Quest #14 "Hidden Fortress of the Poison Spider Monsters"

[SirOwen]

Rollo

Rollo's Save vs. Breath Weapon [1d20] = 3

I did not roll for Feightus.

[wolfpack]

Gramble
[1d20] = 12

Jeevus
[1d20] = 18

Feightus
[1d20] = 1

[OGRE MAGE]

Inside The Wooden Structure
What Is This Place?
Freeday, 5th of Goodmonth
Mid Afternoon, Hot, Humid

Maag watches in horror as the ceiling suddenly drops open, dumping rocks and logs down on all of his traveling companions. Jaxsen, Brother Gilbert, and Judson, all positioned on the outer edges of the marching order, are only grazed by the falling debris. Those positioned in the center of the group don't fare as well. Jeevus is the only person in the group who actually saw the trap about to spring, though ducking for cover does little good for the unarmored normal human.

Once the dust settles in the sloping passage, the badly injured group is able to assess their current situation. Gramble and Avaala are still alive, though they are both in pretty bad shape. Jeevus, the valiant fighters scribe, lays in a pool of his own blood that slowly trickles down the sloping floor. He has a nasty head wound and at least one broken arm. His condition will require immediate attention if he is expected to survive this horrible ordeal.

The 2 dogs appear to take the worst of the damage, as both of them lay dead on the dusty floor. With crushed bodies and broken legs, not even the good Brother could revive either of them before they pass along to greener pastures. Rollo looks into the eyes of his best friend as he passes, an understanding smile crosses the canine's face as the last little bit of dusty, gloppy drool falls from his mouth.

Jaxsen makes sure that Brother Gilbert is ok before sticking his head around the next corner to see what other horrors they might have to face. He sees that the sloping passage on that side of the wall rises right back up to the normal floor level they were on before. There is a long round log laying all alone at the very top of the sloping passage. When he checks the walls at the bottom of the slope, he notices that the dirt wall at the bottom of the next passage has been replaced by thin, wooden planks. He assumes that these planks are directly in front of the angled spears in the spiked pit on the other side of the wall. He finds no other secret doors or passages in any of the nearby walls.

Looking up the next passage, the monk can see that most of the black goo that was smeared all over the walls of this maze is almost nonexistent now that they have traveled this far inside. The floors appear much cleaner as well, and far less traveled.

Actions?

map:

IMG_2130.JPG (573.87 KiB) Viewed 404 times

Jaxsen 6/10
Brother Gilbert 2/8 2/3 first
Gramble 2/10
Fieghtus -3/14 Dead
Jeevus -2/3 Unconscious/Bleeding Out (dead at -3)
Avaala 5/12 CL DM RM 0/2 first 0/1 second
Rollo -3/17 Dead
Judson 7/14
Maag 9/9

Sorry guys! My damage rolls for both dogs were brutal, but at least no characters bought it. (yet)

[SirOwen]

Avaala the Grey

Avaala holds Rollo's head in his hands as he passes. "Good boy," he says. "good boy." The mage sits beside his friend for a few moments, his hood pulled low over his face.

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen dusts off Brother Gilbert as he says, "I hope you're not planning on having us leave again."

The young Monk reports what he saw around the corner. "Another trap, I suspect," he says. "I see a large log at the top of another slope, and some thin planks right here in front of those bent spikes in the pit. Trip the log, log rolls down, knocking someone through the planks and into the spikes." He waits to see if anyone has other thoughts about it, and then says, "And the creosote is thinning out. Not so much up ahead."

[wolfpack]

Grambl will bind Jeevus wounds as tear rolls down his eye

Feightus I am sorry I will honor your memory

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag looks at the battered group in front of him. "We need to git out from 'ere now", he says matter-of-factly. "If dat ettercap didn't set up dat trap, you can bet 'e knows it's gone off at least. Dis 'allway ain't safe. If we can't get back to the way out, dat big spider's room is der best bet. We can light a fire in der".

[kruk]

Judson brushes the debris of his chest and takes a deep breath. He ignores the trickle of blood oozing from underneath the armor.

ooc: sorry I've been away. I'm back now

[OGRE MAGE]

Inside The Wooden Structure
What Is This Place?
Freeday, 5th of Goodmonth
Mid Afternoon, Hot, Humid

While the group gives Gramble and Avaala a moment to deal with the loss of their animals, the others assess the damage.

Maag, the only member not injured by the trap, seems adamant that the group should retreat back to the large room where they fought the massive spider so they can rest for a while.

Judson is hurt, but seems willing to press onward, despite his injuries.

Jaxsen doesn't seem too shook up by the recent tragedy, reminding Brother Gilbert that the group shouldn't forget why they came in here just because things took a turn for the worse. The trained mind of the focused monk seems to almost sense that the end of this maze might be getting close now. He lets everyone know what lies around the next corner, also telling them that the conditions of this structure seem to be improving somewhat just past this next obstacle.

Gramble quickly stops his scribe from bleeding any further, saving his life in the process. The skinny human draws weak breath, but will need healing if he is expected to be able to get around on his own. The stoic fighter says his goodbye to his beloved hound, not yet expressing his desire to continue or not.

Brother Gilbert looks upon what is left of his party, glad that nobody else was taken from him too soon. With minimal healing magic left at his disposal, he will need to make some hard decisions again very soon.

No one in the group brings up the absence of Storm or Saracen, their condition and location at this point remains unclear.

Actions?

map:

IMG_2130.JPG (573.87 KiB) Viewed 383 times

Jaxsen 6/10
Brother Gilbert 2/8 2/3 first
Gramble 2/10
Fieghtus -3/14 Dead
Jeevus -2/3 Very Unconscious
Avaala 5/12 CL DM RM 0/2 first 0/1 second
Rollo -3/17 Dead
Judson 7/14
Maag 9/9

[SpinwardMarch]

Brother Gilbert

Pelor, preserve us, as he looks at the disaster in front of him, and then goes to Jeevus and prays.I am almost of a mind to to turn back and rest, for I am unable to heal anyone until I rest. What say you, friends?

He finally realizes that the party is missing two people. But what of our other two companions? Did they not follow us?

yup, still have 2 spells

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jax nods at Gilbert's question. "All the more reason to listen to Maag and go back to the room where the spider was. We should find the rest of our swarm that way."

[SirOwen]

Avaala the Grey

As the rest of the company decides on the next course of action, Avaala pulls Rollo's body over to the wall. He motions to Gramble, as if to ask if he wants to put Feightus here as well. If he does, Avaala starts covering both dogs with the fallen branches and logs, and then puts large rocks on top of that, creating a rough, quick cairn. Avaala buries Rollo in his armor, remembering that the dog was every pound a warrior.

As he works, he says, "We need to back up a bit. Both to buy ourselves some rest, and find our missing friends. I don't know exactly when we got separated, but if they are still unharmed, we could certainly use their strength right now. I think Maag's idea about the room where the spider was has merit for both reasons."

[wolfpack]

Gramble aids Avaala with the bodies and building the cairn.

We have to go back and rest and regroup.

[kruk]

Judson helps out Avaala as well and shows no objection to getting a little rest. Errr...uh...Sorry for your loss Avaala. Judson is not good at showing compassion towards others, even if he really means it.

[OGRE MAGE]

Brother Gilbert
I am unable to heal anyone until I rest.

I have BG down as only casting 1 of his 3 spells so far. Is that incorrect?

[SirOwen]

Judson helps out Avaala as well and shows no objection to getting a little rest. Errr...uh...Sorry for your loss Avaala. Judson is not good at showing compassion towards others, even if he really means it.

Avaala the Grey

"Thank you, Judson," Avaala answers. "I won't forget your kindness. He was ... my friend."

[OGRE MAGE]

Inside The Wooden Structure
Time To Rest?
Freeday, 5th of Goodmonth
Late Afternoon, Hot, Humid

With a couple less mouths to feed now, the group agrees that continuing on without rest and recovery would be reckless and foolish. Once the bodies of the dogs are adequately covered and properly marked, the group departs the sloping passage. Gramble carries the unconscious form of his scribe along silently. With heads hung low, the party decides to backtrack to the large room they found earlier, hoping to find Saracen and Storm in the process, if they yet live.

The second copper gate stays open after they retreat, traversing over the spiked pit bridge and back into the cocoon room. When the group passes the hall with the first magic gate, they are a bit concerned to find that it is indeed closed. If they cant find a way to open it again, they will need to find another exit if they ever hope to escape this place. Checking the gate closely, they don't see or hear any signs of their lost cleric or druid. Perhaps the gate closed again after that pair left the structure?

The large room appears exactly as they left it, with no more gargantuan spiders taking it over as their new home. The body of Eawad is starting to smell a little funky in the heat and humidity of this jungle structure.

Actions?

Jaxsen 6/10
Brother Gilbert 2/8 2/3 first
Gramble 2/10
Jeevus -2/3 Very Unconscious
Avaala 5/12 CL DM RM 0/2 first 0/1 second
Judson 7/14
Maag 9/9

[SirOwen]

Avaala the Grey

"At last," says Avaala. "There might be a silver lining to the cloud that is that damned canopy."

The mage pauses and continues, "The canopy won't do much to stop sound. If we yell, and Saracen and Storm are anywhere near, they should hear us. At this point, I think any enemies up in the canopy know where we are already. But if any of you can think of a solid reason not to do so, please speak up."

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jax walks up to Maag and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Your instincts are good, Maag. I will listen to them if you share them." he says. "In the meantime, you and Judson and I look to be in the best shape. We will have to be the soldiers of this swarm for a bit."

[Jernau35]

Maag

"Cheers, mate" responds Maag to Jaxsen, quietly. Maag feels bad about letting the party walk into the trap, thinking he could have done more to spot it. He's starting to regard the party as his new "gang", and feels like he's let them down. Rollo's demise and Avaala's distress is especially uncomfortable for Maag, as he remembers how the two of them helped to free Maag from the pirate ship.

"Ah'll tell ya one fing, tho", he says to Jaxsen, after a few seconds thought. "Dat log trap, is more dan one trap. It's too obvious. Der's gotta be anuvver trap der somewhere. It's gonna go off when we mess around wid der log. Wotch ya reckon?".

Eventually, Maag wanders over to Avaala and touches him lightly on the shoulder. "Sorry about yer dog, mate".