Ambush

After standing around in silence for several minutes, Agna spoke up.  "I believe that Endure Elements or Endure Elements, Communal would do the trick.  So would life bubble."

"How long do those last?" Gavril inquired.

"Endure Elements is for 24 hours, but I would need seven of them.  That uses all my first and second level spells, not that I use them alot."

"We don't know how long we will need this protection," Ciprian piped in.  "Maybe only for a short time."

"But what if we need it for longer, like the whole day?" Gavril countered.

"I would like to be protected," Erevel added.

After a rather long discussion the group decided, at least for today to use the Endure Elements on each of them.  Agna would take the Life Bubble also in case of some failure or unexpected turn of events.  Ciprian wondered what would happen during the next day in the land of Bohlvarai and cast his Lithomancy Stones.

"Take care of your heads, they may get caught in the webs."

He interpreted this as meaning they would find spiders in the area.  The party did not have much in terms of protection against spiders but stepped beyond the invisible line separating the drained city from the mountain peak.

No longer feeling the cold the party made good time and followed the path that led around the mountains to its entrance into the tunnel.  The mist shrouded mountaintops jutted from the earth. Ahead to the south, wisps of snow, blown about by gusts and eddies of wind, partially obscured a monumental tunnel that cut right through the mountainside. The tunnel appeared artificial, as gigantic support columns braced the sides and roof every twenty to forty feet.  As the party arrived at the tunnel entrance they could tell that the air was thin, it was difficult to get a good breath of air but they pushed on as intrepid heroes.

Erevel and Gavril led the way into the tunnel, Erevel's dark vision and a light rock courtesy of Armania allowed sight in the area.  The tunnel continued with gigantic support columns, some even big enough to hide behind, supporting the ceiling.  In random areas debris was spread on he floor which was pure ice, no running or acrobatics in this area Erevel announced.  The party determine that magic was probably not used to create the tunnel, as it lacked a uniform or consistent appearance, but neither did it appear to have been dug out using tools. Ciprian cast Mirror Image upon himself as the heroes entered the tunnel.

Erevel and Gavril took opposing sides of the tunnel as they cautiously moved forward.  The tunnel began to widen and the ceiling rose even higher as the group came within sight of a larger chamber.  In the chamber a solid statue of an unusual creature, carved from oddly colored stone, stood on a raised dais. The statue was approximately twenty-five feet tall, and its head had fallen off and now lay shattered at its base. The figure itself was a monstrosity, with a barrel-shaped body, leathery wings, and five tentacles at its base. The head resembled the broken remains of a starfish with bulbous eyestalks on the end of five tentacles.

Ciprian moved forward to identify the creature and determined that it was an Elder Thing similar to the ones the party had fought below Mun's home in Cassomir.  What it indicated here in Bohlvarai.  Ciprian had cast See Invisible and so far had not seen anything in the tunnel that was not visible.  Gavril moved to the side of the tunnel with Erevel as the party moved passed the statue on the west.  This chamber was large enough for the party to worry about being separated.  After the statue the tunnel narrowed to the previous width and the ceiling lowered to about thirty feet once again.

The next thing that the party saw were two large white penguins who were haphazardly milling around the middle of the tunnel.  The penguins did not seem to notice the party but just lazily milled around the tunnel.  Gavril threw a rock forward and the penguins moved toward the noise but made no motion to attack or look for a source.  Erevel inched forward and a third penguin came into view.  This one was also moving about without purpose, the same as the first two.

Ciprian moved toward the center of the tunnel and cast Detect Magic finding three emanations of magic, though only two of the penguins were in the area of effect.  The party decided to move further to the south.  Gavril threw another rock to distract the penguins as the party moved passed.  The tunnel continued at about the same dimensions.  The ceiling was slowly climbing as a very dense mass of webs appeared near the ceiling and the west wall.  The party moved to the eastern wall to avoid the mass of webs.  As they moved past Ciprian noted an invisible huge spider hanging behind the web mass.

The southern end of the tunnel terminated with a complete cave-in that blocked further passage. The support columns on either side of the tunnel appeared to have been pulled or knocked toward the center of the tunnel before they cracked and broke.  Erevel climbed the rubble pile and found that there was no way through.  The group began to head to the north once again but the party became somewhat split with Agna and Armania in the south and the others to the north.  Suddenly the spider hiding behind the web through a web at Erevel, Ursina, Gavril and the invisible Erich.

Just following that one of the penguins facade melted away and another huge spider moved to viciously bite Erevel in the web. Gavril, unhindered by the web, moved out to attack the spider but took two attacks for his efforts. Armania cast a fireball on the spider near the ceiling and Erevel moved out of the web to attack also.  Ciprian identified the monsters as Leng Spiders, who the party recalled was the beloved of Viscount Pietro Brellin in Celephias, he then began a performance against them.  Agna fired arrows at the spider on the ceiling and Ursina cast Flame Strike on the same.  Erich began a performance also giving the heroes even more effectiveness.

The spiders then healed up some damage and attacked, the first biting Gavril and then attacking Erevel with flails made from webs.  Then it threw web bolas at Ciprian, destroying an image.  The second cast Insanity at Agna.  Gavril now waited for Ciprian to move to the spider so they could flank, Armania cast a Lightning Bolt at the spider now on the floor, Erevel attacked with full force as Ciprian moved into position. Ciprian and Gavril then attacked doing much damage.  Agna stood still blabbering incoherently and Ursina cast Freedom on Movement to walk out of the web toward the near spider.  Erich kept playing his viol and decided no other spells were necessary.

The spider near the web full attacked again on the party while the other moved to Agna but first attacked Armania with a bite which injected a poison.  Armania tried a magic missile which failed but Erevel attacked again with full force which combined with Ciprian and Erevel dropped one spider.  Agna, looking confused did attack the spider with minimal effect.  Ursina moved toward the remaining spider as Erich kept fiddling away.

Before the spider attacked the party heard a muffled and distant cry of “Tekelili! Tekeli-li!” Upon hearing this, the Leng spide very intentionally looked around and paused for a heartbeat, but then made its multiple attack on Agna.  Gavril, Erevel and Ciprian headed to help their embattled mates and soon the second spider dropped also.

Agna still had a confused look in her eyes as Ursina turned to look at the remaining penguins worriedly.

DM's Notes: The party earned 17,067 XP for the night and will reach 16th level after their next encounter.