[Official NPC]

Mere moments after Priest Nikandros Phadra has stepped into the crumbled black entrance of the ancient temple, his curdled scream reverberates out of the pitch. There is a wet schwark schwark and white, sticky tendrils shoot from the bowels of the mountain. A lilac-sleeved hand appears, matching Mark of Xanth flexing across the thumb as it claws at the ground before disappearing inside as if yanked.

"Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The voice muffles, as if something has covered the priest's mouth mid-plea, and a spindly black leg appears and disappears in the blink of an eye. It would seem that this temple now belongs to the kumos.



Oh no, and golly gosh! Your party has yet to even step inside the temple and Nikandros has walked into a kumo's web! He is currently being spun into a digestive cocoon for a midnight snack, robes and all.

You must defeat the kumo to get to the treasure Nikandros has promised lies within. (Saving the priest is optional, but recommended. After all, Fay's not likely to cough up if her loremaster has been eaten.)


This plot is open, which means you can join at any time now that it's begun. However, you must register before posting.

This thread ends on the 27th of January. In character, defeating the kumo should take no more than 30 minutes.

You may post exploratory threads separate from this main thread (dated prior to or after the kumo incident) but be aware that the temple is most likely filled with unpleasant squatters, crumbling in places (though the majority of the temple was carved out of the mountain and the rock is mostly sturdy), and that Nikandros (should he survive the kumo's web) will want to stay in groups of 3-4.

Participants are expected to post at least once a week, with all their participating characters, to keep the plot moving. If a character misses a week, we will assume they have gone back to camp. If this happens during combat scenarios, we will assume that they've fled the melee and hidden somewhere to avoid the danger. However, this could negatively impact their relations with the other characters from then on.


Treasure Hunter's Manifest:

Priest Nikandros Phadra ... Priesthood of Xanth
Vilfredo Faust .................. Faust's Gang
Erasmos Eugene ................. Faust's Gang
Kiel Taskel .......................... Hired Bodyguard
Aella Karakinos .................. Bodyguard
Maaike Sullivan ................... Hired Tracker& Bodyguard
Mortimer Jericho ................. Investor
Neal Jean .......................... Faust's Gang
Jason Underwood ............... Faust's Gang

It is winter in the north and the mountains are cold. This is not the best time of year to be exploring an ancient ruin, but Fay is in a hurry to reclaim it. Camp remains in a leeward, sheltered groove in the mountainside, but expect snow and freezing winds.

Pets, mounts and personal NPCs are allowed, but you are responsible for them and any supplies necessary for them.

[Erasmos]

Phew! I thought I was a goner for having no torches...

Erasmos arrival in this place had been under a series of unconventional circumstances - so strange that perhaps his very presence here was a statistical abomination. But as it was, he was here, he had spoken to the beggar, gotten tipped off on a job, and ultimately, signed onto an expedition to a supposedly profitable ruin. The companions he had traveled here called themselves Faust, perhaps some kind of deer-legged half human. It seemed his imagination took over in forming his presumptions about anyone he hadn't met yet, no matter how prestigious or nearby. Normally, he'd joke along with his company and agree to whatever dimwitted statements they'd made, however this time had been different. Joking about the servants of Xanth, or any other deity, had never boded well with his conscience. As formally uneducated as he was, even he knew that it was never a good idea to poke fun at all-powerful beings who could squish your existence with so much as a fraction of a thought - or their followers. He found his thoughts wrapped up on the various religions he had encountered. Why couldn't all the beliefs get along? Why instead did they need kill those who didn't believe the same? And how hypocritical, for most followings teaching love and acceptance. His musings came to a sudden stop as a screech hit his ears like the surreal vanity of trying to imagine one's own death. Erasmos' eyes were unblinking, forced to watch and unable to comprehend any thought of action. The priest disappeared into the temple of his own deity. He could only watch, horrified, as the seconds flew by and then man was gone. This man was their good luck, their tour guide, and their insurance that Xanth wouldn't smite them for entering her defunct dwelling. But Xanth had just smitten her servant... or let it happen... "Priest!", he shouted, springing into action only now that the priest had disappeared. But it wasn't until after his first few steps forward that he noticed a thin and narrow leg evaporate into the darkness. Spiders. He hated spiders. If only he had some light to see! As panic began to fill him, so did a light that spiraled around him and lit up the surrounding area as he plunged into the darkness. Now in the mouth of the structure, he paused, and, seeing nothing but crumbling architecture, tip-toed forwards. Xanth's Ring of Fury has activated and produces a light-shield and lights up the inside of the very dark structure.

[Aella]

The cold of the mountains did not bother Aella much, probably because she never felt it. Or rather, she only allowed herself to feel comfortably cold, refreshingly cold, and not a smidgen more. It was as if she told nature "No. I'm just not going to take it today." To an onlooker, one might think it simply a stubborn personality at play, some mind over matter concept, but the actual reason for her disregard was that she blanketed herself in warm air snatched from around Ro, her dour and taciturn Helion companion. In exchange, she fed more oxygen to the creature's fires, allowing them to blaze up whenever it felt need to adjust its temperature. Ro still seemed unhappy to be surrounded by strange white fluffy stuff, and puffed tendrils of flame towards the shrine and the mountains and whoever happened to be in her way. If a snowflake looked at her wrong, it quickly melted; at least she was judicious in her punishment.

Aella had some mental connection to Ro and trusted in her instincts that the creature would not go berserk, so she was rather relaxed riding the huge beast in her coat of warm air, taking in her surroundings with wide eyes and trying in vain to commit it all to memory. She had stood next to Kiel and talked with him for some time earlier, explaining her amazement at the beauty of Xanth's creation, and attempted to properly express her gratitude for his assistance when they had first met. She wanted to know more about the expedition, and figured Kiel would be the one to ask — or at least more knowledgeable than herself — so she inquired of him his opinion, his allegiances, and of any sort of tidbit that might prove usedful to a fledgling nymph such as herself. She was glad to see him again, all things considered.

Fledgling nymph as she may be, she had grown in ways her community clearly disapproved. She grew accustomed to the stares that her attire provoked, and took special pride in her individuality. She made armor for a living, made weapons too, so darned be if she could not wear them! A few of Faust's gang seemed wary of the tiny nymph half-dressed in the leather and furs of the azani. When Ro came plodding up to her they had sufficient reason for concern, and the sight of her mounting the creature twice her height with a flourish of her wrist and a helpful gust of wind, a creature with pitch-black, coal-colored soulless eyes framed with flame boring right through them — well, they weren't quite sure how to proceed with their emotions.

It seemed there was common consensus to travel into the ruins, so she turned and beckoned to Kiel that they should go. That was when she heard a scream. Well, to be precise, a hair-raising scream, for her little hairs on the back of her neck and on her arms did just so. She snapped her head up and witnessed something strange: their religious guide Phadra fell, then slid feet-first into the gaping maw of the place's entrance. His feeble attempt to tug himself away from whatever grabbed him left deep marks where his fingers sunk deep into the cold dirt, and she felt sick in her stomach - so much that she did not act as soon as she had wanted.

She called out to the man though she knew it futile and pressed hard on the helion's flanks to urge her forward. The huge beast bounded heavily towards the entrance, ground rumbling under massive hooves. A trail of melted snow was left in their wake.

The entrance was more than large enough to warrant Ro's access, though Aella did not dare stray alone into the darkness. That feminine sidhe she had met twice before had seemingly materialized before her, aglow with a soft light that cascaded down into the pits beyond; the darkness seemed unfazed, black as soot — it was an all-encompassing darkness, though perhaps someone with a keener eye would note it dotted with dozens of little beady eyes and the reflections of the light upon them. Aella couldn't see or hear anything more than a scuffle and the sound of stones or pebbles being disturbed and kicked about and tumbling away from her.

"Well. Who first? Er... other than the priest."

Piper's Boutique || Jessica Clark

[Kiel]

Kiel totally hadn't expected to see Aella or that weird blonde chick-dude ever again. Such was life, you know? Like, he met tons of people as part of his job as Marty's slave a courier as well as his job as Zeph's slave assistant, and some of them were repeat customers, and he was friendly with everyone he met (until they tried to, like, kill him and stuff), but he eventually lost touch with most of them and he hadn't made any plans to meet up with Aella again once he'd got done with rescuing her, you know?

It was cool to actually know someone, though. Zeph had refused to come 'cause for some reason he'd never talked about, he hated Xanth with a passion -- like he knew her personally and she'd killed his puppy or something. And Shane had tagged along with him like always, but she wasn't a great conversationalist and had to hide in his pocket during the day.

He totally didn't expect to be attacked before they even set foot in the temple proper, though! Like, “Wahhhhhh!” That priest was the dude who'd promised to pay him for hiring on as muscle. No way he was gonna let the guy die!

Kiel barely heard Aella's query, racing by her and her ride -- totally cool, man, for sers! a helion, a helion! -- to follow the blondie into the ruins. Remnants of webbing lined the entryway, strand on top of ancient strand, and Kiel decided (without much learning to support the theory) that kumos had inhabited the temple for centuries. “Be careful! Like, don't get stuck to the webs, okay? Like, for sers, man, they won't come off.” He knew this all too well from his own experience, and unlike the Flynns who had rescued him, he didn't have an apothecarist's entire catalogue in his backpack -- or a practised hand to singe off the webs without crozzling the flesh they were stuck to.

Shane leaped from his pocket as soon as they were clear of the sunlight, morphing rapidly from her poofball monkey form into her normal shadowkin form. Sticking to his heels -- her constant rrrrrr freaking him out 'cause she only did that when she could sense danger -- Kiel unsheathed his replacement katana (wahhh, he missed the old one, stupid wormlings) and looked around with wide-eyed awe. “Like, dude. We're standing in an ancient temple to Xanth and there's a freaking giant spider in here waiting for us. How cool is that?” Except only where "cool" meant "I'm going to die, I'm going to die". And, like, “Hey, hey, didja see which way it went?”

[Erasmos]

I dreamed that I woke up to 3 new replies!

The ring he had won through auction was said to produce a kind of light, or if used for greed, an awful curse. Erasmos hadn't expected the thing to go off, and breathed a sigh of relief, quickly checking his hands for wrinkles, and then his face. No curse. But the light of his shield was quickly dwarfed by another. His breath came in a startled hiccup as his neck snapped around to see the woman he had met earlier riding a fire-horse. His surprised expression faded when he caught sight of the suspicious unnamed man from earlier. Erasmos' face twisted into one of dismay. Surely he was Aella's new boyfriend. Feelings of jealousy over both Aella's steed and Kiel's romance floated through his veins, adrift his now stormy emotions. "Off.", he whispered to the ring, bringing it an inch from his lips, and then shaking his hand as if spraying off water droplets. It had seemed like a good idea to him to conserve something that came with a curse, especially given it's use was now obsolete. But how to do so? The word seemed to be enough, and the aura around him faded. But the light of the room continued to dance unfettered, in accordance of the pheonix-horse's flames. Slowly, he continued to pad forwards, his sandaled feet making little noise, but surely thunderous in the trained ears of any listeners. Ahead of him, a shiny black rock, perfectly circular, seemed to peek out of the shadows. He reached his hand forwards in order to pick it up, but what happened next sent his hand retreating in the other direction. The orb seemed to transform into a slit, and then back to an orb, Erasmos own reflection steadily held inside. And as he looked, there wasn't one orb, but many. The orbs began to move, and it became apparent that they were mounted atop of a gigantic creature's head. Panic-striken, he reached for a weapon, only to realize that he had none - and had never even owned one. It began to stand it's full height, perhaps 3 feet in diameter, with pincers that could surely sever a man in two with one hit. All around him, a multitude of others glided out from the scenery and dark corners alike, perhaps a hundred. But strangely enough, they all seemed the same but smaller, dwarfed by the gigantic spider that stood closest to Erasmos, it's legs graying, with silver hairs that glimmered in the light. Feeling like a rat staring into the eyes of a feral cat, fear was a bloodstream toxin. With a flick of his hand, he diverted some of Aella's cushioning air past her, past himself, and towards the spider, as a sort of bubble-missile. But what he didn't realize was that some of the helion's fire was contained in it. There was a squeal as it hit the spider, and seemed to set it's head ablaze for a moment. The spider shook itself, like a wet dog, rattling it's legs in the process. The flames were exinguished and scorch marks let a small stream of smoke drift upwards. The other spiders seemed to have frozen, as if all looking to see what the bigger one would do. Of course! Fire! Bugs were always weak to fire, right? "Aella! Prius!", he shouted for help, managing to take a few stumbles backwards.

Hope my mutant Kumos is okay.

EDIT Changed the biggest Kumos to full grown size and others to smaller baby size. If these are the babies and one parent, I wonder where the other parent is. Unless spiders are asexual?

[Jericho]

OOC: I'd prefer to go with a regular kumo, especially if there's more than one. There are only a few of us and I don't want the first fight (uh, did I say first?) to be overwhelming. They don't all have to be the same size, though, so maybe the others are smaller than the usual? Like babies.

---

Bessie was utterly laden and dragged behind Genevieve as if her wheels were mired in mud, but the group had eventually reached their destination with most of the supplies intact. It was more work than Jericho had suffered in years - decades, even - so he was grateful to have the law of "owner gets the cart seat" supporting his laziness. The whole trip to Dionica had been an onslaught of wilderness survival training, and he almost wished he'd seen Nimisha beforehand so he could drag the Sidhe along for support. The Therian's idea of food supplies amounted to meat she'd caught, de-furred and prepped in all its bloody glory right in front of him, and while he was no lightweight when it came to gore nor sympathetic to the animals' plight, he had decided that becoming a vegetarian for the duration of the trip was better than puking all over his lunch.

He had probably lost a few pounds already when they finally set up camp, and he left the actual work to the others under the pretense of "taking stock" just to "make sure" that Bessie still contained everything they'd decided to bring while he was handing out the camping equipment.

He was just getting done explaining to anyone who'd listen (chiefly a bored-looking Ninian since Rusty had taken to following Nikandros like a curious puppy) that he should stay behind to watch over the camp (like he would get his hands dirty fighting off bandits) when the priest's scream followed his clutching body into the ruined temple. Jericho's head whipped around and his sunglasses came down to perch on the end of his nose - revealing the blue of his slitted eyes if anyone happened to look - for the single moment it took him to spot the giant spider's leg. They were back in their proper place a second later.

Jericho was by no means a coward in the traditional sense. He was not afraid of being wounded or even killed, having no real ties to the world of the living except for his money. However, he did not have a death wish; he could recognise the makings of a death trap when he saw one; and he had no real ties to the world of the living - and thus no motivation to save a priest who may well have kept most of the trinkets for himself under the pretense of their having "religious significance". As the others, Rusty included (damn his treacherous hide), rallied to the priest's rescue, Jericho hung back to usher Nin ahead of him.

“I'll stay here and guard the camp.” Because there would be nothing worse than returning, miraculously alive, from the nest of a kumo to find that the rum was all gone, he was sure. And besides: He was quite sure that his intimidation tactics would not work on a spider, so he would be quite useless in this fight, regardless.

[Maaike]

This was not Maaike's idea of fun. It really wasn't. She wouldn't even be here if not for a tip from a less-than-reliable source that Vilfredo and his gang had hired on as bodyguards or treasure hunters or whatever the Hel else they were calling themselves these days. Even when she discovered that the less-than-reliable source was telling the truth (for once), she had dismissed it as not her concern. If the High Wisdom wanted to hire thugs, so be it; whatever deaths followed would be on her own head.

But Graeme - always Graeme: Sweet, human Graeme who still managed to have more empathy for complete strangers despite his own traumas - was the religious type and couldn't bear the thought of the Priesthood losing face over Prydwen's naivete. No amount of arguing on Maaike's part ("They may be legit," to which he had responded, "Since when do you believe anyone's legit?") had swayed him.

So she had signed on, and she had fulfilled her duties with the dedication of a woman who had something to hide, and she had watched Faust's men like a falcon the whole time (literally, in fact, on some evenings when she was meant to be tracking down a meal). Magda and Cailean had helped with that. They'd also helped to keep that damned blabbermouth, who had insisted yet again on giving her his name despite her mental "la la la"ing, away from her so that he couldn't give her away as a hunter.

And now, without thinking about what she was doing, she found herself standing in the middle of an unnaturally lit, almost cavernous hallway surrounded by giant spiders. Maaike detested spiders. “Oh, holy shi-” She almost wished she'd stayed behind with the cowardly merchant, and that she could take back her "Che!" of disgust as she'd stomped by intending to shame him.

“Like, dude. We're standing in an ancient temple to Xanth and there's a freaking giant spider in here waiting for us. How cool is that?”

No. No, it really was not cool. It was about as far from being cool as a body could get - which meant the fires of Hel, for all Maaike knew. And that was what she got, she realised, as the Nymph's helion ploughed into the entryway and a bubble of fire-blasted air swept across the largest kumo's body. Its shriek was horrifying and the stench of barbequed flesh was disgusting (and made her hungry, actually), but at least using the helion meant she wouldn't have to discharge Finnbar.

At a loss on what to do, Maaike flipped back from the jagged pincer of the nearest spider and rolled, coming up onto bended legs with her hands planted in the debris. The webs beneath her hands were old and had lost some of their adhesiveness, but were still sticky enough to make her pause to free them as she scanned the sphere of light for signs of the priest. “Nikandros, there!” Pointing out a prone, man-shaped cocoon (and assuming it was Phadra, since she doubted this place had been visited by bipeds of that size in decades, if not centuries) Maaike started toward the priest but was forced to dodge a sticky strand that shot scant inches past her ear.

“Hurry up and bomb them all, damn it!” Swords and her free-running were not going to work against these things, so she could only hope the Nymphs had the smarts to get this done.

[Aella]

"What? Hey! Aw.."

Aella felt the biting cold before she heard the distinct tearing noise of air being manipulated. The warm currents about her were shorn and tossed away into the darkness. And then they exploded into flame and the whole of the entrance was illuminated like a furnace. Dozens of beady eyes glared from the depths, and she saw the overgrown arachnid (had she heard about them in her youth? She was sure of it) and its horde of children littered about and clogging their entrance to the ruins beyond. She huffed, cold and irritated.

She digested what Kiel had said a moment before.

"Like, dude. We're standing in an ancient temple to Xanth and there's a freaking giant spider in here waiting for us. How cool is that?"

No, not just a giant spider, Kiel. They stumbled upon the giant spider family reunion. And they clearly weren't invited.

On second thought, maybe they were. Aella looked half-beast herself, covered in azani fur and leathers, but when a guest throws flames into the hostess' face — well, that's unacceptable behavior for any gathering. Even a gathering of spiders.

Ro stomped the ground impatiently and seethed with anger, displeased with Aella's metaphors.

A woman she had seen at camp ran ahead of her and was nearly impaled by a nearby - what were they again - Kamo? Aella attempted to shout a warning, but quickly shut her mouth when the woman flipped backwards and rolled away; she made it all look so easy.

"Nikandros, there!", the woman yelled, pointing, and Aella's eyes followed. A bulging white mass was writhing, suspended amidst a scrawling web that encompassed a good deal of... no, the entire segment of the wall that was currently visible to her. It didn't look like the priest to her, but it was the only caccoon that wriggled about, and unless one of her stalwart companions got lazy and were already caught and wrapped up and dealt with by their spider hostess, then it must be him. She turned to look for Kiel just in case. He was still there.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Aella was fortunate to be outside the ruins during all the action and felt rather ashamed of that fact, so she reached for the hammer that hung at her hip and recalled the lessons her father had given her ages ago when her brother and her used to duel with sticks. She readjusted her grip on the hammer's pommel ever so slightly, re-acclimating herself with its heft and length and swinging it once to test her balance atop the helion.

"Fine, fine. Ro, let's go grab a caccoon."

Aella thrust out her free arm and Ro vaulted into the cave in response, flames surging. There was an impulse to gag at the overwhelming smell of burnt spider that hung heavy once inside the cavern, but she just wrinkled her tiny nose and lowered her frame atop the helion and kept her eyes about her.

A smaller spider lept up and nearly eviscerated her with a dark serrated leg, but she was fortunate enough to see it coming and had her hammer ready. The creature hit the rock wall with a resounding thud and fell twitching and curled up on its back, limbs like fingertips grasping for something no longer there. She had no idea these spiders could leap so high, but if nothing else Aella was a quick learner.

Note: being atop a six foot helion does not make you immune to danger.

There was a steady rhythm of crunching as unfortunate kumos were caught underneath hooves the size of anvils, drove into the ground, and then quickly singed. She was nearly at the writhing caccoon, having trampled over everything else in the way, when a movement at the edge of her vision caused her to turn.

And then she felt like a tree trunk had hit her solidly in the stomach, driving the breath from her and throwing her off Ro. Dazed, Aella rolled and thrust herself up onto her feet and touched her stomach gingerly. Bruised. Not broken. Okay.

Her eyes rose accusingly and met eight perfectly round onyx ones, glowing red like heated coals. There was fire in those eyes, tendrils curling about hungrily.

Fire.

She felt Ro behind her and tugged at her flames, wrapping them up and feeding them compressing air, then shot the fiery mass into the hideous face of the creature looming over her, mandibles dripping.

Piper's Boutique || Jessica Clark

[Kiel]

Both Zeph and Vander had tried to teach Kiel that in battle, a warrior must not only look to his own surroundings but to those of his allies as well. Except, like, Kiel was usually too focused on fending off his own attackers to notice that his friends were in trouble, and that was totally how he kept getting his ass whooped instead of showing off his amazing kick-assness. (Well, like, that was his excuse and he was totally sticking to it, man, for sers.)

For once, he actually noticed when Aella got whumped off her totally-awesome fire-horse, and he was close enough to do something about it. He let fly with a couple of throwing knives, one after the other in quick succession (and managed to actually hit the target, woo!), taking out one of its eyes and distracting it long enough for her to right herself. He probably hadn't needed to bother, though, 'cause she turned the thing into a bonfire pretty rapidly.

“Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!” Erasmos had already impressed him with the whole fire thing, and now Aella was just, like, owning the giant spider, and Kiel's jaw split with the widest grin Dracovarianly possible. He kinda wished his head was bigger, actually.

And then his attention was dragged back to his own fight by the schlerk of a web shooting past his ear to snag on the blade of his katana. He caught a glimpse of a giant, hairy reflection in the super-polished metal for a split second before the thing was ripped from his hands. It almost took his head off in the process, forcing him to leap to one side to dodge the flying blade. “Hey, hey, that's mine! Like, damn it—” A phrase no doubt picked up from Zeph's too-often vocalisations. “—I just got that thing! Mannnnnnn.” Momentarily weaponless as he reached for the hilts of the hook swords strapped to his back, Kiel spun to face the spider — only to catch it chowing down on his precious replacement katana. “Wah! Wah! Like, dude! What's with you critters and eating my swords?!”

[Erasmos]

I wish there was a quotes thread just so we could put Aella's paragraph in there.

From what back-glances he could muster, he had barely enough observation skills to notice that their party had grown. An even more suspicious man than Kiel wandered away back to camp. And a woman pointed towards their guide and priest hidden away with blankets of unloving mummification. Not-Aella appeared to begin hack-and slashing. Aella herself using her horse as a fly-swatter to squish bugs, her hammer, and the horse's flames as a kind of triple inferno. He'd hate to be under that woman's hooves. And the woman's new surely-lover? Hack-and-slashing away with whiny complaints, something about his weapon. But none of the warm comradery changed the fact that the biggest spider of all stood right before him, perhaps pondering how to divide Erasmos' organs amongst his children. 'May I have some more please?' one tiny spider would hold up a proverbial bowl and beg for soup. An idea struck him. "On.", he lifted his hand to his mouth once more in order to speak into it. It obliged. Realizing this wasn't any good, he shook his hand, and then proceeded to speak "Off." as well Continuing his backing up, he narrowly avoided a swing from the front spider's leg as it grew impatient with Erasmos' not dying. With Aella's horse unavailable as his weapon, he would have to devise his own plan. And he had just the idea. His heart beat continued to race, and with it, time seemed to slow. Mustering all his courage, strength, and focus, he whipped out his two vials of liquid and flung them both at the biggest spider in front of him. His lips began to move to speak the words 'On' but this time the ring obliged before the word was completed, perhaps growing used to it's master's methodology of use. All the better, for the seconds were few before they both hit the spider square in the face. The resulting explosion of Carser Acid and Flash Grenade made a resounding boom, but the backsplash and noise were easily absorbed by his shield. But he wasn't done yet. As soon as the sound of explosion had begun, he had focused up all his efforts into the explosion, using his wind manipulation to compress roughly half of the expanding air that contained the flash, mixed with half of what acid had evaporated into a bubble. He carefully compressed the bubble, and sent it to the next spider, repeating the process until there was no more explosion, flash, or evaporated acid left to manipulate. Exhausted, he fell onto his rump and watched his wake of dissolving-shrieking-spiders, including the biggest one that had stood before him. A moment later, he steadied himself on his feet, and keeping his shield up, sneaked his way to the priest, weaving around spider corpses, and battling combatants alike. He paused as he grimaced at the sight. He remembered the conversation about not touching the webs, and used a tarp to envelope the priest. While the inside of the tarp touched the fibers, Erasmos hugged the non-sticky outside, and dragged the priest free like one would maneuver an awkward and heavy object. Leading the two of them towards the entrance once more, he found his adrenaline draining as they reached a safer spot. He turned off his ring and sat down to rest. He felt useless and weaponless now.

[Maaike]

OOC// You can quote stuff, funny or not, in the Giggle Squad thread. ^^

Maaike hadn't a clue what to do with the priest when she got to him. She hadn't thought to take an arsenal of carsic acid with her, though someone probably should have factored in the temple's being underground (and thus the danger of kumos having moved in) beforehand. Bending over to grab the priest's cocooned feet, she drew back at the last second, remembering the Rutilus' warning. Dracovarian he may be, and too damned talkative, but his red eyes suggested he was trained to know these things and he'd already told them all at camp — in great and gory, loving detail, along with many other stories she'd tried not to hear & #151; about his encounter with the Tunnel Runners and a kumo in the Rowan Caverns, so he probably knew what he was talking about.

She needed something to act as a buffer between her and the webbing, or better yet, something that would eat through it to free the priest. Before she could so much as search about the cavern or strip off a much-needed layer, she was forced to dodge a web attack and rolled clear.

Both she and the attacking arachnid paused to look on in horror when the Nymphs took down the majority of the spiders with a somewhat over-the-top display of fire. The blast of heat in the confined space singed Maaike's face, and she was sure her eyebrows were completely gone. “Oi! Some of us would like to get out of here alive, damn it!”

The stench of burning flesh was intense and nauseating. Seeing its siblings in their sizzling death throes, Maaike's attacker gave an unearthly shriek and leaped for her — as if it was all her fault! Its pincers snapped around her shoulder and its long, stem legs scraped against the rocky floor, barrelling her to the ground. Its many eyes reflected the flames that had devoured its nest and Maaike's scream echoed throughout the natural atrium.

Instinctively, a fist shot up into the spider's gut and her feet kicked out to break its rear-most legs. The sensation of thick, coarse hair on the arachnid's underbelly was even more disgusting against her fingers as she gave an almighty shove, flesh tearing from her collarbone as its pincers were dragged clear. She scanned the cavern for help, noting first that one of the Nereids was gone (along with his power and the priest's cocoon). Reluctant to activate Finnbar while she was so close to the target (and reluctant to show these people that she had such a weapon in the first place) Maaike yelled out, “Aella! Here's one for you!” With another great heave, she kicked the spider clear into the air and rolled over, covering her head with her arms to shelter from expected mid-air bonfire.

[Aella]

A wave of warmth washed over her; it felt like Aella had laid beneath the sun and absorbed all of its heat into her body. She floated on the sensation, adrift on a mellow summer sea. It was not an overbearing sensation, but comforting, like Hel had gathered up the golden skies and pillowy clouds and wrapped them and her up in a big hug. Her eyes were closed in anticipation of the backlash, and she felt the air tussle up her hair like fingertips, tangible and warm, and she was compelled to lean against it, to nuzzle it and bask in it as her blouse whipped tight against her chest and her armor shifted and shook from the blast. There had been other explosions around her, but in her reverie she had not paid them mind. When the demulcent hand had withdrawn her eyelids drifted open as if awakening from a pleasant dream.

Her eight-legged sparring companion was taking a breather at the far wall of the atrium, smoke whisping up from its fur and curling intricately upwards into oblivion. The creature seemed exhausted, for it did not move, nor even did it bother to continue breathing. It seemed to have collected a few sharp objects, too. Aella could respect that, but she preferred to hold them with her hands rather than with her gut.

She brushed herself off and became reacclimated with her surroundings. Her hammer lay on the ground nearby, wrested from her grip when she fell. Ro was in the process of crushing a small spider while looking at her inquisitively, as if to ask "Are you done with your break?" She couldn't help but chuckle at her own thought. "Yeah. I'm done."

Kiel was bemoaning his lost sword. It looked to be crafted with care, the edge curved and exotic and menacing. He had saved her life with that blade before, so she felt a pang of remorse for its demise. She quickly snatched up her weapon, holding on to it dearly; apparently, spiders like eating metal: this was another good thing to know. Maybe there was an untapped market there, selling weapons and armor to spiders as food. I don't know how they'd pay her back. Probably with silk. They seemed the crafty sort. They could probably make her a nice dress. She wanted that dress. She looked absolutely fabulous in that dress.

A female voice called to her, which she attributed to the acrobatic woman earlier. Aella turned around lackadaisically before the message really registered. Her eyes narrowed on the spider seemingly suspended midair like an ugly puppet. She thrust her hands outwards, then up. The familiar tearing sound roared in her subconscious, and the air about the spider rotated viciously inward in its best immitation of a corkscrew. The air compressed the mass caught in its grasp with a resounding crunch -- the spider seemed a speck of sand amidst a tornado. It ground into the hard cavern ceiling until Aella could no longer feel it moving, and then a bit longer. For the woman's sake she sauvely maneauvered the previously-spider thing away and let it drop amidst its resting brethren. She did not use any fire. Hopefully that was fine.

To say there was a fetid smell in the air would be a grave understatement, so Aella closed her eyes and concentrated and drew the cool air in from outside and replaced it with the air inside the cavern, all slowly and gentle-like, not wanting to ruffle any feathers. She took a deep breath and was relieved at the fresh aroma of snow and winter and cold, not spiders and guts and burnt hair.

Then, realizing the point in all this, she shot a glance at where the blessed caccoon had since been writhing and found that it had either learned invisibility while she was daydreaming and slaying things or someone had gotten to it before her. She thought she'd better ask, just in case.

"Is the priest safe? Is everyone safe?"

Piper's Boutique || Jessica Clark

[Jericho]

Someone had rescued the priest. “Xanth damn it all.” As the blonde Sidhe appeared at the entrance, Jericho's gaze skipped past him to the temple entrance. A second later, Rusty and Nin appeared to take up the tarped cocoon, congratulating the Nymph on a job well done.

Jericho closed in on them, his expression neutral even as he checked them over for injuries. They were his employees and thus his responsibility, after all. Neither man was harmed, but now they were presented with a completely new problem.

Hands propped on his padded hips, Jericho eyed the webbed feet that stuck out from the bottom of the tarp. “How in the world of all things shiny are we going to get him out of there?” If he had considered that kumos might have moved in, he would have thought to bring his entire stock of carsic acid, just in case. It was about the only thing he knew of that could cut through kumo silk.

Ever the innocent sort, Rusty pulled out his switchblade. When he reached for the cocoon, Nin grabbed his wrist and shook his head. The last thing they needed was to 1) accidentally cut through the priest's foot; 2) get Rusty stuck to the damn thing as well; or 3) save the priest's life, if they could avoid it. Jericho was still hoping to claim all the treasure they found, thank you very much.

But Ninian didn't seem to have gotten that memo, because he scratched his shaggy head and stepped around the priest's prison, musing aloud, “If we could heat the air around it, maybe it would it would dry the adhesive enough for us to start cutting.” His gaze snagged on the Sidhe, his "we" clearly becoming a "you".

And then the lot of them began to gag as air sifted past them to be replaced by the stench of crozzled spider. Jericho's hand went up to cover his mouth (and his nose), trying to hold back a wretch, as Ninian's eyes lit up.

“Ooh, spider legs!” His grin turned absolutely wicked. “Anyone else hungry?”

Well, that was that. Jericho knew Therians had weird preferences when it came to food (kraken steaks didn't count as weird), but hunger and that stink did not go hand in hand.

Jeri toddled off to a nearby bush so he could meet his breakfast again.

[Kiel]

OOC: Please can we pretend that I didn't forget Shane again and that she's been helping out the whole time?

Kiel wished he'd been, like, born as a Nymph or something. He could totally deal with the whole being irresistible thing in exchange for poewr over the elements, like, you know? Except then he wouldn't have a dragon, and, like, that would totally suck, except if he became a Wanderer he could totally have another pet as well as Shane. Like, it wouldn't be as awesome as Pria, and maybe he'd get stuck with being a Warden instead, and maybe being a 'Vari was way cooler after all.

As if thinking of his Chosen had conjured her up, she lunged out of the shadows where she'd been tussling with one of the larger kumos to knock him flat on his back. His arms, like, flung up around her automatically (she'd totally trained him for the hugs, you know?) and he rolled on top of her to shield her when a spider leaped at them. It would probably have sunk its pincers or those long, sharp legs into his back, but sailed right over them instead. Rolling off Shane, Kiel tossed a few knives at the ugly thing, cringing when one of the blades embedded into the spider's eye and pierced right into the brain. Like, he thought it was the brain, 'cause it suddenly keeled over and started the death-twitchy thing as something oozed around the blade.

“Ewwwww.” Zeph was gonna kill him, man, for sers. Kiel would be like "Dude, I totally need a new set of knives, right, 'cause, like, a bunch of kumos ate them. Like, not literally, you know, but blah blah blah." And Zeph would be like "Dammit, Kiel." And Kiel would be like, "Oh yeah, and a new katana. Again." And Zeph would be like, "Dammit, Kiel!" And then there'd be angry sex or make-up sex - or both - and Kiel would be like, "Woohoo!" and Zeph would be like "Dammit, Kiel!"

In the meantime, Xanth bless clean, fresh air.

“Is the priest safe? Is everyone safe?”

Kiel had flopped back to use Shane as a pillow in momentary exhaustion. When he heard Aella's voice, he lifted his head - “Wah!” His hat almost fell off! - and glanced around. “Ummmmmm. Like, well. We're still breathing.” He kind of felt like there was another kumo in here somewhere, lurking in the shadows and waiting for them to leave so it could be all, like, "bwahahahahahaha!" and get all evil resurrecty and stuff on its pals, but Shane had relaxed instead of being all "grrr", and she was usually pretty good at sensing the evil lurky types. But, like, “Dude, like, where is the priest?” 'Cause, like, it'd be pretty bad if the dude got eaten while they were fighting to save his life, you know?

Rumbling deep in her throat, Shane struggled to her feet and shook him off, nuzzling his chin briefly by way of apology before trotting toward the exit. Through their bond, he felt a certainty that drew him to his knees and then his feet, and then out toward the camp. “Ummmm. Like, I think he's this way.” Which was probably a good sign, like, right? 'Cause if he was outside, then someone must have grabbed him, like, right?

Unless they were now stuck to the cocoon, too, in which case, like, “Dude, I hope those other guys -” The ones who had stayed behind at camp like total chickens, damn them. “- have some acid or something.”

[Maaike]

Maaike stomped out of the cave and pinned Vilfredo Faust to a crumbling stone pillar (metaphorically, at least) with her glare. Blood seeped from the pincer wound at her collar and pain radiated through her shoulder, or she would have shoved him up against ruined wall for real.

“And just where under Hel were you while we were rescuing your employer?” Unzipping her parka and touching a hand gingerly to her the darker patch on her already-dark tunic, Maaike grimaced. Faust was completely unapologetic, a shrug and a sideways nod indicating the merchant whose eyes were still, suspiciously, shaded behind sunglasses. She had met "Jericho" once before when he helped her rescue a young lad from slavers, and he'd hidden his eyes then, too. He smelled of Dracovarian like the overly talkative Red-Eye, but those glasses made her ever more suspicious the longer he hid behind them - more so now that he had stayed back with Faust's little gang to save his own neck.

“Bunch of cowards,” she spit as she settled on a large rock by the camp fire, close to Cailean so he wouldn't freak out now that he'd caught the scent of her blood. With a jerk of her chin in Erasmos' direction, she allowed that, “At least one of you's got some guts.” Fat lot of good it would do them if they couldn't get the priest out of his suffocating cocoon, though.

“Well, you see,” said Faust, stepping forward with a very distinct vial pinched between finger and thumb. “Me and the boys here figured we should safeguard this, you know... just in case.” His tone suggested the "just in case" wasn't this particular situation but that he was resigned to making the best of things. He'd probably been hoping the priest would be dead before they could get to him, but wasn't prepared (yet, at least) to actively kill their rivals. Maaike was absolutely positive he was going to try something sooner or later, but in the meantime, she wasn't about to piss him off when he had carsic acid.

“I bet.” Her words were more a non-commital grunt as she rotated her shoulder and diverted her attention to something closer to home. “I don't suppose anyone here's a healer.” One of these days, she'd learn to stock up on healing potions.

[Erasmos]

From his spot at the near entrance, he could actively watch the battle. His eyes slowly glazed over as a kind of numbness overtook his veins and worked it's way into his psyche. There was no doubt that spiders were disgusting, and even more so their guts. The sight before him made him cringe. Well-done legs peered over top of disconnected thoraxes and severed heads, eyeballs, and other indiscernible parts littered a well-trodden walkway. Entrails hung and dripped from wherever they'd been strewn, morbid decorations for this place Xanth had forsaken. The smell of teamwork wafted through the air, mingling with dried blood and the smell of a mangy dog's crotch. No doubt the two women would leave the place hand in hand, new best friends for life, resilient of any male company for the rest of their lives. At least that would put the suspicious reptile man out of the picture. As the clouds of dust pillowed up with the last efforts of those inside, all Erasmos could do was watch wearily the silhouette of their movements. He felt particularly fascinated with the way that this young girl moved. Even more so, the mechanics of Aella's arm, the way her hair followed her neck, the bludgeoning of eyeballs and crunching of abdomens. Surely his family would disapprove of such arcane fighting. While the efforts were noble, Aella would have been the talk of the town. If she had been a serial child murderer, the rumors, grumblings, and prejudice could not have been fiercer. 'She fights with her hands' they would say. 'And in the presence of men', others would chime in. 'With a weapon', and the grumblings would continue. Erasmos felt both a sense of spite and compassion for the woman: disdain for the harsh standards of his society, and yet an innate feeling that he should be repulsed by her disobedience to the ways of his upbringing. And for the other woman, they would not say a thing, but scurry about their business, cemented in their exclusion, as if she never existed. "Safe.", he managed to shout back to the question asked, his voice cracking and dry. The woman whom he had begun to admire now spouted off at the gang that he'd traveled with. "They'll kill you...", he warned aloud in a half-mutter barely audible. Unable to control his tongue, he cast his gaze at the ground as if he hadn't said anything at all. No sooner had he returned his full attention back to the the scene before him, then a man had begun talking to him. With slick hair and facial features that clearly identified him as a man, his words almost seemed too numerous for Erasmos to comprehend. A dull look had took over Erasmos expression. Jerico spoke martian. "Uh...Oh.", he nearly staggered as he rose his weary limbs to full height. Flexing his hands and taking a stride he focused all his strength and energy, his eyebrows knitting with exertion. He could do this. Just like Aella. A second turned into a moment. Silence weighted the air, until Erasmos cut through it like a butter knife. A small whining sound emerged from his rear end. His facial expressions now twisted to alarm and consternation. "I think I pulled something.", he grumbled as he half-fell into a crouching position, trying to recover what pride he could. The man's powers were limited to a medium source that he did not have. Luckily for Erasmos, it seemed that Jerico (name unknown), had a short attention span. A sickening squeal of repulsion reverberated in response to Jerico's appetizer offer. As Kiel emerged, Erasmos' face hardened. He had not forgotten about his over-friendliness with Aella. Jealousy still coursed his veins. Unable to find the will to respond, he plucked idly at the tarp-covering of the cocoon which held the priest. Of course, his actions were useless.

[Kiel]

Kiel had lingered in the naturally-formed atrium to, like, make sure the arachnid nest was empty. The shakes started in his hands like they always did after a fight where he'd had to, like, kill stuff, and Shane's warmth pressed to his leg - totally making it hard to exit in a normal fashion.

Oblivious to Erasmos' animosity (just like he always was), Kiel clapped the blonde Sidhe on the shoulder with a bit too much strength on his way by. He'd totally overheard the nameless lady's confrontation with ol' Vil and went to stand behind her as backup just in case. As it happened, Faust pulled out a vial of much-needed carsic acid and tottered over to Erasmos to start helping the priest. In the meantime, like, “Hey, hey, I gotta flask. Here, lemme get it.”

Shane curled around his feet as he pulled the Black Rose flask from one of many pockets and hunkered down in front of the orange-ended brunette. She flinched away as if she didn't want to be touched when he reached for her shoulder, but Kiel was stubborn enough - even in the face of obvious dislike - to splash a few drops of the contents over her wounds anyway. “Just, like, take it easy 'til it's gone, okay?” He didn't expect her to say thanks. She kinda reminded him of Zeph in some ways, except for that whole not being a hairy, muscle-bound freak (though she did have the girly-haired part down). Just that whole "don't touch me, I'll skewer you with my stare" thing she had going on would have totally fit on Zeph's face, too, and he was so used to being scowled at by the hairball that her glare couldn't touch him.

Exhausted, he slid the re-fastened flask back into a pocket and flopped back on the ground, Shane automatically moving under his head to act like a pillow. A few seconds later, he'd rolled over and wrapped his arms around her to snuggle into her soft, warm fur. “Ahhhh, mannnnn. Why is it always kumos?”