Part 11 - Bodies on the Floor

We continue on through the maze of the Dwarven Ruins. We split up into two parties, searching different halls and rooms. Suddenly Rekka calls us to the hall she was in. She was standing in front of an open door that led into yet another room. A person stood a head, but even with my good eye sight, I couldn’t make out who or what it was. Billy, Isaac, and Briar go in to investigate. The person standing before us is actually a skeleton with magical auras surrounding it, and we can only assume it was that of the wizard adventurer. I cautiously enter the room, Araja following.

Suddenly Araja spots an enemy and warns us to flee. A gelatinous cube oozed toward us. Isaac shouted for Bar Wench to ready her fire staff and flame the offending monster. The flame only tickles the cube and it continues forward. Isaac summons a skeleton, ordering it to attack the cube, but as it does so, the cube splits in two, and now two gelatinous cubes pursue us. Araya eliminates one of the halves and Bar Wench gives her staff another go, but it’s just not enough to do the job. I shoot an arrow at the remaining cube and it splits in two again. I mutter a curse under my breath as I realize my folly. We manage to make quick work of the ooze until it’s no more. Isaac discovers a magical staff of acid and a pair of gloves. When I put them on I felt safer, but decided to give them back to Isaac.

Rekka plows a head to the next area, and with Isaac’s help, finds a hidden door. Billy finds a way to open it, and on the other side, Rekka can see a plethora of cobwebs. Isaac asks Briar explore the room, but she nervously goes to the Bar Wench, wrenching the fire staff from hand with her slobbery, horsy mouth. It becomes clear to us all that she intends to use the staff, much to the Bar Wench’s displeasure, to burn away the webbing. Araja takes the staff away from Briar, afraid the demon horse would misfire, and utters the command word to activate the staff. The room ignites in flame. Suddenly we hear shrieks, of nonhuman origin, peal from the room. From the residual flame, I can see spiders…very large spiders…and spiders of all different sizes in between, filling the room.

Araja casts a fire ball, nailing one of the larger spiders in the face. It becomes clear that a mob of spiders are charging toward us with the intent to kill. The Bar Wench strummed her lute as if her life depended on it, and while the tune sounded nice enough, I didn’t feel any different. I shot an arrow at the spider in front of the pack and hit. Isaac used his acid staff, but it wasn’t enough to do the advancing spider in. Others crawled over their injured comrade. Araja tried another fire ball, but with the nearest spider only a few feet away, the blast singes not only the spiders, but the rest of the party. I feel my life force wan, but then I remember the amulet. “Be healed!” I cry touching my chest. Suddenly I feel invigorated and manage to get by with only minor burns. I kill the spider nearest me; an arrow to the brain, but the spider behind entangles me in a web. Araja heals me, but I have difficulty escaping the strong webbing. Finally I break free, but the spiders have slung webbing all over the floor. They retreat momentarily.

We all struggle to carefully step out of the webbing so we can burn it away once again. Once we’re all clear, Briar ignites, and the webbing burns down into the next room, and there’s more screams. I follow Isaac and Araja into the room, all the spiders appearing to be dead. Suddenly Isaac says, “That’s the biggest spider I’ve ever seen…!” He instructs us to stay put while he goes and collects the remains of yet another adventurer.

As Isaac gets close, we here the spider say “Why have you come to slay my children?”  

Isaac tries to convince the spider we’re only here to collect the bodies of the fallen adventurers, but the spider is not satisfied with his answer. It tries to entangle Isaac in webbing, but it does not hold. Suddenly the spider shrieks in rage.

“Billy, stop that! I command you to stop!” We hear Isaac yell. Araja and I hear sounds of gore. Suddenly Isaac shouts a command word, and then all is silent. Once the adventurer was collected, we leave the room, the hall, and eventually the ruins all together. Billy does not leave the ruins with us. Back at the caravan, Isaac explains that he sent Billy to another plane of existence, destroying him all together. The only way Billy was keeping his empty husk “alive” was by destroying the souls of the living, and he could no longer control him. He was a liability. At least his soul was now free.

The head of the hired hands greets us excitedly, although it looks as if they were packing up to leave. Were we really gone that long? Apparently we’d been gone for three days, but it felt like we’d only been gone for four hours. We deposit the bodies and take a risk going immediately back into the ruins to find the last couple adventurers. Isaac gives the caravan an ETA, based on how long they said we’d been gone the first time.

Back in the ruins, we find a trail of blood and follow it. Isaac finds several magical doors, and upon opening them, they reveal ornate dwarven sarcophagus’. We RESPECTFULLY let dead dwarves lie.

As we head down another hall, there’s a body on the floor……(read the following while listening to “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor”)

There’s a body on the FLOOOOOOR!

Beeeeeeaten, why foooooor?

Can’t take much moooooore  (there’s a ranger on the floor, there’s a ranger on the floor)

One, there’s a gargoyle

Two, bag the boooody

Three, fight the gargoyle

Four, kill the gargoyle

One, take all the spoiles

Two, hey that’s really cool!

Three, we’ve got get out of HEEEEEERE!

No more ranger on the floor

Lots more places to explore

Now we enter a large ROOOOOOM

Bar Wench talks about the Toombs

Then we find a hidden room

And a body on the FLOOOOOOR

OOOOOOOOOOH

It’sssss geeeeetting waaaarm

Booooody on the floooor (there’s a rogue on the floor! There’s a rogue on the floor)

One, heal the rogue quickly

Two, stop the rogue quickly

Three, stone the rogue quickly

Four, command the rogue quickly

One, got to get out of here

Two, but now the door is loocked

Three, “Thinking ‘bout leaving so SOOOOOOOON?”

Dragon gives a mighty roar

Arajah trips him on the floor

Now it’s time to go to war

Stab the dragon in the face

Isaac sprays it with some mace

No more dragon on the FLOOOOOR

Skin to skin

Blood and bone

We conquer together

And never alone

We want out

The air we can’t take

Driven by fortune, courage, and fate

No more rogue on the floor

Looks like dragon is done for

Go back to the CARAVAAAAAAAAAN

Now they want to go back home

To Hommlet, here we go

Resupply, rest and MOOOOOOORE