"Intelligent beings dangerously close to an ominous spire, indeed." Hopp murmured unhappily. Tyric half-heartedly chuckled.
The group of four and the following tagalong found themselves staring at a towering mass that looked slung together, almost. The spire was threatening nonetheless, looming over them and electric with its evil. Separating them from it, and whatever was inside, was a deep putrid moat. The only visible passage over it was a bridge that was basically a few logs stuck together. On their way there, they had fought another group of Weavers and enraged Ferns before finally reaching this place. (Writer: Tyric) Baele had helped each battle, but the travelers still could not pinpoint where she was, or who.
As they walked to the spire over the logs, it became clearer that the building was made of wood, web, and dirt... And bones. Crossing the bridge, the group then halted in front of the wall.
"Do we knock?" Bolt said.
"Is there a door?" was the reply from Hopp.
Immediately afterwards, the group was startled by a part of the wall shimmering and then vanishing. Everyone, including Baele who was sticking with her tactic of hiding behind trees, turned to look at Tyric, who grinned.
"No, but I guess a hole will do." Bolt frowned a little. "You’re supposed to be conserving your energy."
"It didn’t take that much," Tyric said. Now it was Baele’s turn to frown. Either this person was lying, or was more powerful than he seemed, because the spell had been glowing in her sight with magical energy. Bolt didn’t look half convinced ether, but he let it go.
The group walked through the hole to arrive into a narrow passageway.
"Cheery, isn’t it?" said Silverleaf.
An uneasy chuckle ran through the group and echoed eerily down the hallway.
(Writer: Bolt) The adventurers had been walking down a wide tunnel for about five minutes. Other smaller tunnels branched off what looked to be a main one, but most were too small to follow. As Bolt had remarked, if spiders were anything like elves and their foppish courts, the big hall would lead to the big ruler. Of course, Bolt was currently nursing an "accidental" bruise to the forehead from Silverleaf’s elbow.
"I tripped," Silverleaf had insisted.
Oddly enough, the group had not run into any Weavers, or anything at all, for that matter. Bolt was about to comment on the lack of activity, when the hall suddenly widened. A large chasm spanned from one side of the cavern they were now in to the other. The "ground" was formed from giant overlapping webs.
"So how do we cross it?" Bolt asked. Silverleaf spoke up. "I have an idea. Why don’t I try walking over it. If it breaks, I can get a brief updraft of wind to propel me to safety."
Tyric shrugged. "I could just-" Bolt coughed. " I know you’re not going to suggest a spell."
Tyric reddened a bit, and Hopp grinned. "Go ahead, Silverleaf," she said.
After a few tentative steps, the elf began to walk more confidently. "It’s not sticky at all," he shouted back, Finally, he reached the other side, and motioned for the rest to come along.
"One at a time," Hopp suggested. "I’m not sure that thing can hold all of us."
Tyric crossed the web uneventfully. However, when Hopp was halfway across the chasm, Bolt noticed a large Weaver on the ceiling. Due to a bunch of hanging stalactites on the ceiling, he couldn’t get a clear shot. Unless...
Hopp felt the web shaking, and spun around. Bolt was running across it. Suddenly he rolled, and fired upwards. The Weaver came screeching down. The strain of impact and both Hopp and Bolt’s weight was too much. The web gave way, and Hopp and Bolt fell into darkness.
"Hopp!" Tyric shouted. Silverleaf put his hand on Tyric’s shoulder.
"They’ll be okay. Neither of them can die yet, we haven’t won," Silverleaf said with a slight grin. (writer: Silverleaf) "I wonder how far down they fell," he mused. He pulled out an unused torch out of his pack and dropped it into the dark pit. They all listened for the stick to reach the bottom. After hearing a ‘thump’ echo distantly, Tyric suggested that it was about a twenty-foot drop.
Silverleaf’s face lit up with an idea, "I could use my original idea and lower us down with a wind-spell."
Tyric spoke up, "Or I could just --"
"Quiet, you!" interrupted Silverleaf, who knew just what he was about to say.
A swirl of fresh, cool air wrapped around the two. Silverleaf jumped into the dark gap and Tyric followed. Their fall was slowed tremendously as blasts of air countered their fall.
When they reached the bottom, Tyric created a small sphere of Mage Light to make their surroundings more visible. Bolt was there, unconscious, and Hopp was tending to him. Hopp looked up, happy to see them.
"Something from above hit Bolt in the head." Silverleaf’s torch was laying somewhat guiltily a few feet from Bolt, who was starting to stir.
"Oops."
Hopp giggled a little and then looked at Tyric, who was sitting down and obviously thinking about something. "What’s on your mind, Tyric?" He started a little and said, "Nothing... I just could’ve sworn that the Weaver... Nah." Hopp shrugged and continued watching over Bolt.
Tyric frowned a little, and then relaxed, gazing at his light. His face broke into a smile as the light scuttled towards Hopp and split, leaving a light over her head. It then repeated the process until a stationary "light" hung over everyone. Hopp and Silverleaf exchanged glances none too discreetly.
Tyric sighed and said, "Relax, I just gave the light a simple set of instructions." The group now had enough light to notice that the walls had occasional openings into other passages. Suddenly, the light Tyric had began to speed to one of the openings. Hopp glanced at Tyric.
"There will be plenty of time to explore, Tyric."
Tyric gave Hopp a confused expression. "I didn’t tell it to go there. Its instructions were to form a light over people I’ve met only... today. Hold on." He started sprinting after the ball. Hopp sighed.
"Silverleaf, stay and tend to Bolt, I’m going to make sure that Tyric doesn’t get into trouble. " Silverleaf nodded. "And don’t tell him that’s your torch!" At this, she turned and went after Tyric.
