Oak performs a slow revolution, to give Trill a good view of everything she might want to see.

But then he chuckles in spite of himself and whispers up to his avian friend “Ahah.. psst, Trill! Put your arms out... haha... and we’ll look like one of those Druidic totems!... haa!...”.

Oak stands still.. and squats a little... trying to look fierce, and as symmetrical as possible...

@everyone besides Oak

Trill poses with Oak, before tucking her crossbow away and making little spidery fingers that she wriggles in front of him and points to the spiders in the webs before she hops down from her perch.

Oaks eyes go wide at Trill’s unmistakable gesture. Then they go wider, as he looks up into the webs high in the dome.

He moves slowly back, away from anywhere that might be directly below the spiders. And - moving slowly - stows his axe and draws his short bow.

He looks at the group, mimes drawing his thumb across his throat, points at the webs, then shrugs his question to the others...

As he draws his bow and aims up into the dome (just on his guard for now), he first tries to gauge exactly how many spiders there are and how big they are...

Perception check: 18 

Straining your eyes, you can see 5 spiders roughly the size of horses hiding amongst the webs stretching across the dome 60 feet up. These spiders have a creamy lime coloration. Their fangs are as long as a man's fore arm and click together to form a pattern, almost as if they are communicated.

((Do minotaurs have darkvision?))

Aimon watches the spiders for the briefest of moments than starts for the hallway at the other side of the ballroom, sweeping his gaze from above to infront and back as he moves.

"They haven't come down yet and I'm just as happy to not wait around to see if they decide to," he says to the others.

((OOC: that’s a good point... No, minotaurs don’t have darkvision. How dark is it in here?))

((Eldeth will have a torch lit. Without it, the whole Fields are pitch black.))

Even with Eldeth’s torchlight, Oak still can’t quite make out what’s creeping around on the ceiling. But with Trill’s mime, and the clicking and chittering sounds, he has a fairly good idea what might be going on up there!

Oak shivers at the thought, and lights his own torch in the hopes of keeping whatever’s there at bay or warding them off! He draws his axe again too and tries to follow Aimon whilst giving the centre of the room (and the piles of ash) a wide berth!

Trill pats Oak on the wrist and having recently had to deal with not being able to see in the dark, makes sure to help guide him as needed.

((OOC: Oak and Trill are like two of the wise monkeys... SeeNoEvil and SpeakNoEvil...! We’re just missing one more ;-) ))

"Let's keep going. If we leave our arachnid friends alone, perhaps they will do the same for us," Caelynn suggests, keeping her voice low as she follows the others.

The party cautiously crosses the chamber while keeping a wary eye on the spiders. You make it across with no problems. Eldeth's torch pierces the gloomy shadows of the hallway. The hallway is almost twenty feet wide and ten feet tall. The dark stone of its construction is uneven and rough from the advances of time. What once was an intricate rug stretching across the floor now lies in faded tatters. Portraits line the walls, but they too are faded, dusty, and shredded. The hallway goes on for 50 feet before turning to the left. At the turn, a gray door allows you to turn to the right. The hallway to the left is similar to the one you are in, but stretches on past your torchlight.

As the party moves down the corridor, Oak whispers, “...This place seems very old... And it looks like no one has explored here for years!...”.

Oak is on the look out for things:

As they approach the corner and the door, he whispers, “I’ll keep watch, if someone would like to listen at the door or check it out...”.

He holds his torch out, peering down both corridors from the corner. But more than that, he slows and quietens his breathing, and listens hard, for anything that might be sneaking up on them.

Perception check (mostly listening down the quiet corridors): 16

Aimon pats Oak on the back as he squeezes past him to examine the door. He kneels down and checks the door for traps.

(Perception: 14 )

‘Hmm’ Oak thinks to himself, ‘that’s the 2nd time someone has patted me in as many minutes! ...Maybe I’m being accepted into the herd...?’, he thinks.

He hasn’t been part of a real herd for some time now. A faint smile touches his lips.

DO NOT READ

Aimon and Oak don't notice anything in their vicinity. The darkness of your surroundings is as quiet as ever. The only sounds you can hear are the breathing of the party and the faint clacking of fangs from the spiders in the other room.

The door doesn't appear to be trapped.

Oak, you think that if parts of the rug were to be washed, you could use them for bandages. You haven't seen any fungus in the castle as it is bone dry.

Sensing no immediate danger, Oak will attempt to gather some strips of cloth from the rug. If need be he’ll run the edge of his axe along the fabric to help slice neat sections off.

Aimon looks back at the others and raises his hands.

"I don't know. Probably okay. I didn't find any trip wires," he says.

He looks back down the dark hallway to the left then to the door.

"Personally I think I'd just kick it in to be on the safe side."

He takes a step back to get ready.

"Any objections?"

“Oh now you’re talking!!” says Oak, gathering his things up. “Ha!... On ‘three’!...”, he says, standing elbow to shoulder with Aimon, a stride-and-a-kick away from the door...

Unless anyone stops them, Oak will ‘help’ Aimon in his aggressive negotiations with the door...