Len manages to look confused, but he understands the explanation.

"Queen. Hmm. All right. And thank you to Cole."

The fighter stares up at the hole while the crates are being stacked.

"I hate spiders" he mumbles.

Khaaven continues to struggle ineffectively at the powerful webbing.  Alas, he remains stuck.

The spider starts to approach for another bite when the shouts from below sound out.  The spider hesitates for a moment staring at Khaaven.  That's when Hugh jumps up and grabs the lip of the attic floor.  As Hugh begins to pull himself up, the spider decides discretion is the better part of valor and flees the attic through a hole in the roof.

With Hugh's help, Khaaven is able to pull himself out of the thick webbing.  Getting down to the main floor will be a simple matter of dropping through the hole and having party members catch you to break your fall.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
16:17, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Khaaven, rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  Escape web.
16:17, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Khaaven, rolled 4 using 1d6.  Initiative.
16:17, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Spider, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

"Drop whenever you are ready. I shall break your fall." Cole shouts to the hole in the ceiling, positioning himself to readily catch anyone who falls from above. "One at a time, please."

Dreya steps up and braces herself to also help catch someone...hoping like mad she isn't smooshed in the process. But she is eager to prove to her traveling friends how useful she is trying to be!

Elwood readies himself to take care of Khaaven's wounds.

Len looks back to the entrance to the building.

"I better keep a look out, just in case."

The fighter walks to the opening and gives a look. The lodge seems to be a place of interest among possible foes.

Hugh approaches the hole and gets to his knees. Dropping down should be a simple matter for the monk. He turns backwards, grabs the ledge and allows himself to hang from the edge, before finally releasing his handhold.

OOC: Hanging from the ledge like this and dropping would at most entail a 3 or 4 feet drop, assuming the hole was 10 feet above ground. A basketball hoop is 10 feet tall. I am 6 feet tall, and as a young man I could jump up and grab the rim without much difficulty. Landing on my feet also wasn't a big deal.

This shouldn't really be that hard, unless I misunderstand the height of the hole.

Hugh prepares to drop to the ground floor when he is interrupted by Khaaven groaning.  He looks over as the assassin's face breaks into a grimace of pain, then the assassin stiffens like a board and falls to the floor of the attic.  Hugh rushes over to check on his fellow party member.  Khaaven continues to breathe, but looks fairly ghastly.

Hugh carefully lowers the paralyzed assassin down to the rest of the party, then neatly flips through the hole and lands on his feet down below.

Len is on lookout at the front door to the lodge.  He sees a monstrous spider scurry across the clearing toward the woods.  The spider runs over Snarg's body and the body starts to drag across the clearing behind the spider.  It looks like the spider must have snagged the orc with a strand of webbing as it passed.  Dinner is served.

Situation summary:

• Khaaven is in pretty bad shape
• Everyone else is in great shape
• You have two sacks of gods-know-what to deliver to the orcs in the temple below the lodge
• Snarg is unconscious somewhere in the woods and out of your hair, presumably permanently.

Now would seem to be a good time for the party to deal with Khaaven's injuries and make a plan to tackle the temple below.  We can launch the attack on the temple upon my return from vacation.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
17:18, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Khaaven, rolled 3 using 1d4.  Poison damage.
17:17, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Khaaven, rolled 10 using 1d20+3.  Save versus poison.

---

Elwood quickly goes over to Khaaven, lays his hands on him and chants "In nomine Flyspamon, ipso facto et al ad hominem" {Casts 'Cure Light Wounds' on Khaaven}  "I can heal some of his wounds, but there's not much I can do if he has been poisoned by that spider."  After casting his spell, Elwood gets out a bandage and binds his wounds.

[OOC: Use 2 luck points to add to my amount to heal roll]
This message was last edited by the player at 00:36, Mon 07 Nov 2016.

Len hesitates. Should he inform the group about Snarg? He decides that just giving the knowledge couldn't hurt. The fighter turns to the group.

"Pardon me" Len begins. "That Snarg got snatched up by a big ol' spider and dragged into the trees."

With a shrug, Len turns back to his watch.

Dreya moves over to poor Khaaven. It might be a long shot, but she knows a body has lots of fluids in it. Laying her hands on the archane assassin, she delves deep inside herself for as much energy as she can possibly dredge up, and then casts "Purify Food and Drink" in an attempt to make any poisonous or otherwise contaminated food and liquid pure once again.

[OOC - Will use one of my hero points to attempt to save Khaaven's life.]
This message was last edited by the player at 00:23, Mon 07 Nov 2016.

"I doubt that will work, Dreya." Cole says, taking in Khaaven's stiffened form.  "He is a man of flesh and blood.  He needs an antidote or nature's healing for whatever toxin has entered him.  Perhaps I can find some forest remedy for Khaaven. I know of a few herbs that can alleviate symptoms of a paralytic nature.  You guys keep him alive until I return."  Cole darts out of the lodge in search of whatever flora or fauna around the area he can find that could neutralize spider poison.

(If he can, he will also make a wisdom check to see if it is indeed paralytic poison that is afflicting Khaaven. He will search for the ingredients needed for whatever he discerns. Cole will will expend a hero point to speed up the time it takes to find and make the ingredients.)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:00, Mon 07 Nov 2016.

Elwood prays over the half-elf.  He puts his hand over the bite on Khaaven's arm.  With a flash of golden light, the wound miraculously heals and a look of vigor returns to the rigid assassin.  6 points healed.

Dreya tries casting purify food and drink on Khaaven (no need for a hero point on this one).  His saliva changes to the purest spit imaginable, but he remains paralyzed.

Cole heroically dashes out to the woods and immediately stumbles upon exactly the moss he needs behind the first tree he checks.  It is a quick matter of mashing the moss into a paste and rubbing it into Khaaven's gums.  Khaaven's body starts to tremble, then he begins to move his limbs slightly.  He's able to sit up on his own in just a few minutes and ready for adventure within a half hour.  He may be down 5 hit points, but he has a wicked scar to impress the ladies with when he gets back to town.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
07:58, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 6 using 1d8+2.  CLW.

---

Dreya did say it was a long shot! Ha ha ha!

Len returns to the interior of the lodge to address his comrades.

"Hey," he begins. "What are you going to do about those sacks out there? You never know what's in 'em, huh."

The fighter gives a quick glance at the others. He then turns and returns outside to continue his watch.

After attending Khaaven's wounds, Elwood goes over to Len.  "Could you help me bring that one remaining sack back here?  I'm afraid that is a bit too heavy for me to do it alone.  If we're quick about it,  we should be able to retrieve it before that spider notices us."  After mentioning about the spider,  Elwood's reflected on Snarg's fate.  "Poor fellow. First he got skewered by Veera, escaped from us, but was then captured and beaten by his fellow orcs, rescued by us, only to end up as a spider's dinner.  He sure felt Oponn's push."

Dreya nods at Elwood.  "I wish we could have helped Snarg more."  She glances around at the rest of the party.  "I am not a very strong fighter, and need to rely on my spells more.  I wouldn't mind waiting for a short rest.  But if everyone wants to forge ahead, I will try my best to be as useful as I can.  I for one don't trust that so called "queen", and would like to see what is in the sacks before we just blindly deliver them."

She moves to the sack already brought in the cabin and gets ready to peek inside.

Hugh remains vigilant while listening and looking for activity either outside in the woods or below the cottage. He gives the sacks a curious glance but leaves their exploration for other members of the party. The party has already seen evidence of several interlopers and he is still not convinced the woman and the ogres might not double back looking to gain an advantage.

Hugh nods at the thought of bringing the bags inside. He places his weapon on his back and heads to the rear of the building. It takes little effort (I hope) for the large man to carry what he can inside. He places each container on the center of the front room floor. When done, Len wipes his brow.

"Anything good?" he inquires.

Cole stands beside Dreya as she peers into one of the sacks as he waits for the others to gather in the lodge. Just in case, his hand is ready at his side to pull Vera should the occasion call for it.

The party easily gets both of the bulging and sometimes squirming sacks into the center of the lodge's front room.

Is Dreya going to look inside one of them?  Is the party heading downstairs immediately or resting overnight first?

Drey brings her ear close to a sack first to see what sounds she hears.  Then she opens the sacks to look inside.

Elwood holds his mace and shield at the ready.  He positions himself a couple of steps away from the sack Dreya is opening,  is a spot that won't interfere with the rest of the party.  He is ready to either spring forward in  attack or spring backwards, depending on what is in the sack.

Not liking the looks of the squirming sacks, Cole pushes Dreya aside as she opens the sack, hoping that was sufficient enough to get her out of dangers way, bracing himself for the worst.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:45, Fri 25 Nov 2016.

Dreya puts her ear next to one of the sacks.  Fortunately, no ear worms attack.  Listening carefully, she hears slightly squishy sounds and a wheezing sound every few seconds.  She mostly hears the sound of the sack's rough cloth rustling.

The druid carefully begins untying the sack.  Something inside presses toward the top of the sack as she does so, eager to escape.  As Dreya unties the final knot, Cole shoves her aside and braces for whatever might launch itself from within the sack.

The first thing to escape the sack is a foul odor, something like boiled cabbage only much worse.  The party can see a faint yellowish-brown haze float up from the sack's opening and disperse.  The sack begins to shake violently and topples to the side.  A fleshy, leathery something rolls out and stops at Len Packer's feet.  Your minds struggle to process what you are seeing.  It's sort of like a misshapen cube covered in what appears to be skin.  Bones (or something worse) press out against the skin from the inside in waves, so that the skin periodically bulges at odd angles as it stretches thin and you can start to make out the outline of whatever is moving within.  The thing also expands and contracts spasmodically in conjunction with the wheezing sounds.  Your best guess is this represents the breathing cycle of the object/thing.  It's fairly small, maybe 2 feet to a side if it were pressed into the form of a cube instead of the crazy misshapen mess that it is.  Other than the occasional tuft of black hair, the exterior of this thing is unremarkable.  You can't see how air is getting in or out.  It does not have a mouth, eyes, or any appendages.

You can see more excited movement within the sack.  This thing probably has friends.  The other sack is also moving more.