Adrian: Baldur's Gate

The next morning they gathered around the entrance of the mound. Adrian held a low voiced discussion with Edwin and Xzar.

"Keep control of yourself today, Xzar," Adrian warned him.

"If I must," the wizard sighed.

"Yes, you must. Edwin, turn both of yourselves invisible, get in, cast fireballs, create summoned creatures, get out."

Edwin nodded. "Sound plan. What about the rest of you, oh great leader?"

"The rest of us will go in after your summoned monsters have softened the spiders up."

"You really think there will be that many?" Edwin asked him.

Adrian rolled his eyes. "So far we've faced giant spiders, Ettercaps, and Sword spiders. What do you think?"

Edwin sneered but made no other reply. He vanished Xzar, then himself. There were faint scuffling sounds as they slipped inside.

They returned less than a minute later, white faced and panting.

"Did you cast the spells?" Adrian asked.

"Oh aye," Xzar wheezed, but there's more to come in there! Including some mad spider woman, the likes of which I've never seen!"

"Oh really," said Adrian coldly, but beside Xzar, Edwin was nodding, face grave.

Adrian looked from one to the other, face grim. "All right then," he said. "Kagain. Coran. Viconia. Safana."

The five of them lined up, Adrian foremost, and charged the entrance.

"Mmmy spiders! Kill them! Kill them all!" The spider-woman said. She had been hideously ugly to begin with; the fireballs of the mages had made it worse, charing her. Around her, wolves and gnolls were worrying sword spiders and ettercaps. A number of regular giant spiders, and several wolves, already lay dead. Around them, above them, beneath them, was the dirt-and-cobweb mound, filled with former victims.

Adrian hurled a minor drain at the nearest sword spider, then he and Kagain charged that one. Coran and Safana took another. Viconia went for an ettercap.

Fortunately, all the monsters were occupied with gnolls or wolves, and did not turn to face the new threats. The sword spiders, as Adrian had already learned, were damned hard to put down. But between him, Kagain, and the gnolls fighting it, it went down.

Coran and Safana had smiliar luck with their sword spider, but as Coran was not as good a swordsman as he was an archer, he got a nasty cut on his arm for his trouble.

Viconia pounded two ettercaps down, with help from wolves, and was not hurt.

The remaining monsters turned and charged the third sword spider, which had killed a number of gnolls already. They began to approach it, when a flock of miagic missles flew over their heads and did the job for them.

Adria nodded to Xzar and Edwin at the entrance. "Good timing," he said. Edwin shrugged, Xzar giggled.

Suddenly, acid struck Adrian's storm armor and sizzled. It could do no damage to the magical armor, but it surprised him. He turned and glared at the spider woman.

"Centeol curses you, and curses the one who made her this way," the obese thing spat. "That damned Iren--"

Adrian chopped her head off.

They found the magical sword, which Coran took, the fool brother's body, as well as some gold.

Adrian looked around at the carnage of gnolls, wolves, ettercaps and spiders. He took no joy in the massed corpses, but neither did it trouble him.

They turned and left the mound, and then the spider-infested portion of the wood, without a backward glance.