Depending on what the others want to do, but knowing that they are moving with extreme care, Korba would want to go through the cities to see if he can understand who the inhabitants of this place was in the past. ie. does it look like a normal Drow city? Something else? 

Quote from kevtr0n >>

Depending on what the others want to do, but knowing that they are moving with extreme care, Korba would want to go through the cities to see if he can understand who the inhabitants of this place was in the past. ie. does it look like a normal Drow city? Something else? 

flat roll in case you need it. feel free to add/subtract as appropriate: 18

 

Korba:

Quote from Mister_Whisker>>

So yeah... with that nat 1, Hewelathan does in fact stumble into a spider web...
it doesn't look like there are any giant spiders nearby when it happens.

Hewelathan tries to examine the spider webs and ends up getting entangled.  Annoyed, he easily snaps himself free of the sticky strands. 
Athletics / STR check 29 (in game log)

The streets look like they are mostly pretty narrow

(OOC: Is the trio currently in a main street or a side street?  How narrow are the non-main streets?  Do you mean 5 ft. wide alleys?  Or 10+ ft. wide?  I just need to know whether Hewelathan would have to "squeeze" if he takes a Large wild shape.)

You don't see any spiders in the immediate vicinity... though you get the uncomfortable feeling that this may be more because you aren't especially familiar with the environment and/or the species rather than because they actually aren't there...

Hewelathan says, "I'm sorry, Jodie: I don't know.  I find everything strange here in the Underdark.  Clearly, there are...or at least there were...great, evil spiders here."  He scans the buildings ahead and says, "I don't doubt that there are some still lurking here, but I cannot tell in this dim light where the active lairs are.  Spiders are ambush predators, and giant spiders are instilled with a malevolent intelligence.  They're smarter than a common beast.  We should expect that they'll lie in wait and then try to attack us by surprise."

Hewelathan asks Jodie and Korba, "We could spend a little time to cut a path through these webs so that it's easier going tomorrow.  Or we could burn the webs away, but that will be very visible to anything watching the streets.  Do you want to press on a little farther or check what's inside any of the buildings?"  

Up to you if you're in a main street or a side street... there are more webs in the side streets, though (probably because they're easier to hide in the shadowy alleys than the broad roads). Most of the alleys are 10-ft wide.

"I think even traveling through here in the 'day' we could likely use the larger roads. Any undead inhabiting this place would not care for what time to be active, and if we aren't seeing many yet, they may be primarily in another area. We could cut through some of the webs of course, but without knowing if they'll disturb a beast or not, it would probably be best to leave as much alone as possible," Korba says, keeping his eyes open for any movement ((perception 18))

Jodie nods in agreement, "It's best not to attract any attention.  Let's stay in the main street and use the magic to stay hidden. Any disturbance would have the webs would likely draw spiders.  Let's chart a course and see what perils lie ahead."

Hewelathan is there to provide the magic.  He'll go wherever they want, but he says, "Of course, if we don't clear the webs and spiders as we go, we could find ourselves with spiders both ahead and behind."  He looks around overhead, "Hopefully Nickeline, or at least Whiskers, is keeping an eye on us in case we get into a tight spot."

(OOC: Not sure how we want to proceed without a map or a specific destination before the LR.  With just 1 hour duration on the spell, we can't go that far today.  I was thinking more like looking for or clearing a path as we go to make the next day easier.  Or start looking in the buildings to see whether there's anything left over from before the spiders moved in.) 

Quote from kevtr0n >>

"I think even traveling through here in the 'day' we could likely use the larger roads. Any undead inhabiting this place would not care for what time to be active

"True," Hewelathan says.  "But perhaps the driders are more active at particular times.  I'm not so worried about a couple of giant spiders.  I'm much more concerned about attracting the attention of a drider, especially if they still serve the priestess even in her undead state."

Back at camp, Nickeline sits with Tamphalic and Hildegard, hands clasping her crystal ball. She knows she's going to be using it enough to alert Kupfernickel, so she moves to a place from which there is no view of the city. She relates what she sees to her companions as she telepathically directs Whiskers to fly deeper into the city. 'I hope a bat is inconspicuous enough to flit around unnoticed,' she thinks as she looks at Tamphalic. She looks first for a clear path the party can take the following day and second for they location of any monsters visible from the air.

Occasionally, she changes her scrying target to Hewelathan, Korba, and Jodie to check in, but they are surprisingly hard to spot, even when her scrying sensor is supposedly only 10 feet away.

OOC:
Perception: 19
I assume Whiskers and Nickeline see much the same as what the others saw in the city, just from a higher angle, but I rolled a perception check for her just in case.
Nickeline can only communicate with creatures she can see, so I think she'd have to beat the other PCs' stealth scores to be able to talk with them. I imagine her as playing Where's Waldo? with very limited success.

Jodie proposes some options, "Should we cast out some lures and see what prey are lurking?  I can create the glowing figure, a illusionary visage, or even levitate a large boulder and drop it with dramatic effect."

Jodie pauses and looks about (16) for any activity.  "Whatever emerges, I can confuse as we flee so as it leave little evidence of our presence."

So, million dollar question: how far do you actually go into the city? And do you go through the webs that Hewelathan blundered into, or does he break free and then the scouting team goes somewhere else?

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

So, million dollar question: how far do you actually go into the city? And do you go through the webs that Hewelathan blundered into, or does he break free and then the scouting team goes somewhere else?

Hewelathan already broke free (post #1088) of the web he fell into (unless you're saying a STR 29 check is insufficient!).

Hewelathan also says, "If we want to go farther this way," pointing through the web-covered street ahead, "I could take the form of a giant spider.  That would let me scout ahead on the webs without getting stuck and determine whether there are other spiders in contact with the webs.  But you'd still need to cut or burn your way through the webs if you wanted to follow me."

(OOC: in a giant spider form, Hewelathan gains both of these abilities: 
Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Web Sense may help him determine whether there are spiders hiding on other parts of the web.  Of course, they'll also be able to sense where he is as he traverses the webs.)

Hildegard would help the others look for an appropriate campsite, as far outside the city as the others are willing to make it. "Even if they've got to walk a bit farther to get back to us," she says, "it will make anything hunting around the city less likely to stumble on us." She looks for anything like a small cave, corner, or alcove that has sufficient ventilation but is behind enough corners, nooks, or crannies to keep any lights or fires from being easily seen, and that is also big enough for everyone to stretch out comfortably, as well as for Perdita to stand.

Once a good location is found, as the others head off to scout the city and Nickeline settles down just outside with her scrying orb, Hildegard busies herself at the makeshift little camp, getting a fire started, water boiling with some herbs for tea, and laying her shield and weapons where they are out of the way but she can quickly grab them if needed. If there is any dust or dirt on the route they took to the camping spot where they left footprints, she'll walk back over their trail and try to brush out any footprints and make the path look undisturbed.

Lastly, she lights a little incense in the censer she carries and, quietly singing a prayer of blessing, incenses the whole campsite and some of the surrounding area. Although the musky smell of incense will be as noticeable as smoke to any creatures that come by, she hopes the spiritual protection along with unfamiliar smells will be enough to make any interlopers uneasy enough to decide to pass the camp by.

Survival: 20 (if needed for finding a good campsite and completing tasks to hide it)

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

So, million dollar question: how far do you actually go into the city? And do you go through the webs that Hewelathan blundered into, or does he break free and then the scouting team goes somewhere else?

Hewelathan already broke free (post #1088) of the web he fell into (unless you're saying a STR 29 check is insufficient!).

 

 (Of course 29 was sufficient... I was just asking if you continued by clearing your way through the webbing or if you went around once you got free)

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

(Of course 29 was sufficient... I was just asking if you continued by clearing your way through the webbing or if you went around once you got free)

(My understanding was that once Hewelathan got stuck / unstuck, the trio was huddled there at the edge of the web-covered street, quietly discussing what to do.)

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

(Of course 29 was sufficient... I was just asking if you continued by clearing your way through the webbing or if you went around once you got free)

(My understanding was that once Hewelathan got stuck / unstuck, the trio was huddled there at the edge of the web-covered street, quietly discussing what to do.)

(Okay... just let me know when a decision has been reached so I can determine what happens next)

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

(Okay... just let me know when a decision has been reached so I can determine what happens next)

(I'm trying to let @Faux_Beau and @kevtr0n make that call.  Hewelathan is just here to provide the stealth and be a tank in case they stumble into something nasty.)

Jodie looks uneasy at Hewey's entanglement.  "You may be able to change into a spider and travel without disturbing the webs, but Korba and I would surely draw attention to follow.  We can be as stealthy as we'd like; the vibrations will travel like when I pluck a string."  Jodie offers a high plucked note from her lute.

"Let's stay on the main roads and see what dangers lie in wait.  At best, we can drive them off.  But there's still a win in being better prepared tomorrow."

Tamphalic will help Hildegard setup the camp site, and will be ready to call Whiskers into the pocket dimension if he encounters any trouble, when relayed to him by Nickeline .

The scouting team continues along the main roads, sticking to the shadows and somehow remaining nearly imperceptible. Peering into the windows of some of the larger buildings, you can see the forms of gigantic spiders sitting immobile in their webbing. The spiders, unsurprisingly, have no idea that you're here so long as you do not make the mistake of touching their webs while sneaking around.

Most of the spiders appear to be asleep at the moment, though they could simply be waiting to ambush anything that is foolish enough to disturb them. Speaking of, when you peer into the windows you can see some disturbingly person-shaped (and quite a few kobold-shaped) bundles of webbing. They all appear to be long-deceased, though.

As you slowly continue your little journey, though, you glance into a broken window and catch sight of something that chills you to the bone: a drider sits in the middle of a huge web, with two giant spiders (that you can see... it is entirely possible that more could be in the building). But what is really disturbing is not the presence of the drider, or even the four corpse-shaped bundles of webbing. No, what's really disturbing is the fact that one of the bundles is moving slightly... the bundle appears to be roughly human-sized.

Jodie whispers her plan to the others, "If I can confuse them enough to fight one another, perhaps Hewey you can turn into a spider and grab the body?  Korba can guard our retreat...  If the spell has no effect on the drider, then let's hope the creature lives when we can return in force tomorrow."

Unless her friends object, Jodie finds a good spot to find cover and plays the Avorals' Winds of Confusion and sees if her spell takes hold. (Wis DC 14)