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Spider Attack!

Discussion over, the group wearily resumed their sodden march. It is about another half a mile further on, that the group come across something that gives them cause for alarm.

Lucretia, in the lead with Thunderbolt, spots a white bundle on the trail some 30 feet ahead as he rounds a corner. Slowing, he walks several paces further towards it before the recognition of the shape kicks in, and he starts to become worried. The bundle looks like the remains of a deer or similar sized four legged animal, wrapped in a cocoon of silk threads - just like how a spider might wrap a fly it has caught... As the others closest behind him round the corner, they too see the bundle and come to similar thoughts. Those at the back merely start to wonder why the group are slowing.

Blondung glances all around then hisses a whisper to those stopped behind him... "Keep your eyes peeled, there may be...Yeaaaaaaaaaaaggghhhhh!!!"

What he is about to say is made obvious, as a large spider, it's body a good two foot across and it's legs about six foot long and ridged with sharp hooks, appears from round the side of a tree trunk, and
launches itself at Blondung, hitting the mage and knocking him sideways into a large patch of ferns off the edge of the path! Four of the creature's legs pin the mage, who is barely visible, half hidden by the ferns and the spider's body. Before anyone has a chance to help Blondung however, his body seems to burst into flame (as it had done once before when Torus had grappled him), and the spider screeches a strange high pitched chittering squeal, releasing the burning mage to leap almost 10 feet straight up into the branches of the tree above, where it hangs, smoking and continuing to squeal in pain, obviously seriously damaged by the blast of fire.

From all around, there are answering similar chittering noises, and the forest seems to burst into life, as numerous spiders of varying sizes - some larger, some smaller than the initial one descend in the party...

ROUND ONE
========

(OOC: Because of clashes of initiatives, things don't necessarily happen in the order that the posts come - hopefully you'll all forgive my artistic licence... Also note that I have changed the key of the map - instead of reading small, medium and big - it now reads large, huge and giant - which is a better description of them, and the one I've used in the text below)
"Try to use fire to keep them at bay and let's get moving! Maybe once we're out of their lair they'll give it up." yells Cleo.

Lucretia almost leaps into the saddle as two huge spiders, their bodies the size of a sheep, their legs extending to a good six foot span, come around the trees on either side of the trail and tense to spring. As Thunderbolt skittishly edges to one side of the trail, Lucretia draws his short sword, looking around from his slightly higher viewpoint and noticing the ferns and bushes moving almost all around them - there were spiders everywhere it seemed!

Ceely, breaks into a run, getting about 10 feet further down the trail before another huge spider launches itself at her from the right. Bringing her harpoon quickly to bear, it's sharp point punches through the spider's hairy hide and disrupts it's trajectory slightly, releasing green foul smelling ichor from the wound as the shaft rips free of the spider's body. As she dodges out of it's main path, it flails at her with it's legs, finding a purchase and swinging itself and her around so she is facing back down the trail, the spider half-hooked on to her side with two legs. It's jaws surge forward and she feels a sharp pain (OOC: 2hp damage) to her thigh as it bites her. The wound throbs intensely. (OOC: Yes, I rolled a poison saving throw - no, I'm not telling you the result yet :-)

Milo, having seen the spiders erupting from the trees and undergrowth all around, charges after Ceely, only a few paces behind her as they thunder down the path. Another spider, this one from the left side of the path, leaps at Milo at the same time as the one attacking Ceely. The Painbearer whirls his staff, the wood cracking with a sharp retort of the top of the spider as it sails past him to land in the ferns a couple of paces off the other side of the path.

Meanwhile, Cleo, her sword suddenly blazing with light and making the gloomy tunnel through the wood a lot brighter, watches in horror as the most enormous spider she had ever seen - it's body the size of a cart-horse, it's eight legs spanning some 12 feet across, strides out of it's concealment towards the pack ponies.

She doesn't have time to think about that however, as two huge spiders simultaneously leap towards Larz from each side of the trail. Jerking his shield into the way, there is a clang and scrabbling of legs on metal armour as Larz manages to deflect one. Sweeping his axe in a back-handed blow Larz manages to intercept the other one as well, and it falls short, it's momentum slowed with a hefty gouge in it's head. Without thinking, Cleo steps forward and chops at the injured spider with her broad sword, the heavy blade almost chopping the huge spider in half. It's legs splay out under it as it collapses onto the trail, barely twitching. (OOC: Critical! Woohoo!)

Yvandel, the young mage still digging in his pockets for spell components whilst looking frantically at another similarly terrifyingly big spiders has the reins pulled out of his grip as the four pack ponies start to stampede down the trail. Bumped aside, it is all Yvandel can do to maintain concentration on his spell, and a moment later, the final syllable trips off his tongue, and with no small amount of apprehension to the result, Yvandel casts his first lightning bolt. A surge of power seems to well within him, flashing down his extended arm to leap into the air as a fully formed bolt of lightning, which zigzags it's way across the intervening 15 paces, striking the giant spider. A small analytical part of Yvandel's brain notes that the bolt is significantly smaller than the one formed by the bone wand that Blondung bears, and he wonders what it must feel like to cast a bolt spell of that power!

The giant spider is knocked backwards by the force of the bolt, and it's legs thrash in convulsions as the electricity momentarily upsets the creature's nervous system. Steam rises from it's body, and there what looks to be a crack in it's black skin, the area around where the bolt struck charred and burnt.

Another part of Yvandel's brain more closely related to self preservation notes with despair that the bolt didn't appear to have actually killed the giant spider however.

Meanwhile, the rear pack pony - Spot - squeals in a most un-horse-like manner as the other giant spider snakes out a couple of legs, snaring the pony as it tries to run past. The powerful hooked legs pull the horse backwards, the poor beast struggling futilely against the immense strength of the spider. Tied to the other ponies, the lead snaps taut, and the pony is almost saved, dragged free by the others, but it is too late, as the giant spider sinks it's large fangs into the pony's haunch. Almost immediately, the back legs of the pony sag, and Spot starts to collapse, half-held up by the spider and the pull on it's reins and bridle from the front.

At the front of the chain of ponies, Vaslin is also nearly knocked aside by the ponies, and finds herself staggering into the ferns on the left of the path. A smaller, but still huge spider leaps from some 20 feet away, out of a tree and lands on the lead pony next to her - Diamond - before biting the pony on it's neck. Diamond bucks, trying to shake the spider off, but it clings fast, it's legs wrapped around the horses back and the belongings strapped to it better than the best barbarian bare-back-rider.

Vaslin, somewhat in shock from the horrible spiders, hesitates as she looks in horror at the huge spider injecting it's poison into poor Diamond. From behind her, she senses movement, and looks around to find a smaller, but still large spider - it's body a good six inches across and it's legs spanning a couple of feet in total, trying unsuccessfully to bite her legs.

Meanwhile, Blondung, the flames around him vanishing as quickly as they had appeared, scrambles backwards to keep away from the frightened ponies, not wanting to get trampled. A large spider, comes out from the ferns behind him and he almost leaps to his feet to avoid being bitten by it. With one hand, he gestures quickly, blurting out a quick spell, and three magical darts of energy leap from his outstretched fingers, to zap into the spider in front of him. The spider is knocked over onto it's back and it's legs twitch once, it's body burning slightly.

At the front of the trail, Lucretia, with sword now drawn, glances down at Herod, the Battleguard near the rear of Thunderbolt and casting some form of spell. Before the priest can finish the spell however, a huge spider bowls into the priest, making him stagger. Amazingly, Herod manages to twist with the impact, and the spider fails to manage to keep a grip, falling off and into the path of Diamond at about the same time that the other spider lands on it. As Diamond starts to buck and rear, Herod somehow manages to keep his concentration, and finishes casting his spell, a ball of fire appearing in his upraised hand. “I see you don’t like fire!" he says, hurling the ball of flame down onto the spider at point blank range. The flame explodes on the spider, engulfing it in a momentary flash of flame. Again, the burnt spider chitters and squeals in that weird way, it's hairy back smouldering and scorched and exposing a harder exoskeleton below.

Lucretia doesn't have time to admire Herod's spell casting however, as another spider leaps towards him and Thunderbolt. Luc's sword flashes out, but misses as the spider crashes into Thunderbolt's rump, and proceeds to bite the horse. Thunderbolt whinny's with fear, and it is all Lucretia can do to stop himself being bucked off.

Further back, between Blondung and Yvandel, Dorn starts to agree with Cleo's call for moving forward. "Aye Cleo, good idea there lassie! Since we dwarves..." Whatever Dorn was about to explain about dwarves is lost, as a huge spider bounces off the dwarf's back, and making the sturdy dwarf take a couple of paces to keep his balance. Whirling round, the dwarf swings his battle axe, the enchanted blade shearing through legs to punch into the main body of the spider. The spider thrashes knocking Dorn backwards, his axe wrenched from his grasp as it is firmly embedded in the spider's body.

Merrell, one of the slowest to react, is reaching for a wand, his eyes fixed on the giant spider attacking one of the pack ponies when something warns him, and he just manages to skip out of the way as a huge spider leaps out of the undergrowth some 20 feet away behind him, and lands pretty much where he'd been standing. Spinning to face this more immediate threat, he notes a different large spider skittering out from the undergrowth, to his left, and almost by instinct, he blurts the command word for the wand of fire. A fan of flame blasts out for a second, searing both spiders in front of him and making them both shy back. As the fire disappears, the two spiders are left smoking and charred..

At the very rear of the party, Dodge barks and growls at a large spider on the trail behind him. The spider tries to bite the dog, but Dodger lives up to his name, and easily avoids the spider, dancing around it and snapping at it's legs whenever it gets close.

ROUND TWO
========

Jumping back from the huge spider he had just attacked, another ball of fire springs into being on Herod's palm, and he hurls it down on the spider again, where it bursts in a flash of flame. The spider, already scorched once, leaps backwards, away from Herod and off to the west, smoking and screeching in a high pitched chitterling.

Close by, Lucretia swears and hacks at the huge spider half-hanging off the back of Thunderbolt, his blade skittering off the spiders hard exo-skeleton as he gets the wrong angle. Thunderbolt makes a terrified noise, his eyes wide and his ears laid back against his head as he struggles to rid himself of his attacker. The spider seems to ignore Lucretia's attempt to dislodge it, and simply continues to pump poison into Thunderbolt's rump, making the horse stagger sideways and half off the trail into the bushes. Lucretia, winding up for a second strike, feels the horse below him shudder and rock back to the right, as another huge spider leaps some 30 feet, hitting Thunderbolt's left flank and sinking it's fangs in. Again the poor horse squeals and staggers, amazingly managing to keep it's feet. Lucretia swings again, this time cutting deeply into the first huge spider and making it release it's bite on Thunderbolt.

Near the back of the trail, Larz, grateful for Cleo's assistance, focuses his attention on the huge spider that he had deflected with his shield, sweeping his axe in a low arc. The heavy axe blade chops through spider legs, taking out most of it's front legs, and it collapses awkwardly onto the ground, trying without success to raise itself back up using it's rear legs and definitely out of the fight.

From some distance away however, another huge spider launches itself at Larz. The dwarf ducks and twists at the last moment and the spider flails at him with it's legs, but fails to get a grip, over-shooting and landing on the dwarf's other side. As Larz turns to face this new challenge, a smaller, but still large one scuttles out of the the ferns behind him, scrabbling at the back of Larz's legs in vain as it tries to find a vulnerable spot.

Close by, Cleo, seeing Merrell beset with a couple of smoking spiders, with further rustlings in the ferns several yards away indicating more large ones arriving, lunges forward to hack at the nearest one. Unfortunately, one of the legs from the huge spider she had just killed manages to get itself trapped between her legs, and she trips as she lunges forward, barely managing to catch her balance, let alone hit the huge spider. (OOC: Whoops - fumble!).

As she gets her feet under her, she is slammed from behind, as another huge spider she hadn't spotted before leaps a good 30 feet or so from a tree off to the left of the trail. Already off her balance, she is knocked from her feet, and finds herself flat on the edge of the trail with a huge spider on top of her. A sharp pain at the top of her left legs tells her that the spider had managed to find a spot through her armour to bite her. (OOC: 2hp damage).

Merrell, not as impressed with the results of the wand of fire as he had hoped, raises it again, noting that the smaller spider he had burnt before was scurrying away, but that the larger one appeared to be gathering it's legs again to leap. Before he can utter the words, the huge spider leaps upwards, intending to come down on top of Merrell, Merrell flinches, noting with horror what was happening to Cleo in the background, then realises that the spider hadn't descended. Looking up, he can see it had managed to get itself wedged in between the branches of the trees above the trail. Seeing Cleo in trouble, he changes his mind, and trips off a quick spell, a couple of magical missiles leaping from his outstretched index finger and smashing into the spider on top of Cleo.

The huge spider squeals, leaping a few feet off to one side, freeing Cleo.

"Everyone to me and hold to the ponies" yells Yvandel, starting to cast a spell. Almost without exception, everyone is rather busy with their own problems, and no-one immediately rushes towards Yvandel. With an audible snap however, Spot's reins suddenly part, and other three ponies surge forward, at least Soupy and Nibbs do - Diamond, with a huge spider hanging off it, continues to buck. From somewhere off to the right, a second huge spider leaps past Blondung and latches itself to Diamond's neck, making the horse squeal in pain as it is injected again.

Soupy and Nibbs, trailing the broken reins charge onwards down the trail, pushing through the ferns on the right hand side of the trail. Somehow, Nib's reins, which had been attached to Diamond, come free and the two ponies run unfettered, almost reaching Milo before another large spider leaps onto Nib's head, almost causing the pony to fall. Soupy has to skid to a halt before running into Nib's rump.

OOC: No post from Dorn this round - so he can be on auto-pilot - which is generally to attack the nearest spider - in this case, also the biggest! :-)

Dorn, having dispatched one spider glances around, realising that the giant spider Yvandel had zapped was advancing again - towards the young mage, who appeared to be concentrating hard on spell casting! Completely dwarfed by the giant spider, Dorn charges into the ferns towards it, his axe magically re-appearing back in his hands as he jumps up and slams it into the still steaming body of the giant spider. The axe cuts deep, causing a huge crack in the spider's shell to open up, ichor leaking out. The spider's two powerful forelegs snap out, grabbing Dorn and jerking him forward towards the spider's large fangs, which punch down through Dorn's shoulder, injecting him with vicious poison (OOC: 6hp damage). Dorn shudders uncontrollably for a moment as the foul poison is pumped into him, but the dwarven constitution fights back, and within moments, ashen face and still shaking somewhat, he regains control of his body and hacks again at the spider, this time not managing to get the angle right, the blade skipping off the spider's hard shell.

Behind him, Yvandel finishes his spell, and a wave of fire suddenly springs from his fingers, appearing to incinerate the ferns and spread out into a wall of flames, hissing and spitting and forming a flaming barrier along the right hand edge of the trail. The spiders on the other side shy away from the flames, backing away as the flames rise higher. Dorn, held with his feet dangling in the air by the giant spider's powerful forelimbs, feels and sees the flames rise up around him, and for a moment, it almost seems like they will burn him, before he remembers Yvandel's speciality and sees the illusion for what it is. The spider doesn't know of Yvandel's tendency for illusions however, and drops the dwarf, skittering back a couple of paces. As Dorn lands, he scrabbles backwards, putting the illusionary flames between him and the giant spider.

OOC: This is the compromise illusion I've somewhat agreed with Steve - I think what he had suggested before was a little beyond the capabilities of that low level illusion spell - this is more realistic I believe.

Blondung, nodding in appreciation of Yvandel's spell, turns towards the spiders on Diamond, and flicks his fingers in a similar spell to Merrell's. A couple of magical missiles zip from his index finger, one striking each of the two spiders on Diamond. The two spiders jerk almost in unison as the magical missiles sizzle into them, but don't let go of the hapless pony.

Close by, Vaslin tries to swat at the large spider around her legs, but misses as it dodges and darts around her legs before suddenly climbing up and biting her at the back of her knee. (OOC: 2hp damage, now on 24/28)

Right at the front of the column, Ceely swings her harpoon at the injured spider clinging to her legs, but the spider drops off before the harpoon gets there and the blade misses. It tries to get another grip on Ceely, so it can bite her, but Ceely keeps managing to jerk out of the way. Raising her harpoon above her head, she tries again, this time the sharp point punching through the back of the spider, causing it to thrash around as she virtually pins it to the ground. A smaller, but still large spider tries to get close to bite Ceely, but the other spider's thrashing legs put it off and it doesn't come close. The bite in Ceely's thigh continues to throb (OOC: 1hp damage - now on 28/33)

At her side, Milo whirls his staff to keep the huge spider attacking him away from him, failing to do any damage to it, but luckily preventing it from doing any damage to him as well.

Meanwhile, right at the back, Dodge, still barking furiously, leaps forward and savages one of the many large spiders gathering about him, ripping off one of it's legs in his jaws, at the same time deftly avoiding being struck by their vicious fangs.

The giant spider that had attacked Spot, continues to pull the pony's body towards it, injecting it again as it makes doubly sure that Spot's feeble movements are the pony's last.

ROUND THREE
=========

<Herod aka Scott wrote>:
> Herod hopes that the spider he has sent two balls
> of flame into will not come back, and as yet another
> ball of fire appears in his hand he turns towards Luc.
> He will throw this next ball of fire at the spider to
> Luc’s right side hoping to free Luc to discharge the
> other spider.

OOC: Not sure if Scott has been reading the descriptions fully - and instead going on the maps only, as the two spiders attacking Lucretia/Thunderbolt - are actually half-on Thunderbolt - the Produce Flame spell - when the flame is hurled - it explodes in a 3 foot diameter burst - which means he can't help but get Lucretia and Thunderbolt in it - at least whilst the spider is still attached anyway - I'll rule through this by saying he hesitates and holds his action - i.e. waiting to see if he can get a clear shot.

Spinning around, Herod sees Lucretia on Thunderbolt - now with TWO huge spiders attacking the poor horse trying to bring it down. He hesitates for a moment, the flame burning bright on his upraised hand. Lucretia, fearing Thunderbolt was done for, chops down again at the spider to his right, catching it perfectly this time, the blade slicing deep into the creature's head and brushing it free from Thunderbolt's rump as if it were nothing but a fly. Clearly dead, the thing lands nearly at Herod's feet. Meanwhile, Thunderbolt bucks, trying to dislodge the second spider on it's left flank, but instead, assisting Lucretia as the warrior attempts to dismount, virtually throwing him from the saddle. Amazingly, Lucretia manages to twist in mid air and land, hopping, on his feet in the middle of the path.

As the horse turns, Herod sees a clear shot, and throws the ball of fire at almost point blank range at the back of the spider, hoping that it's body would protect Thunderbolt from the majority of the blast. With horror, as the flame leaves his hand, Thunderbolt shifts again, and Herod winces as he actually misses the spider, the ball of flame passing under the spider and between Thunderbolt's hooves, where it explodes into a mini three foot diameter fireball. Thunderbolt seems to leap into the air as his underbelly and legs are scorched by fire, but at least the spider is also scorched, and jumps some 20 feet away to the left of the trail, crashing into a swathe of ferns, chittering wildly.

Meanwhile further down the trail, in the middle of the three mages, Dorn screams a dwarven battle cry, and leaps through the flames at the giant spider that had just attacked him. Larz, glancing around at the cry cringes as he sees his cousin put himself into unnecessary danger, but has his own problems closer to home, and doesn't see the results of Dorn's actions. The dragon headed blade chops deeply into the spider's carapace, causing the whole spider to shudder. The powerful forelegs of the spider, raised to grab at Dorn, freeze in mid movement for a moment, then suddenly sag, as the whole body tilts, the remaining legs wobbling and giving way. Dorn, jerking his axe free watches for a moment as the giant spider seems to just wilt and deflate in front of him, it's central nervous system destroyed.

From all the spiders close by, there is a wild chittering that seems to escalate towards a crescendo, and suddenly Dorn becomes a focus for spider attacks.

From some 20 feet north, a huge spider leaps towards Dorn, the dwarf ducking down just in time as it shoots over his head and lands a few paces south of him. The ferns rustle all around, and several large spiders home in on him, swarming all over him before he has a chance to retreat behind the illusionary flames. Suddenly Dorn is virtually hidden from view as at least four large spiders clamber all over him, searching for somewhere unarmoured to bite. Struggling to brush them off, Dorn is bitten once on the chin, once on the back of his right knee, and once on the joint at his left wrist (OOC: 3hp damage, now on 29/38, plus three secret rolls versus poison >:-). Immediately, each spot begins to throb.

On the other side of the trail, the other giant spider releases it's hold on the body of Spot, virtually tossing the body aside and surges across the trail, directly towards Dorn. Yvandel, directly in it's path and just starting to cast a new spell is knocked aside like a rag doll (OOC: 4 hp damage) by one of the forelegs as it surges towards Dorn, hesitating as it reaches the illusionary fire. The fire which starts to appear slightly less realistic than previously... (OOC: one more round before the illusion fades completely)

Close by, Vaslin is relieved as the large spider that had just bitten her drops off and scuttles across the trail towards Yvandel, the young mage just hitting the ground. The two huge spiders all over Diamond also leap off, up into the trees above, where they quickly dance their way through the branches across the wall of fire. Seeing Dorn's imminent predicament, Vaslin unslings her bow and jerks out an arrow, nocking it and aiming towards one of the huge spiders in the trees. Pulling too hard however, there is a loud snap, and Vaslin finds in her desperation, she has pulled her bow string too hard, and snapped it. (OOC: Fumble)

Blondung, ducking instinctively as the two spiders that had left Diamond scuttle through the branches over his head, intones a spell, and a ghostly looking hand appears in front of him.

Merrell, seeing Cleo free of the spider on top of her, remembers the spider that had jumped up and got itself stuck in the tree above, and looks up just in time to see it descending on him. He tries to dive aside, but the spider lands on him, sinking it's fangs through his robes into his side. (OOC: 6hp damage, now on 13/19 + poison saving throw). The wound burns like a fire in his side. His mind too distracted to cast a spell, he thrusts the wand of fire into the spider, triggering it again. There is a flash of light as fire bursts around the spider, and a loud hissing noise as the intense heat causes some of the creature's bodily fluids to boil. It jerks away from him, bouncing around like a mad thing.

Cleo, a few paces away, springs back to her feet and charges after the spider that Merrell had stung with his spells, slashing at it with her broad sword, but missing as it skitters to one side. It springs back at her, but she brushes the attack aside, prepared for it this time.

Close by, Larz, only aware of the increase in noise and worried about his cousin, keeps his attention focused on the huge spider about to attack him. Ignoring the smaller, but still large spider behind him, he whirls his battle axe, screaming "Clangeddin!" at the top of his voice, he hammers his axe deep into the spider, almost crippling it, as it lunges forward, sinking it's fangs into a gap in his armour. (OOC: 6 hp damage, now on 25/31, plus a Poison saving throw! :-)

At the very rear of the trail, there is a yelp from Dodge as a couple of the spiders manage to get past his snapping jaws and latch on to him. He doesn't give up however, and snarling he bounds around, seeming to almost chase his tail as he tries to bite the increasing number of spiders closing on him.

Meanwhile, at the very front of the trail, Ceely whips out her short sword and decapitates the huge wriggling spider pinned by her harpoon. Milo whirls his staff dexterously, fending off the large spider in front of him as he moves closer to Ceely. Meanwhile, Nibbs, still with huge spider clamped on it's neck and Soupy in tow, charge down the trail, past Lucretia and towards Milo and Ceely. Milo manages to dodge aside, but the spider attacking him doesn't and is suddenly trampled by the charging ponies. Ceely, slightly off to one side remains out of their way. The large spider that had bitten her last time tries to climb up her again, but she keeps moving and it fails to clamber on her.

ROUND FOUR
=========

Larz lifts his battle axe high over his head, ignoring the large spider climbing his back, and slams it down onto the half-crippled huge spider in front of him, the heavy axe blade shearing right through it's body to strike sparks on the ground below. The spider collapses in a widening pool of ichor.

Several paces south of him on the trail, Dodge is having a hard time of it, almost surrounded by large spiders. Giving a yelp, he tries to live up to his name and dodge away from them, but is caught, and born to the ground by sheer weight of numbers, disappearing from view in a jumble of black spider legs and bodies.

Closer to Larz, Cleo barely notices that her dog is going down, focused on the huge spider that had attacked her before.

Similarly, Merrell also doesn't notice, only aware that the spider he had just burnt again was still not dead. One hand dives into a pocket, reaching for the wand of enlarge, but then he notices how low the branches are above the trail, and changes his mind.

A few paces further on, Yvandel scrambles to his feet, dipping a hand into a pocket and after a moment, pulling out some fluff and starting to intone a spell, his hand moving subtly over the fluff.

Beyond him, Blondung stumbles back onto the trail, his hand also delving in his pocket for something. Vaslin, hurls her useless bow at the large spider attacking her and runs a few steps away from it, before starting to cast a prayer.

The other battle priest (Herod) spots the giant spider hesitating in front of the wall of flames, obviously intent on Dorn, the dwarven warrior barely visible on the other side because of the spiders covering him. The Battleguard, moves sideways, trying to avoid the still distressed pony, his arm raised ready to hurl another ball of flame, this time aiming at the giant spider. As he goes to throw it however, Diamond bumps him, and his throw goes wildly off to the left, hitting a tree and exploding on the trunk. (OOC: Fumble!)

Lucretia, with the injured Thunderbolt at his side, gropes at his belt, pulling out a vial of liquid. Breaking the seal, he starts to quaff it.

The forest is filled with the sounds of battle, chittering spiders and squealing horses, and yet another sound seems to build. A dim humming can be heard, similar to that of bacon frying in a pan. The sound rapidly gets louder in intensity. As it does so the dim humming becomes multiple sounds. Distinct buzzing, like that of an angry wasp - several angry wasps, but much louder as if the wasps were bigger.

Larz, pulling his axe up, dripping gore, looks around wildly, trying unsuccessfully to brush off the large spider on his back. "Everyone close up!" he calls. "Something else is coming!"

Cleo, perhaps distracted by the sound of the imminent threat, stabs forward with her broad sword again at the huge spider in front of her, but it hunkers backwards, deflecting the sword with it's upraised forelimbs, it's rear legs bunched for leaping.

Lucretia, swallowing hard, also glances all around, trying to see what was coming as he feels things start to slow down, as he in turn speeds up.

Merrell and Blondung also look around. Several of the spiders - especially the smaller ones, also seem to pause, raising their forelegs and waving them in the air. Vaslin, eyes looking around wildly, continues her prayer.

Cursing, Blondung pulls out a certain bone wand and raises it, pointing it directly at the giant spider. "Nagasz hratblar" he spits, and the forest is again illuminated by a bright flash of light, as a lightning bolt leaps from the tip of the wand, across the intervening gap and slamming into the giant spider - which virtually explodes! This bolt was clearly more powerful than that which Yvandel had cast earlier, and continues past the spider, slamming into a tree trunk which also almost explodes, sending splinters of wood everywhere and igniting the tree into flame.

Almost at the same time, Dorn, virtually hidden from sight by the spiders crawling all over him, turns and leaps through the flames towards the giant spider, just in time to be blinded by the flash and deafened by the thunderclap. This close to the blast, he staggers for a moment, nearly knocked to his feet and covered in pieces of giant spider and ichor.

Three of the large spiders on him dropped off as he crossed the wall of flames, and the forth is knocked free by the blast of the exploding spider. There is a moment as he stands there, dripping, his helm somewhat askew as the illusionary wall of flames behind him slowly fades. Behind him, the spiders are leaping away and disappearing into the ferns, frightened off by the blast.

Yvandel, flinching from the blast, keeps his mind focused on his spell, as does Vaslin.

Cleo, glancing around sees Merrell use the wand of fire another time on the smouldering spider in front of him, the fan of flames catching the spider as it jerks around. She glances back in time to avoid her spider leaping on her, stepping to one side and slamming it hard with her broad sword as it passes. This time she gets a clean strike, the heavy enchanted blade cutting through the several legs and into it's body. It lands in a crumpled heap close by, obviously done for.

The huge smoking spider that Merrell scorched for the third time leaps erratically away, seriously injured.

As the sound of the thunderclap dies away - muffled quickly by the dense forest, the buzzing sound can still be heard. Clicking and whirling noises. The sounds of insect wings. Still getting louder and louder. And as the sounds come closer distinctly being heard in different tones and intervals. A high buzz followed by a paired series of low whirls. A long continuous droning with intermixed chips and pops.

Nearer the front of the party, Lucretia stands aside as Diamond, still bucking at the now non-existent spiders that had been on it, canters up the trail towards Ceely and Milo.

At the front, Milo and Ceely continue to battle with three large spiders. Milo, with quarterstaff whirling as he tries to keep some of the spiders away from him and Ceely, keeps glancing around, wondering what horror the wood was about to unleash upon them. Ceely remains more focused, again slamming her harpoon through one of the large spiders, the creature's body cracking and it's legs jerking in death spasm. Yanking the harpoon out, she repeats the process on another spider as it hesitates, seeming to feeling the air with it's front legs. It too dies and the third spider gives up, scurrying away from them.

Nearer the rear of the trail, Larz finally manages to dislodge the spider on his back, accelerating it on it's journey with a swipe from his battle axe as it tries to escape. With broken legs, it crawls into the undergrowth.

Looking up and around, Larz raises his axe in the air, listening as he can hear the sound of leaves shaking and rattling as if something were beginning to tear its way thru them. With each grasping tearing of vegetable sound there comes a strong staccato of fast repeated buzzing sounds. The beating of several large insectoid wings.

Strangely though, nothing appears.

ROUND FIVE (and end of combat)
========

Lucretia, finding himself moving much quicker, races past the still skittish and wild eyed Thunderbolt and back down the trail, running between Vaslin and Herod, the latter raising his arm to hurl a final ball of flame in the direction of a disappearing spider and then looking all around for the loud buzzing noise. Blondung, the bone wand now raised towards the leaves overhead, jumps as the warrior speeds past him, turns and sees Yvandel, the young puppeteer glancing around cautiously at the fleeing spiders.

The ex-Zhent's expression changes as he sees a big grin appear on Yvandel's face, the skilled illusionist flapping his arms and making a buzzing noise. "It worked. Bloody hell it worked." Yvandel says gleefully, the insect noise suddenly fading away as he let his spell dissipate.

Meanwhile Lucretia has continued his sprint, catching up Cleo as she ran past Larz in an attempt to rescue Dodge. "Dodger!!! Dodge!!! To me!" Cleo shouts urgently as she gets close. A couple of the large spiders break from the pile, turning to defend themselves from the two human attackers, as the others seem to scurry away off the trail, dragging poor Dodge with them, the dog feebly kicking it's legs. Cleo slams one with her sword as Lucretia chops ferociously at the other, both spiders immediately crushed under the weight of the warriors' blows.

Nearby, Larz has run in the opposite direction, rejoining his somewhat shell-shocked cousin. "Are ye hurt cousin?" he asks, seeing blood staining Dorn's beard, along with the spider ichor almost covering him from head to foot from where the giant spider had exploded. He too looks around warily at the fading buzzing noise, before he sees Yvandel doing a little victory dance and puts two and two together.

Near the front of the column, Milo and Ceely move towards the group, fearing some other terror about of arrive, before they do come to realise the illusionary nature of the sound Yvandel had been generating.

"Very realistic" mutters Blondung, putting the bone wand away and brushing a stray bit of spider ichor that had managed to hit him from the explosion.

Lucretia and Cleo make after the spiders carrying Dodger away, but the spiders move fairly rapidly, and by the time they have finished with the pair of spiders that had remained behind, the others had disappeared into the cover of the ferns and bushes.

Vaslin, shaken takes a moment to look at her bow, then runs to catch the reins of Thunderbolt and Diamond. Both horses are breathing heavily and still extremely skittish, bleeding from a number of spider bites. "Has anyone taken any spider bites?" she calls, her head craning around to try to watch the undergrowth in all directions.

Larz, still trying to get Dorn to focus glances up. "We should get out of here before they come back..." His gaze falls on the fallen pack pony Spot, then looks up, counting just Thunderbolt and Diamond. "Where are the other two pack ponies?" he asks.