Psyborg's Out of the Abyss

Vethna takes her normal scouting position in the front. She moves out easily able to navigate the webs without any of the other's troubles. (She has a climbing speed so she can move normally on the webs.)

Perception is a 16, stealth, if applicable, is a 12.

You move quickly and quietly today. Spiderbait and Yuk-yuk seem more cautious today after the numerous close calls on the day prior. They keep the party closer to the cavern wall, hugging its surface rather than traversing out further in the webs. At times, you are able to use ledges and paths that run along the side of the cavern and get relief from the constant tension of navigating through thick strands of web. You make better time today because of the occasional chances to walk on stone instead of web and you avoid any encounters over the first half of the day. 

After several hours, Spiderbait leads you on a short climb to a shelf that juts out from the cavern wall. Cresting over its edge, you can see a ring of stones where it is clear fires have been made. This space makes a nice flat resting area where travelers likely camp or take breaks for a meal or a rest. Shuushar again takes the lead on preparing food. Your provisions are starting to run a little low, but you probably have another day's worth of fungus and water. Some of the fungi keep better than others after being picked. He has to toss a few pounds of food that is starting to get slimy and spoiled. 

Spiderbait addresses you all "Alright friends. We're getting close. After we take a break here, we'll need to descend through the webs to get down to the level of that passage you're looking for. That's going to mean crossing out deeper into the webs. Once we start out again, keep your eyes open and your weapons ready."

Tanis, with that amazing perception roll that you had to start the day, you are picking up absolutely everything in the environment around you. 

As the party begins moving deeper into the webs, you catch something at the edge of your vision.

Tanis makes his way from his rear-scouting position to the central group, seeming to appear out of invisibility, even to those with darkvision when he steps into the radius of Kisiki's light.

"I do not see any Giant Spiders or other immediate hazards.  But I do see several cocoons that Giant Spiders appear to have used to trap prey, most of them already eaten and empty.  But there is movement coming from one which is still intact.  I know it's potentially dangerous, as the mimic was, but I think several of us should approach and attempt to free what or whoever is inside.  It may mean a fight again if we are unlucky, but it seems more likely we'd be freeing some poor victim and I think it is worth the risk."

(Tanis has 90' darkvision so some party members may need to move closer before they can see the cocoon.)

“I will do it.  Please don’t hurt a giant wolf spider.  Will drag cacoon here, yes?”

If there is confirmation he will hot get hurt, Shoowaa turns to a giant wolf spider and goes to the moving caccoon and tries to bring it back to the party.

Vrah quietly responds, "I will go and check anyone want to come with." Then he will make his way to the cocoon, stopping about 20' away to look closer at it and see if he can tell anything about the cocoon or see if anything is nearby.

Vrah Perception: 19

Tanis sighs and shakes his head in mild annoyance.  "I'm not going to hurt you, Shoowaa.  I will cover you while you head out there and back.  Just be careful.  For obvious reasons, but also because if it's a person in there, they may fight for their life if they see a spider near them and break free."

He nocks an arrow to his longbow and steps out of the lit area into the darkness where he becomes invisible, carefully placing his steps to follow a small part of the way in Shoowaa's and readying an attack on anything that might endanger his Giant Wolf Spider ally.

(Tanis covers Vrah as well and anyone else who goes to help retrieve the cocoon.)

As Vrah approaches, he does not see any spiders nearby (other than Shoowaa). He can see a slight movement in the cocoon. When Shoowaa in his spider form approaches, whatever is in the cocoon starts shrieking loudly and thrashing about. Whoever it is manages to push a foot out of the cocoon and starts kicking wildly, trying to keep you away. 

Phodoxia turns and easily sees the cocoon with her 120' darkvision. She quickly trails Shoowaa as he spiders his way along the webs to get to the cocoon, wanting to be at hand in case her goblin buddy gets into trouble.

Vrah quickly closes the space between him and the cocoon then hisses out, "Shut up and stop moving, otherwise I will leave you to the spiders for food." Then Vrah will take out his dagger and start cutting into the cocoon to release the creature trapped inside.

Coming up behind the others near the cacoon, Vethna looks around carefully. Not seeing any other spiders she calls out. "Don't be alarmed. That spider is a druid, not an actual spider." She is not sure if her companion is a druid for certain, but figures it a good guess. "If you calm down we can try to get you out of there before real spiders come..."

As you begin to cut away the webbing, you find a very sick, but still-living halfling cocooned in webbing. He is dressed in leather armor and has a short sword and still has a small backpack on his back. Whenever he sees Shoowaa, you can see his eyes go wide with fear, but as you are freeing him, he begins to understand this isn't one of the spiders that captured him. He is still strongly affected by the venom he has received and does not have full control of his muscles and his speech is slurred. He does his best to communicate his thanks, keeping a close eye on the giant wolf spider at all times. 

Those of you keeping an eye out do not see any other spiders approaching. 

Vrah will lift him out of the cut cocoon and then sling him onto his back (Piggyback style) offering him his goodberry he was going to eat that day for nourishment. Then quietly say, "You are alive for now, stay as quiet as you can and you might stay that way." Then will make sure the group that came with him are ready to move out and rejoin the rest.

Tanis replenishes Vrah's goodberry and gives the halfling one more for good measure, having eight left.  He resumes rear-scouting.

“Can anyone carry him?  Perhaps we can do something to help the poison when we get to safety.”  Petmailer goes back to scanning in front, looking for any signs of movement.

Vrah nods his head in thanks to Tanis, pocketing the goodberry for later use.

Kisiki nods. "Yes, I will cure it when we are out of danger. Until then, I will save what little magic trickles down to me through this deep rock."

Spiderbait looks at the halfling when you bring him back and says "This guy is lucky. Especially for his size, that venom can be nasty." He looks at the whites of his eyes, licks his forehead to check his temperature and feels his neck to see what his pulse is like. "Yeah... I'd say about an hour from now he'll be feeling better." He looks to Vrah. "If you're willing to carry him, we should probably keep moving. The spider will be back soon lucking for his lunch." He looks at the halfling again. "Since we don't know your name yet, that's what I think I'll call you - Lunch!" He laughs and takes off through the webs again, headed toward a section where there are thick strands to climb down to get to a lower level. 

"I'd like to hear your story." Vethna says to the halfling. "Once you are more yourself." She adds on as she takes in his state. "For now, we should probably get moving." She moves to the front and joins the scouts at the front of the group, easily cllimbing downt he thick strands of webs.

You all descend several layers down through the webs, then Spiderbait starts heading back toward the side wall of the cavern. After a couple of hours, you see a large cavernous opening in the side wall with a small stream trickling out of it, then cascading down toward the floor of the cavern below. From time to time, some of you have spotted dark shapes moving in the distance in the webs, but none of them approach and your trek has been uneventful since you found the halfling. 

Spiderbait pauses and lets the group catch up. "You see that big cavern over there? The one with the stream? That passage will get you back on track and headed toward the dark lake. Yuk-yuk and I need to make our way to one of our camps before it gets too late. So this is where we say our goodbyes." He holds his hand out as if expecting something. 

The halfling, who has been riding on Vrah's back all this time, speaks up for the first time. "What do they owe you?" 

Spiderbait looks toward Yuk-yuk and thinks for a moment, then says. "Umm.... I believe it was... 15 gold. Yeah, that's what it was. Fifteen gold... with the hazard pay added in that is!"

The halfling climbs down from Vrah, reaches into a pouch and counts out the 15 gold. He walks over to Spiderbait, still seeming a bit unsteady on his feet. "This is the least I can do to pay you all back for the rescue. I hate to think where I'd be right now if you all hadn't come along when you did. Probably down some spider's gullet." He hands over the 15 gold (which is significantly more than what Spiderbait had said he was going to charge you for guide duties).

Yuk-yuk starts to say something, but Spiderbait cuts him off with a look as he's pocketing the gold. "Well, that's quite kind of you... whatever your name is. Do you need passage back across the webs?"

The halfling says "No. I wasn't headed that way and I'd rather not spend any more time in these webs. My name is Fargas, by the way. Fargas Rumblefoot. I was actually wondering if I could tag a long with this crew, if you're getting off of these blasted webs." He looks around at the rest of you. "You know, safety in numbers..."