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"West Dock's not a place you wanna get lost in on the best of days," Mackeson grunts.
He smiles at Atticus. "Sheriff's gotta nice ring to it! Sheriff Atticus! I'll be 'Lil' Deputy Mack'." The dwarf chortles
Incongruously enough, the dwarf sings as the mismatched crew moves through the streets, relaying a raucous song about a barmaid and a bear in a gutter-deep bass voice.
Anguela laughs. "Think of it as them helping us poor guardsmen out, and it will go down easier. Or perhaps if we are asked, we can say it is their trial mission for potential recruitment? The captain's always happy to find able citizens willing to lend a hand, but especially if they might sign on. We haven't got uniforms for either of you, but as you can see we aren't wearing them either. Part of that 'covert' directive, you see."
Though she hasn't heard the song Mackeson sings before, Anguela picks up the chorus fairly quickly and is eager to sing along, stamping her feet. "A bear! A bear! A dreadful bear! All big and brown and covered with hair!" she sings in a loud but unpracticed voice.
The West Dock's main roads are blocked off by barricades. The odd townsperson stands on top, carrying a spear, a length of pipe, or with a pouch of sling bolts. Smaller alleyways lead into the West Dock neighborhoods that aren't blocked off, but perhaps there is a reason for that.
How do you want to approach the neighborhood?
The Silver Ghost chuckles. "I prefer my own 'uniform', thanks." She follows the rest through the streets, smiling somewhat at Anguela and Mackeson's antics, but doesn't sing along. She's too busy keeping an eye out. She lags a little bit behind the group, her hood up, and her long, grey cloak drawn around her body.
When they approach the West Dock, she frowns as she realizes its pretty well blocked off. "Since this is a quote-un-quote covert operation, maybe we should take one of the alley ways in. For the maximum sneakiness." She shrugs. "Though, I guess if you think the civilians manning those barricades are responsible for the disappearance, seeing how easily provoked they are would be a pretty effective means of finding out. I personally don't think it's as cut and dry as that, though."
"Agreed. Better to keep to the shadows," Darius responds. "But we should expect them to be watching the common ways in and out."
"If we are discovered, we must be ready to explain our presence," Anguela muses. "Any ideas on a cover story? Potential revolutionaries? Mercenaries?"
Other than him, the West Dock neighborhood is mostly home to fishers, sailors, escorts and the very poor.
"I find such misdirection loathsome. If any of the locals attempt to interfere then they must be arrested"
"We should watch out for Devargo Barvasi's thugs. He may have taken advantage of the situation here to expand his operation." he says to the group. "Otherwise I don'think we should worry too much about attempting to pose as others. Mackeson's got the right of it."
Seemingly agreed, the group proceeds into the alleyway. Once inside and around the first corner, it becomes clear that this alleyway isn't populated by humans... but then it becomes clear why. Even a few feet in, the walls are coated in spiderwebs and silk bridges the gap between the walls on either side of the alleyway. From the entrance to the other side, the inside of West Dock, this entire alleyway is totally packed with spiderwebs.
Do you continue?
Anguela narrows her eyes and casts a spell before following.
Atticus leads the way through the webs, letting them cling harmlessly at his armor
"Sounds like a good cover story to me, Mackeson," agrees the Silver Ghost before they move on into the alleyways. She listens to Darius' warning about Devargo Bavarsi in silence.
When they come upon the spider webs, she narrows her eyes. "Careful. They call Devargo 'the King of Spiders'. This is likely a warning....or perhaps a sign he's claimed his territory here," she murmurs to the others.
She takes the rear of the group and draws her bow, watching for any tell-tale movements or shadows in the webs.
Darius moves along with the others, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs that they were being watched or that an ambush was being prepared.
The group pushes into the alleyway, looking for an unwatched way into the Old Dock district.
Fortunately, no humans are watching this path.
Unfortunately, that's because of the massive spider now descending from the upper floors of the adjacent buildings, and the small swarm of what must be its babies coming down to eat the flesh from your bones.
Alleyway Spiders!, round 1
1. Atticus <--- You are up!
2. Anguela <--- You are up!
3. Tiny Spiders
4. Silver Ghost
5. Darius
6. Mackeson
7. Giant Spider
Atticus readies his sword and quickly moves across the alley to engage the giant spider. He thrusts hos sword forward, aiming to drive the tip of the blade through the center of its head.
Anguela's eyes light up and she immediately begins casting a spell. Then she moves quickly across the alley on Atticus's heels and positions herself strategically to attack the spider if it leaves itself open.
Atticus and Anguela move forward to engage the giant spider mother, but Atticus' sword merely cracks the hard chitinous shell of the giant spider, unable to really pierce deeply.
The spider's babies surge forward, crawling up onto the Silver Ghost, Mackeson, and Anguela, biting and nipping at them, trying to inject their poison.
Anguela wheels and bites at the little spider as it moves beneath her.
She fails to connect, however.
She shrugs off its venom with a haughty turn of her head.
The spiders are on the group faster than the Silver Ghost expected. Barely noticing the poisonous bites, she draws her rapier and steps away from the spiders, across from Mackeson. She then lunges forwards, hoping to skewer one of them through.
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Mackeson grunts as the tiny spiders descend upon him, swarming along his armour, slipping in between the seams of his scales and his helm, creeping and stinging.
Mackeson roars, irritated by the tiny arachnids, and slams his helm against the side of the nearest building.
Mackeson then advances along the walls of the alleyway towards Atticus.
Darius focuses on killing the spiders before him, but briefly takes the time to call out to Atticus, trying to give him advice in dealing with the larger spider he was facing. "Strike at its legs, they are easier and less risky to go for!" he calls out.
Darius cleaves through one of the small spiders, and Mackeson easily crushes one of them with a powerful headbutt, but the Ghost is unable to stab through one of the quick skittery creatures.
The spider's mother lunges at Atticus, answering his own thrust.
It clamps down on his chest, but his breastplate protects him from the fangs of the giant creature.
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Atticus takes a half step back and drops into a lower stance, pushing the spider upwards and away from his chest with his off hand. With the space he needs he sweeps his sword upwards, combining the movement with his momentum as he rises to his feet. In one motion he frees himself from its grip and cuts deeply through. A flick of the wrist and a splatter of ichor across the cobblestone returns him to the ready stance.
Anguela steps away from the little spiders, focusing her efforts on the bigger one. She looks around with a slight frown to see where everyone else has gotten to, and lunges forward to bite the spider back. Claws appear on the tips of her fingers and she slashes at it with those as well.
With a powerful lunge, Atticus manages to kill the mother spider with a single slice. He gets in through the creature's tough carapace and slices a deep rent in the thing's fleshy bits. Viscera and guts fall onto the ground as he steps back, and the whole spider shivers and then falls to the ground.
Anguela struggles against the spiders fighting her, but is unable to land a single blow on the quick little things.
The remaining spiders flee into the shadows of the alleyway. Without the protection of their mother, they become more interested in survival than in hunting.
The Silver Ghost lunges at the fleeing spider once, hoping to skewer it through with her rapier. They were just babies, but a dead baby today meant one less of those horrible monsters later.
Once they are out of sight, she sheathes her rapier and shivers. "Holy s@%&. Those were huge..." she breathes. The next time her sister, Antionette, lost her mind over a stray beetle that flew into the foyer, she would just have to just roll her eyes. She had no idea they could come so so much worse.
Once she has regained her composure, she stands up straight. "Right. Well, let's keep going. I don't want to linger here longer than necessary."
Anguela glares after the baby spiders and spits, trying to remove the awful taste from her mouth. Her claws recede, and she stands bent over as if she might vomit while dabbing at her lips with a cloth. She looks sympathetically at The Silver Ghost and shudders. "Indeed. When I was told to join the guard, I thought I would be fighting rebels and rogues, not vermin of unusual size!" She stands up straighter and smooths her uniform. "Is anyone injured? Only surface scrapes and bruises, it looks like. That was lucky."
"Vermin of unusual size? I don't believe they exist" says Atticus absent mindedly as he wipes his sword on his waist cloth.