Dumbarton Oaks’ Magic Tome — Giant Spider Country
To be perfectly honest, I don’t recall how this all got started — but I remember how it ended and, according to Master Po, that is the important part because it means I am still alive.
Can’t say that about everyone. Sondra (the Great) fell under the onslaught of a giant, venomous spider. Ah, Sondra, you crazy woman, I miss you already. And, unfortunately, this may be an inconvenience to my larger agenda. Still, that is for another time. She died as she would have wanted, in mortal combat against a monstrous foe, with the lives of the party on the line….
And make no mistake, we barely made it out of this one. The forest was crawling with venomous spiders, all of which were ridiculously large. For most of them, that was ridiculously large compared to other spiders. By the time we got to the big mama spider, however, we’re talking ridiculously large compared to the big’uns — and much, much bigger than me.
The new spell came in handy. Would cast again. Who’m I kidding? I’m gonna cast that thing all the damn time! Still, gotta watch your line of fire like a hawk with that one.
By the end, most of the fighters were down, our healer poisoned and the only healthy party member was a pixie fairy with no magic. Leges, the new man, acquitted himself admirably, stepping up into the maw of the beast to hack at it, while I blinded the beast’s eyes with flour so it could not see to strike him back.
If this gambit had faailed, I had an outside chance of getting out (if I didn’t flutter into a web!) but I couldn’t think of a way to get even one person out with me. Most of them were unconscious and all too heavy for me to lift.
Thank Benyar it didn’t come to that. We last few made our efforts count. I think Nyneveh even got in a shot with her poor, splintered magic spear. Besides, this thing killed Sondra, and I had given it fair warning. This was its time to die.
After that, actually recovering the magistrate and the ruby was actually the easy part!
Anyway, this is just a quick note while I wait with Doreen and the horses and the goat. I flew ahead to make sure the way was clear. But many of them are barely alive so they are moving slowly. I’ve actually flown back to check on them twice while I updated my book and they’re still a ways away.
We still need to get this guy and this massive ruby back into town. Judging from our still-limited experience, I’m sure that’ll be a cakewalk. I’m tired.
And extremely hungry….
