Chapter 32: From Beyond

[ravenn4544]

Mouser scans the walls and balcony for the best place to try and climb.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur gives his rope to Faron, Mouser, or whomever else can climb up to try to save the webbed victims of Ariadnax. He scans the webs for any sign of additional spiders.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis positions himself underneath whichever victim is being lowered, thinking to try to catch them if they fall.

After standing there for a moment, arms outstretched at the ready he says, "I'm a bit... er... low to the ground for this job, probably..."

[OGRE MAGE]

Long Bo moves towards the carcass of Ariadnax, retrieving his spear and making certain the beast is quite dead and not able to regenerate or anything worse.

"Oh sure. No problem at all folks. Don't even mention it. All in a days work, am I right?"

Being extra cautious with the poison dripping fangs, the druid attempts to collect some of the venom by milking it into an empty flask, if he can.

Making extra sure a second time that the beast is no longer a threat to them, he stabs it again, this time looking for anything around or on the carcass itself.

[jemmus]

Faron accepts Urdur's offer of his rope, and takes his own rope as well. Well, here's hoping there aren't any other spiders up there. And that the people we rescue aren't fiends. And that we find a few coins as well. He climbs up the wall, looking for a strong rail or something else to hand the rope over. His idea is to tie one end to a body and have the heroes on the floor with the other end lower it down. He watches the webs area carefully-- for both dangers, and treasure.

Climb walls 88% [1d100]=64

[Inferno]

The Accursed Mansion, Blackchapel, Hookhill, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Two. Nightfall. Sunday, December 25th, 576 CY








In the dining room of unspeakable feasts, Faron and Mouser scale the magnificent trim, molding and millwork of the crimson walls to rescue the piteous victims trapped high above in the immense spider web.




Urdur's invisible eyes scan for Ariadnax's mate, hiding where his companions advance. He sees no lurking multilegged horrors lying in wait. Nor does Faron spy treasure yet.

Meanwhile, the grey druid confirms the gargantuan spider demon is dead.



Its carcass is adorned only with the writhing lambent fire of the druid's making. The wise naturalist readies to harvest Ariadrax's insidious venom from its razor-sharp fangs. (Please make a DEX check on 1d20 if you'd like to proceed. Success yields 1d6 doses of poison. Critical success yields twice as much. Failure means no doses are harvested. A Fumble means you are poisoned.)

35 feet overhead, Faron and Mouser reach the ghastly living decorations for Winter Solstice End.

Some nine misfortunates flinch and tremble in their dark nightmares. No. It's not that. Something else is causing them to convulse. Something inside them. Suddenly they shriek in agony!




Ariadnax's eggs hatch within their bodies, and gigantic spiderlings without number explode from out of their hosts' screaming mouths, each as large as a child's hand!




The harrowing wails become their death knell.

The crawling Brood Swarm scurries across the gossamers like a rippling wave, covering the entire ceiling, devouring their hosts alive! Part of the ravenous swarm spreads toward Faron and Mouser! (Please both make a WIS check on 1d20 to not be shocked/aghast. If you fail, please make a Climb Walls roll to remain on the wall.)


Actions?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. The Brood Swarm covers the entire ceiling of Room 2!

Map:






PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 19/22, Glowing Sword
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 18/25, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/23, Laying Hands: 1/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 35/38, Spells: 4/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 26/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, Invisible

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self.
Faerie Fire (Bo): Target: Ariadnax. Duration: 16 rounds.
Spiritual Hammer (Ingrid): Duration: 1 round.

Player Resources:

Tale of Terror (the story so far)
A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[ravenn4544]

Mouser's eyes go wide at the onslaught of spiders! "GODS!! Time to go!" and quickly starts to climb back down as fast as he can.

Wis (9) [1d20]=2

[OGRE MAGE]

Long Bo takes a step back from the fangs he is about to milk for venom, noticing that all is not well above them and that their good intentions to help the poor victims above has turned into another nightmarish proposal.

He quickly gets to work relighting his torch that was extinguished when he used his magic to save the party just a few moments ago.

"I can burn the webs, but do we take the risk of burning down the entire house around us in the process?"

He waits with his lit firebrand to see if his companions are able to escape before putting the torch to use.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

While I agree that fire is the eventual answer, with the way things turn out for us, we'd likely all die in a blazing inferno should we apply the torch now. I think we should wait and burn the place before we leave- if it is possible to do so. But, if others feel we should torch the mass of spiders now to make sure none of them survive and grow to become that, Ingrid says, gesturing to the corpse of the giant spider, I would not object.

[Urson]

Jerome
Never mind the best choice! Do something NOW! Jerome digs for his tinderbox and a torch.

[SocraticLawyer]

Once both Faron and Mouser have climbed back down, Urdur helps set the webs alight. He tries to recover his rope first, if possible.

He glances back at the entrance, hoping that they can make it out in time if the flames spread too quickly.

[jemmus]

Faron is aghast. Thousands of spiders that could grow into thousands of the eye-demon spider. His mind races looking for a solution to this situation and finds none. The thought of looking for treasure has been completely erased. In horror, he tries to clamber down the wall at fullest speed....

Wis 8 [1d20]=20
Climb Walls 88% [1d100]=93

[ChubbyPixie]

"Of course..."

Telkis stares upwards, repulsed, then, seeing Faron losing his grip, rushes to try to minimize his contact with the ground.

He'll try to partially "catch" him, or at the very least try to prevent his melon from smacking the floorboards.

[Inferno]

The Accursed Mansion, Blackchapel, Hookhill, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Two. Nightfall. Sunday, December 25th, 576 CY







The death cries of Ariadnax, Queen of the Brood Swarm, stir something within her countless young and they hatch, erupting from the screaming mouths of their hosts that decorate the towering vaults of the sublime dining room.

The crawling swarm quickly spreads across the immense web like a writhing torrent, covering the entire ceiling, devouring their piteous hosts alive!

Aghast, Faron and Mouser frantically descend from the ceiling and then suddenly, Faron comes off the wall! He plunges down to certain death!

Telkis tries to break his fall in a desperate attempt to save his life! Faron crashes hard into the selfless gnome and they both collapse to the floor! (8hp damage each)

Bo, Jerome and Urdur get torches alight as the teeming swarm begins to descend the walls!


Actions?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Grey area is the Brood Swarm that covers the entire ceiling of Room 2! Mouser is 21 feet up the wall.

Map:


Behind the DM Screen:

Falling damage: [3d6]=15 15 damage split between Faron and Telkis.

PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 11/22, Glowing Sword
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/19, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 18/25, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 20/23, Laying Hands: 1/1, Torch
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 35/38, Spells: 4/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 1/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 18/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 11/11, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, Invisible, Torch

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Invisibility (Urdur): Target: self.
Faerie Fire (Bo): Target: Ariadnax. Duration: 15 rounds.

Player Resources:

Tale of Terror (the story so far)
A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[jemmus]

Faron painfully gets up with a groan like an old man. He helps the gnome up. My heartfelt thanks, friend Telkis. I'd be a limp ragdoll now except for your help. I hope I can repay the favor someday.

The thief takes his sole flask of oil out of his pack. To the group, In case we do decide to burn them.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo climbs atop the table and opens one of his flasks of oil, ready to douse the dead carcass of the great beast on the floor.

“I have seen this type of behavior before. I believe the offspring is about to devour the remains of their mother. This is somewhat common in nature.”

Is any of that true, Scott?

“Perhaps if we stand back and allow the swarm to advance, they will accumulate atop the carcass for easier disposal?”

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome moves to light the webs, but pauses when Bo makes his comment. He watches the swarm, ready to burn them.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur stands ready with his torch.

They're not coming for us, right?

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Ingrid helps Faron up, healing him as she does. I'm afraid that they will come for anything that gets in their way. We need to make sure it isn't us.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=8

[ravenn4544]

Mouser sees that his friends are okay before moving to the open doorway near him. "I suppose who ever lives here knows we're here now." He's still careful and quiet as he peers into the doorway.