"My uncle taught me that there are hunting spiders and weavers. The funnel webs often belong to hunters. They hunt by sight and sound he had said. I like your illusionary sound idea. The log idea might scare it? We are only gonna get one shot. If it is wounded already, I doubt it will have much appetite for a fight."

Myrcury approaches the hole for a better look. He gets to within fifteen feet or so. He has his bow ready, with an arrow locked.

The hole is bigger than he expected. He figures he could crawl in if he had to. He doesn't plan to. The hole is lined with spider silk, funneling down into the ground.

Terry thinks rapidly. "I was thinking that a log moving across its webs and piggy noises might make tempting juicy prey but now that we are this close how about we smoke it out? I've got tinder an flint, a fire here shouldn't spread anywhere we don't want and at the least might burn away the webs. You want to try baiting it out or smoking it out? I would recommend fire myself but I might enjoy brewing things too much to be objective."

"They are both good ideas, perhaps we dont need to choose. We could attempt the subtle approach first. Then if that doesnt work, we get more forceful? It probably hears us now. Might not be helping."

"No problem Myrc." Terry and Wilda find a foot long chunk of branch and quickly tie one end of the rope to it. Walking to the middle of the clearing Terry stills his breathing and with a hand fluttering from his diaphragm blows out an echoing, moaning note to activate his innate magic. As Myrcury is at the ready Terry lobs the decoy out onto the webs and then will slowly pull it back towards him. From the log comes the snuffling grunting sound of a truffle pig, when the log catches in the webs the inquisitive snorts become squeals of panic.

Terry casts ghosts sound.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:09, Sun 28 Apr.

Terry's idea is much more effective than Myrcury believed it would be. Within a minute the spider appears at the hole opening. It probes around the entrance but does not come out far enough to take a clear shot.

The spider hears warm blooded sounds above. It senses movement. It needs food to heal. It is not well, but it must risk investgation.

Teriadoc goes completely still upon seeing the predator. Holding his breath he will give the rope another tug and the ghost sound spell around the  log will make a pitiful whimper and a fart of resignation. He will hold his shot until after Myrcury has acted. Wilda bristles as the spider emerges and she rises up onto her toes, ready to dodge and weave defensively if the arachnid attacks.

Like a fish attracted to the flash of a metal lure, the spider lunges at the sudden movement. The large spider explodes out of the whole silently and swiftly. It is confused by the lack of warm blood in its prey. The prey is not food. The spider is holding itself in a crooked manner. The bolt from Terry's attack is still lodged in its abdomen.

Myrcury is trained on the arachnid when it lunges. Myrcury flinches and his shot is very wide. Frustrated he knocks and fires a second arrow with much better effect. Though the arrow sticks the large bug, it only seems to piss it off. The spider sees movement and turns its attention on the gnomes.


Myrc Attack FF AC 11
Rolled: 3 + 6 = 9
Rolled: 11 + 6 = 17
Damage 1d4
Rolled: 1

This message was last edited by the player at 13:19, Tue 30 Apr.

Terry's inexperience with combat shines through and his bolt flies to where the spider was and not to where it is going. "Shit!" Dropping the rope and swinging his crossbow on its strap behind him his hands come up ready to bring some magic.

Terry got 5 on his crossbow attack against the spider
This message was last edited by the player at 13:32, Tue 30 Apr.

The spider spots a rodent. It's favorite meal. It needs food badly. It's wounds won't heal without nourishment. It ignores the other food and lunges at the rodent in an attempt to subdue it for a paralyzing bite.


Initiative
Spider 19 + 3 = 22
Terry 20 + 1 = 21
Myrc 11 + 4 = 15
Wilda 1 + 3 = 4

This message was last edited by the player at 16:41, Wed 01 May.

Wilda turns to face the fast approaching arachnid. When it lunges she attacks with a claw. She scratches effectively at the hairy leg trying to envelop her. The spider recoils in pain. Yet it still seems determined to eat.


Wilda attack of opportunity AC 14
1d20 + 4
Rolled: 12 + 4 = 16
Damage: 1d2 - 1
Rolled: 2 - 1 = 1
Damage prevents grapple.

This message was last edited by the GM at 16:46, Wed 01 May.

"Woah!" Terry rapidly hops backwards away from the spider and lands in a crouch. Making a rapid series of hand signs he will slap the ground and between him and the spider there is a sudden flash of fire. When the black smoke smoke parts a gnome sized diseased, feral red skinned rat issues a deranged squeal and lunges at the spider. Its wicked incisors sink into another probing leg and shear through with a splash of blood. "We've got it's attention, can you get behind it Myrc!?"

Terry takes a five foot step backwards then casts summon monster 1
Dire rat gets 19 to hit spider
Dire rat does 4 damage to spider

Myrcury notices he is not the focus of attention so he pulls his rapier and lunges. The tip of his small blade pierces the body of the spider. It squeals in pain and shudders in fear, realizing it has stepped into a hornets nest.


Myrc Attack AC 14
1d20 +4 dex +1 size +1 bab +1 Masterwork
Rolled: 19 + 7 = 26 crit threat
Rolled: 8 + 7 = 15 crit
Damage 2d4 -2
Rolled: 2, 1, -2 = 1

Weakest crit ever!


This message was last edited by the player at 13:49, Fri 03 May.

Wilda the Wombat is flushed with adrenaline as a predator attempts to grab her. Rearing up she starts bobbing and weaving like a boxer though without the martial training she instead tries to poke out the spiders eyes. As much to her surprise as anyone's her paws make contact with soft tissue and her claws now glisten with blood. She also snaps at the leg that tried to grab her but isn't quick enough to grab hold.

Wilda makes two claw attacks and a bite attack with a +2 for flanking with Myrcury
Left claw 26 to hit, 12 fails to confirm the critical, 1 damage
right claw 16 to hit, 1 damage
bite attack 9 to hit, misses
Wilda deals 2 damage to the spider.

The spider is aware that it has made a fatal mistake. It's only chance of survival is the den. Ignoring all other concerns it attempts to retreat to the safety of it's burrow.


Initiative
Myrcury 16 + 4 = 20
Wilda 15 + 3 = 18
Spider 11 + 3 = 14
Terry 1 + 1 = 2

This message was last edited by the player at 12:30, Mon 06 May.

Myrcury withdraws his rapier then immediately plunges in for another stab. He connects easily as the spider is turning to flee. The spider shudders then falls and it's legs curl up. The spider is dead.


Attack AC 11
1d20 + 7
Rolled: 8 + 7 = 15

This message was last edited by the player at 12:36, Mon 06 May.

Like paper thrown in a blazing fireplace scarlet flames consume the summoned rat and with a billow of sulphurous smoke the summoned rat vanishes. "Great job Myrc, you're really good with that rapier!" Terry grabs a five foot long branch and starts sweeping webs away from the hole. "I'm going to check the hole to make sure there's no eggs or surprises. Would you like for me to introduce you to master Pumblechook?"

Myrcury is flabbergasted! He turns to Terry with a huge grin on his tiny face. He doesn't say a thing at first, only stares.


"Holy Glittergold! I had no idea you could do all that! Wow! I mean with the flash and the rat and the biting and vanishing! Just wow!


As Terry moves to investigate the hole Myrcury follows. It strikes Terry, that Myrcury is quite young looking but he has the confidence of a much older man. He seems fearless but also naive.

"What are you planning to do with those magic skills? Have you the stomach for risk? Tayla and I could use a partner with skills like that. We have a private venture that is still in a speculative stage. We cant pay, but we can divy. Any interest in spelunking, exploring and possibly killing monsters?"

And there it is. He talks of killing monsters so casually. Terry heard about the snake at dinner the night before. It's still the talk of Cypress Street. Myrcury is not a book to be judged by his youth and size. He is all smiles as he waits for Terry to respond.


DM note: XP for each is 150. Bonus of 50 to Terry for great Spell Casting style!

This message was last edited by the player at 02:28, Tue 07 May.

Terry beams back at Myrc as he spins the stick and gathers up the web like a big serve of cotton candy. "That sounds amazing! We need to be on the same page, this will work best if we understand each other. I can tell that you have some amazing skills. Right now my magic is more flash than fire but I can already feel it growing, but it took me decades to get here, the hours that I've put into studying alchemy and arcane theory mean that I've never spelunked or climbed without using a ladder or even gone fishing! So if you promise to help me and Wilda with the exploring and go equal shares of both the hard work and the rewards, respect my talents and accept my limitations then I will give you my best towards every challenge."

Terry will pause gathering web and will extend his hand, now very serious. "Deal?"

Myrcury smiles but it is muted by something. Something else is on his mind. He nods in agreement but does not yet extend his hand.

"Before we seal the deal there is a matter we will need to have an understanding about. Tayla and I have proprietary knowledge that we can only share with partners who are willing to keep the information secret. Is that something that you would be comfortable with?"

There is no guile or dishonesty in Terry's eyes. "As long as a secret won't hurt someone I love I will keep it to my grave."

"The obly ones we will be putting into danger are ourselves."

He says this with an odd amount of mirth.

"Let's destroy this nest, then get back to town to tell Talya that you are in. We will explain it all to you over some food and drink!"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:00, Thu 09 May.

Terry continues to clear away web until he can crawl in to check the the burrow. Once the burrow has been checked he helps Myrc to harvest the valuable parts of the spider.

Terry finds nothing of interest in the hole. It looks as if it was not here long. Myrcury demonstrates how the fangs lead to venom sacks and they can be extracted in one piece. He explains that Mr. Cobble taught him a while back.  They place the fangs and sacks in specimen jars and corks them. Myrcury is eager to return to tell Talya about their new partner. He promises to fill Terry in along the way.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:50, Thu 09 May.

On the walk home Myrcury told Terry thecwhile story about the Underway. From the Deebo job to the mysterious door, he left nothing out.  The two got back to Talyas shop and they decided to celebrate with a nice dinner up town at the Golden Tankard. They enjoyed comraderie and a few laughs. They agreed to meet in two days time to discuss plans. Meanwhile both Talya and Terry had work to catch up on. Terry would be in the shop early tomorrow.


Thread closed.