Tales from the Cutthroat Inn: Against the Son of the Spider God!

Einarr

The patrons of the Cutthroat Inn, along with the adventurers they had met outside the Halls of The Black Spider last time, awoke on the 3rd day of the month of the Crocodile and decided to make for the dungeon to kill the Son of the Spider God. At Green Sonya’ssuggestion they left the city by a new route – through Cutpurse Row and the Street of Shadows. This area was of ill repute, but Sonya knew that such a group of armed warriors as themselves was unlikely to be accosted.

The only hiccup came while passing near a group of the Overlord’s guards interrogating a sneak thief on the Street of Shadows. One of the guards directing people away from the scene spit at Einarrand called him a nonsensical, but clearly anti-skandik slur. Annapurna rested her hand on Einarr’s shoulder and assured him they didn’t have time for a struggle. Ion made sure to note the Alryan guard’s features, as well as listen in on the interrogation. It seems the sneak thief was accused of spying for Warwick, whose armies even now raided the area north of the Dearthwood.

Grafari

The rest of their journey out of the city was uneventful, and indeed their trip through the Dearthwood has little to speak of as well. While the group camped, Ion and Sonya did see some armed men in camoflauge pass near them, but the Skandik scout they had hired in the City State, a massive man name Grafari, had ably hid their location. Grafari was also able to find the entrance to the dungeon after a minor error by Einarr got them lost.

Once inside the dungeon they quickly made their way to the chapel where they had previously fought both moonrakers and a flamming skull. This time there was no skull (nor the remains of one), but a door to the north had a green, flickering light coming through the cracks and the party realized their was one in the next room. Grafari moved ahead to cover the bottom of the door with the party’s bedrolls so that they might slip past without the creature noticing.

Beyond the chapel they found a great hall with numerous doors. The first they checked was locked, and they realized that the key the found earlier on an acolyte they slew must have winded up with either one of the dead party members or Wickerbobbile, who was not present. Grafari attempted to pick the lock and failed, but Sonya was able to fix his mistakes and grant access inside. The room was bare except for a large coffer of dark wood and iron bars. It was locked with a great padlock. Ion attempted to trigger any potential traps with a shove from his thaumaturgy spell. Grafari then tried to open it and found that Ion had been unsuccessful as a burst of acrid gas hit him in the face. Luckily it seems to have lost its potency with time.

The chest contained a great deal of coins, mostly copper and electrum, and the party decided to leave it either for the end of this excursion or a later one due to its immense weight. At this point Father Thorne awoke from a drug-fueled “meditation” and remembered a strange feature he noticed in the previous hall. This feature was an attempt by the builders to make the fitted stones make a spider-web shape. Investigating further Father Thorne realized that there was a small stone in the shape of a “mummy” within the spider-web feature.

Pressing it with his mage hand, he revealed a secret door that seemed to be a bedroom of some sort. Under the bed was a smaller coffer that was not locked but was smeared with a green goop the group correctly surmised to be poison. The party took some time figuring out how to open it, moving the bed, in the process to get it out of the way and to prop open the door. This attracted a giant spider, which Einarr spotted before it was able to ambush the party. A short battle ensued with the spider slain relatively easy and with Father Thorne marveling at the powers Set had granted Ion.

Father Thorne then opened the chest with his mage hand, revealing a great deal of “wizardly” accouterments, a book titled The Codex Arachnos, a spider-silk robe, a silver broach in the shape of a spider with emerald eyes, and a scroll of protection from poison.
This last item was given to Einarr, in the hopes that he could use it to strengthen his resolve against the Son of the Spider God when it was found.

The next room they checked turned out to be a small hall with a large tapestry depicting a giant spider surrounded by smaller spiders and the hanging bodies of human victims. Behind this tapestry was an occluded door, which Anex opened to reveal a small room in the same style as the trapped rooms the party had encountered weeks ago. Two doors led out, and the party debated which one to take. After noticing that one area was far less trafficked, Grafari suggested they go that way and Anex opened the door without further hesitation.

The door took some effort to open but after doing so Anex could not figure out why. No bonds were present, the door swung easily on its hinge, and no object had been moved out of its way. She found herself in a huge hall while the others stood a few feet behind her in the trapped chamber. As she was pondering this mystery an enormous spider appeared before her, larger than the one fought previously and far uglier. It reared up as though to spray web but seemingly nothing emerged from it. However, Anex suddenly disappeared from the party’s sight.

The rest of the party, unsure what had happened, moved in to fight the spider. Some shooting and skirmishing while Einarr and Green Sonya rushed to engage. Ion was able to notice that bits of Anex’s form appeared above the ground where she had disappeared, as though poking through linen bonds. Anex was wrapped in invisible web, and when the web covered her eyes she could see that the whole hall was covered in the stuff. The spider then attempted to attack Einarr, its fangs bursting through his shield twice but not connecting with his flesh. Then it disappeared.

Ion, hoping the creature had not moved, opened his mouth and spread forth a great gulf of sand from Set’s desert. For a brief moment the outline of the spider was visible and the party was able to attack it, though it seemed only magical attacks did any harm. At this point, Anex, who could see the creature through the webs, burst through her bonds to find herself back in the world of the living.

The party waited for a second attack but none came. Anex relayed that the hall was filled with invisible webs and Father Thorne set out to set the webs ablaze. The hall began to fill with smoke and fire, and we paused the adventure here until next week.