By the way, if anyone wants to further assess the building/the threat you're facing, you're also all free to make Investigation checks.

After quickly communicating what they've seen inside the house, Korba looks around to find a pebble or stick of some kind, and, holding up a hand to pause Jodie, readies himself to toss it gently towards the webs to see what happens when it is disturbed ((investigation 15)) "Confuse them once we know if there are more hiding," he whispers.

Hewelathan looks at the webbed bodies and the drider.  He tries to get a sense for what kind of building this is and whether it's any different from the other buildings that house the "sleeping" spiders.  Or are all of those other buildings also housing driders?  And is this foe a feral hunter who has been catching kobolds to sustain itself?  Or is there some form of intentional or directed line of defense here?  Investigation 22

He also tries to spot Whiskers flying above them (how many bats are there in the area?).  If he thinks that he spots Whiskers, he gestures for the bat to come closer.  He hopes that Neckeline can get a better look and warn them if there's a larger, hidden threat here.  Perception 16 

Jodie examines (20) the structure and threat in a little more detail, looking for traps and other creatures in wait.

Even if Hewelathan cannot see Whiskers, Nickeline can certainly see Hewelathan when she next checks in with him after a couple of minutes. On his direction, she will re-cast Scrying, targeting the area she can see inside the building.

"Hildegard, Tamphalic," she says aloud to her companions. Ruby is also probably nearby. "They found a drider! There's a live person trapped in its webby cocoon. At least, I think it's a live person." She continues to monitor (Investigation 20) the area with the drider and giant spiders.

Okay... so, Jodie and Nickeline quickly figured out something that everyone else missed...

"Do you think we should go to where they are to help?" Tamphalic asks Nickeline "How far away are they?"

Hewelathan quietly asks Korba, in case the half drow elf knows more about drivers, "Do you think the drider is serving the cocooned prisoner to the spiders as a meal? Or is this some strange ritual to create a new drider?" He looks to Jodie and explains his thinking. "Is their captive in immediate danger? And if so, should we try to rescue them?"

(@Mister_Whisker - About how far away is our hiding spot from the closest entrance to the building with the webbed captive?  What floor is the drider and prisoner on?  About how big is the room where the prisoner is?)

Jodie is a bit uncertain how to handle the moral dilemma while not revealing themselves.  Her fey-nature thinks Burn them all  but Jodie holds herself back...  

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

(@Mister_Whisker - About how far away is our hiding spot from the closest entrance to the building with the webbed captive?  What floor is the drider and prisoner on?  About how big is the room where the prisoner is?)

You're about 35-ft from an actual entrance to the building. As stated earlier, it's a large house-type structure. There are probably several more rooms inside besides the one that you can see through the window.

Quote from Faux_Beau >>

Jodie is a bit uncertain how to handle the moral dilemma while not revealing themselves.  Her fey-nature thinks Burn them all  but Jodie holds herself back...  

The biggest problem with this course of action is that it would also ignite the webbing, which would likely injure (or possibly even kill) the prisoner who is currently trapped in said webbing.

Quote from Secretfool >>

"Do you think we should go to where they are to help?" Tamphalic asks Nickeline "How far away are they?"

 "I do think we should go help," replies Nickeline. "Flandal's teachings are light on topics that aren't metalworking, but everyone knows it's wrong to ignore someone in trouble. And there's a lot of spiders in there—at least twelve—plus the two giant ones and the drider; our friends in the scouting party might not have seen those. I will contact them." She peers in the direction of the city. "I don't know exactly how far away they are, but it probably wouldn't take us that long to get there if Whiskers can guide us and we don't bother with staying hidden."

Taking Tamphalic's question as implicit agreement with her decision to join the others, Nickeline next scrys on Hewelathan and asks him, Korba, and Jodie (if she's returned to the other two) telepathically, 'Advance team, come in! This is Nickeline. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? There's a bunch of spiders in there! We—maybe not Ruby—are coming to assist in rescue of webbed-person, over.'

Unless someone tells her no, Nickeline will get ready to go into the city. As she picks up her mace, she says, "Hildegard, what are your thoughts?"

Quote from mamoduck >>

Nickeline next scrys on Hewelathan and asks him, Korba, and Jodie (if she's returned to the other two) telepathically, 'Advance team, come in! This is Nickeline. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? There's a bunch of spiders in there! We—maybe not Ruby—are coming to assist in rescue of webbed-person, over.'

Hewelathan responds, "We know. We may have to move before you get here, if the webbed-up person is in immediate danger. But we'll probably need help getting back out....Over."

If Jodie wasn't in range, he relays the message that the others are on their way to help. He warns Jodie, and especially Korba, "Darkness may not be much help here. As I said, spiders can sense anything that's touching their webs, and even if we avoid the webs, they can sense creatures that get close enough, even in perfect darkness.  We may need a two-pronged approach. Distraction and rescue.  If the spiders and drider weren't all guarding him, I might be able to climb up the wall as a giant spider and grab him from that room. Or maybe one of us could fly them out of there.  But we'd need a way to draw the creatures away from guarding their unwilling guest. "

Hearing that, Tamphalic immediately calls Whiskers to his pockets dimension and than back to him

"Alrgith Whiskers, show is how to get to the others; quickly. They seem to need our help"

Korba, having grown up in the harsh realities of the Underdark, is less sure that helping his clearly weak person (‘they did get themselves caught after all’) is really worth the time and danger, but seeing that his companions seem set on this course of action readies himself to assist. “Is there any way that we could get them out of there quickly enough to them set the place ablaze before the spiders can really react?”

Quote from kevtr0n >>

Korba, having grown up in the harsh realities of the Underdark, is less sure that helping his clearly weak person (‘they did get themselves caught after all’) is really worth the time and danger, but seeing that his companions seem set on this course of action readies himself to assist. “Is there any way that we could get them out of there quickly enough to them set the place ablaze before the spiders can really react?”

"I was thinking something similar," Hewelathan whispers.  "Distraction.  Snatch and run.  And then Jodie covers the escape with fire.  Of course, that assumes that there's just the one prisoner."

Jodie suggests that if the driders and spiders are confused, it may create enough of a distraction.  "The creature known as an umberhulk is known to have the ability to confuse.  I could create a magical illusion  n 

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Quote from mamoduck >>

Nickeline next scrys on Hewelathan and asks him, Korba, and Jodie (if she's returned to the other two) telepathically, 'Advance team, come in! This is Nickeline. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? There's a bunch of spiders in there! We—maybe not Ruby—are coming to assist in rescue of webbed-person, over.'

Hewelathan responds, "We know. We may have to move before you get here, if the webbed-up person is in immediate danger. But we'll probably need help getting back out....Over."

If Jodie wasn't in range, he relays the message that the others are on their way to help. He warns Jodie, and especially Korba, "Darkness may not be much help here. As I said, spiders can sense anything that's touching their webs, and even if we avoid the webs, they can sense creatures that get close enough, even in perfect darkness.  We may need a two-pronged approach. Distraction and rescue.  If the spiders and drider weren't all guarding him, I might be able to climb up the wall as a giant spider and grab him from that room. Or maybe one of us could fly them out of there.  But we'd need a way to draw the creatures away from guarding their unwilling guest. "

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Quote from mamoduck >>

Nickeline next scrys on Hewelathan and asks him, Korba, and Jodie (if she's returned to the other two) telepathically, 'Advance team, come in! This is Nickeline. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? There's a bunch of spiders in there! We—maybe not Ruby—are coming to assist in rescue of webbed-person, over.'

Hewelathan responds, "We know. We may have to move before you get here, if the webbed-up person is in immediate danger. But we'll probably need help getting back out....Over."

If Jodie wasn't in range, he relays the message that the others are on their way to help. He warns Jodie, and especially Korba, "Darkness may not be much help here. As I said, spiders can sense anything that's touching their webs, and even if we avoid the webs, they can sense creatures that get close enough, even in perfect darkness.  We may need a two-pronged approach. Distraction and rescue.  If the spiders and drider weren't all guarding him, I might be able to climb up the wall as a giant spider and grab him from that room. Or maybe one of us could fly them out of there.  But we'd need a way to draw the creatures away from guarding their unwilling guest. "

Jodie acknowledges the message.  "A combination of a flying spider with Koba's darkness might be enough to avoid the webs on the way in and getting off them on the way out to hide.  The confusion will be the perfect distraction, because it will appear as the creatures have turned on each other... a familiar concept here in the Underdark."  Jodie casts a glace at Korba and continues, "And if the spell doesn't take hold, perhaps it was not meant to be.  I don't want to draw too many of them upon us.  Remember, we passed many on the way."

Korba ponders and replies, "We will then need to get back to camp of course. But yes, I can summon a sandstorm to attempt to hide you as a spider, Hew, though you are the one risking your own legs by going in on this. If they swarm you we may not be able to get you out without being overwhelmed ourselves."

"Yes, but that's why I suggested a distraction," Hewelathan says. "Something that might draw a bunch of them away first."

Jodie offers a distraction, "How about an illusion of a fire elemental outside the building?  Hewey could start a small fire next to it, making the danger more real to the spiders."

"I will only be able to concentrate on one spell at a time, so eventually I'll drop the illusion and use confusion to distract them further.  

Quote from Faux_Beau >>

Hewey could start a small fire next to it, making the danger more real to the spiders."

 

Hewelathan says, "I could, but then we'll lose the benefit of stealth for now.  Or we could just light a pool of oil on fire somehow."