Jodie offers a distraction, "How about an illusion of a fire elemental outside the building?
And after a moment, Hewelathan also says, "Also...don't we want them to leave their web-wrapped prisoner unattended in the building? Why would they rush outside the building to attack a big, scary fire elemental? They might just cower in the building. It might go better if we lure them out with a big, juicy target. If you create an illusion that hides me, I could touch the webs so that the spiders would feel a creature in their web, trusting my strength to be able to break free before they get to me. The illusion could be something big -- like, maybe an ogre? Perhaps that would cause more of the spiders to leave the prisoner unattended. Then maybe Korba could be the one to fly into the room as soon as the spiders leave it and try to carry off the webbed up prisoner?"
"Alternatively," Korba says, "we could skip the illusion and flying and use invisibility to get one of us close enough to try to get the prisoner away. The spiders would sense us once we're in the room, but perhaps it'll be enough of a surprise that we can grab the prisoner before they react." He sighs, "I wish Rhaenys were here with Stafford and his telekinesis."
Our scout team sits tight, waiting for the rest of the party to catch up and help deal with the spiders...
I'm going to need all those who are approaching (Nickeline, Hildegard, and Temphalic) to make a Stealth check for me. This will be a group check... if half or more succeed, then the group is successful in their endeavor. If not, well...
Anyway, here's Ruby's Stealth check to start off: 8
As they are sneaking into the city, Nickeline looks at Ruby and holds her finger up to her lips when Ruby makes noise. Nickeline herself manages to stay unusually quiet for a gnome in clanking, metal armor.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Tamphalic stealth: 21
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"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war |Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
(OOC: I was REALLY tempted to count Ruby's nat 1 as two failures, but I decided it wouldn't be very fair to screw the party over because of an NPC's bad roll, and I said that if half or more of you succeeded then the whole group succeeded)
Somehow, Temphalic and Nickeline manage to corral Hildegard and Ruby enough that the heavily-armored Paladin and the trembling kobold don't catch the attention of every spider in the city. It doesn't take very long for the two halves of the party to find each other in front of a large house containing a drider, a few giant spiders, and some unfortunate soul whom said monsters are probably going to eat in the not-too-distant future if the party does nothing to intervene.
Looking at the scene, the drider appears to be a male. Which... isn't a good sign. Korba would know that most male Drow who would be likely to undergo Lolth's test would be spellcasters or otherwise truly exceptional individuals considering how matriarchal Drow society is.
"I know you all want to save whoever is in that web, but we really don't want to have to deal with everything that's in there should things go wrong,"Korba says, still not really a fan of bothering to save this person.
Hewelathan nods to Korba, "But we should try to help them, agreed?" He looks at Hildegard, Nickelline, and Tamphalic. "It's the right thing to do, and if we're lucky, they may know something about this city that could help us."
Hewelathan looks at the others and says, "What's the plan?"
What spells do we want to have in use here?
Hewelathan's Pass Without Trace? It keeps the stealthy characters hidden until the last moment.
Hewelathan's Create Bonfire? It's a very small area of control, but it might be useful.
Nickeline's Sanctuary? Cast it on the whoever is going to grab the prisoner to help them avoid attacks.
Korba's Darkness? It'll obscure what we're doing and could prevent opportunity attacks (unless all of these things have blindsight).
Jodie's Fly? Cast it on whoever is going to grab the prisoner to allow them to fly in and fly out without touching the webs. Of course, I'm not sure whether the spell would permit them to carry an entire extra person.
Jodie's Invisibility? Cast it on whoever is going to grab the prisoner so that they can get in and out without being seen (also foiled by blindsight).
Jodie's Confusion? Cast it on the spiders and the drider to cause chaos and make it impossible for some of them to stop us. It'll only cover one or two Large creatures, but it could may cover a bunch of the smaller spiders.
Jodie's Silent Image? Cast it to create a distraction. (No longer needed now that Hildegard and Nickeline can create a distraction?)
Are we agreed that Hewelathan should be the one to grab the prisoner and run (probably in giant spider Wild Shape if he has to cross any webs)?
Who is going to create a distraction?
Once we have the prisoner, how do we get out without leading them all back to our camp? Or are we just trying to lead them all into the street where Jodie can hopefully Fire Storm them all at once?
"Of course we should help that prisoner, and in the end it will lead to a safer journey for tomorrow."
Tamphalic will be here for support if it gets to a fight, either hitting multiple enemies with shatter or trying to grab the drider with Maximilians earthen grasp (for latter idea hex to get disadvantage on strength checks would be great^^)
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"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war |Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
Hewelathan nods to Korba, "But we should try to help them, agreed?" He looks at Hildegard, Nickelline, and Tamphalic. "It's the right thing to do, and if we're lucky, they may know something about this city that could help us."
Hewelathan looks at the others and says, "What's the plan?"
What spells do we want to have in use here?
Jodie's Fly? Cast it on whoever is going to grab the prisoner to allow them to fly in and fly out without touching the webs. Of course, I'm not sure whether the spell would permit them to carry an entire extra person.
Jodie's Invisibility? Cast it on whoever is going to grab the prisoner so that they can get in and out without being seen (also foiled by blindsight).
Jodie's Confusion? Cast it on the spiders and the drider to cause chaos and make it impossible for some of them to stop us. It'll only cover one or two Large creatures, but it could may cover a bunch of the smaller spiders.
Jodie's Silent Image? Cast it to create a distraction. (No longer needed now that Hildegard and Nickeline can create a distraction?)
Are we agreed that Hewelathan should be the one to grab the prisoner and run (probably in giant spider Wild Shape if he has to cross any webs)?
Who is going to create a distraction?
Once we have the prisoner, how do we get out without leading them all back to our camp? Or are we just trying to lead them all into the street where Jodie can hopefully Fire Storm them all at once?
Jodie ammends Hewelathan's list of magical options:
"I have that scroll of animal friendship. Spiders after all are beasts, so I could charm one. How do you ask a spider to fetch?"
"I could also use levitate on the spider's prey. It's not Rhaenys's telekinessis, but if we could free it from the web perhaps we could pull it out with rope..."
"The harp's song may be sufficient distraction. And if I can charm a giant spider, it may provide one for us. If only I had perfected the Song of Hypnosis."
"Aye, we should help this person. I know I'd want someone to rescue me, if it were me in there," Nickeline says. "I can offer Flandal's divine protection to whoever's going in. I could also Silence the side of the room by the doorway or window; it might make it harder for the other spiders hiding in there to notice us until it's too late for them to stop us. That's related to my main concern, which is is escaping: this place'll be swarming with spiders unless we're fast, thorough, or very careful in how we do this."
"If our heroic rescuer can get in and out quickly enough to then get on the nightmare to fly away, the rest of us should be far away already since we won't be able to, or want to, deal with whatever comes pouring out of that house,"Korba says, planning for the inevitable.
"I could also use levitate on the spider's prey. It's not Rhaenys's telekinessis, but if we could free it from the web perhaps we could pull it out with rope..."
"Hm," Hewelathan says. "If you can levitate the prisoner, maybe Hildegard could just ride in there on Perdita. Even if the nightmare burns out the webbing, and there's no floor, Perdita would be flying, and the prisoner would be levitating all the same. Hildegard would just have to make it from the main door to the prisoner and back."
"Alternatively," Hewelathan continues, "I could go through the window, change into a giant spider, and carry the prisoner across the webbing to the front door. Or, if you could grant me flight, I could fly through the window, grab the prisoner, and try to get back out the window without getting stuck in the webs. In either case, we'll need to make some sort of distraction to lure them out or at least take their attention away from the room with the prisoner for a moment."
"I guess instead of Silence, I could cast Faerie Fire; if everything around me were lit up violet, I'd be pretty distracted. But if someone has a better distraction, I'd rather they do it," says Nickeline.
She continues, "I think either of those plans could work; I salute all you volunteers for your bravery. For what it's worth, Perdita is probably faster than Spider-Hewelathan, I bet."
Hildegard had come as silently as she could, having dismissed Perdita so that the nightmare's flames would not draw attention. Now she listens to the various plans, nodding in agreement with Nickeline. "This is a work of mercy, if we have the ability to help, than we must. But if it would be futile, we are not obligated..."She looks through the doorways towards the drider, her concerned expression seeming to say that she has no idea if it's possible or futile. She is relying on the judgment of the others.
"If the best option is for me to ride Perdita in, I will happily do it,"Hildegard says. "She is very fast. But you must all quickly flee, lest we be overrun by spiders..."
Hewelathan's biggest concerns are still that either the rescuer cannot get the webbed-up person detached from the webbed floor or that the rescuer gets stuck to the webbed floor themselves. In both cases, Hewelathan feels like he has the best chance of success: his magical strength could help him get the prisoner or himself unstuck, and a giant spider Wild Shape would ensure that he does not get stuck to the web and would give him a better chance of surviving attacks from any creatures that defeat Nickeline's protection.
Hewelathan suspects that the spiders in the room probably have blindsight, so he doesn't expect that Darkness will help much. Then again, the drider is only half-spider, so maybe it would at least conceal him from the drider. He would prefer not to rely on any spell from Jodie other than Confusion. That has a fairly small AoE, but if a bunch of the spiders start acting randomly, that might cause enough chaos for the party to get away.
Hewelathan isn't sure whether it's a better idea for him to carry the webbed-up person to the double doors in his giant spider Wild Shape or just to carry the webbed-up person to the window to pass him through to Hildegard and Perdita for a faster escape. The latter is a straighter shot (through the window, Wild Shape, grab the prisoner, and hand him through the window). But it probably leaves Hewelathan stuck in the room with the drider and spiders for longer. On the other hand, if he goes through the window, Wild Shapes, and then just grabs the prisoner and runs for the double doors, he has to pass through a part of the house that they haven't seen. With good stealth, Hewelathan may surprise everything in the building and get halfway out before they can react. Plus, if the party's distraction causes spiders to flood out of the building through the double doors, Hewelathan might just blend in with the others spiders who are leaving the building.
Jodie smiles, "There was a sort of game we'd play. We called it 'Mix up'. You have three things that look similar, but are one is not. You move things around quickly and then pick the odd one out. If Hewey the spider looked like he was bringing in another catch, he might be able to swap it with the live one. If he transforms now, we could make a make a bundle wrapped in webbing..."
After looking about, she whispers "Maybe we soak the center with oil. Put it in the nest and all you've got to do it ignite it."
Hewelathan likes that idea! A bundle of rags or some other kindling soaked in oil and then wrapped in webbing. (Is there any flammable organic matter left in the ruins?) In that case, the party could wait until Hewelathan makes it into the room to start their distraction. Maybe Korba and Jodie could fake a fight just outside the building. A drow might look less suspicious down here, and Jodie has a lot of dramatic flair.
As soon as the spiders / drider are distracted, Hewelathan could grab the prisoner and get them out for Hildegard to take away on Perdita. Nickeline and Tamphalic could blast the spiders and drider to give Korba and Jodie time to dash away. Then Confusion to sew chaos and Fire Storm in case there are still a lot of spiders following them.
Of course, Hewelathan wouldn't be able to light the fake bundle while in Wild Shape. Either he'd have to pick up the prisoner and get them to the window before transforming back to his normal form and then light it. Or someone else would have to light it while Hewelathan scrambles out the front door (still in spider form) with the prisoner.
After looking about, she whispers "Maybe we soak the center with oil. Put it in the nest and all you've got to do it ignite it."
Hewelathan likes that idea! A bundle of rags or some other kindling soaked in oil and then wrapped in webbing. (Is there any flammable organic matter left in the ruins?) In that case, the party could wait until Hewelathan makes it into the room to start their distraction. Maybe Korba and Jodie could fake a fight just outside the building. A drow might look less suspicious down here, and Jodie has a lot of dramatic flair.
"My only concern with using us as a distraction is it will put the nest on the defense. We need something as disruptive but less threatening..." Jodie glances over to Ruby. "Kobolds are common down here. What if it looks like Ruby was fighting a giant spider? I can charm one or create an illusion. The spiders might assume Hewey captured her or another. I would not expect the drider to be concerned with a kobold... No offense Ruby."
"My only concern with using us as a distraction is it will put the nest on the defense. We need something as disruptive but less threatening..." Jodie glances over to Ruby. "Kobolds are common down here. What if it looks like Ruby was fighting a giant spider? I can charm one or create an illusion. The spiders might assume Hewey captured her or another. I would not expect the drider to be concerned with a kobold... No offense Ruby."
Hewelathan says, "The 'distraction' needs to empty the nest through the double doors and not draw anything to the window. Otherwise, it'll be better just to skip it and try rely on surprise and Confusion."
Charming a spider seems like a fine option since it won't monopolize her concentration, but he's not sure whether it's much help in the distraction. Jodie wouldn't have a way to communicate with it, would she? It'll be friendly to the party and avoid attacking us, but we may not be able to have it do much for us. Perhaps it'll help the party escape, but he doubts that it would sacrifice its life to defend the party against an overwhelming force.
Hewelathan summarizes the plan as he understands it:
Hewelathan will sneak cross to the building, but he won't enter until Jodie either creates a distraction outside the building or casts Confusion on the room where the webbed-up prisoner is.
If the window is clear, Hewelathan will probably use a giant wolf spider form so that he can get in and back out through the window. If not, Hewelathan will probably use a giant spider form and enter through the double doors.
As soon as Hewelathan enters the building, Jodie should probably caste Confusion to hit as many creatures in the room with the prisoner as she can.
Hildegard should also summon Perdita and approach the building so that she can take the prisoner away as soon as Hewelathan gets him out of the building.
The rest of them should keep their distance and get ready to extract Hewelathan if something goes wrong or to hold off any spiders or driders who pour out of the building until Jodie can Fire Storm them.
Hewelathan is a little worried about the spiders since he won't be immune to their poison even when he's Wild Shaped as a spider. If he gets poisoned before he gets out, he'll be in a really bad situation. But he's even more worried about the drider, who looks like a formidable foe. Hewelathan is hoping that he surprises the creatures when he enters the room and that Jodie switches to Confusion as soon as he does. If he can just grab the prisoner and get to the window before any of them attack, he has a very good chance of getting out and then helping with the fight outside the building.
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And after a moment, Hewelathan also says, "Also...don't we want them to leave their web-wrapped prisoner unattended in the building? Why would they rush outside the building to attack a big, scary fire elemental? They might just cower in the building. It might go better if we lure them out with a big, juicy target. If you create an illusion that hides me, I could touch the webs so that the spiders would feel a creature in their web, trusting my strength to be able to break free before they get to me. The illusion could be something big -- like, maybe an ogre? Perhaps that would cause more of the spiders to leave the prisoner unattended. Then maybe Korba could be the one to fly into the room as soon as the spiders leave it and try to carry off the webbed up prisoner?"
"Alternatively," Korba says, "we could skip the illusion and flying and use invisibility to get one of us close enough to try to get the prisoner away. The spiders would sense us once we're in the room, but perhaps it'll be enough of a surprise that we can grab the prisoner before they react." He sighs, "I wish Rhaenys were here with Stafford and his telekinesis."
Our scout team sits tight, waiting for the rest of the party to catch up and help deal with the spiders...
I'm going to need all those who are approaching (Nickeline, Hildegard, and Temphalic) to make a Stealth check for me. This will be a group check... if half or more succeed, then the group is successful in their endeavor. If not, well...
Anyway, here's Ruby's Stealth check to start off: 8
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Stealth: 18 (with disadvantage)
As they are sneaking into the city, Nickeline looks at Ruby and holds her finger up to her lips when Ruby makes noise. Nickeline herself manages to stay unusually quiet for a gnome in clanking, metal armor.
Tamphalic stealth: 21
"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war | Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
(OOC: I was REALLY tempted to count Ruby's nat 1 as two failures, but I decided it wouldn't be very fair to screw the party over because of an NPC's bad roll, and I said that if half or more of you succeeded then the whole group succeeded)
Somehow, Temphalic and Nickeline manage to corral Hildegard and Ruby enough that the heavily-armored Paladin and the trembling kobold don't catch the attention of every spider in the city. It doesn't take very long for the two halves of the party to find each other in front of a large house containing a drider, a few giant spiders, and some unfortunate soul whom said monsters are probably going to eat in the not-too-distant future if the party does nothing to intervene.
Looking at the scene, the drider appears to be a male. Which... isn't a good sign. Korba would know that most male Drow who would be likely to undergo Lolth's test would be spellcasters or otherwise truly exceptional individuals considering how matriarchal Drow society is.
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"I know you all want to save whoever is in that web, but we really don't want to have to deal with everything that's in there should things go wrong," Korba says, still not really a fan of bothering to save this person.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Hewelathan nods to Korba, "But we should try to help them, agreed?" He looks at Hildegard, Nickelline, and Tamphalic. "It's the right thing to do, and if we're lucky, they may know something about this city that could help us."
Hewelathan looks at the others and says, "What's the plan?"
"Of course we should help that prisoner, and in the end it will lead to a safer journey for tomorrow."
Tamphalic will be here for support if it gets to a fight, either hitting multiple enemies with shatter or trying to grab the drider with Maximilians earthen grasp (for latter idea hex to get disadvantage on strength checks would be great^^)
"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war | Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
Jodie ammends Hewelathan's list of magical options:
"The harp's song may be sufficient distraction. And if I can charm a giant spider, it may provide one for us. If only I had perfected the Song of Hypnosis."
Fargen Hill Dwarf Cleric/Barbarian - Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Jodie Olwen Half-Elf Bard- Chronicles of the Accursed
"Aye, we should help this person. I know I'd want someone to rescue me, if it were me in there," Nickeline says. "I can offer Flandal's divine protection to whoever's going in. I could also Silence the side of the room by the doorway or window; it might make it harder for the other spiders hiding in there to notice us until it's too late for them to stop us. That's related to my main concern, which is is escaping: this place'll be swarming with spiders unless we're fast, thorough, or very careful in how we do this."
"If our heroic rescuer can get in and out quickly enough to then get on the nightmare to fly away, the rest of us should be far away already since we won't be able to, or want to, deal with whatever comes pouring out of that house," Korba says, planning for the inevitable.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
"Hm," Hewelathan says. "If you can levitate the prisoner, maybe Hildegard could just ride in there on Perdita. Even if the nightmare burns out the webbing, and there's no floor, Perdita would be flying, and the prisoner would be levitating all the same. Hildegard would just have to make it from the main door to the prisoner and back."
"Alternatively," Hewelathan continues, "I could go through the window, change into a giant spider, and carry the prisoner across the webbing to the front door. Or, if you could grant me flight, I could fly through the window, grab the prisoner, and try to get back out the window without getting stuck in the webs. In either case, we'll need to make some sort of distraction to lure them out or at least take their attention away from the room with the prisoner for a moment."
"I guess instead of Silence, I could cast Faerie Fire; if everything around me were lit up violet, I'd be pretty distracted. But if someone has a better distraction, I'd rather they do it," says Nickeline.
She continues, "I think either of those plans could work; I salute all you volunteers for your bravery. For what it's worth, Perdita is probably faster than Spider-Hewelathan, I bet."
Hildegard had come as silently as she could, having dismissed Perdita so that the nightmare's flames would not draw attention. Now she listens to the various plans, nodding in agreement with Nickeline. "This is a work of mercy, if we have the ability to help, than we must. But if it would be futile, we are not obligated..." She looks through the doorways towards the drider, her concerned expression seeming to say that she has no idea if it's possible or futile. She is relying on the judgment of the others.
"If the best option is for me to ride Perdita in, I will happily do it," Hildegard says. "She is very fast. But you must all quickly flee, lest we be overrun by spiders..."
Hewelathan's biggest concerns are still that either the rescuer cannot get the webbed-up person detached from the webbed floor or that the rescuer gets stuck to the webbed floor themselves. In both cases, Hewelathan feels like he has the best chance of success: his magical strength could help him get the prisoner or himself unstuck, and a giant spider Wild Shape would ensure that he does not get stuck to the web and would give him a better chance of surviving attacks from any creatures that defeat Nickeline's protection.
Hewelathan suspects that the spiders in the room probably have blindsight, so he doesn't expect that Darkness will help much. Then again, the drider is only half-spider, so maybe it would at least conceal him from the drider. He would prefer not to rely on any spell from Jodie other than Confusion. That has a fairly small AoE, but if a bunch of the spiders start acting randomly, that might cause enough chaos for the party to get away.
Hewelathan isn't sure whether it's a better idea for him to carry the webbed-up person to the double doors in his giant spider Wild Shape or just to carry the webbed-up person to the window to pass him through to Hildegard and Perdita for a faster escape. The latter is a straighter shot (through the window, Wild Shape, grab the prisoner, and hand him through the window). But it probably leaves Hewelathan stuck in the room with the drider and spiders for longer. On the other hand, if he goes through the window, Wild Shapes, and then just grabs the prisoner and runs for the double doors, he has to pass through a part of the house that they haven't seen. With good stealth, Hewelathan may surprise everything in the building and get halfway out before they can react. Plus, if the party's distraction causes spiders to flood out of the building through the double doors, Hewelathan might just blend in with the others spiders who are leaving the building.
Jodie smiles, "There was a sort of game we'd play. We called it 'Mix up'. You have three things that look similar, but are one is not. You move things around quickly and then pick the odd one out. If Hewey the spider looked like he was bringing in another catch, he might be able to swap it with the live one. If he transforms now, we could make a make a bundle wrapped in webbing..."
Jodie looks (14; passive 17) for a giant spider she could approach to cast animal friendship to aid in their endeavor.
After looking about, she whispers "Maybe we soak the center with oil. Put it in the nest and all you've got to do it ignite it."
Fargen Hill Dwarf Cleric/Barbarian - Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Jodie Olwen Half-Elf Bard- Chronicles of the Accursed
Hewelathan likes that idea! A bundle of rags or some other kindling soaked in oil and then wrapped in webbing. (Is there any flammable organic matter left in the ruins?) In that case, the party could wait until Hewelathan makes it into the room to start their distraction. Maybe Korba and Jodie could fake a fight just outside the building. A drow might look less suspicious down here, and Jodie has a lot of dramatic flair.
As soon as the spiders / drider are distracted, Hewelathan could grab the prisoner and get them out for Hildegard to take away on Perdita. Nickeline and Tamphalic could blast the spiders and drider to give Korba and Jodie time to dash away. Then Confusion to sew chaos and Fire Storm in case there are still a lot of spiders following them.
Of course, Hewelathan wouldn't be able to light the fake bundle while in Wild Shape. Either he'd have to pick up the prisoner and get them to the window before transforming back to his normal form and then light it. Or someone else would have to light it while Hewelathan scrambles out the front door (still in spider form) with the prisoner.
"My only concern with using us as a distraction is it will put the nest on the defense. We need something as disruptive but less threatening..." Jodie glances over to Ruby. "Kobolds are common down here. What if it looks like Ruby was fighting a giant spider? I can charm one or create an illusion. The spiders might assume Hewey captured her or another. I would not expect the drider to be concerned with a kobold... No offense Ruby."
Fargen Hill Dwarf Cleric/Barbarian - Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Jodie Olwen Half-Elf Bard- Chronicles of the Accursed
Ruby swallows nervously, but she nods...
"O-okay... Ruby can run away from a monster spider if her friends will promise to keep her safe..." she says.
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Hewelathan is mostly ready to go.
Hewelathan says, "The 'distraction' needs to empty the nest through the double doors and not draw anything to the window. Otherwise, it'll be better just to skip it and try rely on surprise and Confusion."
Charming a spider seems like a fine option since it won't monopolize her concentration, but he's not sure whether it's much help in the distraction. Jodie wouldn't have a way to communicate with it, would she? It'll be friendly to the party and avoid attacking us, but we may not be able to have it do much for us. Perhaps it'll help the party escape, but he doubts that it would sacrifice its life to defend the party against an overwhelming force.
Hewelathan summarizes the plan as he understands it:
Hewelathan is a little worried about the spiders since he won't be immune to their poison even when he's Wild Shaped as a spider. If he gets poisoned before he gets out, he'll be in a really bad situation. But he's even more worried about the drider, who looks like a formidable foe. Hewelathan is hoping that he surprises the creatures when he enters the room and that Jodie switches to Confusion as soon as he does. If he can just grab the prisoner and get to the window before any of them attack, he has a very good chance of getting out and then helping with the fight outside the building.