Melita would find water, brought by some kind folk who weren’t up to lifting rocks but still wanted to help in other ways. A barrel of rainwater had been rolled into the shade of the Atheneum’s entrance, where it wasn’t exactly cool but at least provided relief for dry throats and hot skin as the workers took small breaks to fill their mugs from it. She and Caiside would be welcome to enjoy a drink as well – once the arachnid infestation was dealt with! Something Fangorn seemed well-suited to do, leaping into the fray with a glorious fury and making gourd-sized inroads on the swarm with every roll and crunch of his sharp teeth. Unfortunately, the little terrors were swift on their eight skittering legs, and many managed to avoid his bite.
The honeybee girl’s cheering might have encouraged her companion to further carnage, but it did little to protect her from the handful of stragglers who got passed Fangorn’s buffet. Three red spiders made their way up her clothing and delivered bites to her hands and arms that would swiftly begin to swell and itch annoyingly.
Caiside and Melita made a good team, moving more rocks and rubble with the wheelbarrow than either could have done separately, and much faster than they would have done alone. Visible progress was being made, large sections of floor beginning to show from beneath the toppled wall, before the swarm was disturbed and struck chaos throughout the workforce. Using his makeshift trap, he was able to catch seven spiders, and help other workers slap away or squish their nightmarish passengers. Nimble fingers and careful eyes helped the Attuned avoid being bitten himself.
Rory and Jigano made a good team as well, hauling the rubble and emptying the carts so those doing the carrying by hand didn’t have to walk so far. They had found a good rhythm, before the screaming started inside, and they shared a startled look before they both rushed in to the Atheneum on two legs and four, respectively. The hunter’s shovel wasn’t a terribly effective weapon against the tiny terrors, his swings too slow to catch many of them with each crushing smash of the tool against the ground, but the reverberations at least kept them from trying to swarm him, and he remained safe from harm. He would perhaps recognize the small, bloated red bodies as being a species of Rosethorn Spider that was annoying, but not usually deadly. Their bites were like bee stings: painful, quickly swelling, and itchy, but rarely life-threatening to a human unless a swarm was able to catch a person unawares and cover them in enough bites to overwhelm them.
Jigano had four large feet with which to stomp and crush, and he did so in an equine dance of thorough dismay at the new arrivals to the party. Snorting and prancing with agitation, each hoof landed with well-executed precision on large clumps of spiders, crushing them into the flagstones and then lifting again before their brethren could run up the long, slender legs to exact vengeance for their fallen siblings.
The spiders and the subsequent hollering, dancing, and swearing almost drowned out the noise of stone shifting and grinding against stone.
Almost.
The nest of spiders had not merely been angry at being disturbed, it seemed, but were also fleeing the tremors of centuries of rubble being reorganized, and not always with care taken for how some pieces of wood and stone supported others. As the last of the spiders skittered away into new shadows, the largest portion of the rubble groaned and then collapsed in a rolling, rumbling cascade, throwing dust into the air – and trapping two of the townsfolk who didn’t get out of the way fast enough before being caught in the miniature landslide. For a moment there was only silence, broken by the coughing of those who had been closest to the collapse. Then the cries for help began, echoing with increasing panic and pain from beneath the newly-restructured pile of broken masonry and beams…
Fangorn makes a small meal and Melita is bitten by 3 spiders!
Caiside collects 7 spiders and avoids being bitten!
Rory smashes a few spiders and avoids being bitten!
Jigano stomps many of the spiders to death and avoids being bitten!
But the remaining rubble has fallen on two of the townsfolk, and it doesn’t sound stable as ominous creaks and groans emerge from the pile. What will you do?
This is the final round for part 1! No posting order.
The honeybee girl’s cheering might have encouraged her companion to further carnage, but it did little to protect her from the handful of stragglers who got passed Fangorn’s buffet. Three red spiders made their way up her clothing and delivered bites to her hands and arms that would swiftly begin to swell and itch annoyingly.
Jigano had four large feet with which to stomp and crush, and he did so in an equine dance of thorough dismay at the new arrivals to the party. Snorting and prancing with agitation, each hoof landed with well-executed precision on large clumps of spiders, crushing them into the flagstones and then lifting again before their brethren could run up the long, slender legs to exact vengeance for their fallen siblings.
The spiders and the subsequent hollering, dancing, and swearing almost drowned out the noise of stone shifting and grinding against stone.
Almost.
The nest of spiders had not merely been angry at being disturbed, it seemed, but were also fleeing the tremors of centuries of rubble being reorganized, and not always with care taken for how some pieces of wood and stone supported others. As the last of the spiders skittered away into new shadows, the largest portion of the rubble groaned and then collapsed in a rolling, rumbling cascade, throwing dust into the air – and trapping two of the townsfolk who didn’t get out of the way fast enough before being caught in the miniature landslide. For a moment there was only silence, broken by the coughing of those who had been closest to the collapse. Then the cries for help began, echoing with increasing panic and pain from beneath the newly-restructured pile of broken masonry and beams…
Fangorn makes a small meal and Melita is bitten by 3 spiders!
Caiside collects 7 spiders and avoids being bitten!
Rory smashes a few spiders and avoids being bitten!
Jigano stomps many of the spiders to death and avoids being bitten!
But the remaining rubble has fallen on two of the townsfolk, and it doesn’t sound stable as ominous creaks and groans emerge from the pile. What will you do?
