Phaedra loads her crossbow and walks down the riffle, while the spells casters stay atop. The aranea is nowhere to be seen. The monstrous spider on the right has landed in the caustic liquid and is thrashing about. It attacks in a frenzy. Though the claws are almost eaten away by the acid, its jaws close around Alvra in a bite attack. The Fighter immediately drives back his lizard and drinks a healing potion.

Suddenly a fire ball erupts near the still hanging monster, killing both spiders in one take. Jharrath aimed his spell well. The remaining ettercap stares and stares, unable to believe this turn of events. Then it spits a web over the lizard and runs off. Lilith casts a spell of blindness on the creature to prevent it from sounding the alarm. She seems to succeed, since the ettercap stops running. Alvra’s mount bites through the webbings, free once more. Phaedra climbs the walls, while Jharrath dismisses the acid caustic mire. Then the ettercap too suddenly disappears from view. The Scout goes after to investigate.

At her feet a slope of smooth damp stone ends in an abyss, twenty feet away. There’s still no sign of the ettercap. On the other side of the abyss is a wooden palisade, cluttered with bales and barrels – a watchtower hovering over it. The draw bridge is hanging useless on the other side, the pulley unreachable. Phaedra signals her sister to come closer. The slope makes it impossible for them to cross the black abyss, so the Cleric orders Alvra to go to the other side over the walls and ceiling. Halfway the Fighter gets stuck in another concealed web and even his considerable strength isn’t enough to pull free.

The Scout spots the missing aranea on the other side of the fissure, gesturing in a strange way. She shouts a warning to her brother, who is a sitting duck on his immobilized mount. Not a moment later Alvra is hit by three magic missiles; his lizard by an arrow. The result of another attack by a bugbear, which is hiding behind the crates. Jharrath sends a mephit over to the other side, while the Cleric casts dancing lights to reveal two more archers.

Though Phaedra tries to wound the aranea, the beast hurls a ball of acid at the poor trapped lizard. In an attempt to break free, Alvra surrounds himself with darkness and orders his steed to bite through the web, but to no avail. His sword has more success and he slowly advances again.

Meanwhile the fight rages on. A fierce breath attack by the mephit damages the bugbears, while Lilith’s ray of slashing darkness hurts it even more. Phaedra takes a stone from her backpack and throws it at the feet of the aranea. A sound like thunder echoes through the cave. Then two earth elementals materialize near the bugbears, and pummel one to death. When the salt mephit gets hit, it flies upwards and surprises the aranea with glitter dust. The spider creature is momentarily blinded. The Wizard’s fire bolt ends its life, while Lilith uses a darkfire spell to kill another bugbear.

When Alvra dispells his darkness, he is confronted with a hovering mephit. He instantly attacks, aided by his lizard, but the mount misses and is barely to hold on to the wall.

You idiot, that’s MY creature!

the wizard yells at his brother. Fuming, he dismisses it, while his earth elementals kill the last bugbear.