The svirfneblin each take a finger and look out into the dark. "It's too far," Turvy whispers, "I don't see anything."
Even though Maddy couldn't see the threat in the dim light, she had a feeling that they didn't have much time to get everyone to safety. She tried to think of the best way to help but thinking was never her strength. After all, that is what her brother Matty was for. But sadly, he wasn't here.
She stiffened as Buppido curses at her for not making a bee-line to free him. Part of her thinks that she should just leave him where he hangs. If you want someone's help you don't demand it from them. But leaving someone in trouble wasn't in Maddy's nature because she was a protector.
Maddy didn't want to shout since there may be trouble about so she used their link with Stool to speak to Ksenia, ::If you call the sword, can you cut yourself free? That way I can help Buppido::
::I can try!:: Ksenia thinks back. ::And if I can't, you can always pull it back!::
Ksenia concentrates and pulls the sword to her, it popping into existence in her hand, at an odd twisted angle because of the way the webbing wrapped around her wrist.
::It doesn't look promising, but I'll keep trying. Sliding down the webs looked easier than it was...::
There's a long pause over Stool's thought network.
::Please don't leave me.:: Ksenia pleads.
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:: Don't worry. We won't leave you. ::
Kalanzar stubbornly moves forward. Even if Maddy gets there first, a fight is possible and she may need help in this fight.
The main thing is that one of us got there before the spider. The main thing is to have time...
Kalizardar scrambled along the webs, moving towards the Ksenia and Buppido, his lizard form sure-footed on the webbing. As he approached, he felt the webs beneath his feet sway and tremble - something big was coming.
The entangled dwarf struggled with the sword, trying to cut herself free, and managed to get her arm out. It would take a bit of time, but she could do it.
Maddy lowered herself down to Buppido, who was still cursing and struggling (and getting himself further entangled). The rescued halfling, still riding Sir Tubbyrubs, asked Jimjar "What's happening? I can't see anything." The svirfneblin, however, just shushed her.
Ziyad dropped a ball of sticky, burning webs straight down from his position, a few feet away from the cave/ledge/landing where the others congregated. It lit the cliff face as it fell, burning webbing as it went, everybody's eyes drawn to it. About 70 feet down, the cliff face moved as the fire dropped past it. A piece of cliff face that had enormous pincers, a long segmented body, and a tail with a stinger.
The fire kept falling. And falling. Getting smaller and smaller. Then it vanished.
Scrabbling sounds of something climbing the cliff got louder and louder.
Ksenia chews at her lip and focuses all her attention on awkwardly sawing while not dropping the blade. She's so focused she notices nothing else amiss.
Whats down there, fire the finger gun!
::Keep trying, Ksenia. No one is leaving you. I'm going to try to free Buppido while you work to cut yourself free. Then I'll come help::
Maddy got to Buppido, too focused on getting him free and keeping Ksenia calm to notice anything in her surroundings. The foreign nature of the Underdark dulled her normally sharp senses.
Frustrated at Buppido working against her, whether out of fear or stupidity, she growled at him, "Quit moving! You're making things worse. Stop it or I'll make you stop." There was something in her last words that sounded different than the young woman's normal tone.
Maddy grabbed at the webbing and started to try to pull them apart since Ksenia had her sword.
Getting nowhere with her hands, Maddy called the sword back for a brief moment to cut Buppido free.
:: There's a huge spider. Not the little thing we killed last time. And it has something on its back. Something... ::
Alexandra gets ready for battle.
SPIDER?
Ksenia feels the sword twist in her hand and start to slip, starts to swear, but before it can tumble out of her fingers, it blips out of existence with a slight plop and back to Maddy.
::Define "huge":: Ksenia thinks at Kalanzar. For a moment the connection flickers with an image of of the monstrosity. Ksenia's eyes go wide.
::Oh I was really hoping you were using the word ironically.:: She says and starts tearing at whatever webbing she can reach with her teeth.
:: 'Huge' is more than what we want to fight. :: Silence, thinking. :: We can't fight two monsters at the same time. Two monsters... We need to make them fight against each other. For food. ::
THe knowledge that something somethings were coming at them makes everybody work feverishly fast. The lizard scrambles along the webbing, surefooted, and soon comes upon Ksenia. Grabbing at webbing with his strong jaws, he is able to free the dwarf enough to get her into a precarious sitting position.
Maddy, aided by the shared sword, is able to cut Buppido free. The derro, scrambling to his feet, pulls his shortsword free and looks to the south. The spider glides silently into his view, and the already pale derro loses colour in his face.
Jimjar, taking one look at the approaching spider, loses his nerve. He begins to move down-web, hoping to make it to the cave before the spider gets closer. He draws his shortbow and an arrow as he goes.
The spider, seemingly in no hurry, continues to approach, closing the distance between itself and Ksenia. It is truly a monster, looking capable of taking on a bison with little difficulty.
Back at the cavern, the goblins peek over the edge, and as soon as the scorpion is visible, Spiderbait yelps. "I've never seen that before! Run!" He grabs Yuk Yuk by the arm and they run deeper into the cavern.
However, Ziyad is ready, and an aura of terrible danger and fear seems to radiate from the otherworldly gith. The scorpion, sensing danger, pauses in its steady climb up the cliff wall. After a few seconds it lifts a heavily armoured leg, as if to continue the climb, then it hesitates, and puts it back down again.
.
Order of actions:
Jimjar
Spider
Kalanzar
Scorpion
Goblins
Ksenia
Alex
Buppido
Ziyad
Maddy
T&T
Shuushar
Pre round 1:
If in doubt, shoot it in the face! Topsy did I hit the face? I did hit something, right?
THe knowledge thatsomethingsomethings were coming at them makes everybody work feverishly fast. The lizard scrambles along the webbing, surefooted, and soon comes upon Ksenia. Grabbing at webbing with his strong jaws, he is able to free the dwarf enough to get her into a precarious sitting position.
Well aware that she is quick but not strong, Ksenia instinctively tries to help her lizard friend with his work getting her free rather than independently struggling.
Kalanzar violently tears the web with his bite and claws - just in those places that Ksenia pulls. Strung threads tear like strings on a drunken bard's lute...
Maddy's limited light was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because she couldn't see the real trouble approaching even though she heard about it through the Collective. A curse because she could only see ten feet in any direction.
With Buppido freed, Maddy kept moving down towards Ksenia. She had to make sure that the dwarf was free and she had to keep her promise. Ksenia needed to know that she wasn't going to be left alone. ::I'm coming, Ksenia::
:: Maddy, ssshe'ssss free... Let'ssss get out of here... ::
Large (the size of a pony or a short-legged horse, no less!) the lizard turns its back and impatiently beats its tail, glancing at the spider every now and then and sticking out its forked tongue back and forth.
:: Kssssenia, get on my back... ::
Topsy, seeing the giant, armoured arachnid pause its climb, let go of Alexandra's hand. Grabbing his sister's arm, he cried something out in undercommon. ::Come on! Let's get out of here!::
Turvy batted his arm away, and said, ::I'm not leaving them.:: She pointed Alex's hand a little to the side, aimed carefully, and pulled the finger trigger.
Shuushar, staring avidly at the truly enormous spider, suddenly felt prickles of fear. ::She's got something on her back. Babies, I think. Really big babies:: He began to move quickly into the darkness, following Jimjar down the webs towards the light that Ziyad had provided with his flaming webs.
Sir Tubbyrubs, picking up on the fear, began to lumber down the webs, following Jimjar and Shuushar.
Ksenia, stickily clambering aboard the giant lizard, looked around to see the Spider Mother, her bulbous black body dominating her field of view. She seemed to have stopped moving - at least, her many feet were no longer advancing along the webs. However, her body seemed to pulse with dark movement. Narrowing her eyes, the dwarf saw that the kuo-toa was correct. At least five huge babies were climbing off their mother's back, spreading out to go catch their dinners. Two moved directly towards Ksenia and Kalanzar, who were the closest. Another two began to climb rapidly towards Maddy, who was between Buppido and Ksenia. Another two moved towards Jimjar and Shuushar.
The "babies" were big, but clumsy. Their fat legs bristled with short hairs, and the struggled a little on the webs. Both lunged at the lizard/dwarf duo, and both came close enough for their acidic stench to assail noses, but both failed to bite.
Вот мой гнев
Узри твою слабость
Твои мышцы терпят поражение
Твоя жизнь угасает
Alexandra erupts in an Abyssal Singsang, as she prepares for a mighty battle
ОГОНЬ Turvy almost heard a voice saying a single word in an unfamiliar language, clear, mesmerizing even, and she just knew it meant "open fire".
Alexandra can almost feel her Patron being next to her, and perhaps Turvy can feel an invisble headpat, or some other form of otherworldy approval, as Yzalina would approve of Turvy's bravery in the face of such a mighty foe. Their combined blast struck true, dealing a fair bit of damage.
All playfullness is gone from Alex, this would be a fight for her and Turvys lifes.
Maddy nods when she hears Kalizardar's thoughts even though there was no one around to see her. She knows that there is a spider about and is contemplating her attack when something unexpected happened.
Maddy had been using Sir Tubbyrubs as an anchor while she climbed down. She hadn't untied herself because why would she? It was much safer on the webs while attached to her anchor, at least that was before her anchor was running off in terror.
She gets a mouthful of old webbing and she's pulled through the air. She grabs the rope more tightly with one hand knowing that she was at the mercy of the running badger. With her sword hand, she grips the pummel and prepares to hit whatever comes into arms length.
She didn't have to wait long before she's flying towards the approaching spider. As she flys by, she scores a deep slash down the spider's side.
Ksenia swings up on Kalanzar and hopes that riding a lizard is easier than riding a horse. "Run Kalanzar, run!" She shouts both aloud and into the link!
It's a good thing the lizard was sure-footed, because galloping across spiders webs over a seemingly-bottomless chasm seemed like a good way to die. Then again, so did being swarmed by hungry arachnids. For those with darkvision, the sight of a dwarf clinging for dear life to the back of a giant lizard wasn't something they'd soon forget.
Maddy's journey through the webs was even more terrifying. Surrounded by impenetrable blackness, sticky webs catching at her clothes and hair, being pulled by a rope by a badger she couldn't even see...it was a nightmare journey.
The shepherdess, however, was not so easily disoriented. She kept her wits about her, and managed a decent slash on one of the "baby" spiders as she flew by it. The spider took the opportunity to bite at her sword arm, leaving two good-sized punctures in it for her trouble.
Back at the cavern, Turvy suddenly pulled Alexandra back from the entrance, causing them both to lose their balance and crash to the floor. Seconds later, Jimjar came half-running, half sliding into the entrance, joining them in a heap. Shuushar was only a few seconds behind him. As they all tried to untangle themselves and climb to their feet, Ziyad joined them at the entrance, finally having managed to unhook himself from his safety line. Stool was shedding spoors in such volume that it looked like the githzerai had his own personal snow storm.
Stool bellowed so loudly in their minds that for a moment they were nearly stunned. Those nearest the doorway turned to see the badger bearing down on them.
Thinking quickly, Alex somehow managed to rub Turvy Tummy while getting up! Only to fail dodging out of Sir Tubbyrubses charge path due to her shaky condition. However, she makes the most out of it and Tubbyrubs Sir Tubbyrubs as she is getting Trampled by him, bringing the Trampling-Tubby-Rub-Train to a stop!
Victory means Tubbyrubs!
Kalanzar will rush further into the tunnels at full speed, to the place where Ksenia can safely get off, and then stop and ask telepathically:
:: Where's Buppido? ::
Maddy was used to the unexpected while shepherding her village's flock. One always had to be ready for whatever foe presented itself. However, none of her experience had prepared her for her harrowing journey through the webs in the dark. The only thing that would have been worse was if she had been trapped in a small space in the dark. At least she knew that she had lots of space around her, even if the darkness was oppressive.
Her attempt to cut the spider as she went by proved to be folly as she was severely hurt for her effort. Her arm felt odd after the spider bit her but Maddy was just as strong on the inside as she was on the outside. She fought against whatever substance the spider may have infected her with and she continued on, not that she had much of a choice.
What her experience had given her was a good awareness of her body and so she sensed the approaching wall before she hit it. She protected her vulnerable bits and curled in on herself to make sure she hit the rock with the strongest part of her body so it could absorb the blow.
...revealing a rare yellow moon rising in the Underdark
::Shhh, don't distract me:: Buppido's "voice" came via Stool, and then silence.
Alexandra had managed to halt the one-badger stampede. What she didn't realize was that left Maddy dangling down the cliff face, within reach of the scorpion. With a blur, the creature's giant stingered tail struck at Maddy, but she was still twisting at the end of the rope and it only managed to strike the rock beside her.
As Alex and Ziyad squared off at the cavern entrance, their attention was taken by the sight of the giant scorpion, who now had a meal being dangled before him. It wasn't until Stool screamed again, and flooded their brains with his view that they realized they were mere seconds away from being inundated with spiders. Many huge babies, being followed by the elephantine mother, were skittering sure-footed over the webs straight at you.
Shouts Alexandra
Its just an illusion! But it could buy us time, get into the cavern, maybe the big creepies will fight each other! She ESPs through Stool
Standard action to make a Illusionary wall of fire, following that Alex gets the away, and tries to make Tubbyrubs move this way as well, so that Maddy gets away from the Scorpion.
Which, funnily enough, should not provoke AoOs because its forced movement.
I wouldn't be surprised if Buppido finds us in a day or two and brings us the head of a spider or several.
Kalanzadar grunts, although it looks more like a growl in his current form, after which he transmits to everyone telepathically (but how else):
:: Retreat further into the cavesss! Sssooner or later we'll leave their habitat and hunting territory! ::
And he rushes deeper into the caves, at the same time conducting reconnaissance.
-
Ksenia hops off Kalanzar as they pass through the cavern, and stations herself between those facing down the scorpion and the pursuing spiders. She glances down and doubletakes. "What is this? An arachnid factory? All we're missing are some giant ticks."
She nods at Alexandra and Ziyad, "We should follow Kalanzar into the caverns and away from this place, I'll keep your backs clear."
Maddy acted on instinct, striking back at what tried to attack her.
She had no idea where everyone else was but being left dangle as bait for the monstrosity before her caused her insides to twist. You're all alone in the dark and no one is coming to save you. You need me...
Out of nowhere, the discouraging thoughts began to echo in Maddy's soul. It began quietly at first which she pushed aside in dealing with the scorpion but as she continued to hang, the voice became more insistent. Quit restraining me! I'm your only hope