Creepy Crawlies

4 November, 595
Part III

That night, the group decides to venture back into the underground ruins. Listening at the 'A' door in the mask room, Baxter thinks he hears some soft rustling noise in the room beyond. Kyladrian takes the torch and waves it menacingly in the room, trying to reach whatever he imagines is on the other side of the wall. This surprisingly has some effect, as two creatures are flushed from the room, and escape down the two smaller corridors exiting the room. The group summons up the courage to investigate the room.

One of the corridors is explored and leads to a rectangular room that is seemingly empty. This proves not to be the case, as a shout is heard and a smallish creature with dark hooves darts out of the room in an opposite hallway. Moments later, an ear-piercing shriek is let out, and the most of the group is stunned, not knowing what hit them. Baxter is at the front and takes some tremendous blows from a pair of spiked wedges that seem to come from thin air and disappear. Baxter goes down and the group tries to retreat, but not before Salla and Felian both take on the brunt of the attack. As the party retreats backward, a lobster-shaped automaton emerges from thin air and follows the group up to the small corrider they came through. The machine cannot squeeze into the tunnel and vanishes again when faced with arrows shot from Fario's bow.

Needing healing, the group looks for a good place to hunker down. They come across a very strange room with four trees sprouting from a grassy floor, with all the feel and appearance of an outdoor scene. Branches and leaves form the ceiling and the walls are made of brambles and bushes. Not trusting what they are seeing, the group continues down the hallway until they reach a kitchen with two great hearths. As the clerics of the group are administering healing, two of the hoofed creatures sneak out of the fireplaces and attempt to ambush the group. Both Salla and Fario make quick work of the little creatures. Kyladrian investigates a rickety cabinet and jumps back just in time as the cabinet comes crashing down, smashing its contents onto the floor. In the rubble, a key is found that looks like it may fit the "Z" doors.

Passing through a smashed up dining room, our heroes encounter a blue-tiled room with a water fountain pouring into a pool. Above the pool a man-sized cocoon is suspended, held in place by copious webs dangling from the ceiling. Kyladrian investigates and is about to set fire to the webs when a large spider quickly descends and moves toward him. A fierce battle rages on and the group is beset by two other smaller arachnids. Salla is bitten several times and falls unconscious to the ground. Before the spiders are defeated, both the dwarf and Kyladrian are inflicted with the poisonous spider venom. Acting spontaneously, Kyladrian holds a torch to the webs and in seconds the entire ceiling is on fire, smoke clouding the room and choking the inhabitants. Salla is dragged out of the room and the group finds comfort in the large area with the dancing lights. After a anti-poison and healing potions are administered, the victims are revived, and it is decided that a trip back to the surface is in order to rest and recuperate.