Session 10: Web Collecting
General Summary
Previous Session: Session 9: The Silk Guild
As the corpses of the spiders lay at the party's feet, Turuk tries stabbing his fist through one of the giant spiders to see what may be inside. However, all he found was blood and spider guts, which he also found when he attempted this again on a smaller spider corpse. Afterwards, he and the Lads continued collecting webs. They managed to fill most of their bags halfway before Shyu accidentally alerts more spiders to their location. Three giant wolf spiders emerge from the tree above Shyu and ambush him, knocking him unconscious immediately, and four giant spiders surround Turuk, but he is able to fend them off before fleeing. He turns invisible and attempts to carry Shyu's body away from the spiders while the other Lads kill the spiders, but is unsuccessful. Shyu managed to remain stable as all the spiders were dealt with and Hettle revived him.
The Lads take a moment to recover before continuing their web collecting, filling each of their bags completely in the process. Krosk fills his bag first, followed by Turuk and Willow. Hettle collects a small amount of web and Shyu manages to almost fill his bag before alerting another group of spiders. Four giant spiders surround Shyu, restraining him in their webs before knocking him unconscious with their paralyzing poison. Hettle managed to keep him stable and heal him, but no one could retrieve him as he was still paralyzed. Turuk ran to Shyu and attempted to carry him but failed once again, fleeing. Krosk then attempted the save Shyu but was also unable to, as the webbing restraining Shyu was too strong for them to break. Turuk managed to make a good distance from the spiders, but Krosk was not so lucky and he, too, fell to the spider's poison.
Seeing the carnage wrought by the spiders and the chances of victory slipping, Glen retreats to the Lads' cart outside the forest, far away from these horrors. As a giant wolf spider crawls towards Turuk, he runs around it hoping to try and save Krosk but is still caught by the spider. As two of the giant spiders guard the paralyzed Shyu and Krosk, another giant spider manages to reach Turuk and bring him down without poisoning him. With tearful eyes and a sure aim, Willow let fly his arrow, piercing Shyu's heart and filling his mind with blissful dreams of the Circus's final closing, ensuring a merciful death. With the last of his strength, Krosk pried open his jar of bees. They stung at the giant spider and lifted him a short distance towards the cart, but the spider was able to restrain him in its webbing, sealing his fate.
As the spiders that felled Turuk leave his unconscious body for Hettle, he and Willow begin their retreat towards their cart. Before they leave the area, they see Turuk take his last breath as his full, green, incorporeal astral form rise from his body and bid them goodbye as it slowly dissipates into the air. Glen, Hettle, and Willow eventually reach Louis and the cart. They sorrowfully place their bags into the cart and prepare to leave, before Willow hears a soft sound coming from the forest. A queen bee flies out from within the forest and lands in Willow's open palm, which he then places in a leather pouch to keep safely for the time being. The Lads head down the road back to Mariam and turn in their two remaining Silk Sacks to the supervisor, awarding them 65 GP. The supervisor shares his condolences with the party for their loss and gives them a solemn wave goodbye.
Considering their current losses, Willow suggests that they return to Belsnik and recuperate before continuing their quest. The Lads agree and they begin heading towards the road to Krong. Heading towards the gate, they pass by The Middle Man as a large group of people are seen fleeing the tavern. Glen suggests avoiding the tavern given their losses, but Willow convinces him that they came to Mariam to do something, and their friends would have died in vain if they ignored what was happening right in front of them. They stop one of the fleeing patrons and ask him what is going on. He tells them that a group of nasty-looking ruffians were pestering an old man, then he took one of them and threw him across the tavern which started a bar fight. Entering the tavern, the Lads see an elderly, bald-headed man covered by a black hood fighting on all sides. Several runic tattoos cover his burly arms. An unconscious patron lies at the elderly man's feet as he grapples a bandit and fends off another.
Next Session: Session 11: Friends Along the Way
Rewards Granted
65 GP for Silk Sacks (16 GP each + 1 GP extra)
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