Todays highlights: Left to their own devices, Kayne and Belamrose decide to reenact Dog the Bounty Hunter: Fantasy Special, and decide to go after a band of bandits that's been picking on merchants and travellers along the high road. Their first day out, they find remnants of a merchant convoy on the road, and tracks leading into the woods. Finding nothing left to loot rescue, they follow the tracks into the woods. Belamrose spots something white and glistening off to one side of the trail, which upon investigation proves to be excessively large spider webs scattered throughout a section of the forest. Deciding that anything without bounty isn't worth hunting, they turn back and continue after their original prey. Further along the trail, they find a pile of strangely gnarled and twisted wooden branches. Nearby are small patches of blood. Confused and uncertain, they plunge bravely onward. Suddenly, the mystery is solved as the trees surrounding them abruptly move of their own accord. Caught off guard, they rally quickly, especially once they discover that the trees are prone to bursting into flames like a torch dipped in oil at the first sign of flames. Onwards! Finally they come to a cave entrance. Sneaking in, they find.... what's this? A trio of bandits near the entrance have been trussed up like winter solstice gifts! By... sticky spider webbing. Eww. Being the type to look gift bandits in the mouth, they ungag one of the bandits for a quick Q&A session. Curiosity satisfied, they gag the poor fellow right back up again. Creeping silently ahead into the cave, they hear sounds of battle up ahead. Eventually, they make out a giant spider in battle against a group of bandits. Our heroes rush into battle... wait, no. Actually, our heroes stand aside and watch the show. Kayne puts out the campfire in the cave so as to improve the mood lighting. Bandit screams redouble. Suddenly, Kayne starts screaming as well. He's covered in tiny spiderlings! Jumping into the water to get them off, he is only partially successful before he succumbs to the poisonous spider bites. Belamrose comes to the rescue by dragging Kayne out of the water - as well as the remaining spiderlings, who quickly decide that one skinny half elf is just not enough for dinner. Our pyromaniac monk is more than capable of taking care of himself however, and chars most of the spiderlings to crisps. Their high pitched death cries alert the giant spider, who begins moving out of the cul-de-sac the bandits were trapped within. For the first time, everybody's aware of the presence of our heroes. With remarkably quick thinking for a semi-conscious wizard, Kayne freezes the water around the giant spider's legs, trapping a pair of them in a giant block of ice, followed quickly by a 2nd pair. This proves to be a mixed blessing, as the spider uses its impromptu giant ice mauls to slam a bandit against the cave wall, killing him instantly. The annoyed spider also poops a giant pile of webbing onto Kayne. However, the combined efforts of the bandits, along with a couple of well-aimed monk firebolts to the head, suffice to bring the spider down at last. Tensions escalate for a while, but B & K (Burger King, anybody?) have earned enough goodwill to leave the cave without hostilities. Returning to town, their tales are met with polite disbelief by the mayor. Moving trees? Giant spiders? Really? Giving up for the moment, they head to the inn for a well deserved rest. In the common room, they overhear some locals talking. Farm animals, and even some farmers, have been going missing at night, and some of the corpses have been found covered in needlelike injuries. Later, the conversation shifts to the trees that some farmers have been trying to plant from the seeds of the magical red apple the goblins sell annually. The apple saplings tend to grow up twisted and unhealthy, and have a strange tendency to disappear after some time. Local speculation is that the goblins are protecting their monopoly on magical apples. The next day, B & K return to the den of thieves. A few unwise decisions and unlucky rolls later, Kayne lies unconscious and Belamrose is down to his last hit point. As Belamrose is desperately trying (and failing) to negotiate for their lives, Vargach walks into the cave. With the remaining bandits distracted by Belamrose, Vargach hurls a bolt of lightning that drops one of the bandits. A second one is covered by glittering dust, and curls up asleep on the cave floor. Belamrose takes his chance to eliminate the final bandit. Belamrose : Thanks guys! Vargach : Couldn't leave all those fingers uneaten, now could we? Voice from above : See, this is why you don't leave your teammates behind. Kayne : Glurhk. Cough. A short rest later, they head back to town. They show the mayor the twisted remains of the twig blight, which startles the mayor badly. These are larger versions of the apple saplings they've been growing! Although nobody has managed to grow any saplings to the size of the ones on his table - they usually disappear at a smaller size. The mayor is heavily perturbed at this, along with the news that giant spiders have moved in not far from the village. ----- Fin. Thanks for reading! -----
