Zephyros runs up the stairs just behind Meira as she ascends and tosses her flask of oil at the spiders. With his trident in his left and the torch in his right, the armored warrior underhand tosses the torch at the spiders, aiming to land it near to the broken flask of oil. The burly man stays near the stairway, in case the entire room begins to burn due to the immense webbing covering everything. Ironheart bellows a war cry, "Come and get yer tasty treat ya blood suckers!" and readies his trident with shield.

Attack 8 aimed at the flask

Alisande cuts short the rest of her discussion with Rasziel, given the pressing matters at hand. Steel sings as she draws her rapier and floats onto the threshold of the web-filled chamber. As soon as she lays eyes on the nearest spider, her stomach knots in revulsion. Why is it always gargantuan worms and insects? 

A spark blooms in the palm of her hand, and with a flick of the wrist, the bolt of flame sears past silken strands that line the room, seeking their target - the enormous spider who had been cocooning its harvest of bones earlier.

ACTION: Fire Bolt. To hit: 13. Fire damage: 2
BONUS ACTION: None. 
MOVEMENT: Back 10 ft, making room for others.

If there are any spiders left standing after the vicious assault, Gareth aims his longbow and releases an arrow directly into one of their many eyes.

Action: Longbow - 27 to hit for 9 piercing damage plus 2 SP damage

Bonus Action: Slayer's Prey (As a bonus action, you designate one creature you can see within 60 ft. and the first time each turn that you hit that target with a weapon attack, it takes an extra 1d6 damage. This benefit lasts until you finish a short or long rest or if you designate a different creature.)

Movement: To the top of the stairs and just outside the room

Rasziel's tiny invisible accountant bravely stays hidden, clinging at his master's purple robes as the young dark-haired man hovers further up into the webbed chamber.

Meira runs up the stairs and into the room, tossing her oil (flask) at the nearest giant spider. The monster rears up at the ambush and instinctively bats the flask from the air. It hits the ground in front of the spider and breaks apart, covering the immediate area in oil. Moving North to look for concealment, she instead finds more sticky webbing near broken bones, broken armor, broken weapons, and a dead giant spider. [[OOC: Meira, please give me a dexterity saving throw.]] She yells at the remaining spiders in an effort to give an ally an advantage in the fight.

Rasziel's winged boots help to lift him up the stairwell. As he does, he calls upon the gifts bestowed on him and sends bolts of purple fire at the same spider targeted by Meira. Each blast hits, causing massive damage to the monster, but fails to ignite the oily liquid at its feet. Chunks of spidery flesh incinerate immediately, and the room fills with the acrid scent of burning hair. [[OOC: Rasziel, you can reroll your attacks to see if you critically hit if you'd like.]]

Zephyros runs up the staircase just behind Meira. Nearly the same time as Rasziel's bolts impact, the armored warrior tosses his torch into the web-filled room. Landing just before the giant spider, the torch ignites the oil, causing the area to be engulfed in flames, which quickly begins to spread to the webbing nearby at an alarming rate and heavily burns the spider as it tries to escape the fire. [[OOC: It's looking pretty rough.]]

Alisande flies into the room on her magical broom and with the flick of her wrist sends a fire bolt at the same spider as everyone else. Unfortunately, the back of the broom scrapes against the stone wall just enough to cause her shot to go wide, and though it burns through several silken strands, it ends in a spray of sparks on the far wall.

Gareth is last up the stairs and recognizes the fire is likely to end the nearest spider quickly, so he diverts his aim at the spider that just moments ago was tending to its wounds. His shot is expertly aimed and impales the monster in one of its many eyes. It falls dead, and its legs begin to curl inward as it lies on its side.

Surprise round ends. Round one begins; however, as it does, the fire spreads to nearby webs, and it proves too much for the last remaining spider to handle. It falls dead to the ground, a smoldering ruin. While the webs don't burn long, they are spreading quickly. What do you do?

(Meira DEX Save: 19) 

Seeing the spiders both fall and the flames spreading, Meira speaks up. "Perhaps we let it burn out the webs while we wait. Do you think there's anything that would be damaged by the fire?"  She glances around at the others, "I just have more fuel. Not sure how we would put that out. Umm, and do we need to head back out of here?"  

Zephyros worries over the quickly spreading fire and voices it to the group. "We should head back down until the fire abates. Let these webs burn away. Less to clean up later."

He then proceeds back down the stairs to regroup with Lyra and fill her in on their triumph. 

Rasziel simply nods grimly and hovers down, descending the stairs to await the flames consuming the arachinds and their webbings. "Before we can call this place safe we should perhaps also make sure to find whatever tunnel these overgrown spiders found their way into these halls and properly seal it off." He says as he ponders what remains to be done before returning to Phandalin for a hot meal and a soft bed.

"Certainly something worth keeping an eye out for. It would be imprudent to assume the arachnids had developed the good manners to use the front door." Alisande inclines her head in agreement with Rasziel's suggestion that there might have been some hidden avenue by which the giant spiders made their way into the fortress.

She does not accompany the others all the way down to the lower floor. Instead, the mage remains a measured ten feet back from the blaze licking the stone walls, keeping an eye on how the conflagration itself spreads. If there's a risk that nearby furnishings might be consumed, she makes an effort to protect them - magically tearing away webbing where possible or smothering smaller, discrete fires. 

When the flames have died down and the smoke has cleared, the noblewoman heads inside to investigate the area for anything notable or hidden out of plain sight. 

Investigation: 14

Once the the fires have consumed what remained of the arcahnids and their webbings, Rasziel follows the young red-haired lady back into the chamber above, hovering around to ascertain that no immediate threats remain there, making frequent use of his telekinetic powers to sift through the debris.

(Perception assisted by Azazel: 12 Investigation assisted by Azazel: 11)

Gareth waits until the fires have died away before examining one of the dead spiders. Using a knife, he'll pry away one of the spiders' fangs as a trophy, being careful not to nick himself on the pointy end. He isn't sure if these spiders are venomous, and he doesn't want to find out the hard way. With that grisly task finished, he rejoins Lady Alisande and Rasziel where they appear to be furthering the investigation.

"We should make sure this place is clear of hazards before bringing any of the villagers here," the ranger agrees. 

Meira,

You expertly evade getting caught in the webbing as you move north along your path. 

Everyone except Alisande heads back down as the fire quickly spreads through the room. Fire races along the strands with startling speed, the webs igniting in bright, hungry lines that crawl across walls, pillars, and ceiling alike. The silk shrivels as it burns, snapping and recoiling with sharp, popping cracks, shedding glowing droplets that fall like fiery rain. The air fills with the acrid stench of scorched webbing and old dust, thick enough to sting the lungs. [[OOC: Alisande, please give me a constitution saving throw.]]

Flames climb upward, tracing the architecture of the room in light—arches outlined in fire, alcoves briefly illuminated before collapsing into sparks and ash. Bound piles of bones flare brightly, the silk binding them burning away until the skeletal remains tumble free in clattering heaps, momentarily haloed in flame before going dark again. Several spider eggs burst into flames, and the sound of spiderlings screeching as the fire consumes them quickly fades as the flames continue to spread. As the fire consumes the last of the webbing, the chamber becomes a storm of smoke, falling ash, and collapsing strands. What was once a deadly nest is reduced to charred stone and glowing embers, the echoes of battle swallowed by the roar and crackle of flame—until, at last, only smoldering ruins remain, lit by the dull red glow of dying fire. Smoke billows out of several arrow slits along the northern wall, helping to clear the room slowly.

Rasziel and Gareth,

[[OOC: I will address your posts once I know the results of Alisande's constitution save.]]

Having managed to avoid the webbing as she had moved, Meira then had followed with the others back down the stairs to allow the blazing fire to subside. Once the flames have died, like many of the others, she makes her way back up and starts to sift through whatever might remain. (Perception: 21) 

Alisande,

As the fire spreads, the smoke begins to burn your lungs and sting your eyes. You struggle to maintain your concentration as you seek to protect items you believe to be flammable furnishings. The room itself is a chaotic mess, and it's hard to discern what is worth saving and what isn't—especially considering the thick smoke filling the room. In the end, you're unable to effectively identify or save, for that matter, any furnishings from the fire. Once the fire dies out, you begin your search for anything notable or hidden out of plain sight. You find three curious slits in the floor along the center of the room, which appear to overlook the main entrance to the fortress. Beside the leftmost slit are three empty cauldrons.

Rasziel,

Moving back into the room, you hover just above the debris strewn across the stone floor. Broken arms and armor, bones, and scorched spider corpses are all you find as you sift through the refuse. Everything has been scorched in the flash fire, including the stone walls. You notice two fireplaces, one located on the west wall and the other on the east wall. Additional arrow slits line the southern wall that overlook the main hall of the fortress where the party was attacked by ghouls. You are confident there are no immediate threats in the vicinity. 

Gareth,

You take a moment to find the largest spider of them all and expertly cut a spider fang from its mouth. While the fang does have a bit of scorching, it adds character to the fang, and you're happy with your trophy.

Meira,

You move back into the room with everyone else and begin your search of the remains. You see much the same as Alisande and Rasziel before you. However, in addition to that, you also find the bones about the size of a halfling, its scorched, skeletal hands still clutching something in its hands. You find a golden ring. As you grab the ring, the skeletal hands break apart and turn to dust. 

Everyone,

[[OOC: What would you like to do now? You've made Axeholm safe for the time being, but there is more to be found if you wish to continue your exploration. Otherwise, we can proceed to the next destination of your choosing.]]

Looking at the skeleton of the halfling, Meira cannot help but be reminded of Lyra for a moment. She retrieves the golden ring from the hand, then recoils a bit as it turns to dust. She says nothing to the others as she takes a moment to inspect the ring, wondering at the person that had been holding on to it so tightly. (Investigation: 13)

As everyone starts to regroup, she says, "We should continue our investigation of the place before we depart. If it is going to be a potential shelter for the people of Phandalin. Where to next?"  As they ponder where to go, she also asks, "When we do depart, is there a way to secure the place? Close the gate behind us so to speak.  I can see how we might close it if we were all to stay. But I'm not sure how we all leave and get close off the place." 

Meira,

As you inspect the ring, you notice it is a simple golden ring without adornment. It's in surprisingly good condition, considering where you found it. It does look a bit small for your fingers. Learning more about it now will take identify, or you can try to slip it onto a finger.

Alisande's throat burns as she is beset with more smoke and ash than she reckoned with from the immolation of the arachnids and their webs. In her bleary-eyed confusion she almost downs the flask of holy water that Rasziel purchased on her behalf back in Phandalin, before correcting herself with her waterskin at the last second. "Exactly as intended. A valuable demonstration on the folly of underestimating even the most humble of house fires. I hope we've all learned an important lesson here." She declares with mock solemnity, before a serious of abrupt coughs escape her lips.

When the hacking sensation has abated, she sets to examining the ruins of the charred chamber, her attention drawn by the cauldrons. "How curious. Something poured through the slits to deter any would be invaders?" The soot-smeared noblewoman ponders aloud, before examining the vessels for anything of interest. As the mage pores over them, she responds over her shoulder to Meira's query. 

"The wards should on the front gates should still be standing, unless Rasziel was overzealous in dispelling that curious divine magic we discovered there. And I rather doubt there are many who will chance their lives trespassing upon this ancient fortress given the centuries of rumours that abound regarding its resident undead."

Investigation/Perception: 25/22

((OOC: Can we get an updated map of the two floors we've explored? Just so we have an idea of how much might still be left. Thanks, Abishai. :) ))

Zephyros pats Alisande on the back as she coughs up the smoke she inhaled. He smiles as she makes light of the circumstance. "Indeed, I know I learned a valuable lesson. Fire works great against spiders HAHA!" He laughs as he finishes speaking. Gesturing to Meira, the bull of a man nods and says, "Yes, leave no stone unturned. Then off to Gnomengarde to recruit their assistance and warn them of the danger." As the group makes their way back upstairs, Ironheart hears Alisande wonder aloud at the slits in the floor. "Likely used to pour boiling tar or oil onto attackers and then light them ablaze. The fortress is truly awe inspiring. Nigh impregnable with the right defending force."

The armored warrior moves to the northern arrow slits to get a look outside as he ponders, 'Lord Kithran, where have you gone?'

Meira slips the ring into her pocket for now. As everyone seems to be gathering upstairs. 

"The wards, I suppose that will help. Though they didn't seem to stop us," she says in response to Alisande's comment.  She gives Zephyros an odd look. "Somehow boiling people and lighting them is not exactly how I would want to inspire awe. But to each his own." She gives him a slight grin. "Where to next?"