Zeran wrapped the reigns in his hands and wrists giving them a tug. "Calm yourselves down! Easy Easy! We aint gunna let that thing get ya calm down!" he soothed trying to ensure the horses wouldn't bolt and send him and anyone else present for a ride probably into a worse situation. "Of course it has to be spiders." He heard Froderick's grumble and shook his head. "Easy good dwarf if Jargon could pull the cart herself then we wouldn't have need of our horses." He grumped back, satisfied he was safe for the moment hopefully he fished out his pistol and got to loading it. "F**king spider, unless you kill it before I can shoot it I'm going to give the blasted thing something to think about." He chuckled and sighed, his day just not going well thought the upside? He wasn't dying and his wound felt better he was in nigh perfect health. Provided he wasn't next for snacks.

15 Pharast
Spider's Nest; Hex C6
Northern Grasslands
Kyrie was first to react. While Krii wrestled to keep his black steed under control, Kryie leaped from the wagon with her spade in hand. Like a farmer hunting the gophers that were ruining his field, she took up position next to the den, her shovel raised at the ready.

Krii meanwhile alternately petted Vilify's neck and distracted the family horse away from the giant spider's nest. Thankfully the sorcerer's level head and soothing efforts got through to the pony and he was able to direct him calmly away from the threat. Wasting not a moment and keeping his horse from sensing his quivering adrenaline, Krii quickly summoned up and wrapped himself in a protective buffer of force energy around his chest.
Ride DC 20: 19 + 4 = 23
Vilify was clearly weakened by the poison running through his system, but the beast's large size seemed to be combating the effects of the toxin effectively.

Lacking Kyrie's practiced ease with wielding her shovel, Miguel was a mere moment behind her owing to the need to draw his sword. He took up station next to the young paladin, both standing back out of the way of Frodrick's line of attack. With a thought he channeled his energy into his sword and waited for the chance to strike.

Left alone on the wagon, Zeran fought with both the horses, coaxing them into not bolting immediately, then set about ramming one of his four remaining bullets into his weapon.

He had barely finished replacing the ramrod in its slot when the earth heaved up again. Kyrie was met face-to-face with the large black fangs of the ruddy spider. With a fierce shout she swung her shovel, but she was not faster than the spider's lunge. Fortunately for her, the massive she-spider's fangs failed to penetrate the wooden slats of her armour.

The spider quickly reversed it's movement and pulled it's fore-body back to retreat under the door once more, but Frodrick's charge ensured it did not escape unscathed. He had spurred Jargon into motion the second he sensed the slightest swell in the door. Frodrick was rewarded for his diligence by getting the last say in the exchange, striking just before the spider's speed took it once again from sight.

The tip of the dwarf's lance struck and penetrated the monster's chitinous abdomen, drawing forth a gush the clear bluish fluid that passed for the creature's blood (-12dmg Spider - Red Status). With clear blood oozing from it's abdomen, the red and black spider retreated back into its burrow, sealing the lid shut after it once again.


Frodrick 13/13 –
Jargon 13/13 –
Krii 8/8 – Mage Armour (1/100)
(Vilify) 13/15 – -2Str
Kyrie 13/13 –
Miguel 9/9 –
Zeran 10/10 – 4 bullets

Giant Trapdoor Spider: Red Status Cover

(I forgot to throw in the picture of the spider the first time. Arachnophobes need not apply, just picture a big ol' red and black spider. You may note that this time Krii cast Mage Armour instead of Shield. It turns out he never actually had a shield spell at any point. Thus Krii is protected for the next entire hour by the spell he actually knows.)

With Vilify calmed and in somewhat safty for the moment Krii turning his focus back to the fight just in time to see Frodrics lance make contact with the creature and it scamper back into its hole Krii grit his teeth and resisted the urge to attempt to tear up the earth and chase after the beast.

"Is everyone else alright... do you think its gunna come back out?"

Krii was ready to attack should the creature or any of its kin show themselves again

Zeran kept his weapon at the ready eyes darting around for any sign of movement. "I'm fine, Kyrie you alright?" He called hoping that his former medic wouldn't be bleeding and perhaps fighting a large spider toxin. The lance hit was solid, well placed and provided excellent results he was happy with it. "Keep your eyes out folks that beauty might not be the only one we got to contend with. Though I hope these larger spiders follow the general loner status other smaller spiders prefer."

He was ready this time, should that large ugly thing show its face again he would take a shot even if it popped back under the cover. Provided no one else ended its life before then.

Frodrick guffawed as his lance hit home. The spider went reeling back into its lair, but the pools of blue ichor indicated that it was seriously injured if not dying. “Come on out and taste my steel you oversized foot stain!” He knew that his words did nothing to the creature, but it felt good to scream and holler at something – it was the second best thing he did aside from taking arrows to the knee.

Seemingly all in one motion, Frodrick dropped his lance, drew his axe, and manoeuvred Jargon Hooves around the trap entrance in a manner where neither would be in the way of Zeran’s boom stick. Then he waited. He would see if the damn thing was more hungry than hurt. If so, and it revealed its gashed body once more, it would face Frodrick’s axe before it had a chance to pounce on anyone else.

If the creature decided to lay low and recover from its wounds, then Frodrick would be smashing the door in and letting the ranged folk have their way with it. Frodrick was not going to let this thing survive, and his reasoning was twofold: first of all, it would cause a problem later if they decided to populate this area with farmland – killing it now would save them the trouble later. Secondly, the bones indicated that there were humanoids amongst the piles of bones. Perhaps there would be a bauble or two the group could use. Admittedly, anyone who fell to this thing probably had nothing spectacular to offer in their remains, but coin is coin, a dagger is a dagger, and nothing is nothing. Considering the distance they had from civilization, gathering any supplies would be essential to their survival… Then there was the fact that Frodrick relished a good fight and a confirmed kill.

So Frodrick and Jargon waited, over the trap door, ready to strike the killing blow. The dwarf then smirked, and uttered his command to Jargon, a whisper in her ears. “Aid me”. The horse whinnied and nodded its head, almost like she was in agreement with his command. Together, they would fell this beast if it was stupid enough to show itself.

-Drop lance (free action)
-Draw axe + move (move action)
-Command – Aid Another +2 attack (free action – animal companion special rule)
-Ready attack + Aid Another (standard action)

Zeran took up the reigns again with his one free hand, willing them to be calm still. Each member of the Greenbelt Party manoeuvred themselves around the trapdoor lid, awaiting the chance to strike. Frodrick dropped his lance and drew his axe while Krii called a spell to mind. Kyrie wound up for another shot with Miguel keeping his sword mentally primed with arcane energy.

…

Nothing. The lid of the den did not swing open once more. Either the spider had retreated back inside to die, or else it hoped that it could convince its erstwhile meal to forget that it was still there.


Frodrick 13/13 –
Jargon 13/13 –
Krii 8/8 – Mage Armour (Vilify) 13/15 – -2Str
Kyrie 13/13 –
Miguel 9/9 –
Zeran 10/10 – 4 bullets

Giant Trapdoor Spider: Red Status Cover

(Yeah. Little Sally doesn't want to come out and play. She said you were mean to her last time you played with her. I don't think she wants to be friends with you anymore. All readied actions return to normal initiative, untriggered. Whoop :3)

Zeran grunted and whistled. "Miguel! get one of those exploding alchemist fire's!. If the little lass doesn't want to come out to say hello again then we can set her and that god forsaken hole on fire." He shouted, barked more like keeping himself primed for another appearance or anything else that might decide to want to eat them. "I'd do it myself, but if I get off this cart and the horses bolt we lose everything, I'd rather have them bolt with me so I can at least try to get them back to us." Zeran hollered looking not angry or sad, just annoyed. It had been such a lovely day up until this turd popped from its asshole.

Krii, sensing that the spider wasn't going to make an immediate appearance above ground for the moment, dismounted Vilify. The horse would be faster without his weight, and he would have better manoeuvrability without having to deal with skittish nerves. He crossed over the green to stand with the rest of the group around the circular trapdoor of soil.

Whether or not they heard the direction from Zeran, Kyrie and Frodrick pounded at the door while Miguel ran to fetch the fire oil from the wagon. It took only a moment of rooting around in the loot loaded on the wagon to fine the flask of alchemist's fire.

Once Miguel had taken the flask, Zeran gave a call to the horses to drive them forward. They shied away from the trapdoor slightly, but passed between Vilify and Jargon as the dwarf was dismounting to get at the ground with his axe.

While Frodrick's axe was rather unsuited to the task of digging a hole (-1dmg Trapdoor), Kyrie's spade was finally seeing use as it was originally designed for (-8dmg Trapdoor). Between the vegetation and soil woven together with sticky spider silk, the going was tough as digging through weeds and roots, but the pair managed to make some progress against the door.

Apparently angered or made desperate by the knocking on its nest, the spider lunged out with near equal ferocity and speed as it had before. This time it's massive fangs managed to pierce Kyrie's armour and deliver a poisonous bite to her abdomen. (-3dmg Kyrie 10/13 + Poison -1Str). If the spider's movements were any bit sluggish from the loss of blood as it retreated to its hole, it would have taken an impartial observer to notice the difference.

Frodrick 13/13 –
Jargon 13/13 –
Krii 8/8 – Mage Armour (Vilify) 13/15 – -2Str
Kyrie 10/13 – Poisoned (1/—) -1 Str
Miguel 9/9 –
Zeran 10/10 – 4 bullets

Giant Trapdoor Spider: Red Status Cover
5' Wide Trapdoor: Battered

(Battered here means something like 'roughed up but still functioning at full capacity'. Object obtain the 'broken' status at 1/2 hp, which means they're still functional, but may take penalties. At 0hp they are destroyed.)

Zeran sighed as he jaunted back to the trapdoor making sure to keep his distance after having given the horses a 'Good job' and pat. "Kyrie you okay?" He called, concerned having seen the fangs pierce through this time and wincing slightly. "Don't worry darlin' we got that bugger." He called out taking aim and waiting. He wouldn't pull the trigger until that trapdoor was lifted, destroyed, or the spider popped out again. "Miguel first chance you get toss that fire in and we can end this quickly hopefully!"

“Damn the thing to hell!” Frodrick cursed as he saw that Kyrie’s defences had been penetrated. “And damn this stupid contraption!” He referred to the trap door.

He then looked at Krii as something dawned on him as he hacked. “Do you think that there liquid fire will destroy any loot the creature might inadvertently have in its den?” He felt like a fool for thinking that the fire would be a great way to purge the den!

Krii thought for a moment and glaced down at the ground nudging it slightly with his foot

"I dont know how well webbing lights on fire or how its built its den logically it would be fairly moist down there so the likly hood of just a raging inferno is unlikly we might lose some of the gear but in the end if it kills the beast it would be more then worth it"

Krii paused for a moment to think

"No theres no point in wasteing the fire just keep bashing the door and be ready for the next attack Kyrie if your too injured fall back and tend to your wound, the alchemists fire will be our last resort but from the look of things we've got the blighter on the ropes!"

Zeran threw his hand not holding his pistol up in a defeated gesture. "Fine can we hurry this up? I'm getting irritable and would like us to camp it out or head back to Oleg's soon." He made a mental note to stop making plans on the fly and just shoot things as that seemed to be his strongest suit, that and his plans either so far hadn't worked or were debunked. Best save his thinking for other things like pie.

Miguel returned just as the rest had argued out the matter of using the flask in his hand. He kept it in the off event it was proven necessary. Zeran meanwhile brought the wagon to a stop on the far side of the hole and clambered out with his pistol in hand.

Kyrie and Frodrick continued to do their due diligence in unsealing the spider's den. Weakened as she was, Kyrie's blows felt sluggish to her, but Frodrick more than made up for whatever she missed with enthusiasm (-7dmg each). The trapdoor lid was beginning to crumble inward, though the vegetation and spider silk maintained a loose integrity (Trapdoor: Broken, but not yet Destroyed just quite). Probably only one more solid blow would be enough to smash it in.

The lid practically flopped when the spider's bulk surged up once more. Krii was waiting for this opportunity, but despite expecting this attack, he could not quite match the ferocious speed of the arachnid assailant with his aim. His spell struck harmlessly absorbed by the lid (0dmg Trapdoor) while his target lunged out and sunk its outstretched fangs into Kyrie's body again (-5dmg Kyrie).

(Vilify) 13/15 – -2Str
Kyrie 5/13 – -1 Str

Giant Trapdoor Spider: Red Status, Near Death, Cover.
5' Wide Trapdoor: Broken, barely any integrity remaining


Despite the venomous bite, the girl's strength of determination did not waver, and the strength of her body held, too. She raised her spade to deliver the final blow just as Zeran approached the congregation. True to prediction, at this last attack the barrier gave way, raining clods of dirt and root and silk down the 25' deep shaft onto the head of the giant spider at the bottom. With the trapdoor collapsed, Kyrie took a step back, lacking the means to fight the spider at such a distance and beginning to show the fatigue of her injuries.

Frodrick stepped back too, his work done with the cave in of the roof. His one good eye picked out the forms of a couple half decayed corpses, notably at least one human with leather armour. Miguel noticed, too, and privately reflected that it was probably for the best they didn't attempt to use the fire oil.

Krii stepped in and threw another arc of electricity down the hole. This one struck it's target square on the head, causing all of it's many limbs to seize up and curl involuntarily. (-3elec Spider Near Death)

Cornered and completely exposed, the spider had few options for fleeing or hiding. It shook off the chunks of earth adorning it's carapace and flew up the shaft in a burst of speed. Perhaps seeking revenge before it was killed, it sped straight for Krii.

The tall sorcerer tried to jump away, but the spider pounced on him and managed to leave small knife-like wounds in his upper thigh as he scrambled to get away from the monster (-2dmg Krii + Poison -2Str). The spider immediately turned to flee, the scene, around or through Zeran, if necessary.

Miguel saw the spider's intent to flee and lunged without a second thought. His diligence in keeping his sword primed with arcane energy paid off as he drove his blade deep into the spider's body, causing it to collapse on the ground just outsider the mouth of its lair, with its legs curling slowly into itself (-11dmg Spider KO). When he withdrew his sword, nearly a foot of its length was covered in the pale blue blood of the creature.

Meanwhile Krii found himself steadily losing strength to the debilitating poison. His scrawny body and frail complexion contrasting with Kyrie's hearty strength was hardly a match for the venom working its way through his system, and he lost a lot of strength before finally the pain stopped (-1Str, -2Str).

Frodrick 13/13 –
Jargon 13/13 –
Krii 6/8 – Mage Armour Poisoned -2Str (-1Str, -2Str = -5Str at end of 3 rounds)
(Vilify) 13/15 – -2Str
Kyrie 5/13 – -1 Str
Miguel 9/9 –
Zeran 10/10 – 4 bullets

Giant Trapdoor Spider: Unconscious, Basically Dead.
5' Wide Trapdoor: Destroyed

(I almost forgot Miguel was still standing there until I remembered that Spring Attack only protects you from AoO of the target, not any other movement, for which you normally rely on mobility, which the spider doesn't have because it got Spring Attack as a bonus feat.

Anyway, for some housekeeping, Vilify's Str has dropped to 14/16, thus making Krii's weight a medium load. Vil's speed at this load (35') is still more than enough to keep up with the wagon, however, so he is still good for riding. Kyrie's Str meanwhile has dropped to 13/14, reducing her loads to 50, 100, and 150lbs, which is still enough to cover her equipment. Krii's meanwhile drops to 6/11 which drops him to carrying 20, 40, and 60lbs which is nevertheless enough to cover the gear he actually carries around with him (if he was actually carrying that armour in his inventory, he would start taking penalties, however).

Ability scores recover at the rate of 1 point per night of rest. Given that we're making our return trip to Oleg's at the moment, it may be wise to rest up there a couple of days, giving Zeran time to make himself some more ammunition and fancy up his gun, and giving others time to interact with the Levetons, their prisoners, or each other, and take care of their own downtime needs—in character, that is; out of character this can be glossed or covered in backposting as much as you desire.)

+150XP Each

Miguel cleaned his sword on the edge of the spiders den and sheathed it. Why did it have to be spiders. Maneating spiders. He shivered at the thought, he glanced down the tunnle then climbed into it, “It's really quite smelly down here.”

Climb: Take 10 = 16
An amulet. Zeran seems to like this kind of this stuff, Miguel trying not to touch the body unclasped it from the man along with the sword. Looking for a bit longer he found some gold crowns. Okay, lets get out of here it's dark, smelly, sticky and this poor fella should get some privacy. What do we have here? Miguel spotted a slip of paper in mans boot.

Climb: Take 10
Miguel brought the goods to the cart. “Than was unpleasant, watch your selves it might be a bit sticky.” He commented wiping his hands off. "I also found this," he opened the sheet looks like a map of some kind. He handed it off to Krii. "What do you make of this?"

Zeran shook his head slightly. "About as much as any of us I reckon. Though if Krii does know anything even remotely more then wonderful. Can we get a move on please? I'd rather not spend more time here the required, we can study the map back at Oleg's maybe even ask some of our new friends if they might know anything as well. Hell, even Oleg or Svetlana might know a thing or two. I frankly don't care when we view it as long as we get moving." He sounded grumpy, so far he was bitter over having shot his gun once with good results, and then proceeded to have a horrid chain of events leaving him to remain as cab driver for the time being. Wasn't the life of adventure he had thought it would be, he thought he would be just a tick more useful then driver but the cards he had been dealt turned out a flop. He would regroup, make himself some more ammo and stretch himself out back at Oleg's and come at their next excursion with a clear mind and better headspace.