"I guess that's possible and charred bodies might delay our payday. Sounds like we're doing this the hard way."
To assuage your concerns, the cocoons don't look like they could hold humanoids. A few are clearly emptied husks.
"Ah, looks safe. Burn em."
He throws the torch at the largest collection of webs.
Mikos nods stepping away from the heat. "I think we've been spider bitten enough for one day."
The webbing starts to burn quickly once the torch lands in the webbing. The fires spread through the chamber with a whoosh of air.
Many of the spiderlings are instantly killed in the fire, but more that were away from the webbing continue to scurry about. A large mass of them starts to coalesce in the middle of the room.
"Mmm, looks like they might number swarmin'. We got any thin to stop that from happenin'?"
"More fire?" Mikos offers as he pulls out a vial of alchemist fire and tosses it into the heart of the gathering spiders.
Mikos tosses the alchemist's fire into the growing spider swarm. Mikos's aim is perfect, landing right in the center of mass. The grenade explodes with dramatic and devastating effect, burning up all the remaining spiders.
After the flames die and smoke clears, you find the room is otherwise empty.
Mikos chuckles as he gazes over the curled and charred remains of the spiders. "I think I'll be needing to pick up a couple more of those. So what do you think? Take a peek down the pit or time to head back to town?"
"Feelin' pretty good after the rest. Let's secure a rope and see what we find down there."
The Keg looks over the edge first and then lights a torch and drops it down the pit.
Rodi shrugs. "I definitely need to buy some of those fire-bombs when we get back to town, but I'm good to explore if you guys are!"
Mikos checks his wounds. "Maybe I could use a little more help if you've got anything left for these bites, Keg."
"Sure, here's a burst for everyone."
"That's better," Mikos rasps. He loops the rope around his waist and glances back down the pit. "Careful now. I'm thinking that it's going to be nasty down there." Mikos leads the way down toward the sputtering torch.
After a healing burst from the Keg, Mikos secures the rope and starts down the shaft. After a few checks, he determines the inset ladder is secure. About sixty feet down, the shaft ends on a landing. A wide staircase descends into darkness to the north, but you can see an emerald glow from the bottom, some ways further down.
On the floor the dead moon spider queen lies on its back, its legs drawn up and frozen in a curled-in position. An unpleasant rotting reek emanates from it and the gore splattered across the walls and landing.
With only one way forward, you descend the broad, stone stairs. They end after about ninety feet andopen into a small, irregularly shaped chamber lit by oil lamps. To the east, a short flight of steps leads up to a sturdy door set in the middle of a wall and flanked by arrow slits. To the north, a wide gate of iron bars blocks an archway leading to a larger chamber filled with the eerie green glow of the Emerald Spire.
"Hells, this place is deep," Mikos observes after the long climb down. "There's your cocoon, Keg. Looks like there's something shiny in there, too." Mikos investigates, trying his best to avoid the worst of the goo.
The Keg rubs his hands together in anticipation having stowed his rapier, "Let's do this!"
He moves to the cocoon and gingerly tears away the webbing from whatever Mikos saw.
The Keg pulls apart the old, dusty webbing. Amidst the old bones he pulls out a ring of gold in the form of twisting vines and set with a large bloodstone.
The Keg tosses the ring in the air and then catches it and pockets it, "Poor bastard. Least we can do after avenging his death is sell this and putting it to good use."
"Let's check them bars right quick and then head east."
Mikos chuckles. "Start with the 'bars'. Somehow I knew you'd say that. Looks like that's the central spire running down from above. I'd like to take a closer look at that first. Did you say we can use those runes to get back up top, Ben?" Mikos moves up to feel if the metal is cold like the other gate and whether the gate is locked.
You move into the room. Examining the bars more closely, you see that it is actually a gate with a lock mechanism built into a panel in the stone wall.
You hear a thump and noise from beyond the eastern door. A gruff female voice calls out, "Who goes there?"
"Hello! Ny name is Rodi! What's your name?" Rodi calls out helpfully.
The Keg rolls his eyes, "Eh, Rodi let's talk 'about the element o' surprise some time."
He moves to flank the door, rapier in hand.
"Is that what the alchemists use to make sneaky potions?"
Mikos takes a step toward the door, but only places a hand on his blade. "We're new to the neighborhood. I dont believe we've met," he rasps at the door.
"New? That's ridiculous," the woman scoffs. "How did you get down here? Who sent you? Answer fast, boy."
The Keg moves up to flank the door, finding himself directly in front of an arrow slit. Through the narrow aperture, he sees a long, narrow room half-filled with crates, barrels and assorted detritus. An iron lever is set in the northwest corner, and a pull rope hangs on the northeast corner.
Two humans, one female and the other male, both wearing fighting leathers and wielding crossbows, stand guard behind the arrow slits.
"Boy? How old are you, Lady? We climbed down the pit. We've been hired to get rid of the vermin. You know, spiders and rats. You with the dead guy?"
"Ugh, adventurers," the man grumbles.
"Aye," the woman agrees, then responds to Mikos. "Piss off, back to where'er you came from, boy. Ain't nothing here for you, 'cept your deaths." She hefts the crossbow to accentuate the ultimatum.
Mikos shrugs and moves away from the door. "Fine with me. We came down quite a way though and I'm not keen on climbing back up. How do we open this gate here so we can take the Spire back topside?"
Rodi frowns. "I don't have to piss. I went before we got here. Say, are you guys brigands by chance?"
"No. You don't open the gate. You run back up the way you came," the woman snips at Mikos.
She smiles evilly at Rodi. "Not brigands... Splinters."
The man walks over to the rope and pulls it once. You hear a bell ring out.
Mikos mutter under his breath, "Sonuva... I'm not waiting for the reinforcements. If i get another bolt in the throat, I'll haunt you all."
With a growl, Mikos draws and leaps at the door with his falchion.
"Splinters? You're made of broken wood?"
The door crunches as Mikos cleaves a big chunk of wood. His sudden assault takes the two guards by surprise, but they recover quickly.
The Keg will press himself up against the wall and raise his shield up against the nearest arrow slit, "Oi, dis Splinter couldn't hit the broad side of me shield, any how,"