From outside of Kilgim's protective circle, Dapple watched as the bard's spell made threads appear, threads that controlled the dead priests and their severed limbs like puppets in a mummer's show. She also noted how the severed limbs lost power once they entered Kilgim's circle, and that only Maximus' blade was truly effectived against the threads.

"FINE!" The girl's voice screams, "BE THAT WAY!" The priests and hobgoblins fly into the air, then fall, released from the threads, to crash down upon the party. Dapple didn't worry too much about the men (they were perfectly capable of dodging, after all) and instead focused on the threads. As they began to retreat from the large hall into the opening at the far end, Dapple took off after them.

As the body parts rained down on them, Adrian's mind was racing as to what could be done. He could always attempt to dispel, but without getting a gauge on what type of power they were dealing with, it would be a fool's wager.

"Again, parlor tricks. If this thing had any real power and malevolence we would be dead. It's either toying with us, needs us for something, or it really doesn't have the outright capability to harm us. Either way we need to follow it. Time is not waiting around for us."

Adrian takes an inventory of the group.

"It appears besides our nerves and minor battle wounds, we're still good as new. If it can't scare us it loses the majority of it's power. That is the cornerstone of Necromancy, and the primary reason I refuse to engage in such a practice."

Flynn was more than a little glad that his spell had worked the way he hoped; happier still that Kilgim’s prayer had provided another layer and level of protection, and that Maximus’s blade was able to inexorably sever the strings that animated the spider-demoness’ minions - given what had happened, it must have been the same sort of demon from the legend he’d recalled, mustn’t it?. The time to revel in the party’s minor victory, though, was not now…

"Dos strings be tracks dat once be gone I canna follow. We mus' be off," Char growled from near by as Flynn, like the rest, did what he could to remove or ignore any of the gore that had splattered them with the puppeteer’s retreat.

The bard nodded his agreement, noticing at the same instant that Dapple had been loathe to wait for the general consensus and was already whispering away in pursuit of the retreating threads.

"Again, parlor tricks,” Valentine sneered in derision, “If this thing had any real power and malevolence we would be dead. It's either toying with us, needs us for something, or it really doesn't have the outright capability to harm us. Either way we need to follow it. Time is not waiting around for us.

It appears besides our nerves and minor battle wounds, we're still good as new. If it can't scare us it loses the majority of it's power. That is the cornerstone of Necromancy, and the primary reason I refuse to engage in such a practice."

“Agreed on all counts, friends,” the bard grinned as he moved toward the doorway which the little thief had recently slipped by, “though I doubt what we deal with here is anything as simple as necromancy alone. No time for debate or discussion, though…”

Flynn pushed a blood-soaked braid behind his ear, then, shook the ichor from his fingers, and, keeping his beloved fiddle in his left hand while resting his right on the hilt of his scimitar, turned and looked back at the rest, capturing the scene in his mind so that he might later write it down. “Like any spider,” he said before following Dapple’s path deeper into the temple’s interior, “I imagine this one has only been put off it’s prey for a short while… Twould behoove us, I think, to find her before she finds us again, hm?”

((OOC: Sorry for the short post and long delay… just a wee bit brain-fried recently… Flynn’s off in Dapple’s wake, of course…))

Arien shook his head dumbly in the aftermath of the fight. They had not fought the dead, not truly; instead, they had fought... puppets? Sometimes, the young knight wondered if there were any horrors left to be inflicted upon his psyche. Somewhere, distantly, his shoulder ached, but a swift assessment revealed that the wound was minor, and was not a pressing matter for the time being.

The little girl's voice screamed in petulant anger as the efforts of Kilgim and Flynn (ah, Arien's gut had proved correct about that one, hadn't it?) allowed Maximus to easily sever the magical threads.

Adrian seemed quite dismissive of the power of the magical threads, but Arien was not as inclined to ignore the sorcery. He had seen the bodies of the priests, had seen how the summoned creatures had been butchered. The knight shook his head, feeling that to ignore this power would be folly.

Shockingly, the normally reserved Dapple charged off into the darkness after the retreating strands.

"Dapple! Hold!" Arien cried, concerned that the rogue would be easily ambushed by some other trap. This entire place stank of evil and treachery; why would the lad do such a thing?

"After him!" the knight called, charging down the darkened hallway himself. He would not leave a companion to face evil alone.

"After him!"

Arien's command and immediate action caught the wary ranger off his guard. It took him a moment to realize that Da'Moon, Adrian, and then Arien, were all acting as though this was their first foray and throwing caution to the wind. Hadn't they all just witnessed the same as he? Did they not all just see those summoned hobgoblins torn apart like lamb on the rack?

The thoughts took a mere breath to process. Long enough for the knight to gain two strides on him. Then, Char clenched his teeth, frowned, and shook his head as he leaned into a sprint himself, giving chase.

I is gonna kill da girl if'n we ah dies.
Despite following the others on an obviously reckless path, the ranger was doing his best to keep his senses peeled for any additional signs of danger.

Yup. Kill 'er dead.

Dapple rounds the corner quickly with most of the party behind her shouting. The rogue ignored the calls and moved to intercept the threads.

But they moved to intercept her.

Arien and Char see it happen but cannot do anything to stop it. The threats flick and lash out striking Dapple full on. The innate magical resistance that Sunset transfers to the one she sits upon save Dapple from a death of slash and dismemberment. But some threads get through and puncture the thief's body like daggers while others slash across arms, chest and face. She collapses on the top of the stairs just where the corridors branch off. Blood begins to pool immediately around her body.

Movement catches Arien's eye and Char. In the corridor heading north there is a gigantic spider heading towards you. Coming down the stairs from the east, two other spiders approach rapidly.

OOC: You have one round before the two are on the stair top but the other is closer and attack this round. Dapple looks bad. Very bad. Dapple is not moving.

Dapple: Critically wounded to the eye of someone who has been injured a lot (which is anyone in my campaign) and unconscious. Sunset is struggling to get out of the cloak but the dragonnet is partially pinned.

Well, that didn't work out as planned...
It had seemed perfectly logical to the little thief hiding in shadows, hiding from life. She wasn't armoured in steel like some, wasn't brawny like others, and there was no intelligence in the dead priests to outwit, so why would she fight them? No, the priests were a delaying tactic, meant to winnow down their numbers, and the real adversary was hidden away.

Even the cleverest of mages have trouble concentrating with a dagger between their ribs, she'd grinned to herself, and so she'd begun to make her way deeper into the temple. When the threads suddenly appeared and withdrew, she knew she had a short window of opportunity act. From watching Adrian and poor mad Jal, and even some of the mages they'd faced,she knew that all needed at least some time between spells to cast again. Strike now, before she can act again! hissed her mentor, and Dapple agreed.

She increased her pace, still moving fairly quietly, but wanting to follow the threads to their owner. She heard the others calling behind her, and annoyed that she now had heralds announcing her arrival, she gave up all pretence at stealth, drawing her daggers as she rounded a corner.

She felt sudden hard punches to her abdomen and shoulder as blazing lines of fire race across arms and legs, her face searing as hot, salty liquid ran into her eyes. She blinked away blood and looked down to see threads puncturing her body like some tailor's pindoll, and when the pain swelled and crashed the wall of ice around her, she dropped like a stone, knowing nothing else.

He thought it a horrible idea to take off after the dangerous magical threads, but these were the only people he'd allowed himself to get close to since that fateful night so any years ago. So, he raced after Da'Moon just like everyone else, throwing caution to the wind as he matched Arien step for step. Coming to the corner the little sneak thief had just rounded, Char felt his heart leap into his throat as he witnessed the threads retracting from Da'Moon's body. The site of the spiders was only a reprieve from the horror of losing a friend. It forced him to refocus to the business at hand.

"Kilgim," the ranger bellowed as he moved to intercept the closest spider, both swords at ready. "Da'Moon's dow'!"

Kilgim was slower to move after Dapple than his friends mostly due to having just finished the protective spell. (and his shorter legs, but like he was going to admit that) The dwarf cursed at the thief's foolishness in words not suitable for kids' ears and sprinted after his fellows. He could only hope they didn't arrive too late. It wouldn't be the first time the lass got herself into trouble. Lad. Ye'd better think o' 'er as a laddie, ye daft. That way ye won't slip away 'er secret too easily "Ye son o'rat, why'd never listen t'yer elders!"

But he was too late. They all were. Dapple was a master of moving in the shadows where the eye couldn't see, but apparently the evil magic of the giggling beast didn't know that. Kilgim felt his heart skip a beat or three as he saw the dancing, glittering threads slice and strike at the lass… lad dropping him on the stairs, senseless. "Kilgim", Char's voice somehow cut through the pounding of the cleric's heart into the alternate reality where time stood still bringing the bald dwarf back to his senses. "Da'Moon's dow!"

Doubling his effort, Kilgim launched himself into a sprint faster than he'd known he was capable of and dropped on his knees beside the broken form of Dapple. His combat-trained eyes had registered the gigantic spiders coming down their way, but he gave them no more thought than he did to the enchanted threads. Their evil would not be able to penetrate the power of his Lord. The invisible globe would keep both the rogue and himself safe from their attacks long enough. The priest just hoped there still was time to do all that was needed to save Dapple.

The deep green eyes scanned the lithe body lying next to him with tears not too far away. The threads had done terrible damage on the lass's chest and arms and her face hadn't fared much better. As his eyes observed the severity of the wounds, Kilgim's hands were busy uncapping a healing potion. As gently as possible, the dwarf lifted Dapple's blood smeared head off the floor and into his lap with one calloused and rough hand and poured a little of the swirling healing elixir into the lad's mouth with the other.

Kilgim's concentration was so perfect that he was totally oblivious to the things happening around him. He was confident in the skills and powers of his friends who were without a doubt doing their best to give him enough time to save Dapple. With some of the potion in the girl's mouth, the priest rubbed her throat softly to force a swallowing reflex while placing the holy symbol of Clangeddin on her brow. His lips were already going through the verses of a curing prayer.

There would be need for a stronger spell now, something that he had never been able do before. The cleric wasn't sure he would be able to carry out the more potent healing he'd seen the high priests of his order perform a number of times on a battle field. But there were no options. The life of dear friend depended on it. The potion should be enough to keep Dapple alive long enough for Clangeddin's power to reach her and mend the severe damage she'd suffered. Or so Kilgim hoped.

As Maximus watched the young lad Dapple, seemingly in a loss of sense, hurried after the retreating threads only to be shredded by them. As he and the rest charged after him, any hint of caution clearly gone, Char was the first to reach the boy.

"Kilgim, Da'Moon's dow'!" Maximus heard over his pounding heart as the ranger moved to intercept the large spider coming down the hallway before them. Looking around quickly the big ex-gladiator spotted two more spiders heading down the stairs towards them.

Wasting no time he quickly moved towards the stairs entrance as he did so he transferred his vorpal temporally to the hand holding his shield, and proceeded to fire off two of his throwing knives before retaking the sword into his proper hand once more. Reaching the head of the stairs he braced himself for the arrival of the first spider.

(OOC; Ok For this free round we have vs. the two spiders headed down the stairs, I’m hoping due to their size they are coming single file, I will use a half move to reach the stairs and the other half of my action to throw two of my Throwing Knives at the lead spider. At the end of my turn I will transfer my Vorpal sword back to my free hand and brace for the lead spiders attack. Or both of them if side by side or able to do so.)

Arien cursed Dapple as the lad charged off, alone, into the darkness. The knight's worst fears about the situation were realized as the rogue was pierced again and again by the magical threads. Arien choked out a cry, but both Char and Kilgim were quicker in their reactions. Though it tore against the fiber of his being NOT to run and uncork his own healing potion, Arien knew that he would be more help in keeping his eyes open for threats...

...and motion from down the hallways proved that he was entirely correct. Spiders - big, nasty ones the size of horses - moved towards the party from two angles. Maximus moved to intercept the pair from the east, but another one (closer to the party) came from the north.

Spiders. Arien shivered slightly; he didn't care for even the small, harmless variety that one would find skulking about one's home... these huge, disgusting monstrosities were so much the worse. The venom from creatures this massive could be paralytic, or even fatal, and would often act shockingly fast. "Have a care, now!" he called in unnecessary warning as he spoke the command word to ignite his blade in flame and moved to intercept the spider from the north.

OOC: Arien will do whatever it takes to prevent his spidery target from getting to Dapple and Kilgim. If he manages to kill it quickly (ha!), he'll check for any other foes, then move to the next threat.

(OOC: Taking some liberties here with distances - stop me if I'm wrong. I need 10 yards and a 10 ft by 10 ft area of effect. Adrian will move to whatever position is needed for the following to work. If he can't move that far, he'll simply move as far as he can and use an armor spell if it leaves him in an exposed area)

Adrian moved with the group - minus their thief and two of their hard hitters. Granted, he intended to follow quickly, but to run blindly ahead wasn't exactly the ideal strategy.

As for the fear thing... He's been wrong before and this (hopefully) won't be the last time. Still, this thing was on the run, and that could only be good. They just need to not set off any more ambushes.

The scene ahead was grizzly. Dapple was down, for the immediate time at least, and three large spiders were quickly approaching from different directions. Time to work smarter, not harder. Kilgrim was likely going to tend to Dapple, and he could read Arien's intentions to guard them. Maximus had the right idea. Sneak attack on the stairs.

Getting into position, Valentine began the familiar gestures and incantations of the Grease spell. He reached into his bag and threw a small piece of hog hide onto the floor, hoping to see the characteristic spark and splatter that would precede the spell's action. With any luck and no more interference from the demon-child puppeteer the stairs would become a greasy, slippery mess that not even a spider can walk on.

"Even 8 legs need something to grip..." Valentine mutters under his breath, hoping the force from the throwing daggers and lack of grip will send two-thirds of their enemies for a trip.

Her mother shook Sapphirine awake, “Come on dear. You have to get up. You have a message waiting....”

***
Gart’s hand flew quickly to block every single blow she rained upon him. “Stop that!” he ordered curtly, “You are telling me your every move like you sent a messenger.

***
Dapple stepped into the darkness of the alleyway. Nighthawk was there waiting for her in the far corner, where the buildings almost met. Looking up, he whispered, “Did you get my message.”

***

“These gems are not worth a third of what you are asking. I would be doing you charity by offering 10 each.”

Sapphirine eyed the overdressed, over perfumed and overweight merchant before her with cold eyes. She’d played this game before, but she wasn’t going to let him win this time.

“I think you’ll find my price is fair Sir. All the patrons of Lady Cynthia would agree.”

Colour ran out of the merchant’s face, “How did you...”

“How is your wife? Still doing poorly I’ve heard. I’m sure you wish to get to her bedside?”

“I don’t like what you are implying.”

“I don’t like being cheated. Pay 30, smile and let’s keep things quiet.”

He dropped a bag of coins on the table and snatched up the gems, “I think I got the message”

***
Iron Toes stood before her looking at his cloak in a three way mirror he keep in his personal chambers. The cloak was red and green with silver trim and a pale blue collar. “So? What do you think? Does it give the right message? Or is it too much?”
OOC: One spider coming from North, Two coming from East - single file)

Arien and Char moved quickly to defend their friend from further harm. Char moved to the north to face the spider coming from that direction. The huge arachnid leapt the distance between to pounce on Char with stinger extended but the ranger rolled quickly to the left, drawing swords and moving to strike as it lands. It is fast, very fast and kicks out at Char with one leg to hold him back while it moves back to the wall and up.
Arien takes a defensive stand so Kilgim can work his miracles with Dapple. The spiders are not close enough to attack but the still glittering threads that took Dapple down reel back like a serpent and strike out at the knight. He tries to move out of the way to cut the thread as they attack, but this time they come in from both sides of him. His shield blocks most of the thread but a few get through. There is no playfulness this time, or attempting to hold and lift, it is a powerful blow that makes Arien step back as his helm is knocked off and he is hit in the side of head. Blood pours freely from deep cuts in his face, head, scalp and shoulders. Ignoring the pain, Arien strikes at the threads pulling back as the flames cut through many.

Maximus is there with throwing daggers out. With the skill from hundreds of death matches, the gladiator throws two daggers at the leading spider from the east. The first sinks deep into the belly of the beast but the second is a perfect throw and bites hard into one of the eyes of the spider.

Kilgim reached the fallen form of Dapple. She was bleeding badly and looked like she had been slashed with so many thin razors. With a practiced hand, he takes a healing potion and opens Dapple’s mouth – pouring a third of the potion into the rogue. The results were quick and spoke to him of the wounds as the potion only stopped the bleeding, but she begins to cough in response. That is enough for him to give her the rest of the potion and prepare for a prayer.

Flynn moved beside the cleric and began to root around in Dapple’cloak to free Sunset from the hood. The small dragon immediately scratched him for the effort and fluttered into the air, only to come down again on Arien’s fallen helmet.

Valentine moves through the crafting of his spell and releases the magic towards the spider. The grease forms in front of the spider which is skittering around in the pain of the daggers. One leg slides and then the other and the spider slides face first into the ground, screeching in agony and pain.

The third spider that stands behind the first leaps high into the air, clearing the fallen spider and landing a short distance from Arien and Maximus as the fallen arachnid struggles to right itself and put paid to the ones that harmed it.

OOC:
Dapple – Serious wounded but conscious now
Arien – Lightly wounded
Spider #1 – Seriously wounded (Nice Critical throw)

Char snarled in a most feral way as the spider demonstrated it's quickness and nearly trapped him with one hairy appendage. Rolling aside, the ranger came to his feet and used the momentum to carry him to the opposite wall where he went for the advantage of an overhand attack by running up the wall, leaping, and twisting about to strike at the large arachnid from the air. Hoping that the acrobatic maneuver would keep him away from those powerful legs, and that the added power of his brief flight would help him penetrate the spider's flesh, the mountain man was intent on ending this battle as quickly as possible. Whether or not his first blow struck true, Char had already planned out his second blade's trajectory to be delivered upon landing. Straight up through the underside of the head. Of course, he wasn't about to hang out underneath the spider to see how effective he'd been. He'd already plotted his course out from underneath the spider by flinging himself into another roll to his left where he'd rise to his feet ready for another assault, or to dodge any retaliatory attacks.

Now was not the time for trickery. His plan went sort of well, instead of three spiders surrounding the group there were two. Maximus showed his usefulness again by burying a blade deep into the spider's eye.

The next step seemed obvious. Adrian readied his sword and prepared to engage the fallen spider, hoping to administer a quick death or at least a long fall down the stairs. This was not a time for recklessness nor comedy. In his mind Adrian kept repeating entfetten... entfetten... entfetten... waiting for the time he'll need to say it aloud to unsummon the grease slick lest he find himself in a position to take a tumble down the stairs.