As the man watches, terrified, Junior rips open the other two bundles. In one, he finds a young man, in his late adolescence. He’s pale, motionless, and just barely breathing.
The next bundle opens to reveal a ghastly sight enough to make anyone sick. What was a person is now mostly skeletal remains, the majority of soft tissue has been liquified into a reddish-greenish gelatinous soup.
The first man you rescued vomits... although it’s mostly stomach bile. He hasn’t eaten in a week.
"I foresee this young man receiving healing magics!"
Unk points, closes his eyes, turns, and opens them again; he finds himself pointing at his cat Snowball.
"YOU! GO AN- ...Huh... that can't be right. Felines know no thaumaturgy, not even Snowball..."
Unk strokes his beard confused while the others tend to the nearly dead young man.
"On it," Yarin replies grimly, looking the young man over. "And someone get this man something to eat," he adds, gesturing to the now-freed older gentleman without taking his eyes off the youth.
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Wizzer looks at the liquefied person. That is no way to die... Remind me never to get caught in a spiders web again.
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"Never get caught in a spider's web again." Unk reminds Wizzer; apparently he has finished puzzling over his cat.
"He seems quite dead though, are you sure it isn't a way to die?"
The nameless man takes the plate of food after emptying his stomach of bile. He takes a bite, then another, then another. As he chews, he seems to have trouble swallowing. With his mouth full of starchy goodness, he pleadingly mumbles, “Wawa?”
Yarin can tell that the young man is weakened to the point of being on Pharasma’s doorstep. It’s possible he may die within the hour if immediate action is not taken. He is starved, dehydrated, and likely deprived of oxygen being wrapped up in a silky cocoon.
Junior flexes in clear view of Wizzer, "Don't worry even if you don't heed wise Unk I'll be there the break you out." Junior holds the coin Fred to his ear, shakes his head, "No Fred I'm not going to sell the dying man our water. Maybe some ice if we had any." Junior offers a waterskin to man.
Yarin lays a hand on the boy and mutters the words of a Desnan prayer. Healing energy flows into the unconscious figure. "Live, boy. I'm only a novice, but I demand that you live." Then, seeing that his spell has little effect, he clutches his holy symbol to release a part of the restorative magic stored inside; magic that only a priest of Desna can use.
Color returns to the young man’s skin, and his breathing becomes less shallow and more even. He’s still unconscious, but at least stable.
The older man takes Junior’s waterskin eagerly, and washes down his mouthful of food. He then proceeds to guzzle down at least half of Junior’s water supply.
“Ahhh... Many thanks sirs.” He remains seated and continues to eat his meal. “The name’s Rodrik,” he says between mouthfuls of food, “They call me Rodrik the woodsman. You probably saw my shack back at the wood’s edge. That boy there’s Van, and too bad about Old Man Tim. We were sent into the forest to fetch the ol’ witch. There’s a sickness afoot so I’ve been told. I’ve been workin’ these woods for all my life, never have I seen spiders like this before. Just jumped outta that tree there and before I know it, I was all tangled up.”
He looks over again at what was Old Man Tim and shudders. Then, he looks around at his saviors, “Say... who’re you folk? Can’t say I reckon your faces.”
Yarin shakes his head. "We aren't from around here. We were sent after the witch ourselves. I'm Yarin, priest of Desna." He turns to look at the unconscious youth curiously. "He couldn't be Zydia's boy, could he? I'm hoping I might find him too."
Rodrik gives Yarin a nod, "Aye, that he is. I suppose then Zydia hired a real set of adventurers to come after us. Good on her. And you got here in the nick of time."
"I suppose then I should be headin' back with the lad. If you folks are goin' ta fetch the witch, best be careful. The whole forest is riddled with spiders from the looks of it. Although, if'n you dispatched these two, then I'm sure you can handle more. The boy had a proper blade on him. I'm sure it's around here somewhere, and you're welcome to my axe if you can find it."
He then shakes his head slowly, "It's gonna be hard informin' Ol' Deb she's now a widow."
Watching and Fred feed and water the older man, it dawns on Unk that maybe the passed out youth could use some food and water as well.
He finds some of his beef jerky and tries to feed the unconscious man. Thankfully he gives up when the food isn't taken, and he takes out his waterskin and pours some water into the boy's mouth.
Junior wished them well, "Good luck!" He then turned to the rest of the group while motioning to the path ahead, "After you."
Sindare nods to them, "I am glad we were able to save the two of you. Good luck on your journey home, and be safe."
After snowball tugs on Unk's pants, Unk offers a pound of his trail rations and his waterskin before moving on with the others.
"I foresee that you'll need snacks. Here."
Rodrik takes the offered provisions with a nod of thanks, then lifts Van in his arms and heads back to town.
Moving forward, the group enters into the thicker part of the woods, and finds it is indeed choked with spider webs. They spot spiders here and there, mostly normal size ones, an occasional one the size of Snowball, but none as large as the ones you faced, nor as aggressive. They seem to be content with the birds and mice caught up in their webs.
They find, as they travel along, that more and more often they need to clear the path of webs. This seems to send the spiders scattering back into the trees.
After an hour or so of travelling like this, the group comes upon a torrent of water. This must be Silver Creek, although that's a bit of a misnomer at this point. The creek is heavily flooded and has overflown its banks. The water is flowing very quickly, making crossing difficult if not dangerous. Furthermore, the rushing waters have washed away the bridge.
The road on the far bank lies 30 ft away.
"If this is Silver Creek," Yarin says, pursing his lips, "then it's quite a Silver Problem. Anyone got any rope?"
Sindare looks at the flowing water and seems to deflate after a moment. "I have some," he motions to the rope dart at his side, "but it is not enough."
There are some broken remnants of the bridge foundation on the other side that a grappling hook could catch on.
Suddenly, Unk announces "I foresee silver lined clouds!
... I don't know why." he adds, visibly deflating.
Snowball grabs Unk's pantleg, pulls it across the foot of Unk's other leg as best as he can and releases it.
"Meow."
Unk just stares at the cat while it repeats the motion a few more times.
"Excellent idea, Snowball. Anyone want to carry the rope across to tie it at the other end? I can double a man's dimensions for a full minute at some point today!" Unk looks back and forth between the strongest looking members of the team, his eagerness entirely apparent.
Wizzer goes to pet Snowball. Soon, Ill have a pet as well.
Sindare nods at the now completed grappling hook, then steps forward to take it. He swings it a few times before letting it fly to the other bank.
Sindare lets the hook sail across the rushing waters, it lands on the other side, near the stone foundation of the washed out bridge. With a deft yank on the rope, he secures the hook tightly.
Junior admires Sindare's work, "Handsome and capable I see!" Junior then carefully crosses the river using the rope as a handhold.
Taking his time and being extra careful, Junior makes it across safe and sound. A little waterlogged, but safe.
Uric makes some good progress at first, but as he reaches the middle of the swollen creek, he is overcome by the torrent of water and he goes under.
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Yarin stows his shield and quickly moves out to try and save Uric, muttering a brief prayer as he goes.
= 15
Unk watches as Uric slips and Yarin moves to act.
After Snowball headbutts his shin, Unk remembers that he can help others foresee how to act more efficiently in almost any circumstance. "Um, would anyone like a fortune?"
"Hold on, Uric!"
Knowing that it will be harder for him, Wizzer takes it slow and doggie pattles across the water.
Remind me to get a portable boat for the future. he says once hes on the other side.
You’re not out of the water yet! Unk and Sindare have yet to cross.
"Well, no time quite like the present. Nothing to foresee"
As Unk nervously works up his bravery to the point where he can cross, Snowball jumps onto his shoulder and then climbs into his backpack.
After taking a deep breath and somehow without uttering a prophecy, Unk starts to cross.
As he crosses, mewling sounds can be heard from his bag. As he climbs up the opposite bank, Unk proclaims "I foresaw that time being best to cross! Also, ew. I'm all wet."
A somewhat wet and very unhappy cat leaps out of Unk's backpack.
"Shall we continue?" Unk adds, Sindare's position slipping his mind.
Unk and his gear seem to dry out entirely over the course of the next minute, despite having been soaked through like everyone else. Snowball isn't so lucky.
Junior offers words of encouragement, "I believe in you Sindare! And Unk I would love to have my fortune told!"
Sindare grabs the rope and tries to pull his way across. He makes no progress at first, unused to the rushing water, but finally gets his groove under him and pulls himself across.
With only one small moment of panic the group makes it across the flooded creek. Thoroughly drenched, save perhaps Unk, they continue on their journey to the witches hut, boots sloshing along the road. They find the forest on this side of the creek to be even more choked with spiders and their webs. It makes the going slow, having to cut their way through webs while avoiding the bigger and more dangerous of the spiders.
Finally they reach a clearing near a hillside in the forest. However, the small cabin is completely covered in webs, and sitting on top is a menacing spider twice the size of the ones fought at the beginning of the journey.
"Spiders," Yarin says grimly, drawing another dart. "What is it with this woman and spiders?"
On the way to the hut, Unk shares that Fred's future will involve walking. Lot's of walking. Spiders too, lot's of those; not to mention spider webs, so many webs.
As they arrive in the vicinity of the witch's hut, Unk shares another "prophecy" "I foresee the witch having a bad time! Um, who wants to go first? I can make someone twice as large to match our double sized opponent."
Junior looks disappointed in his fortune, "But what are my chances with ... you know. Nevermind."
Answering Unk's question, "If it makes my drums bigger too, then yes!"
Sindare shakes his head, "This is not good. If no one else wishes to grow, I may take it. It will effect my ability to hit, but I'm sure I can hurt the creature more." Sindare's teeth bare as he prepares himself to fight such a monster. "Should we start as we had before, trying to get this creature to approach us?"