Nezznar
stood amid the fire and flames as Bob’s fireball began to fade. The flaming
magical energy seemed to absorb into the drow wizard’s body until his black
skin heated like metal, glowing a dull red. His eyes danced like the flames of
a match. The Black
Spider began to chuckle, a chuckle that grew to a laugh that reverberated off
the canyon walls. “This reminds
me of your struggle through Wave Echo Cave, my friends!” he called out
mockingly. “You trust yourselves to the searing salvation of flames, but let me
show you something a little more…electrifying!” He stretched out his staff
towards the party members to the east. A bolt of lightning shot forth from the
end of the spider staff and arced across the canyon towards Bob. The cleric was
struck full-force by the lightning blast. Bob went rigid as the electrical
energy coursed through his body and erupted in three different directions –
bolts that lanced out towards his friends. Erwen
curled himself into a ball and withstood the attack, as did the implacable
Alec, who grit his teeth to keep them from chattering as the wave of electricity
flowed over him. Siegfried
was blasted by the bolt, staggering sideways as he broke his concentration.
Instantly the animated ball bearings clattered to the stonework, reverting to
their mundane form. “You damn
shadowfelling vagrant!” Siegfried shook his fist at Varien, who had watched
flat-footed as the lightning had seared overhead. “You dedicate yourself to battling
wizards, yet you deny yourself knowledge of the one spell, the ONE spell that
could interrupt their most powerful attacks!” Smoke curled up from the scorch
marks on Siegfried’s body as he pounded his chest in anger. “You. Need. To.
Learn. Counterspell!” Yeemik surfaced
in the river, still under assault by Varien’s tiny phoenix guardians. Wanting
no more of that, he swam to the far shore and pulled himself out onto the bank.
Getting to his feet, he caught sight of Bob and approached, swinging his flail
menacingly. “You have
no idea how long I’ve waited to do – this!” Yeemik shouted as he swung his
flail at the cringing Bob. However, the goblin’s boots, slick with river water
on the slimy stones of the street, slipped and he overbalanced. His flail struck
not bob but the spider caught in the trap’s whining machinery adjacent to Bob. “Aw, c’mon!”
Yeemik bellowed. The injured
spider tried to bite at the goblin in response to the injurious insult, but couldn’t
reach him. Siegfried,
still reeling from the electrical shock, managed to block two spiders’ attacks
with the flat of his blade. He looked about as he defended himself for a more
advantageous position, and a plan began to form. Heedless of
the paladin’s aura of tiny guardians, more spiders began to skitter and crawl
towards Varien from all sides, shrugging off the damage as they approached. One spider’s
spinneret aimed squarely at Varien, who had to engage a magical shield
to avoid being caught up in the sticky splatter. Another spider’s fangs cracked
painfully against the forcefield that had sprung up around the paladin like a mantle.
The remaining spiders fairly spit in frustration as none of them could get near
the magically-protected Varien. Theryn too
found his position about to be overwhelmed by spiders from all sides, crawling
ungainly through the churned rubble left behind by Erwen’s spell. Fountains of
webbing failed to find purchase as the monk blocked each incoming attack with
his quarterstaff and nimble reflexes. One spider’s bite managed to get through
his defenses, opening up a long wound on his shoulder and arm, but his purity
of body fought off the venom. One last
spider took careful aim and hit Varien squarely with a splotch of webbing that
rooted the paladin to the spot. “Darn,”
Varien said, his voice muffled by a mouthful of web. Siegfried
turned to Alec. “Trevelyan, follow me!” he said as he opened a dimension
door and leaped through the portal. Alec followed. There was a
flash of light and suddenly Siegfried and Alec were more than a hundred feet
across the cavern, within sight of Nezznar the Black Spider, at least thanks to
Siegfried’s darkvision. He grabbed
Alec’s shoulder and pointed. “See him there! That is your quarry. Now, kill
him!” he ordered. Alec
charged at Nezznar, preparing to cast shatter . The Black
Spider was ready, backpedaling to keep himself away from the barbarian fighter’s
family sword. “Ah, Alec Trevelyan!” Nezznar called out, bowing in mock politeness.
“So wonderful to see you here as well! You know, my agents lost track of you in
Helm’s Hold so I am delighted to see that you have made your way here this day.”
“Wait!” Siegfried said. “Your agents were in Helm’s Hold? You sent that
assassin to kill Alec’s friend?” Nezznar
smiled darkly. “Now, now, don’t make accusations you cannot substantiate. Alec’s
caravan was ambushed by the Cragmaw Goblins, not by my hand. And as for your
friend, well, perhaps he died so that you, Alec, could live, and at this very
moment, give me an accounting of yourself, he?”
Alec roared at the memory of his lost comrades. Siegfried smiled, hoping that
he had managed to enrage the barbarian to the point of unlimited aggression. Alec cast
shatter. Effortlessly, Nezznar swept out a robed arm and counterspelled
the magical attack. The shattering sound stopped abruptly, crashing like broken
crystal goblets on a stone floor. “Listen to
me, Alec Trevelyan, for your future depends on your answer,” Nezznar growled. “You
and your new friends have in your possession a certain item that I am
interested in recovering. Where, my friend, is the scrying stone of Sharandar?” “I don’t
know what you’re talking about,” Alec said. “Our caravan lost the scrying stone
in Neverwinter Wood! The goblins took it!” Nezznar’s
eyes glittered in the darkness. “Did they now?” With a flourish he reached into
his robe and produced a glittering sphere, its core blacker than the shadows Nezznar
moved through. Motes of light danced within for a moment, and then the dark
crystal ball was gone. “There is
more than one stone, young fool, and I have it on good authority that your
party recovered another one from the depths of Old Owl Well. What did you think
the Red Wizards were doing scratching around that old ruin in the first place?” “I don’t
have it,” Alec said. “Don’t be
so quick to dismiss me, Trevelyan!” Nezznar said with a dark smile. “The more
pertinent question is, why have you come to Ieirithymbul? Not in pursuit of me,
I daresay, nor in search of the scrying stones, based on your obvious ignorance
of their true purpose. Above all I am curious of your intentions, so much so
that I might be tempted to call my pets to heel for a time should we be able to
come to a mutually-advantageous agreement.” He turned to Siegfried and regarded
him inquisitively. “Now then, here is a new face! Strange, yet somehow familiar.
Tell me, half-orc. Have we met before? You seem so familiar to me.” Now it was
Siegfried’s turn to laugh. “No, Nezznar, this is no reunion, nor is it a negotiation.
You are going to die today.” “Am I now?”
Nezznar said. “Well, I never let a stranger kill me without first learning
their name. Might I have the pleasure?” “You might,”
Siegfried said, straightening up to his full height. “I am Siegfried Alagondar,
the first of my name. And you, Black Spider, will bow when addressing royalty,”
he concluded with as much aristocratic arrogance as he could muster. The Black
Spider threw back his head in a taunting laugh. “Royalty? Oh, my dear Siegfried
Alagondar, you should know that your companions tried that angle on me the last
time we crossed swords, and-” “I SAID KNEEL!” Siegfried commanded with every fibre
of his being. Before
Nezznar could respond, he was enveloped in an ice storm that produced a
hail of rock-hard ice pounding into the ground. Snowflakes and sleet swirled in
a maelstrom.
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From across
the cavern, Erwen’s teeth chattered as he channeled the snow from above ground.