ettercap | Dungeon DuTchess

Alvra guides his lizard over to the ladder and investigates the mechanism. It seems to move up and down, not horizontal, but there’s one lying next to it. The Fighter directs the wooden structure to the other side of the Abyss, creating a bridge for his siblings. With the help of Phaedra’s grapple hook and rope, they make a safety line to get down the slope and soon all four Drow are reunited on the east side. Lilith checks out the bugbear corpses and finds very powerful bows, as well as beautiful morningstars and chainshirts. She gives the collection to Alvra to carry them home.

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Yes, my sketching abilities are superb. What? Oh, let’s call them unique then 😉

When the sisters climb down the ladder, they are being shot at. Phaedra gets hit and tumbles down the ladder – right on top of the ettercap’s fat belly. The creature is as dead as a doornail, lying with its feet in the air on a sort of platform. When the Scout surveys her surroundings, she spots the archers – two bugbears – standing on the wooden structure, which is about ten feet wide. She takes out her spiked chain and readies.

Jharrath fires his wand of magic missiles at one of the bears, and the beast returns the favor with an arrow. Taken aback, the Wizard drops the wand, which falls down the ladder and lands on the platform next to Phaedra. He scolds the bugbear with every Drow curse he can think of and gets back up to cast Mage Armor on himself. Lilith climbs as far down as she can, while Alvra steers his mount down the west side of the abyss. Then the air around Phaedra shimmers, and five more Drow appear next to her, looking very similar to the Scout, right down to the spiked chain.

Of course the bugbear can’t withstand such an excellent challenge. It drops its bow and charges full ahead with its longsword. One image fades out of existence. The other beast joins in and smashes another mirror image to pieces with its morningstar, then another. Alvra hurls a javelin at the creature but misses, and his second attack barely misses his Scout sister. He orders his lizard to attack, but it doesn’t do any damage. The Scout shows him how it’s done and kills one of the bugbears.

Just when Lilith steps onto the wooden structure, the Wizard attempts to descend in double speed. He fails to hold on to the ladder and drops down. The Cleric steps aside just in time. Now both her brother and his wand are lying at her feet. She activates her flail and… goes for the remaining bug bear. Her flail’s special ability sets the beast on fire. Phaedra finishes it off with a mighty swing of her weapon.

The platform is empty for now. Phaedra hands Alvra the excellent looking longsword of the bugbear, while Jharrath picks up his wand. The Cleric uses her healing powers on both Drow brothers. She still might need them.

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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.

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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.

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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.