Watchfort Reclamation, Summer 668

[roobeastie]

Morwen

Looking around the area, Morwen is struck with an idea. Glancing at her companions, she speaks quietly. "I could use my magic to summon an unseen servant and we can have them burn away the webs... spiders don't bother them."

[Leitz]

Jing Ji-ho

Ji-ho will ask Morwen for an explanation of "unseen servant".

Assuming one is given.

Smiling, Ji-ho said, "Wait a few minutes. Drotik, keep an eye out, and keep your crossbow ready. Rolton, go ask Si-Woo to gather a lot of dried grass. With the unseen servant, we can move it in there safely, and then set it all afire. Perhaps we should be back a bit, when it starts to burn the webs?"

[GreyWolfVT]

Bofur "You know we could just burn em. Their just webs, and yeah they're be spiders big ones, really big ones, and normal sized ones. But rather than fretting with these darned webs why don't we just burn or cut em?" he suggests.

[roobeastie]

Morwen

At the request for an explanation, Morwen summarized what the spell did concisely. As she spoke, she also considered whether or not seeing if her apprentice had anything to add.

[Leitz]

Jing Ji-ho

Ji-ho nodded to Bofur. "That's the current plan, but it would be dangerous to do so within the room itself. On a different note, I don't know how much you know about dwarven stonework. Could you keep an eye out for anything we might miss? My guess is that the dwarves who lived here might have left indications of what was where. Maybe even hidden areas or trapped areas."


Hemia's eyes went wide when she set down the first bundle of dried plains grass. "Those webs are huge!" she sputtered.

Ji-ho chuckled, and put a firm hand on her shoulder. "They are huge, and that's why our friend Morwen is going to help us burn through them. Remind Si-woo that we'll need a lot of this grass, maybe more for later. It will be good to stock up on, even after we clear this room."

WIth Drotik keeping watch with his crossbow at the ready, Ji-ho and Rolton kept pushing the dried grass as far forward as possible. Ji-ho wasn't sure how long the Unseen Servant would last, or how much it could do, so he kept things going as much as they could, to maximize the team's efforts.

When they had done what they could, Ji-ho turned to Morwen. "I think that's about what we can do, do you have any suggestions before you summon your servant?"

[GreyWolfVT]

Bofur agrees to keep his eye out "Oh aye. I'll do what I can ta make sure nothing is amiss."

[roobeastie]

Morwen

Visibly surprised to hear Ji-ho refer to her as a friend, a vague smile crossed her beak before she spoke up. "I don't have any suggestions, although I think it might be best to find somewhere to stand where you won't accidentally be set aflame," Morwen intoned, looking at the others. "Once I summon my servant, it will last about two hours... provided nothing stops it."

That being said, Morwen made sure everyone was ready before she called forth her servant.

[tibbius]

Leaving the breezy hillside, Barnaby and his two henchmen entered the chamber where Morwen was preparing her spell. They stood quietly, weapons in hands.

[scarik]

With a sisnister whisper and a tremor in the dusty air an apparition takes form from Morwen's magic. It is unseen only when still, though even then it has a physical presence that causes subtle changes to those with keen senses. It takes the lit torch and carries it like it has hands into the webbed chamber where its vaguely ravenfolk-ish outline becomes apparent as the thick webs begin to cling to it as it passes. It waves the fiery brand about and also ruffles its arms to collect and dislodge more and more webbing but soon it becomes bogged down by the sheer weight and drag of the many strands and there is nothing left to do but ignite them in earnest.

For a long time it makes barely any progress until suddenly the dampness is dissipated just enough and the webs begin to burn. Slowly in fits and starts as the fire licks along the heavy silk until it then becomes brighter than the torch and from there the entire chamber is engulfed in a sheet of flame.

The inferno rages only briefly to be replaced with thick, acrid smoke that hangs stubbornly in the room backlit by spitting embers and flare ups in the corners and crevices.


The smoke takes a while to disperse on its own. Do you want to wait try to speed it along?

Wandering Monster [1d6]=4 None

[Leitz]

Jing Ji-ho

"Excellent work, Morwen! That was much better than what I would have done." Ji-ho smiled, and looked into the room. "Since we do not know what all was in there, I suggest we wait until the air clears a little bit."

From what he can see, with the flames inside and moving to the door way for a few moments, Ji-ho will inspect the room and then retreat so the air can clear. He looked at the others, "Can anyone see if there are drafts or other air currents visibly moving the smoke?"

[roobeastie]

Morwen

With a wave of her wing, Morwen gestured at her porters, who were both waiting nearby for orders. "If you like, I can have my helpers start working to air out the room, provided no one takes offense to their condition..." Which was a polite way of calling attention to their undead nature. Morwen had them under her control, and as such they wouldn't do anything untoward, however she understood that some might be leery of skeletons.

[Leitz]

Jing Ji-ho

A thousand years of tales about The Great Ancestor welled up in Ji-ho's mind; each a lesson in "do this", or "don't do that". Some conflicted others, and all were suspect due to being retold by many who were not there. Unless one talked to The Great Ancestor himself, one could not be sure. Ji-ho had not had that conversation.

However, he did have almost three dozen living souls under his command, and a mission that he was honor bound to complete. Some would have their concerns, or fears, about the undead assistance, and Ji-ho would not fault them. But he would not put anyone at risk because he was concerned about using good help where it was provided. If dealing with the undead tarnished one's soul, let it rest on his and his alone.

"Friend Morwen, thank you. Perhaps your servants can take bundles of dried grass, or some of the smaller bushes, and move the air around more easily," Ji-ho said. "Once that's done, we'll work on checking the room, and then moving through the next door."

[tibbius]

Dramm says quietly to Barnaby " and what do ya think of that, milord?" with a slight nod toward Morwen and her skeletons.

Barnaby shrugs but leans toward Jing. "Captain, I do not know much about the undead, though I do know that the Ancient grants some priests the power to repel or even to destroy them."

[GreyWolfVT]

Bofur unsure of what is going on currently sticks his finger in his mouth and pulls it out holding it up to 'feel for a draft' in the air.

[Leitz]

Barnaby shrugs but leans toward Jing. "Captain, I do not know much about the undead, though I do know that the Ancient grants some priests the power to repel or even to destroy them."

Jing Ji-ho smiled and nodded. He spoke in a whisper, "We have an interesting group, do we not?"

[scarik]

Morwen's macabre servants do as suggested and fan the smoke to disperse it while the others watch with a general unease. When the cloaked creations are just walking or carrying loads its easy to ignore what they are, but seeing their jerking movements and the flashes of white bone draws the eye. Several make motions to ward off danger such as the Sign of the Book that Hermia makes with both hands.

The Dwarves are less affected. They all know the stories of the craftpriests awakening the souls of the ancestors from their mausoleums to fight in defense of hearth and hold. But those are honored spirits in times of great need. To see it done so casually is another thing.

Bofurchecking for drafts speeds the process along. Most of the vents are blocked in the burned chamber, but some air still seeps through and the vents in the outer rooms are mostly cleared so the smoke hangs up by the ceilings. Granted the humans have to duck a bit but its quite comfortable to Dawi-folk.

Barnaby is the most learned of the group and he's heard many a tale about how the undead blight the places where they dwell, darkening the halls and chilling the air. How their eyes burn with unholy luminance and they give fright to animals. But these ones don't do that at all and he's never seen them spook the mules nor his hound. He wonders if the sigils he spots inscribed on their bones is why.

As the smoke is nearly clear and the group is watching from the clear edges a shadow detaches from a dark corner where it had escaped the flames and leaps onto one of the skeletal servants. It falls without a fight to the ground and several more skitter out and likewise knock down the other before becoming confused by the inedible intruders. They are now agitated and aware of the mass of edible creatures at the edge of their lair and begin to retreat back into their hiding spaces.



The room is large (30x70')and covered in rubble from the partly collapsed ceiling. It is held up with evenly spaced pillars in two rows running north to south. The rubble is between them as they are solid stone and in good condition. Ten spiders are currently in the open and moving toward places to hide and try and ambush you as you go by. They are able to leap at least half the width of the room as you just witnessed.

Wandering Monster [1d6]=6 Yes
Wandering Monster Result [2d6]=7 Large Spiders (Small size category, no bigger than Sengrim)
Reaction [1d100]=73 Attack
No. Appearing [2d10]=10
Surprise [1d6]=4 No

[Leitz]

Jing Ji-ho

Captain roll:Pair dice roll [_2d6]=(6+2)=8

Being unsure of what awaited them, Ji-ho readied everyone as best he could, given the space available. He himself moved forward in the center, loosing arrows at the largest of the spiders and being the apex of the offense. Drotik and Si-woo joined him, one of them on each side. The rest of his band followed, keeping ready for melee and protecting the path to retreat if necessary.

Not sure which of the PCs and Dwarves will move forward to missile range, but the melee band would be behind them, providing support.

Morphin had command of the base camp outside, and Darfilla paced around what they had for a medical rally point.

Belatedly seeing a lack of longer range missile weapons on the dungeoneering section.

Ji-Ho Missile Attacks [_3d6]=(6+6+4)=16, Missile Damage [_3d6]=(1+2+4)=7
Si-Woo Missile attacks: [1d6+1]=1+1=2 [1d6+1]=4+1=5 Damage [1d6]=4 [1d6]=1
Drotik Missile Attack [1d6]=1, Missile Damage [1d6]=3

[roobeastie]

Morwen

With a glance towards her guard, Morwen gave a subtle nod, giving Macnav permission to assist with the spiders.

[GreyWolfVT]

Bofur aids with the attacks on the spiders if there is room to do so.

I have no macros for this game so not really sure what I need for this. Planing on waiting for melee since he is not armed with much in the way of ranged bearded axe and large round shield in hand.

[tibbius]

Despite the low overhead and scant elbowroom, Barnaby whirs his sling.



Sengrim's crossbow functions in the tight space.