Martine removes a large portion of the goblin's neck. Unfortunately for the goblin, it turns out that the rest of the body is not prepared to continue the fight on its own.


"Hey-la! The goblins are dead... the spider, defeated... Shall we put it out of its misery?" Lachriel asks...

 Marthine spits out blood (most of it the goblin's), voice box, bone, and flesh.  Looking up at Lachriel, she lets out a low growl of approval.

In reply to Lachriel (msg # 107):

Aubree paused to catch her breath, looking at the spider with wary eyes.
"Unless we can get some kind of information out of it.  Who is the 'witch king'?  Is that just some spider monster folk tale, or is this creature working for some dark master, like the goblins were working for the spider?  And what treasure did they mean?"

She tried to look back at the stories and histories that she'd learned at the feet of her wizard teacher.
OOC: 18:54, Today: Aubree Farwalker rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,1.  magical history.
I'm not sure if I can use "logic" or just the "Magic" category for this

"That... is outside of my area of knowledge. I would prefer to track where they came from to see if there are any hidden clues."

She gives one last look to the spider and draws out her dagger.

"We have learned what we can. Best to kill this beast out of mercy, now."



She considers the creature and begins to hum the tune of a lullaby.


(Olewyn rolled 2 using 1d6 with rolls of 2.

Sing for Success (not high enough??)

Adding a Fate!

Olewyn rolled 5 using 1d6 with rolls of 5. )

(I'm not sure either, but you rolled a 6, so who cares, I'm gonna make it work anyway! (In future it might be better to ask me before rolling for a thing like that, though, at least in these early days of the game when we're all still getting a feel for how to roll for unusual things...))

"The Witch-King of Angmar was a dark and sorcerous ruler who terrorized the northlands many centuries ago," says Tirien. "I suppose that in spidery legends, he is a figure of menace who threatens to come back and punish the spiders for the eventual downfall of his kingdom. Perhaps spiders tell it as a warning to younglings to be careful in the wilds..."




To everyone's surprise, the shivering, shuddering spider speaks again in its fearsome delirium-- although whispering, now, instead of screaming: "The treassure... Give up hope of finding it...! We sshall have to convinsse the goblinss to ally with uss without it ssomehow, ssome other way... The Witch-King comess! Cursse Gungwin, for eating the only goblin who knew where it wass hid! Now iss the time for uss to hide...!"

"Well, well," muses Lachriel to you softly (too softly for the spider to overhear). "A burgeoning alliance-- and a potential obstacle to it. Would that we might find this treasure ourselves, and help to thwart this would-be alliance..."

Aubree nodded to Tirien, tapping her lips with a slender finger.
"That sounds like a noble cause, certainly.  An allience of these dark creatures would definitely be an obstacle to the civilized people here."

 A little more slowly than might be normal, Marthine returns to her human shape... and in pretty bad shape!   "We... can not let that happen.  I wonder if Gungwin has any relatives remaining?  And, if he might not like to see a gun to him." She pats her pistol.

Olewyn kills the spider.

Olewyn also finds something on the goblin she killed-- a dagger with unusual runes engraved into the blade...

Olewyn right away drags the dagger.

"Aubree. You are the scholar. What do you make of these runes? I am.... not well-read like you."

She rather likes the weight of the dagger and may add it to her own small collection of weapons. It would prove useful to have a second dagger given what they are speaking of dealing with.

In reply to Olewyn (msg # 115):

He had been hurt....OUCH  Yes it was after the fact but adrenalin, it had been hiding the pain.  He rubs his injury as Olewyn holds out the dagger.  He sees Runes on it I studied Runes if that helps any!  I could take a look if Aubree is unable to decipher them, I'd give it a try anyway.

As he picked up the leather straps from the spider and the floor, trying to ensure they didn't wrap around his legs or arms, or both; He thought to himself that there was actually a possibility that he could actually be useful.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:44, Fri 31 Mar 2023.

(You have the Reading Runes skill, so roll 3d6, Ronald.

Also, adjust your Toughness and Fate points in your bio line.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:44, Fri 31 Mar 2023.

In reply to The GM (msg # 117):

With the blade close, he studies the blade but he is struggling to read the runes.

[18:44, Today: Ronald R. Dodaden rolled 7 using 3d6 with rolls of 4,2,1.  Reading Runes] (Can he spend a Fate to this?)

(You may spend Fate points to roll an extra die, 1 for 1. (So, a second Fate point for ANOTHER die if the first extra one doesn't work.) But if they don't get a 5 or 6 either, the Fate points are still spent!)

In reply to The GM (msg # 119):

(ooc: Both dice failed -
18:52, Today: Ronald R. Dodaden rolled 4 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,3.  Spending Fate for the Dagger.
Changing remaining Fate)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:13, Thu 06 Apr 2023.

<Orange>(Ah well! Be sure to subtract those two Fate points from your total in your bio line.)


Ronald studies the dagger, but most of the runes are new ones to him. He isn't able to figure out what they're for.

In reply to The GM (msg # 121):

Is there anything that can be taken from the Spider that could be helpful?  I think a few trinkets could be made later....!  He contemplates taking a leg to help with marking out a Ward, or maybe an eyeball to see into it's spectrum what ever that may mean.  If the hairs on it's back or legs into gloves to stop.....His mind carried on like this for some time whilst others talked and looked at the blade.
Taking his whittling knife, he trims the longer hairs from the spider, enough to fill his hand that puts the evidence into his pocket.  He then looks at teeth and takes a few of the smaller ones.  He eyeballs the eyeballs and fangs.

(Hmm. Mark Spider Ingredients on your Character Sheet as a parcel of things you're carrying. We might work out you being able to do something with them later.)

Aubree took a look at the dagger, in case the runes were something she'd read or heard about in the infrequent times that Radagast spoke of them. Though as wise and scholarly as any wizard, at least allegedly, the brown mage was more interested in the natural world, rather than ancient text and runes.

She was a bit distracted by their new friend's work, shaving the spider corpse and possibly gathering other body parts.   Intellectually, she understood that gather such flotsam was useful in many ways, especially to scholars and hunters, but the idea of carving up a corpse unsettled the elven apprentice.    She was happy to leave Mister Dodaden to his work


She glanced at the dagger, trying not to think of dead spider legs.

OOC:  14:16, Today: Aubree Farwalker rolled 3 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,1.  Runes

Sadly, Aubree can't work out what the runes do, either.

Suddenly, there's a shrill, piercing noise to the south (more or less, maybe a bit to the west too).

It sounds a lot like the scream the spider had given out.

(I decided that this was a lot of failed dice rolls to not have something spooky and dramatic happen, so here's some consequences starting.)

In reply to The GM (msg # 125):

Roland heard a scream and looked up from his 'work', putting things in his pack and pockets.  What was that, another Spider getting attacked?  It wasn't his first scream of the day, he hoped it would be the last, that wound the spider's leg caused, began to itch as it started to dry.   looking back at the others... "Do we head that way?"

"Mayhap-- Marthine, though, is badly hurt. Stand by..."

(13:52, Today: Tirien rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,6.)


Tirien speaks some words under his breath, and Martine feels a little better.

(Martine gets 1 Toughness back.)

Aubree was also feeling very tender, but nodded with resignation
"We definitely need to prepare for the worst "

In reply to Aubree Farwalker (msg # 128):

Looking closer at the weary warriors and felt it a good time to mention.  If I have time, I can create a Ward that would protect us a little, at least once, whether a line or circle, it should if it works correctly, cause harm to the one crossing it.

Lachriel fusses over Marthine. "You are a fearsome fighter as the lion," she observes, "but until this part of the adventure is over, perhaps you should fight as a woman, at least for a while. The lion wears no armor, as do you."

In reply to Ronald R. Dodaden (msg # 129):

Aubree nodded to the human gratefully
"That might be very helpful indeed.  How much time do you require for such an Enchantment?"