harm us or seek to harm any of our companions out here as well"
Putting his cloak back on, Jordan examines the new arrival's words and actions. He hadn't helped them with the spiders, and seemed to want to "test" the group. Jordan's eyes narrowed, as he examined Lythric.
"Sounds fair to me!" the stranger calls to Vincent before climbing even higher into the tree he's in, toward a dark area about 40 feet up. If you move closer to the tree, you can barely make out what looks to be a tiny dwelling of some sort high in the branches, a combination bird's nest and hut.
Lythric begins climbing back down a few minutes later, now dressed in slightly ragged clothes (shirt and pants; he's still barefoot), several spears strapped across his back. As he descends, he again calls out to Vincent: "Did you say there are more of your people of the island? They'll be in grave danger!"
Yeah, there's definitely something 'off' about Lythric (such as the fact that he lives so close to spiders that could easily attack and devour him). Still, you sense that most of what he's telling you is true. You also are pretty sure he's keeping some things back from your party, though. Your take on whether or not he'll hurt you...well, that seems dependent upon whether your group tries to hurt him.
Re-clasping his cloak, Jordan turns away from Lythric, scouting out the area behind them. "Looks like he'll help us if we help him," he mutters to his companions. "He can do magic, and he seems more keen to get off this island than anything else."
Still looking around the forest, Jordan adds "Something about him doesn't set right with me. He's lived on an island with spiders and ghosts for who knows how long, and someone like that's got to be either very lucky, or very good at surviving. I'm not saying he's a threat, but he's holding something back from us."
This whole island gives me the heeby-jeebies! Aghon says, clearly disturbed by this entire affair. If you think we can trust him not to harm us, he's willing to give us some weapons, and he might be able to lead us to some buried pirate booty... Well then I think we ought to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. I won't get upset if things go sour. In fact, I expect that before we get off this island, things are going to go very sour. Hanspur help us! Aghon exclaims the last looking up into the trees as Lythric descends with spears, and finally some clothes on.
"I ain' worried 'bout a naked wizard," Culder grumbles, "what in th'hells're we gonna do 'bout a ghost though? These weapons'll go righ' through it, won' they?"
"Technically, I'm neither naked nor a wizard--Behold! I'm a fully-clothed sorcerer! I fear you're right about my spears being unable to harm the spirits, though. The other two ghosts--Keaney and Merrill--aren't very malicious, but Carsson, the traitor who murdered his mates and brought the Gravedigger into being...well, he's more likely to try to kill us than talk. The spells I know aren't likely to affect a ghost, though; that's why I tend to stay in the trees and not bother with this island's other inhabitants."
"So the Gravedigger's a vengeful pirate spirit," Jordan wonders aloud. "There's a chance Merrill or Keaney could give us some insight."
Shouldering his bow, Jordan inspects the area again. "We'd best start making time to find the rest of the crew," he says. "Not sure where they'll be, but perhaps we can swing by one of these more friendly spirits on our way to find them."