"Yes, I'll buy you another one when I get a chance." Troxell accepts Xerexis' offer of an antitoxin.
Troxell casts Lesser Restoration on himself.
Troxell then casts Cure Moderate Wounds on Myhm.
He then uses his Wand on himself.
"Who else needs healing immediately?" He asks, scanning the group, "I suggest we camp in the area before we dealt with the slime, if not outside of the cave."
You retreat to the cavern where you fought the slime and set up a small underground camp. Though you are unused to a life underground, Mikmik is very familiar with it and seems to know when you've rested the "night". Everyone once is a while a small spider crawls by, perhaps leftovers from the spider-man's swarm, but none bother you and time passes without trouble.
Before resting, Troxell uses his Cure Light Wounds wand on Teena twice.
Upon waking, Troxell meditates for one hour to regain his spells. Afterwards, he assesses the groups injuries. "Who still needs healing?"
"Thank you, Troxell. I've got a few bumps and bruises, but nothing major. How is everyone else feeling? How is the kobold?"
"Mikmik no bakcka razz..." The kobold mumbles, not wanting to get up. He was very weak after the fight, and still doesn't look great.
Also, Myhm still has many cuts and bruises.
Noting the injuries of Lord Myhm and Mikmik, Troxell uses his wand once again.
Since Myhm still looked somewhat injured, Troxell casts his own Cure Light Wounds spell on the large man.
With a look from Teena, Troxell notes how weak Mikmik appears and casts Lesser Restoration on him.
Myhm nods a thanks at Troxell, then gets up to take watch while others rest.
You make your way back through the caves to the pit where you battled the spider-man and it's minions. There Troxell notices something missed in your haste to retreat and recover. The corpse of the Spider-man wears an golden ring set with a cat's eye gem and a necklace of steel links with an iron amulet shaped like a satyr's head. Both are magical, and Teena is easily able to identify them.
Across the pit the passage continues, and a second tunnel branches off to the left about 20' feet above.
Troxell casts Barkskin on himself and Light on his quarterstaff again.
"Lord Myhm should use the amulet while Miss Teena probably would benefit the most from the ring." The druid suggests once the items' uses were explained to him.
He also takes the first position as they continue forward, staying in humanoid form.
If no one objects, Teena places the ring on her finger and takes her usual position in the group. "Hopefully no more surprises await us in this place. Mikmik, any advice?"
::hmm:: Mhym sticks his left arm out at Troxell's suggestion that he wear something.
"It goes around your neck, I believe." Troxell advises Myhm, "Teena, you may need to assist him."
Mikmik shakes his head at Teena's question. Even though he's a native to living life underground he seems hesitant to offer any opinions on this situation. He still jumps at any sign of spiders.
After outfitting Myhm and Teena with the two items the party continues with Troxell in the lead. His sharp senses discover a cleverly designed trap on the far side of the pit. There, the ground is rigged to collapse and drop anyone standing within 10 feet into the pit below. Slimy walls would make climbing out difficult without a rope.
"Lord Myhm, can you throw a large stone onto the other side to set off the trap? Once that's dealt with, then I suggest using rope to navigate the pits, and then see what's in the side passage." Troxell offers as a plan of action.
The Lord title given by Bronin is still very foreign to him, uncomfortable like an itching in his ear. Other than being called brute or Ent, Myhm had considered other wordings with his name as something of a jest, or temporary until it's changed by other men, Myhm says to the group, "Myhm no Lord, only Myhm."
He picks up a rock and aims it where Troxell pointed.
Myhm's rock lands on the far ledge and it immediately collapses, being held together mostly with strategic webbing.
With the use of ropes and Myhm's great strength, climbing across is no challenge. On the far side Teena and Xerexis can see an underground river further down the passage ahead. Following Troxell's lead Myhm climbs to the small side passage and lowers a rope for everyone else to climb up.
Cramped and claustrophobic, the side passage is just big enough for a Myhm to squeeze through. Luckily, it doesn't stretch far before opening onto a ledge in another small cave. Obviously the spider-man's nest, this area is only about 25 feet across and 20 feet deep. Below the ledge is a pool of swirling water, next to which is a small horde of treasure - coins scatter the floor along with a couple rusty weapons and a helm. Sitting against the wall is finely made strongbox.
"This could be a trap...the spider man could have easily worn a helm.". Teena focuses her Detect Magic cantrip on the treasure like, wanting to find any magical auras she could identify.
"Indeed..." Troxell says in agreement as his gaze scrutinizes the chamber.
Teena detects a magic coming from within the chest.
Troxell takes his time examining the area. He finds nothing suspicious anywhere except for on the lock of the strongbox where he spots a few needles placed in hidden recesses on the latches that lock it. There is no key.
Among the treasure spilled on the floor Troxell finds that one of the rusty daggers has a suspicious weight to it. Pulling it free from its sheath he discovers the blade broken and the end missing. At the bottom of the sheath are a set of masterwork thieves tools in good condition.
Troxell explains his findings to the others, then asks, "Can anyone pick locks or disarm traps? Otherwise, we should just break the lock off to avoid the needles."
"There is definitely magic in the chest. Let me take a look at those fancy lock picks. I might be able to bypass the trap if it is simple enough.". Se squats down, peers at the lock and tries to disable the trap.
Disable Device
Teena's skills are good, but no skill is a match for bad luck. While fiddling with the trap her hand slips and she pricks a finger.
Fort save
Fort save
Fort save
Fort save
Teena feels a numbness spread quickly from her fingers. Suddenly she is sweating and breathing a little harder.
Once Troxell realizes that Teena is poisoned, he casts Neutralize Poison on her.
"Curses!" He exclaims in frustration when the spell fails to work. He then opts to use his knowledge of healing to assist her in fighting the poison.
Teena is cured by Troxell's magic. Having removed the trap the hard way, it is now just a matter of picking the lock, wich Teena does with a little time. Inside the chest you find a pile of coins, some loose gems, a pouch full of silver nuggets, 4 potions, a vial of poison, and a wand bound with a copper ring set with a fire opal.
"Thank you, Troxell. Usually I'm pretty good at popping a lock, but that one was tricky. I'm starting to dislike this cavern immensely.". She tells the others what she discovered about the items in the chest. "I can use the wand, if no one else can."
"After the events of yesterday, I came better prepared for poison. I'm glad you are ok." Troxell replies to Teena, then examines the treasure, "The spider aberration was much wealthier than one would expect, but there is still no sign of Myhm's brother Auchs. I'm afraid we'll have to move deeper into the cavern."
"Myhm should take one or both of the healing potions, I don't have much use for the others."
Troxell narrows his eyes and looks to Mikmik, "What aren't you telling us about these spider creatures?"
"Mikmik not know of spiders!" Mikmik claims, raising his hands in a shrug. "At least, not these spiders. This is caves. Spiders sometimes live here... Mikmik not see ones this big before."
The only items that Myhm recognizes as valuable in the pile are the medicine vials; he tucks them into his tunic and rummages the cave while the others divide up the rest.
Troxell scrutinizes the kobold for a few tense moments, then nods, "As you say, Mikmik. I still suspect you know more of what's going on here than you are telling us."
Turning away from the kobold, Troxell picks up the wand and says, "When we're ready to move again, I believe Miss Teena will have to burn more webbing."
Tess uses her Burning Hands spell to continue to burn as much webbing as possible. "Look out behind me. These strands will be hot that are left and there might be more spiders!"
One more blast of Teena's magic clears the passage of webs and the group moves through to find themselves at the edge of an underground river. Flowing swiftly from right to left, the water is frothy and hard to see through. Rocky pillars break the surface, and might provide a way to cross for someone nimble. The bank on the far side is slightly higher, sloping up into an open chamber that shows signs of habitation: blankets, lanterns, scattered wood, and a rope dangling from a piton hammered into one wall. It also appears that part of this chamber collapsed, as debris and large rock obstructs the far side.
Teena tells the others what she can see on the other side. "Anyone want to try that first? I think I could make it, but if I slipped, there's no telling how far the current would drag me. Anyone have a rope we could use to prevent that?"