The Cobwebbed Shrine and the Dark Pool

After making mincemeat of the cultists, the Adventurers push deeper into the caves...

5. The Cobwebbed Shrine

The Adventurers’ lanterns light a heavily cobwebbed room. Cocoons of spider-silk hang ominously about the chamber, which is obviously a shrine. A SPIDER-MONK, sits cross-legged suspended in webbing, chanting before an altar crawling with normal-sized spiders. A tapestry spun from spider-silk hangs behind the altar, showing Arhallogen astride an astrological representation of the Heavens. If the Monk is inspected Adventurers will notice that he has two small extra sets of legs growing at awkward angles from his hips. Compared to with withered, aged skin of the rest of the Monk, these legs have bright pink, babyish skin. The Spider-Monk is in the midst of metamorphosis – being most blessed of Arhallogen – and is unable to respond to the Adventurers.

If the Adventurers do not take care in this room, they will pull on the webs. If they do so, they will alert 1d6+2 GIANT SPIDERS to their presence.

There are four exits. To the [north] there is a climbing rough cut stair-way, from where can be heard the clang of metal and brutish shouts. To the [south] there is a tunnel that slopes up, back to the entrance chamber. To the [east] there is a climbing tunnel, which is illuminated by flickering firelight. Also to the [east] there is also a smaller, downward sloping tunnel. This tunnel is utterly silent and utterly black.

GIANT SPIDER

SKILL 7 STAMINA⑧⑦⑥⑤④③②①             

Weapon	1	2	3	4	5	6	7+
Bite	2	3	3	3	4	4	5

Giant Spiders can make 2 Attacks.

Armour	1	2	3	4	5	6	7+
Bristly Hair	0	0	0	1	1	1	2

Snaggletooth the Dwarf decided that he would use his battleaxe to clear a path through the cobwebs... so any real investigation of this room had to wait until after the Adventurers had dealt with the Giant Spiders that he had alerted. Once that was over, and much of their recent rest and recuperation undone, the Adventurers had the chance to inspect the Spider-Monk. Unable to break his meditation, Rhoda Red-Tress hacked off his head.

5a. The Dark Pool

At first glance, the pool here seems to be filled with water, but is impossibly black, no matter what illumination is used. The pool is made of the essence of Krazan Krazan’s magical webs, and is an extremely sticky and utterly black substance. It can be collected, perhaps, and used imaginatively. It is, however, also partially in Eternal Web, the Realm of Arhallogen, and so will act as a homing beacon, should Arhallogen turn his attention to the Adventurer carrying the stuff. 

Naturally, enough, after poking the blackness with their weapons and finding it almost aggressively sticky, the Adventurers decided to 'chuck stuff in'. They cut down several of the cocoons from the Shrine and tossed them into the pool. Tendrils of black climbed up the cocoons thrown into the pool, dragging them down, but before they were fully submerged the cocoons faded out of existence. Puzzled, the Adventurers decided to throw the body (and head) of the SPIDER-MONK into what they presumed was a cosmic dustbin.  

The Cultists

I've been a bit quiet on the blog, but here's the first of some encounters from last week's AFF2e game.

4.  The Cultists

This is the rough dormitory of the spider cultists. At any time there are 1d6+3 ACOLYTES here; cooking, eating, sleeping, engaging in ritual scarification, including inserting glass beads into cuts on their foreheads, in order to mimic the multiple eyes of a spider. But hey! They’re not Orcs, so they won’t be found round a table idly rolling dice until the Adventurers show up.

The Acolytes are a mix of peoples. A few are red-haired Vynheimers. But there are also acolytes who appear to have come from the Isles of Dawn and some that resemble Old Worlders in their appearance. Any with curious mind will realise that this is not a local cult, springing up solely from native corruption.

ACOLYTES

SKILL 6 STAMINA⑤④③②①             

Weapon	1	2	3	4	5	6	7+
Dagger	1	1	2	2	2	2	3

Poisoned Daggers. After successfully causing damage, victims of the Cultists must Test for Luck of lose 1 SKILL for the remainder of the combat, as the weak poison on the daggers saps their strength.

The Acolytes carry vials of antidote to spider venom. However, as this is a potion concocted in the service of Arhallogen, those using the antidote will find that they ‘owe’ Arhallogen a death, and he will seek to collect this debt. This is not a problem for cultists. Arhallogen will visit any using the antidote in their dreams to remind them of what they owe, and how their debt can be paid.

Tunnels lead [south] to the daylight of the entrance, and off to the [east], sloping down into darkness, from which can be heard the chanting in a dark, alien tongue.

Thanks to the assistance of Midweek One-Eye, the Adventurers knew that this room contained a number of cultists. They planned to lure the cultists into an ambush, but spent so long loudly arguing over their plan that they disturbed a GIANT SPIDER (the 'scuttling corpse') and alerted the cultists to their presence. So, instead, it was they who were ambushed!

Despite the substantial difference in effective SKILL - the 6 for the cultists was outmatched by any Adventurer, with martially inclined beginning Adventurers starting out with an effective SKILL of 9 in their chosen weapon - the poisoned daggers made for a moderately threatening encounter. With LUCK a diminishing characteristic, and with falling SKILL resulting in an increased frequency of Tests for Luck, this was not the cakewalk it might have been. Nevertheless, the Adventurers eventually made a bloody mess of the local congregation of Arhallogen, but did need a good rest, during which Provisions and Potions were consumed.