Four hours pass. The entire first watch. JACK does not return.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 06:51, Wed 23 Feb 2011.

Zeig stays up waiting and doesn't wake anyone that is asleep.  idk if anyone actually went to sleep

DAI would try to get as much rest as he could...to amke up for the resources lost during the last fight but, he would wake up soon after to watch with whoever else was up.

Sara wakes back up around this time. She sees ZEIG and whispers, "Go to sleep, and stay that way. I'll wake up VIL next."

The guards are passed out. Their injuries are still quite severe and they have no problem sleeping, even while laying on the backside of their coils of rope.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:03, Wed 23 Feb 2011.

Zeig reluctantly agrees to lie down, at the very least.  After finding a semi-smooth rock to use as a pillow he lays down, resolute to stay alert for signs of Jack.

Very soon after resting his head he begins to feel the full wear of the day; the exertion in fight with the spiders, the constant aggravation from Roland, not to mention the anxiety that slowly crept into him as the day stretched on and on.  Even lying on the tent floor and a rock, Zeig slips into a hard sleep against his best intentions.

Hours more pass. JACK does not return. The beginnings of a Lightningsday sunrise start to creep up. Sara, exhausted, wakes up both VIL and DAI, then falls into a hard sleep.

DAI wakes up, refreshed but...feeling guilty as soon as he sees Sara had stayed up all night. He pokes his head outside, taking in the scenery...wondering if they should head out to search today...he had been gone too long now.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:59, Wed 23 Feb 2011.

Vil stretches and continues pacing as he did before, looking around.

Another few hours pass by. The guards wake up, and Sara and ZEIG shortly after.

Another fifteen minutes or so pass by as you all eat. Sara, again, makes water for herself and the two prisoners.
Everyone eat another day's worth of rations. Sara feeds the two guards, finally awake enough to eat. She has 3 days of rations left.

"Let's see if we can find any trace of him up the road, but I hate to say it: we may need to go back to the castle if we can't find him. We can come back with a search party. Care to summon a chocobo to throw these two over, DAI?", she says as she motions towards the guards.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:52, Wed 23 Feb 2011.

DAI nods, ready to go search for JACK. He summons up a chocobo, and would move to place the soldier atop it.

Zeig wakes up with a massive ache in the side of his neck from sleeping on a rock.  He crawls out of the tent and steels himself when he realizes that Jack is not among them.

After hearing Sara's words he nods and helps Dai move the soldiers onto the chocobo.

"Well, I suppose we should get him out of whatever mess he's gotten himself into, eh?" He says with a forced grin.

The guards are slung up over the back of the chocobo, and the party sets off back northward. The stench of the rotting spider corpses is rather... palpable. The chocobo nearly needs to be drug around the dead things.

Remember to remove the two tents from whoever's inventory.

Around a half hour after the party sets off, stopping to look for any signs of JACK from time to time, they notice a large, white chunk of spider silk hanging from a tree about 10' from the road. It is roughly 6'6" long and cylindrical, with the ends tapering off.
[Private to JACK: You are having a dream. You're floating through and endless maze of fire and heat. Nothing else is around you and time seems not to pass. It is clean. It is safe.]

Zeig's stomach clenches up at the sight and sweat beads on his forehead as they draw near to the silk sac.  He looks around to the others.

"...we have to know."

How high is it suspended?

It's about 8 feet off of the ground. You'll have to climb up the tree and cut it down, or something similar. It is hanging about four feet underneath a large branch of a tree. The branch itself is about 18' off of the ground.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:49, Wed 23 Feb 2011.

Zeig shakes his head, taking in a deep breath and releasing it as he opens his eyes, full of resolve.

"This...wasn't here yesterday.  Vil, can you catch it if one of us gets it down?  We'll have to carefully cut it open to check...if there's any chance whatever is in there is still alive then we don't want the fall finishing them off."

"Sure, but be careful." Vil stands underneath the branch, prepared to grab.

"Get ready."

Zeig forms a ball of glowing light in his hand and as he fires it it unerringly seeks the webbing that is attaching the sac to the branch.

00:17, Today: ZEIG rolled 7 using 1d4+3. Light.

The first Light hits the cord suspending the package, and damages it, but it does not break. You try another casting of Light at the same spot, which does break it.
23:40, Today: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 4 using 1d4+3.
[Private to ZEIG: Silken rope (what this is similar to) is tougher than regular rope. To save time, I figured you'd just cast it again anyway.]
The cocoon fall towards the ground. VIL is able to catch the bulky object. It feels lighter than he was expecting. It is very, very soft to the touch and the inside feels like it contains something more firm.

VIL then lays the large silky mass on the ground.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:48, Thu 24 Feb 2011.

DAI pulls out his dagger...and moves to cut away at the bindings on this, what he assumed was a person.

OOC: Make checks? I mean...I'll take long as it needs, technically daggers can't even deal slashing damage but I'm using it to cut >.>

No checks required. While daggers cannot normally do slashing damage, they can out of combat given precise motion against a stationary object no problem I'd assume--especially to relatively soft ones like this.

DAI begins cutting the cocoon at the middle slightly nearer to one end. It isn't long before he exposes what everyone instantly assumes is JACK's clothing. It looks as if his backside was showing. ZEIG immediately checks for a pulse or any sign of life, but finds none.

DAI continues to gingerly cut away the wrapping towards his head. VIL wonders how he could possibly be so light as he remembers when he caught him.

JACK's face, once uncovered, is extremely thin and skeletal. It's as if all of the fluid and most of his mass has been drained from his body. There is a large, gaping hole in the top of his head. Sara's eyes dart away as the shredded, wispy, and dried remains of his brain can be seen Knowledge (Nature). His eyes are rolled back and shriveled. There are multiple bites on his body that look the same as the spider bites received earlier by the party.

It would be possible to leave him in this cocoon and drag him back.

"I hope the clinic can revive him...", Sara says, her eyes welling up. "Brave, stupid fool..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:13, Thu 24 Feb 2011.

Zeig grabs his stomach as he recalls the sensation of drawing out the party's poison previously, knowing that Jack most certainly perished with this pain.  He nearly vomits but manages to keep his breakfast with eyes wet mostly from the act of dry heaving.

"You damned fool!" he says, muted under his gasping.  Zeig collects himself and remembers Sara's words.  "The clinic will surely care for Jack, I've seen them take care of situations like this before on rare occasions while I was employed.  I'll have their best attend him when we return but we mustn't waste any time."

Vil looks grim at what's left of Jack's body.

"Not sure the Chocobos will like a dead body strapped to them, we need a way to carry him."

DAI stays wordless at this horrid unveiling. He stands once JACK's face had been revealed, and looks out toward the forest clenching his fist. He pulls out his old robes, a he had still been carrying them, and used their massive folds of fabric to cover JACK from all sides after cutting away most of the spider silk. He then summoned up a second Chocobo and tied JACK's concealed remains to it.

Taking a 20 on Use Rope, total 22...don't feel like risking the dice roller

Can't take 20's on Use Rope, and the results are always made in secret from the player. The only change to the rules I have is that I roll them when you use the rope, not when the rope is actually tested.

The chocobo is quite alright with its burden. After a few minutes, as the smell seeps through the robes, it seems a little less easy-going but willing to follow the party.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:41, Thu 24 Feb 2011.

Zeig lets out a small sigh.  "All right, if we are finished preparing then let's get moving.  There are obviously more of those creatures, the sooner we leave the better."

Zeig pulls out his heavy crossbow and a quiver of 20 bolts, placing them with Jack on the chocobo.

OOC: Out of curiosity, are any of Jack's things with him?