"Oy, what ye be findin' lass?" Korgan asked as he saw Laska and Viconia emerge from one of the crypts in the Athkatlan graveyard. For such a large city, the graveyard was remarkably small, leaving Korgan to believe this particular piece of land was only used to bury nobles. 'Aye, an' the ordinary folks 'ave ta do with a pile of dung beyond the town walls...' he thought.

"Look at this this," Laska replied, holding up an ornate longsword. "Quite a nice companion for Ipsiya, I think."

*That mangy thing?* Ipsiya snorted. *Even the enchantment is second-rate...*

"Shut up, sword," Laska threatened, "or I just might throw you into a river..."

*Oh, I'm so scared,* Ipsiya mocked. *Look at me... I'm shaking*

Laska shrugged, raised the sword up high and prepared to throw Ipsiya as far away as possible.

*Hey, hey, hey! I was just kidding! Sheesh...*

"Well, you don't seem to like uppity swords much, eh, Laska," Jan chuckled. "You know, my Uncle Yorick once had a singing mace. Yentirb Sraeps, she was called and she sung up a storm during local parties. Sadly, Yentirb was completely tone-deaf, which kinda made the crowds go ugly. 'Incitement to Riot' : or at least, that's what the Amnian legionnaires called it, when they dragged the both of them to jail. Unfortunately, a family a griffins was among the audience and demanded their money back, so they decided to lay siege on the jail until they got their money's worth or Yorick payed up. So, since Yorick was a total miser (There are plenty of stories about that, but I'll stick to the subject this time), Yentirb decided to give another concert, which ended up collapsing the jail on top of poor Yorick. Athkatla really should stop using cardboard instead of cement, you see. But all things considered, Yentirb Sraeps now has a succesful career in Riativin, entertaining the troops. Only shows what a good marketing strategy can do, ey?"

"What?" Jan asked when he noticed his four companions were staring at him with open mouth.

"Oh, do shut yer noisehole, gnome," Korgan said, getting a bit agitated. "'Ave ye found the entrance to that ole tomb yet, laddie?"

"Zilcho," Jan replied. "Only some undead here and there."

"Yeah," Laska sighed, "Vic and I ran into some bum calling himself the Crypt King, but he is no longer Un-dead... But Jan is right. There are lots of undead here... Far below us. I can sense them in the pit of my stomach."

"Aye, yer undead detector is doing overtime, eh lass?" Korgan said. "Just donnae hurl all over me boots again... Like the time in that undead village, in tha' beholder hole?"

"Hey, I already apologized for that!" the tattoed elf replied with a crimson blush and quickly took Viconia and Jan with her to yet another crypt...

"Erm, Boo wants to know something?" Minsc said, who had been quiet ever since they entered the graveyard.

"What be yer problem, Minsc?" Korgan asked.

"Welllllll...." Minsc said with raised eyebrows. "Minsc and Boo are questioning whether disturbing the graves of the honored dead is a nice thing to do for goodly heroes like us."

"Goodly, eh? HAR HAR!" Korgan laughed. "Well, look at this this way, Minscey. These here graves be crawlin' with the undead, right?"

"Well, yes..." Minsc conceded.

"And, we bein' heroes and all, it be our job to make sure these undead buggers nay hurt someone, eh?" Korgan said, while smiling a toothy grin.

"Welllllllll...." Minsc said, while a pensive look crossed his face.

"And," Korgan continued, "ye know Laska donnae like bein' around undead. Do ye nay want to help yer friend, Minsc?"

"Of course! Minsc and Boo are the best of friends to Laska! We tear these evil crypts apart to re-kill all the undead here!" Minsc yelled. "You hear that, evil undead? MINSC AND BOO ARE COMING FOR YOU!!!"

"Aye," Korgan muttered, "dumb as a mule and twice as ugly, Minscey." Korgan was happy Keldorn wasn't here, but instead was home snuggling with his missus. He would not have been able to sway that old paladin so easily, that's for sure. Now, if this band o' misfits could simply find the entrance to the tomb.

"Hey..." Laska said as they passed a freshly dug grave. "Vic? Do you hear that?"

"Hmmm?" Viconia replied, apparently interrupted in her musing. The Drow was studying some of the marvelous architecture in this graveyard. Especially, the pillar devoted to Kelemvor appealed to her appreciation of the finer arts.

"It's like someone trying to dig himself up from underground," Laska said pensively.

"It's coming from over here..." Viconia added and pointed to the grave.

"OY!" Korgan and Minsc came running over. "'Ave ye found..."

"Nope..." Laska replied.

"Och, blasted, bloody..." Korgan muttered.

Together, the group dug into the ground until a hand surfaced from the dirty earth. Grasping the hand, Laska pulled up a very startled nobleman. Immediately upon being freed from his terrible prison, the man collapsed from exhaustion and shook violently in a state of near-shock.

Soon however, the man recovered and flew into Laska's arms. "Oh...bless you, bless you! I did not know how much longer I would survive buried in there as I was!"

Viconia cringed. It wasn't too long ago since she herself was buried alive. It was definately not her favorite memory.

"Now this is a fine turn of events," Jan said. "How'd you end up here? Got into an argument with your stockbroker?"

"My name is Tirdir. I...I was buried by three men who kidnapped me! They held me for ransom and after my family had paid they knocked me out and dragged me out here. I remember being tossed in a hole... and screaming and screaming when I heard the dirt crash on top of the coffin. They had held me for ransom, but when my family payed, they buried me alive!" Tirdir said.

"Hmmm," Korgan mused. "Sound like it be a pretty good setup. Get payed and get rid of the witness in one foul stroke!"

"Well, you're free now," Laska said. "Do you know where these men are? I'm in the mood for some asskicking, today!"

"Ermm, lassie?" Korgan asked. "Book?"

"They said they had done this before! Kidnapped people and buried them here for money! They will surely exact revenge if I go to the garrison!" Tirdir said, sounding very desperate. "Please. You must... you must stop them! I beg of you!" He handed Laska a little red rag, torn off from the clothes of one of the kidnappers. It was the only thing to go on right now, but Laska would track these monsters down eventually. Os so she hoped...

"Those who bury the living must be buried by our righteous fury!" Minsc yelled. "Woe betide those who would flout justice! So says Minsc, though 'betide' was Boo's word."

"I'm sure it was, Minsc," Viconia chuckled, but her expression hardened. "A most gruesome death this is..."

"Let's go see the gravekeeper," Laska said while flashing that feral grin of hers again.

'Och,' Korgan thought, 'mayhaps this be interestin' yet...'

A fist cleft through the air and connected squarely to Gravekeeper Sethle's jaw. The startled man flew backwards and crashed into a wall behind him. Sethle look up fearfully at the female elf, who seemed like a demon of battle as the sun reflected off her chainmail.

"What's this?" Sethle stammered. "Why are you beating up an innocent man like me?!"

"Don't toy with me! I'll plant you in one of your own graves if you don't tell me what you know about that gave!" Laska retorted and punched Sethle in the gut.

"Oooh, this is getting complicated! I didn't do anything!" Sethle shouted. "Almost nothing! He would have killed me if I hadn't helped!"

"Oh, that old chestnut?" Laska chuckled. "Nice try..."

"But, but, but..." Sethle replied, only to be knocked off his feet again by a savage blow to the nose.

"I don't know nothing, alright! I just let them bury who they want when I fill in the graves! It's a man in red who did the actual digging! He's the one. He pays gold and I turn my head! You want him!" Sethle cowared and held his bloody nose. "I think I see him sometimes in the Bridge District. There, I helped you! You're not going to tell anyone, are you? Are you?"

"Nope," Laska menaced and drew her longswords. "But you've allowed some pretty heinous things to take place here, so it's time to face the music."

"AAAAAIIIEEEE!!" Sethle shrieked. "Gotta RUN!!! Must HIDE!!!"

"Coward..." Laska muttered as she watched Sethle stumble over his own feet trying to get away from the enraged elf as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Ermm, lassie?" Korgan tried again. "Book?"

"You're right, Korgan," Laska conceded. "First things first..."

After quite a struggle with a very, very heavy door, the party managed to open the way to the deep underground tomb. The place looked old... Very old. Judging from the dust and decay, this place had not been disturbed for ages. It looked like the very graveyard had been built upon the tomb, its location long forgotten. Moving forward through the dark winding tunnels, the party suddenly came across a deep chasm. Laska took a small stone from the floor and tossed it into the dark pit. They never heard it landing. Then, a more disturbing find followed. Crossed over the chasm was a series of very, very thick rope-like windings, within the center of it, a large structure which resembled a hellish beehive.

This find was even more disturbing for Viconia. She seemed to be shaking like a leaf in the wind, nervously glancing back and forth between the exit and the large windings.

"Kinda sticky..." Laska muttered when she felt the substance.

"It's a webbing," Viconia muttered, fear evident in her eyes. "It's a spider's web..."

"EEEWWWW!" Laska suddenly exclaimed and wiped her hands on her pants.

"Boo says it must have been a pretty big spider who has made a web like this," Minsc said.

"Either one big one," Jan said, "or a large family of itty-bitty tiny ones. The kind that crawls up your leg..."

"SILENCE!" Viconia hissed. "Do you not hear them approaching?!"

"What be that, darkskin?" Korgan muttered.

"The spiders, of course, hargluk," Viconia said angrily.

Indeed a chirping sound could be heard from the distance. And soon, a group of large spiders loomed from the distance. At least three Sword Spiders, two Wraith Spiders and a flurry of tiny ones stormed towards the party, their intent obvious.

"Aye," Korgan yelled. "No eight-legged bastard buggers will keep this dwarf from 'is prize!"

Minsc sprung into action too. With a single swipe from his sword he slammed a Wraith Spider off the web, screeching all the way down as it hurtled into the chasm.

As Jan cocked his crossbow and Laska slammed her longswords into a Sword Spider, they noticed Viconia, simply standing in the corner, observing the combat. Then, suddenly she spang to life as well.

"ULTRINNAN!" Viconia shouted and sent her flail downward, crushing one of the Sword Spiders. The rest was a haze for her. Thousands of sad and happy memories coarsed through her mind as she delivered blow after blow to the Spiders standing in front of her. She never even felt the painful wounds the Sword Spider inflicted on her. She never even noticed her companions. All that mattered, was killing the spiders, the servants of Lolth. In the end, it took the efforts of Korgan, Laska and Minsc alike to keep her down, and to keep her from rolling into the chasm.

"Oy!" Korgan shouted. "Calm down, ye daft wench, or I'll be knockin' ye out with the hilt o' me axe!"

"Easy, Viconia," Laska said carefully. "You're among friends here."

"Is little Viconia, okay?" Minsc said with gentleness. "I'll let you hold my Boo. He will comfort you."

"Thanks for the offer, Minsc," Viconia snorted. "But I'll... I'll be fine..."

"Hey, Vicky?" Jan asked. "What does dalninuk mean? Seemed like you were shoutin' that word over and over again during your little batch of temporary insanity. You know, my aunty Gladys had the nasty habit of shouting out 'PEPPERONI PIZZA' in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. We didn't might much, until we found out it attracted griffins. You see, griffins are suckers for pizza's..."

"That's... that's my business," Viconia said. "I'm... I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Laska asked. "Perhaps we should go up..."

"Ermmm, lassie?" Korgan tried. "Book?"

"I SAID I WAS FINE!" Viconia suddenly snapped. "Let us continue onwards!"

"Ay, now we be talking! I can see the entrance to the tomb from here! Let us be goin' off!" Korgan stressed.

"Wait a moment," Laska muttered. "Let's check out that oversized beehive there, first. I'd rather not have spiders attacking us in the back."

"OY!" Korgan said as the party made its way to the entrance of the hive. "Wait fer me, ye daft lilly-lovers!"

This was turning out to become a very, very bad day. As soon as the group entered the hive, they were confronted with a virtual army of spiders. They were numbered a hundred to one, by all kinds of spiders. In the middle of the web stood a short Drow female, waving her arms violently as soon as she saw the party enter. Immediately, about twenty spiders pounced upon the entrance and closed it behind them with webbing.

"What is it you wish in this place?" the Drow female asked. "Quickly state your purpose!"

"Well," Laska began, "we were in the neighborhood and we were looking for a good tavern. I should really smack that boy who have us the directions in the back of the head! In fact, I'll go do that right now! Is that the door behind you?"

"Silence!" the Drow, whom upon closer inspection turned out to be a Half-Drow, shouted. "Like typical surface dwellers you will think this odd, but I have created a sanctuary. Here the eight-legged can prosper beneath the city, away from fearful eyes!"

"Boo asks if you can keep your temper in here, little Viconia?" Minsc whispered gently. "Not even Boo thinks we can defeat all these spiders."

Viconia, although quite disturbed, not only nodded in acknowledgement, but also spoke up.

"You're a Hivemaster druid, aren't you? One of those rare Half-Drow willing to protect the spiders on the surface? Even though you are reviled by Drow?"

"I am!" The Half-Drow said with haughty pride. "And this is the 'grove' that I have chosen to build. It is a haven for the spiders, but it is not enough. They die most tragic at the hands of louts and hooligans."

"You've greated a safehouse for spiders?" Laska asked.

"Ye be bloody daft, lassie!" Korgan shouted angrily.

"No, it is the murderers of these fine beasts that are 'bloody daft'," The Half-Drow spat. "Even as we speak these creatures are hunted down, more out of fear than any actual damage they might do. There have always been losses, but now there are even more. The workers of the city have found some fell weapon that smites the spiders most unfairly! I need you to get it, and bring it here. I will dispose of it, and restore the balance beneath the city. If there are too few spiders then the will vermin rise up. The exterminators do not think of this."

"I hate to say it, fellahs," Jan said. "But I think she has a point. I'd hate to see the turnip-cellars devoured by armies of Red-Horned-Polkadotted-Squarenosed Turnipwasps..."

"Bring me the Spider's Bane! It is in the hands of the workers that clean the ducts and sewers. They are in the sewers under the Temple District, killing my charges at this very instance! Go..." The Half-Drow said. "And Pai'na shall reward you."

"Reward?" Korgan's mood greatly improved. "Now we be talkin'!"

"Hmm... I see you have among you one who appreciates the majesty of the arachnid. How do you come to be here, Drow? I cannot show my face above and I am only half dark elven," Pai'na said, adressing Viconia.

"It's very hard," Viconia said. "And I do not worship Lolth, if you are wondering!"

"I am not surprised, especially when you walk the surfacelands," Pai'na replied. "My father was Drow, and my mother human. And yet, even my half-blood condemns me..."

"Tell me about it," Viconia chuckled. "I was almost charbroiled last week."

"Hmm, perhaps we should swap some tales then. It is not often that I am able to speak with someone other than my spiders," Pai'na said.

"Ermm, excuse me," Laska said. "Could you open the door for us."

"For you? Yes. For 'us'? no..." Pai'na grinned. "I will keep your friends here to insure your cooperation, my dear elf. Do not worry, no harm will fall to them."

"I want to check out that hive first, Korgan," Korgan mocked in a high-pitched voice. "I don't want spiders attacking us in the back... If we had gotten yon book first..."

"Spider's Bane?" Minsc muttered to himself. "Didn't I wield that swo..."

"Shut up, Minsc," Laska whispered harshly. "You wanna get eaten?"

"HEEEY, baby!" A half drunken sewerworker named Hurg greeted the tattooed elf as she approached him and his collegue. It had been easy enough to find the two men, since their drinking-songs echoed through the tunnels of the sewersystem.

"Well, hello there," Laska purred as she greeted the two men, who were, obviously, off duty.

Jeager greeted in return, taking an eyeful of the luscious armored elf standing in front of him. "Hey, elvie, wanna drink?" he asked.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Laska said happily, grabbed the bottle and clugged down the entire content.

"Whoa, there, elvie!" Hurg laughed. "Don't want ye hurtin' yerself, now."

"Say, you fellahs have a... sword?" Laska purred. "A sword you use to kill spiders."

"Oy, yeah baby," Jeager bragged. "Even a dead-beat hick could kill a giant spider with that thing."

'Boy, ain't that the truth,' Laska thought and continued her dance of seduction. "How about... I give you ten gold pieces for it."

"TEN!" Jeager shouted. "Wow, missy! You've got a de..."

"Jeager!" Hurg shouted. "That's city property! What would Bene say..."

"Och, Bene steals quills from the office. This is just the same!"

"Oh," Hurg whispered. "Well in that case, I think we could make at least 15 gold pieces from this deal!"

"Oh, come on fellahs?" Laska giggled in a girlish fashion while streching her body, giving the two drunken sewerworkers an ample view down her cleavage. "Can't you help out a little woman like me? When you're done staring, of course."

"Here, here!" Hurg said while tossing the blade to her.

'Suckers,' Laska smiled inwardly when she slipped the sword into her Bag of Holding.

"Ah, you have returned victorious!My gratitude you have! It shall trouble no more the eight-legged kin." Pai'na spoke up from her conversation with Viconia when Laska entered the hive.

"Ah, there ye be!" Korgan said with a hint of relief. "I dinnae care much fer they way them spiders were looking at me."

Laska handed the blade to Pai'na who immediately started to chant eerie sounding rites. The Spider's Bane was engulved in blue light and lowly began to rise off the floor. As the chant reached its climax, the legendary Spider's Bane shattered in a thousand pieces, which fell to the ground.

"Here, I have little to give, but you may find this useful," Pai'na smiled and handed Viconia a small bundle. "Take it and go. We are concluded in our business."

"What'd ya get, Vicky?" Jan said, barely able to contain his curiosity.

"This," Viconia smiled and pulled out a small statuette resembling a spider.

"That be what we've been held hostage by spiders for?!" Korgan was outraged.

"Big things come in small packages, so says Minsc!"

"Indeed," Viconia said and performed the summoning rites. A large astral spider appeared in front of the party, yet it didn't move to attack.

"Och, another one of these buggers..." Korgan sighed.

Viconia simply smiled and knelt besides the spider. Surprising all, she started to pet the happily chirping spider from front to back and made soft cooing noises.

"Eh?" Jan said, utterly stunned. "That's not quite the reaction you had last time."

"I'll say," Laska said. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to kill our reward!"

"He's a Phase Spider," Viconia said. "Very intelligent and utterly loyal. His name is Khittix. You know, he reminds me of the house-spider I had as a pet back in the underdark when I was a child. My brother and I used to play for hours with her. She used to teleport in front of us and away when we were chasing her across the corridors. She used to play hide and seek with us, all day long..."

"I take it, Khittix is not a servant of Lolth?" Laska asked.

"No," Viconia said. "He is from the astral plane. And utterly devoted to the one who holds the statuette. Me..."

"You never told me you had a bother, Vico," Laska began to ask, but Viconia's mood seemed to slip from tenderness to fury, and suggested she should avoid that line of questioning for now. Viconia softly bid the spider to return to the statuette and gently put it in her pouch.

"Okay..." Laska said. "Let's get the book..."

"About bloody time!" Korgan shouted in agreement.