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The Fang of Lolth

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The tunnel echoes with their footsteps, while the drow make their way deeper into the maze of the Underdark. At some point they realize something or someone else is near! Babbling and scornful chuckling reverberates from an alcove up ahead. Phaedra sneaks closer to check it out, when suddenly a female voice calls out:

Don’t try to hide, I can see you!

Phaedra looks inside the small cave and strains her eyes, but sees only old webs, stalagmites and spider nests. Then a figure in black drops from the ceiling and lands ten feet away.

Don’t make funny moves and lay down your weapons!

Her voice sounds rusty and is of an irritating level, like she’s not used to talking. The others draw near. “Who are you,” Lilith asks.

I’ve been watching you fight those nasty followers of the Lady of the Dead. They don’t worship Lolth like I do.

The woman looks humanoid, but has very long arms. It is a drow, dark, with wild hair and multifaceted eyes. Her fingers are also long, and her clothes adapt to the background. The drow in black is very nervous and she keeps everyone in sight, her eyes darting everywhere.

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Lilith knows that some priestesses go very far in their devotion to Lolth, and suspects this is one of the Fangs of Lolth. These devotees slowly transform into a spider through their worship.

I used to live in Maerimydra, when the evil priestesses of Kiaransalee banished me. So I came here. But I’m sure this is a test: in the end the Spider Queen will reward us!

The Xaniqos cleric quickly agrees, and prompts her to continue.

I have been to Szith Morcane many times. There are other entrances, entrances that are not guarded. I won’t go up with you, but I can tell you where they are. There are hundreds of drow in the city. If you follow this corridor, it will split up eventually. To the right are very hungry driders. And if you go to the left, there’s a very large cave with undead vermin. Priestesses have been transforming them for Szith Morcane. I would recommend you go the left. After that, the corridor will lead you to the upper city of Szith Morcane. It is a very filthy place, and something is guarding it. Something foul! There are no safe places around here; even this tunnel is being patrolled often.

The dark lady starts to get agitated when the siblings move too close to her backpack, so they keep a healthy distance. When no further information can be gained, Lilith starts praying to her deity,  and the woman calms down.

Notwithstanding the ever present threat of the Kiaransalee, the Xaniqos siblings decide to rest, too tired to move on. Phaedra keeps watch. After a few hours, the Fang picks up her backpack and says goodbye, whispering “May the Spider Queen give you strength to defeat your enemies.” “Perhaps we’ll meet again,” Phaedra replies. The dark drow disappears into the dark. The scout wakes up Alvra and settles down for a bit of sleep herself.

When the others wake, the Fang of Lolth is gone. The spell casters feel rested and together they follow the meandering corridor of the Underdark. Their scout is in the lead, constantly checking her surroundings, but all is peaceful. Finally they come upon a split in the road, where they take the left fork.

It is opening into a very wide passage. The sound of many scurrying feet ripples through the air, and they are closing in fast. Stalagmites and stalactites obscure their view. The wizard summons three medium earth elementals, while Lilith holds her holy symbol aloft and casts a spell. A silvery radiance dances from her hands and leaps over all party members, strengthening them. The cleric takes her flail in her hand, while Alvra draws his sword.

No less than twenty medium sized spiders come rushing forward! Phaedra activates spiderclimb and scrambles up the wall. One of the earth elementals attacks the passing spiders and smashes its fist down. The smell of decay fills the air and a white fluid seeps from the carcasses. Lilith’s flail also successfully finds a target. Then her sister calls out.

These are only the forerunners; behind them is a huge spider with a gigantic thick belly. Green slime oozes in its wake. Smaller spiders are originating from the larger beast!

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The cleric groans. She recognizes it as a husk spider, an undead creature that is formed from the carapaces of monstrous spiders and animated by dark magic. The priestesses of Lolth are known to create the same monsters.

The husk spider lumbers towards the earth elementals and attacks with its mandibles. It drains the energy from one of the elementals. As a result, it gets even stronger!

The scout enters the cave climbing and looks around. She sees no other creatures at the moment, so she makes her way to a niche, fifteen feet long, where she can stand on. While Jarrath activates his boots and teleports back to safety, Lilith rebukes the smaller spiders: eleven spiders cower in fear and are unable to attack. Her fighter brother jumps in and starts slaughtering them.

The huge spider charges one of the earth elementals, and while they are thus engaged, the cleric releases a flame strike on their asses. Severely wounded, the arachnid pulls back behind the stalagmites. Jharrath, protected my mage armor, encourages the remaining elementals to keep on killing the rest of the smaller spiders. They seem to have a good time.

From her high perch, the scout observes how the husk spider escapes and climbs down. It ran that way, she signs to the others. Together they slowly make their way into the giant cave and search the corner where the arachnid is hiding. Jharrath moves his elementals forward, while Lilith baths the corner in faerie fire. There’s no spider though.

Suddenly the beast attacks from above, charging Alvra with a bite attack. Phaedra tumbles back and slips, but manages to keep her distance. Quickly she takes out her spiked chain. With a handful of ashes, the wizard shoots a Kellgore’s fire bolt, and Lilith projects a blast of light from her open palm, straight into the beast’s torso. The husk spider is wobbling on it’s eight legs. Alvra moves in for the kill, and with three powerful strikes, the beast is on its back. The cleric takes a good look at the carcass. “It’s a widow maker,” she says, “very aggressive beasts.”

When Phaedra searches the cave, she finds a dead drider and his short sword, which looks valuable enough to take with them. When they move forward again, the cave ends in a narrow corridor. They keep left and walk on. After a long journey through empty caves and ditto walkways, they come upon another large cave. This one smells dreadfully.

The scout moves ahead and then stops. In the middle of the room there’s a mount of bodies in various degrees of decomposition. Some are down to bare skeletons. And something has been eating them!

 

Even more spiders

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The strands are particularly strong and the dark Elves have difficulty hacking through them. The Fighter manages to cut the strands with his kukri. They progress slowly since the work is arduous. Clicks and clacks of small spiders resonate all around them. The creatures seem very sensitive to sounds. After sixty yards, a thick layered curtain of webbings blocks the entire passage. The air is filled with spider talk and feels oppressive. The Wizard hurls a fireball straight into the mass and burns away five full yards, thus roasting a couple of small spiders.

When they press onward, they suddenly hear a new sound. A flapping sound. A very ugly creature sails around the corner and Alvra identifies it as a (poisonous) spider eater. The species likes to place its eggs in paralyzed prey, so their offspring has something fresh to eat. The Fighter takes aim and throws his javelin at the flying insect-like beast. The spider eater tries to drive its stinger into Alvra in a ferocious attack. The corridor is filled with heavy angry buzzing. Phaedra, still carrying her spiked chain, lashes out at the beast, while Lilith attacks with her flail. Both score a hit. They soon get help from their brother, who fires Kelgore’s firebolt into the spider eater. Distracted by the combined attack, the animal misses Alvra with both stinger and mandibles and tries to fly away. But Alvra’s two-sided swords ends its life.

The Fighter notices a broad ledge and climbs upwards to inspect the spider eater’s lair. He finds five big purple stinking slimy eggs. Two of them disappear into his bag, the other three are smashed to pulp. All that is left are the remains of tiny small spider eater embryos. They will never live to see an Underworld day. Alvra climbs back down again and reports to the Cleric that he has destroyed the layer, not speaking a word about the two eggs in his bag.

Onward they go, with the Scout in the lead as usual. There are no more heavy webbings in front of them, though both sides of the tunnel are covered in spider silk. The hum of the spiders increases and before they know it, both brothers are stuck. Again. Immediately a swarm of small spiders comes down from the ceiling and attack the male Drow. Phaedra tries to hit the agile arachnids, but misses. Lilith smashes one of them into bits and pieces with a mighty blow, soon followed by a second. The Scout also manages to hit them now.

Two spiders bite Jharrath in his calves and the Wizard feels a paralysis taking hold of his legs. His spell fails. Alvra is being battered by four spiders at a time and one of them manages to crawl under his armor. He also feels the mandibles of the little beast. Their sisters are now under attack too but manage to avoid the poisonous effects of the bites.

Suddenly a huge spider appears, with fur and bladed mandibles that end in razor sharp points – and attacks the Fighter. Fortunately Alvra hears the approach and ducks instinctively, an action which probably saves his life, for the sword spider lashes out with all eight legs simultaneously. Lilith hits the beast with her spiritual weapon, after which the arachnid scuttles away.

Up ahead, two more large spider forms become visible. These have a small body and long, spindly legs, while yellow saliva drips on the grounds. Phaedra agrees on Alvra’s assumption that these are spitting spiders, which spit blotches of poison towards their victims. The Wizard casts a protective mage armor on himself.

The sword spider again comes near Alvra, who counterattacks with his kukri, hitting twice. The monster disappears into the heights of the tunnel, after which Lilith redirects her spiritual weapon from the sword to the spitting spider. The small spiders seem to finally give up on their fight, falling to the ground and crawling away. Then suddenly the sword spider jumps down on top of the Fighter, wounding him severely. His whole body is imprisoned by the eight razor sharp legs. Alvra’s brother come to the rescue and launches Kelgore’s firebolt onto the creature. To the Fighter’s relief it incinerates. He shakes off the ashes and quickly drinks a healing potion. Then he tries to escape his ghastly prison of spider legs, in which he finally succeeds.

One of the spitting spiders has found a target in Phaedra, spits and hits her neck. The glob has a devastating and paralyzing effect on the Scout and she lashes out at one of its legs. The fight surges back and forth, but in the end Phaedra finishes it off, though the fight has taken a heavy toll on the Scout.

The other spider tries to hit the Cleric, but misses. Jharrath uses his wand of magic missiles to hurt it, giving Lilith the chance to cast a shield of faith on herself. She manages just in time, for a set of formidable mandibles clicks close to her flesh. Her spiritual weapon continues to do damage, as does another magic missile. Jharrath too gets hit by a blotch of poison and is severely hampered by its effects. Together the siblings hack and slash at the last monstrous spider. It finally is killed by another missile.

Panting, the Xaniqos stand up straight and eye the havoc around them. Lilith is able to counter part of the effects the spitting spider’s poison is having on her sister and cures some of Alvra’s wounds. A long rest has to do the rest.

Spider Silk

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Curtains of spider silk start to appear in the passage, while loose strands wave in an unseen current. In the beginning they are torn and broken – old webs – but after a while the webs get fresher; they seem to be made in the last couple of days. In the distance they see two curtains that block half the corridor, with additional webbings on the floor. Cautiously, the Xaniqos move on, but Jharrath gets caught in the sticky fabric and can’t proceed.

Suddenly a group of spiders crawls near. Twelve hairy spiders, each as big as your hand. The Scout moves backwards and takes out her crossbow. Four spiders pass the Cleric – leaving her unharmed – and head straight for Jharrath. Alvra and Lilith try to hit the creatures, but the critters are way too fast. They crawl all over the Wizard and try to bite him.

At the end of the corridor, two large spiders appear and one of them attacks the Cleric. It lashes out but doesn’t seem to find hold on Lilith’s armor. Jharrath casts an area of smoke, encircling the arachnids and thus obscuring their sight. The large creatures don’t seem to be affected by the acid smoke, but the smaller ones drop dead.

Alvra takes the opportunity and attacks the spider, but gets bitten himself. Poison flows through his veins and he gets hurt. Enraged, the fighter hits the beast and kills it in one stroke. The Vermin Slayer is back in business! Then the second animal looms from the smoke and goes for Lilith, but again she manages to stay safe. Phaedra takes out her spiked chain and moves closer, while Alvra attacks too. All three engage in the fight and in the end it is the Scout who kills the second large spider.

Meanwhile Jharrath feels the fangs of the little spiders sink into his flesh. Though he gets only a bit queasy and is not much bothered by it, he still wants them off. The Wizard tries to swipe them away, but the little buggers are relentless. Fed up with the situation, Jharrath takes off his stuck boots and walks straight into the acid cloud. And though the smoke hurts him, it hurts the arachnids even more: they drop to the floor, with their eight little legs in the air.

The siblings take a moment to rest and get their breath back. They hear distant clicks, but all is quiet. The Drow don’t feel sick or nauseated, and fortunately the bites don’t seem to have had much effect on them. The Wizard pulls his boots back on and they move slowly forwards. Phaedra again spots fresh webbings, which block their passage. They seem to be very tough. Going back is an option, but then they will lose half a day. They decide to move on.