Session 24: Venom and Webs
January 3, 2966…
Despite the fog and light rain, and the biting cold, travel was easy.
“You know these lands well,” Arthanar noted as they traveled down the road on the way to Combe. Maethordan made a brief comment about how he’d spent time studying maps that he had gotten from Anne Wintermoss, a teacher in Bree.
It did not take long, once inside Chetwood to understand what Allan Bywood had meant; the forest was unnaturally still. Not even the slight rain seemed to penetrate the dark, tree tops. That’s when Welton whispered, “Look!” His voice was filled with fear. The reason the rain had not penetrated the treetops became dreadfully apparent. The entire treetops seemed to be covered in something; something that prevented the light from entering the woods, almost as if an unnatural dark, murky cloud had clung to the treetops.
As the tension mounted something moved in the brush, that had nearly caused everyone to jump in alarm - and a moment later, a large, grey wolf came through the shrubbery and collapsed on the path before Maethordan. Arthanar quickly moved forward to examine the wolf. The wolf whined in great pain, its body shuddered violently as if it were convulsing. Arthanar seemed to be speaking to the dying wolf, until he drew his own dagger and shoved it into the wolf’s throat. He turned to whisper, “The wolf died of venom,” he said softly, looking all around him. “I fear a vile predator has moved into these woods.”
At that moment, three giant spiders descended from the darkened treetops!
Lodin’s adrenaline surged through his body, as he quickly drew his weapon and faced off against one of the giant spiders that had landed closest to him. With Rukhsfelak, the battle-axe in hand, he brought the battle axe firmly into the giant spider’s head, blinding three of its eight eyes. The spider reeled back, venom dripping from its eager fangs. Lodin was able to strike another blow, slamming the battle axe deep into the giant spider’s leg. Venom sprayed from its fangs in fury, and the battle axe, enchanted as it flowed through the air once again, bringing it down directly on top of the spider’s head, cleaving deep into its skull. The spider shuttered and twitched violently, though it was already dead, its mind had not yet processed it, before it fell still.
Lodin, eyes blazed with battle, looked and quickly jumped over a log to reach one of the other giant spiders. However, at that moment, one of the giant spiders that had dropped in on the back sank its venomous fangs deep into their newest companion, Hoplite Glendoodle. The hobbit screamed in pain, as he felt the venom enter his body from the massive bite, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he began to convulse.
“The hobbit has fallen!” Welton cried out, as he placed himself between the spider and the fallen Hobbit. In that moment, he wondered – what was he doing? He didn’t know this hobbit! Why had he run and placed himself between this massive, venomous beast and the dying Hobbit? He brandished his magical dagger and swung it back and forth in order to keep the giant spider at bay. Arthanar raced to the Hobbit’s side and watched as the small Hobbit continued to convulse and vomit. He quickly pulled out some herbs he had had and helped stabilize Hoplite, as Welton continued to swing his dagger to keep the giant spider at bay.
“I need more time,” Arthanar said. “The Hobbit has too much venom in his veins. He may perish from this bite.”
Welton shook his head, “I am no warrior, but I am a Ranger of the North. I will do what I can to keep the spider at bay.”
Maethordan, torn between fighting the spider he and Lodin were facing, and rushing over to see how Hoplite was doing under Arthanar’s care, and the fact that Welton was somewhat under his guidance, was distracted – and as he brought his sword down, the giant spider quickly skittered away from the tree it’d been dangling from, so that Maethordan’s blade struck with all the force he’d put into it – directly into the tree the spider had descended from. He cursed to himself. He quickly drew another weapon, and its blade tasted the spider’s flesh, cutting deep.
Lodin, who was on the other side of the same spider, had managed to deliver another hit to the spider as it had skittered to avoid Maethordan’s original attack, but the wound had not cut as deeply as Lodin had hoped.
Both Lodin and Maethordan heard Welton cry out. The giant spider who had hoped to wrap the Hobbit up in webs and escape with a quick morsel had grown tired of the human before it, swaying its small blade and bit deep into Welton’s shoulder, like how it’d done to Hoplite. Venom rapidly glowed from its fangs into Welton, who, like Hoplite, collapsed, though he was not convulsing as Hoplite had been.
Despite the danger looming before him, Arthanar moved from stabilizing Hoplite, to now applying his herbs to Welton. “The Ranger of the North has fallen,” he called out.
At those words, Maethordan put all of his might into his next attack against the spider he and Lodin had been fighting; he thought again, how he took some responsibility for Welton in some odd way; Strider had entrusted Maethordan to keep an eye on him; more so to ensure that Welton would not betray the Rangers of the North and go back to his old ways, but there was some sense of responsibility to Welton’s welfare. He blade struck true, cleaving deep into the spider’s head, slashing across several of its eyes. In fury, however, the giant spider retaliated, despite the blood seeping from its massive wounds, blinding it; it still struck true and deep. However, as blinded as it was, one of the creature’s venomous fangs had missed Maethordan, so the venom injected into his body, though brought him almost to his knees, was not as lethal as it could have been.
Arthanar looked up from Welton and saw that the giant spider that had bitten Hoplite, then Welton, now had eager, venomous fangs dripping over him, ready to lunge. Arthanar rolled out of the way, with his Elvish grace, and drew Liantefaikar – immediately the bow’s string glowed a soft blue, causing the giant spider to reel in fear. It had recognized the magical weapon – Liantefaikar, the Spider-Bane!
Maethordan heard the other spider behind him hiss loudly, but as the venom coursed through his body, he could barely focus. He swung his blade wildly at the spider he and Lodin had been fighting; it struck the spider’s flesh, but Maethordan’s failing strength from the spider venom, was not strong enough to piece its flesh. Another such strike from the spider would surely do him in as well, he realized.
Though he knew not why, the spider he and Lodin were fighting, seemed suddenly afraid – as it lunged forward it seemed uncertain, almost as if it had suddenly desired to run, and so its venomous bite missed. Maethordan saw a faint blue light coming from behind him, but thought it a side effect of the poison that wracked his body.
As fearful as the spider had been, Lodin used this opportunity to generate a critical strike, cleaving down where Maethordan had originally struck, driving his battle axe deep into the spider’s exposed brain. The spider fell, lifelessly.
As the other spider, which had been reeling from Liantefaikar seemed uncertain of what action to take, though difficult with the spider so close to him, Arthanar launched an arrow and despite all odds, the arrow found its mark, biting deep into the spider’s flesh.
Maethordan, barely able to stand, came to stand next to Arthanar, and swung his blade, and drove it deep into the reeling spider. Lodin joined them, and between them, the third spider too met its death.
Arthanar immediately turned to Hoplite. “He is dying,” he said gravely. “He took the first hit from that spider,” he pointed to the one they’d just slain, “and so, the most venom. Welton,” he looked to the pale human, “will recover. He will be sick for several days. It is Hoplite who I do not know if he will awaken again.”
Lodin kicked the dead spider several times, before reaching over and pulling one of its giant, venomous fangs from its chelicerae. “For the Reeve in Combe, should he doubt us,” Lodin said, as he carefully placed it into a bag. “Best have Arthanar tend to your wounds as well, Maethordan.” Maethordan nodded, and Arthanar quickly began to diagnose the amount of venom to counter and bandage Maethordan’s wound.
“Keep that bow at the ready,” Lodin nodded to Arthanar, as they helped Welton stand again. Though still violently ill from the venom in his body, the solution Arthanar had applied would soon counter it; but the way to Combe would be met with several stops and Welton vomiting uncontrollably from time to time. Hoplite was placed on Dolly’s back, who moved with the grace of a feline, through the woods, knowing the poor Hobbit was on the brink of death.
As they traveled, Arthanar kept the bow string pulled tight, even as he glanced at the moaning Hoplite on the back of Dolly. From time to time, it glowed blue, sometimes fading, sometimes brighter. “They watch us,” Arthanar said, “skittering in the treetops. What force has brought them here to Chetwood?” Hoplite moaned again, and Arthanar added, “The fact that the Hobbit moans in pain is a good sign. He may yet live. But he will be sick for weeks until the venom is out of his body. He will be able to stand in a few days, but his breath will come short, his endurance wiped from him, until he is fully cured.”
Though Chetwood surrounded much of Combe, the bow ceased glowing blue once they’d gotten several miles closer to Combe. Upon arriving, a wizened, older man greeted them by the name of Oswald Breeker. He looked and saw the Hobbit slung over Dolly and looked to Maethordan and the ill-looking Welton. He recognized both of them though they may not have recognized him. “Come! Come inside,” he gestured, to a large farmhouse.
=====================
Fellowship Points:
2 (1 per player) + 2 (Gandalf) = 4
Fellowship Bonus: Gandalf
You can spend a Fellowship point to roll an additional d20 after a saving throw (but before the outcome is determined) and choose which of the d20s is used.
Yule Activities –
Lodin – Gather Rumors - Choose this undertaking to receive a rumor from the Loremaster. Until the next Fellowship Phase, Player-heroes in the Company have advantage on Intelligence checks related to the rumor.
Lodin – Write A Song - Choose this undertaking to compose a song, choosing whether it will be a Lay, a Song of Victory, or a Walking song (no ability check is required).
Note: The player who joined last session and created Hoplite Glendoodle left during this session. I am not sure if it was unfortunate circumstance that the first round the giant spider had bitten him and done a lot of damage as well as poison damage that had rendered his character unconscious, and then on top of that he rolled a Critical Fail on his savings throw, though I did inform him that he could reroll that save because of the Fellowship Bonus through Gandalf. He decided to depart the game, however, which I understood. So, I kept Hoplite down and extremely sick from the venom and made it a part of the story that being as small as he was and being the first bit by the spider, his tiny body got so much venom that while Arthanar was able to save his life, it would be weeks upon weeks before Hoplite would be able to travel. So that way, he will remain in Combe and recover from there. I could have let his character die there, but I felt like having Arthanar heroically try to heal him and Welton suddenly fighting to defend Hoplite and being heroic - and having that moment of, "What am I even doing?" made for a far stronger story than "Oh, Hoplite died."