Moonshadow is quickly able to ascertain the scent of ogre, but seems confused as to a definate direction in which the smelly creature might have most recently taken. With everyone safely holding a few light orbs, they proceed down the Right corridor, Moonshadow now in the lead alongside Loriel, with Artanis and Xaris behind, and Kas, Aelistae and Linnix trailing behind.

Moonshadow stalks the stone corridor as a predator its prey. The wolf easily bypasses the still blade hanging from the ceiling with Loriel at his side, but a single step too far sets into motion a series of events that would put the companions in serious peril.

As the wolf's paw activates a pressure plate, the entire center section of the 4 way intersection begins to rumble and shake. With Linnix and Aelistae still in it's range, the two panic as the floor beneath their feet falls away, taking the two of them down with the rubble of stone and debris into the darkness below. Kas however was quickly able to leap into the sturdy corridor behind Xaris and Artanis, pulling herself up even as her feet tried to push off against crumbling stone.
(Both Aelistae and Linnix unfortunately failed their reflex saves)
~~~~~

Separated from the rest of their companions above, the two fallen companions could not see that the trap that had been set was only the beginning. For the others above, the Pendulum swings of the scythe blade resumed, and though both Xaris and Artanis were able to step back to avoid the deadly device, they were now cut off along with Kas in both front and back from their companions.
Creak...
Creak...
Creak goes the metronome of mayhem..
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...

To top things off, the door on the right side of the corridor, mere feet in front of Moonshadow and Loriel opened with a crash, and four orcs wielding half spears and ragged patchwork leathers stormed forth to engage the intruders…
~~~~~~

Down below, Linnix and Aelistae were recovering from a nasty fall. Judging by the impact which had nearly cracked Linnix’s collar bone, the women figured they had fallen at least a good 30’ before coming to a most abrupt and painful halt on the hard floor below. (Both Aelistae and Linnix has suffered 11 damage from the fall.) The room they are in is pitch black, save for two of Linnix’s orbs which survived the fall (the other two have cracked and no longer produce light).

The orbs candle light illuminates only the shimmering silver threads stretched high and far throughout the room and as Linnix scrambles to stand, her hand passes through the sticky filaments causing her to cringe in disgust. But her poor vision perhaps was a blessing, for she was unaware of what Aelistae’s darkvision allowed her to see. In the corner of the room which was a 30’ square, perched on strong but thin webbing was a massive furred spider, who at the sudden disturbance turned from its pile of desiccated bodies and revealed four pairs of blood red eyes at the duo and clicked its mandibles hungrily.

(Linnix currently suffers from low light penalties due to her pair of orbs on the floor aside her.. Enjoy!!)

(just going from the sequence of events... you put a few there Kaelyn ^-^)

Still preoccupied with thinking of how she could use the orbs later, Linnix doesn't notice the floor give way under her. Linnix cries out and tries to grab at the side of the opening, but it just slips out of her reach. Down she falls, for what feels like a minute, until finally Linnix slams into the ground.

Linnix cries out in pain, and after recovering tries to judge the immense pain in her shoulder. With a little bit of difficulty, she manages to stand up, and noticing how dark it is, she checks on her candle flame orbs. With dismay, she can see two of them broken (good thing she did grab extra). However, in standing up, something catches her hand.

"Eww..." Linnix says in disgust, noticing the weirdly sticky thread.

Then the clicking mandibles immediately catches her attention. Linnix freezes and looks around warily, dismayed at the limits of her vision. She raises her hand crossbow, trying to point it in the direction of the sound. With her foot she nudges one of the remaining orbs in the direction of the noise. If there's enough light for her to make out the spider's form, she'll fire. If not, she hesitates.

The stone floor gave way beneath her feet. Her bow slipped from her hand and clattered its way down against jagged rock and a cold, stone floor. Aelistae followed its descent into the dark chasm. Her back arched as it crunched against an unforgiving rocky outcrop. She cried out wordlessly as a large gash opened up upon her thigh, where the skirt of her chain shirt offered no protection. And she landed with an awkward thud.

“Quar-valsharess,” she cried, when she had regained her wits and tried to stagger to her feet. She almost keeled over once more. A searing pain shot up her leg when she tried to put weight upon it, and she could feel her blood coursing down her thigh and pooling in the top of her boot.

But it was not that that had caused her to cry out. Sticky strands of spider’s silk were caught in her silvery hair, and its owner was perched mere feet away.

“Linnix stay behind me,” she uttered as she stumbled over to put herself between the spider and the prone form of the human woman. Reaching into a pocket by her belt, she produced a small green vial, and quickly drank its contents. Throwing the vial away, she reached over her shoulder and effortlessly drew the long, intricately curved blade sheathed there.

“By the Lady, I will not let you have her, Spawn of the Spider Bitch!” she shouted, before adding in drow, “Usstan flohlu l'drathir lu'l'ssussun, lu'dosst Quarval-sharess orn naut nez ghil.”

OOC: Aelistae is going to move herself between the spider and Linnix, drink from a vial of antitoxin (knew that would come in useful!), and draw her elven courtblade as a free action. She’s only on 16 HP (I think), but Aelistae would find it a fitting death if she were to die battling a monstrous spider to save a human life.

Of course I’d be upset if she died. *sniffs*

The drow that Aelistae has spoken translates as:

“Goddess,” (in the non-Lolth sense), and “I follow the moon and the light, and your Goddess (in the Lolth sense) will not win here.”

Artanis paid no mind to the black candles in the second set of alcoves they passed. She grimaced, however, at the grisly site before her when they passed the third set of alcoves. The goblin and gnoll, so viciously tortured and killed, served as a warning of how cruel and evil this ogre was. She was more determined to find the ogre and kill it, the hope dimmed somewhat, but not all together gone, that they would find the Mother and daughter in time.

After some time, Artanis realized their surroundings had become that of what appeared to be an ancient, underground structure. She looked all around as she continued to walk, and marveled at the strangely beautiful, if somewhat weathered and old, surroundings.

She smiled to herself at the almost child-like excitement Linnix displayed when she examined the orbs of light. Her eyebrow arched slightly when Linnix removed an orb, then Loriel and others did the same. Not a bad idea. she thought to herself. She shrugged, and also removed a globe and placed it in her pack.

Just as she was re-closing her pack she heard a noise. The smile vanished from her face and her head snapped up as she looked down into the opening of the right corridor where the sound had come from. Her hand went to her sword and she held it ready. She frowned severely as she saw the massive scythe blade sitting still, and once again silent, where it had fallen. Something had to have set it off, which was a concept she didn’t like.

When she saw Moonshadow and Loriel enter the corridor, she immediately followed. She held her sword ready and remained alert and vigilant. Even so, she did not see what was coming next. As Moonshadow stepped around the blade, the floor began to rumble. Seconds later it crumbled beneath Linnix and Aelistae. Artanis’ hand shot out for them, but it was too late. They had fallen. She was glad to see that Kas was able to make it out of that.

Before she could even think of considering a plan of action to get the two out of the pit, she heard the creaking noise once more. She turned in time to jump back from the blade which had begun to swing again. She groaned inwardly as she realized that Moonshadow and Loriel were on the other side of the blade, and she, Kas, and Xaris apparently had no way of going forward, or back the way they’d come.

Mere seconds later the door crash open, giving entrance to four ragged looking orcs. They charged through the now open doorway, and were headed straight for Moonshadow and Loriel. “Sh**!!!” she cursed loudly. Artanis needed to figure out how to get past the damned pendulum of a blade to aid her companions, Loriel and Moonshadow.

She focused fully on the blade, watching for the pattern of its swing…

((OOC: IF there is any kind of sufficient opening between the swinging of the blade, Artanis will make an attempt to rush past it. If she ascertains that that is not a possibility, she will check the scene to see if there is any way she could possibly either jump over the blade, or climb the wall and go over it.

If none of those are a plausible option, then she’ll see if it’s possible to hack away at what’s holding the blade and try to sever the connection)

On the one hand, Nebulos realized that killing the Unicorn was unnecessary, even though, on the other hand, there were riches, unimaginable to be found within the beast. In his heart he felt that killing such a magnificent animal would be an abomination in it's own right .. Perhaps he shouldn't have made the comment at all. How am I going to get out of this one? After thinking for a moment he had an answer Whip .. as tempting as it is, engaging this unicorn may use up much of our resources. I have no doubt that we can take the beast .. but if we fail at our main task we will doomed .. unicorn treasure or not. Perhaps it is wise for us to take these pixies while we have them in our sights and deal with the unicorn if things go well when we return back this way .. Hoping his words were well spoken, he hoped this response would satisfy both of his companions.

Loriel was used to being the trail breaker, in the forest or wilds, this ws much differnent She remained cautious, but that didn't help her when the situation took serveral truns for the worse. There was a rumbling and a sloud of debis from behind her she could see exactly what had happened but she saw the scythe starting to swing and ihad cut her off from the other. Xarius and the Barbarian female fighter where cut off from her. She could see Kas but not Limmix or Aelistrae. However she then heard the creak of a wooden door behind her and turn just in time to see orcs issueing forth from a side door. With an arrow ready to firs she does and then backs it up with another.

Moonshadow knows orcs well and has numted them in the wilds. She is ready to spring to he attack though she is aware of the spears they carry.

Kas looks for a way around the swining blade, or if there is a way of stopping its swing by jamming a dagger into the area where the blade was attached to the ceiling.

She will even try to kick it ans it passes by, making sure to kick only after it makes it downward sweep so that if she misses she will pass behind the forward movement of the blade. She hopes that the kick will cause it to slow down so that the others could pass by.

The fall had jarred the senses from Aelistae and Linnix, but the sound of clicking mandibles and the sight of multiple shimmering eyes had sanped both women back to the fullest of attention. Linnix had kicked her candle orb in the direction of the beast the half globe sliding only a couple feet before being tangled in more webbing. The light shone on to barely cast the faintest of glow upon the creature, but not enough to grant a sense of depth or size in accurate proportion.

Aelistae of course had no problems with seeing the arachnid in all its horror. The creature was easily 10feet tall, with its legs stretching almost double the size of its man-sized body. Quickly placing herself between the spider and Linnix, Aelistae drinks from her vial of anti-toxin. With a curse and a prayer in the same span of breath, Aelistae drew her intricately unique blade of the ancestral surface elves, and prepared to fight.

Linnix, more than hapy to have a body between her and the hideous creature before them fixed a bolt into the chamber of her crossbow, rose to a upright position, and prepared to do whatever it took to survive.

Linnix was actually the first to act, not waiting for more of the spider to come into view before loosing a bolt from her crossbow with a faint ‘click’. The wire snapped and the projectile sailed for at incredible speed. It sank into the bulbous back of the spider which let out a stream of sticky web in response.

Aelistae attempted to move out of the way, but her regard for Linnix’s safety caused her to hesitate a split second, and she took the brunt of the web, which ensnared her in a sticky glob. She struggled against her silky prison, but could not break free. What was worse, was that the spider had begun retracting it’s webbing with it’s forelegs and clicked it’s mandibles hungrily as Aelistae was slowly pulled forward towards it’s hungry maw.
(Aelisae has fallen over and is prone and entangled.’)

Linnix, Doing the only thing she could think of, let her crossbow fall to the side and switched to her trusty daggers, and began sawing away at the strands of web which bound her friend. It took a surprising amount of effort to cut through the tensile strands. But eventually she had Aelistae free, and with little room to spare, for she was a mere 5’ before the monstrous spider as she rose to her feet.

Outraged that its meal might escape, the spider lunged forward, its great mandibles scraping across Aelistae’s armor, but not piercing it.

Free of the bindings, it was time for the women to even the playing field…

Up above, the orcs had rounded the open door only to find a pair of elven fletched arrows sailing down the hallway at them. Both arrows thudded into the lead orc, staggering him where he stood, halting his advance long enough for him to look at the shafts protruding from his chest before dropping to the floor. As his three companions hurried past, Moonshadow stepped forward to protect Loriel, but was met by a short barrage of javelins. Two of the half-spears –sharpened sticks really—veered wide clattering against the wall and floor, but the third flew miraculously straight, catching the wolf right in it’s mouth as it bared it’s fangs at the enemy. The projectile tore through the side of Moonshadow’s mouth, blood spurting from the wound and preventing the wolf from closing its mouth properly. All the poor creature could do was wimper through the pain as it tried to bite through the haft of the crude spear. (-12hp Moonshadow) (16/33hp)

Artanis could see that her friends were in trouble, and decided she would chance bypassing the swinging scythe blade. She watched it pass once, then again, trying to get the timing just right as she prepared to jump past it on the left side while it was at the apex of its rightward ascent. Hoping she had made the right choice, she leapt past the swinging scythe, the blade coming back behind her close enough for her to feel the wind against her neck, the hairs on her nape standing on end.
At least she was on the right side of the damn thing…

Moving to stand on Loriel’s left, directly behind the wounded Moonshadow, Artanis readied her actions.

Kas approached the problematic scythe blade with a different line of thought. Drawing her daggers, she looked skyward, though her gaze was blocked by a stone ceiling. There, at the top of the chain to which the scythe blade was affixed was a mechanism which looked like a giant hinge. Half of the contraption was hidden in the ceiling itself, but she could see where the chain entered the casing. Hoping to jam the mechanism, she throws a dagger into the works, but the small space is too tough a target, and her dagger clatters harmlessly to the floor, much to the warriors’ dismay.

Xaris, watching the scythe blade which was half as large as he was swinging so close to him stood mesmerized by the almost hypnotic sway of steel and death.

Xaris watched the blade swing back and forth, slightly intimidated by the very large blade. He swallowed hard, because he knew what he needed to do. He needed to get to the orcs and help bring them down. Taking a few steps back, he tried to jump past the blade. He wished that his companion had jammed the trap, but there was nothing he could do now except hope he could time it just right.


(( Xaris will jump past the blade and then try to get to the orcs))

Kas leaves her dagger and then looks down into the pit where the non-fighters had fallen. "Are you oke down there?"

If they say yes she will look for a way to get to where the Orcs are.

If they indicate there is a problem she will look for a way of getting down there to help them. She gauges if she can scramble down into the pit with out danger of breaking a leg or arm, if there is enough rubble that she canh climb down there on.

If not she will look for a place to tie a rope so she can lower herself down there.

Linnix breathes deeply and calls back up, "I don't know; it's kind of hard to say since I know nothing about spiders this size."

Taking a step away from the grotesque creature, Linnix then hurls the knife in her hand, aiming at the spider's eyes.

Linnix then steps back further and picks up her crossbow, loading it swiftly.

She'll continue to pelt the creature with bolts, continuing to aim for its eyes that are nice enough to be slightly easier for her to aim at because of their shimmering .

Strands of the spider’s putrid webbing hung from Aelistae’s hair and stuck stubbornly to her clothing and armour. If, in the past, her path had followed a different course she have viewed the spidrous ichor as a gift to be treasured. As it was, it disgusted her.

Aelistae’s response was to raise her sword. The dull light of the glowing orbs caught the edge of the exotically curved blade, and the even more exotic hilt that comprised half of the total length of the weapon. With practiced ease she sent it scything towards the multi-faceted eyes of her arachnid foe. But it was only a feint. She halted her attack mid-swing, quickly reversed her grip, and sliced upwards towards the soft underside of the creature.

OOC: Umm, although Aelistae isn’t a pure fighter, I wouldn’t describe her as a ‘non-fighter’ either Dragon Mistress.

As for her actions, there’s nothing complicated here. Just standard hack and slash.

With no time to feel relieved about having made it safely past the rather unpleasant blade, Artanis quickly assessed the situation as she moved to stand next to Loriel. She saw that one orc had fallen by arrow. She clapped Loriel on the shoulder briefly, as if to say that was an awesome shot.

Artanis moved to stand between Moonshadow and the distasteful orcs. "Help Moonshadow! And stay back!" She yelled over her shoulder to Loriel, without taking her eyes from the filthy creatures fast approaching.

She attacked the first orc to enter her sword's reach...

(She will basically attempt to fight off the remaining three orcs, trying to keep them away from the injured animal and Loriel.)

~1

In the sunken prison of rubble and web lined rock Linnix and Aelistae were locked in battle with one of the Spider-Queen’s minions of damnation. As Linnix stepped back, Aelistae stepped forward, and each prepared to fight to the last.

Linnix hurled her small dagger at the monstrous spider, the blade hurling end over end, but bouncing harmlessy off its bulbous form hilt first to clatter on the floor beneath its mass.

Aelistae too had brought her exotic weapon of elvish creation to bare, but could find no luck in her first assault of the spider, for it’s mandibles were hard as steel, and it bent low, parrying the sweep fo its underside with its great maw.

In response, the spider lunged forward towards Aelistae as she brought her own blade back across ready for another swing, The spider’s razor sharp pincers pierced the priestesses chain, and she could feel the burning sensation sent through her blood as poison was injected into her system. Thankfully however her drinking of the antitoxin prevented the potent poison from taking effect. The blood loss however, would not be prevented. (Aelistae 9/30hp)

~2

Linnix knew her priestly friend was not going to last much longer, even her goddess wouldn’t be able to save her should that spider get a hold of her again she feared. Trusting in her crossbow, which had miraculously felled a foe in a single bolt only hours before, she hastily loaded a bolt and sent it flying at the spider. The bolt, unlike the dagger had no elliptical spin, no weight differentials to work against its trajectory. It sailed straight and true, landing amongst the many eyes which gazed hungrily at the pair. (-4hp)
The spider let out not a wail, for it contained no voice box but reared up against the corner mass of webbing in pain.

Aelistae, hoping to catch the beast off guard, hacked again at the beast, hoping to find a vantage point in which to sink her blade. That point was at the base of one of the spider’s many legs, With a silent slice, its leg fell from the body, leaving a grin of satisfaction on the drow’s lips. (-11hp)

The spider reared further, climbing the mass of webs which spanned the corner of the room, hoping to flee from the pair which had so quickly turned the tide. Aelistae would have none of it though; the spider would not return to possibly gain favor from Lloth to kill and feed another day, and with a plunge of her Court blade, toppled the spider where it lay, it’s massive form crumbling to the floor on its back, where it’s legs outstretched in its death throes, before curling to rest against its underbelly. (AoO -6hp)

~3

Now, left alone in the room, without the hassle of hungry spiders about them, the duo was free to search for a means to escape.