oxford ♔ crawling out of my own skin

[valdrin]

WHO || Marty, Matthew, Nels, Miles, Val'drin, Mr. Broggon
WHAT || The Knights investigate a mysterious package sent to a shop owner
WHERE || Sword & Sorcery, in Oxford, England
WHEN || Wed April 16th, about 8pm
HOW || Actionspam

Sword & Sorcery:  Old Books for a New Age is located in a strip mall in a relatively nice part of the city of Oxford.  A scattering of other cars fill parts of the parking lot, with most of the vehicles congregated to the side nearest the Teriyaki Rok'n'Wok, a rock and roll themed teriyaki restaurant.  The bookstore sits farther down the line of shops, in the more deserted section of the strip mall.  Val'drin raises an eyebrow at the Rok'n'Wok, slipping one hand into his pocket as he surveys the others.  

"Everyone's at least armed, I do hope."  

Comments

[cuivre]

Oh goody.

[So whatever broke out is probably ugly. Maybe worse than the thing they just killed, if that was possible.]

Dibs on the chainmail.

[...He's done enough taking one for the team on these missions, okay.]

[theshameofcain]

Baseball bat's mine! [She puts her book down (finally) in a safe location and grabs for the bat. AW YEAH.]

[valdrin]

[ the chainmail shirt provides a +2 defense bonus since he's not proficient. he gets a -5 to Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, and Tumble while wearing it, and his speed becomes a 20 instead of 30.

the baseball bat does 1d6 dmg and crits x2

val'drin, in the meantime, simply picks up a flashlight and hefts it in his hand. he'll stick to his standard issue gun, thanks. ]

[cuivre]

Man, the stuff is heavier than it looks, isn't it.

[Not exactly complaining as he puts it on, just...making commentary.]

[valdrin]

[ as broggon busies himself on the phone in the back of the shop, val'drin moves to the trapdoor indicated and pulls it open. ] Not even locked. [ he glances back broggon's way, then shrugs, shining the light down into the basement storeroom. it hosts concrete walls and floor, and boxes and crates seem to be stacked neatly around the chamber. val'drin doesn't look keen to be first down, however. ]

[zwy_il]

[Nels frowns at the guns. What tasteless weapons.]

Rope is always useful. [He grabs it up, and puts it in his bag.]

[Then he stalks over to the trap door, weapons still in hand, nods at Val'drin, and hops down in.]

[valdrin]

[ val'drin climbs down because fuck that hopping around shit, he's dressed in a nice suit. it's immediately noticeable that one crate, made of wood, has been busted open. in addition, the door on the far wall has been shattered. anyone checking out either needs to make a search check for that thing. ]

[zwy_il]

I'll check this door...

[Nels gets a Search check of 24]

[valdrin]

[ nels finds the door was broken open from this side, and the hallway beyond is framed in a thick, weblike material. the corridor seems carved from the stone foundation of the building, irregular and cavernlike. the webbing covers the walls and ceiling, and the floor in various patches. ]

[theshameofcain]

[Bambi follows down on the rope, ducking her baseball bat underneath her chin. She investigates the crate with a search check of 13.]

[zwy_il]

Wonderful. [Nels tugs some of the web free, and holds it up for the others to see.] Webs. How very nostalgic.

[valdrin]

[ val'drin sure doesn't look any happier about it. the drow are on edge, y'all.

bambi finds a shipping label that marks PTC as the origin of the crate. sticky webbing fills the inside of the shattered box. three egglike balls of web sit within, each one cracked open and empty. ]

Remind you of home?

[theshameofcain]

[oh ew. gritting her teeth, bambi tenderly pokes at the busted egg sacs with the end of her bat.]

I think we might be fucked, guys. [(wisdom 20 total). Her knowledge: arcane lore roll was an 11.)]

[cuivre]

Gee, just what we all wanted to hear.

[As he finally joins them. Putting on chainmail is hard I guess (or I'm just slow).]

Wanna elaborate?

[zwy_il]

Home isn't exactly the word I would use - but, yes.

[He looks at Miles.] Spiders. And big ones at that.

[valdrin]

[ val'drin shines a light down the corridor for the other's benefit. it's like trying to see through thick fog because of the strands of webbing. ] Well, this seems pleasant.

[theshameofcain]

[Bambi abandons the crate to follow the light down the corridor. She pulls a face.] It's like the horror movie remake of Charlotte's Web. [She nudges Nels.] Can you hack and slash your way through that. I mean... Out of all of us, you and Captain Fluffy Hair over here are the least likely to get mauled by spiders.

[MAYBE SPIDERS DON'T LIKE TO EAT DROW OKAY.]

[zwy_il]

Were it not for the bookstore above us, I would recommend torching the webs...

[Nels begins hacking away at the webs, eager to be done with the spider portion of this little trip. Strength check of 12, so it may take a little while.]

[valdrin]

[ the webs actually aren't very strong here, and his blade easily passes through them, revealing that the tunnel goes straight, and also has an offshoot that veers to the right. ] I highly recommend we don't split up.

[theshameofcain]

Took the words right out of my mouth, boss. [Bambi clutches her bat tighter.] Why did it have to be spiders?

[cuivre]

Apparently because life is fucking cruel.

[He's not okay with this. At all.]

Let's just get this over with. Thirding the whole not splitting up thing.

[He did it in a sewer once. With dinosaurs. No thanks.]

[valdrin]

[ val'drin makes the executive decision to head straight, and they come across an offshoot that narrowly cuts off to the left. it has the same rough-hewn, natural decor at the rest of the area beyond the storage area, and thick webbing covers the walls and ceiling here. everyone must make a spot check while they're in here, if they follow val'drin inside to look around. ]

Whatever was in there might not have had time to grow very large. Optimistically speaking.

[theshameofcain]

If it's bigger than my shoe, it's too large, boss.

[She shudders and moves forward, looking around very intently for signs of movement (spot 21).]

[valdrin]

[ bambi notices a sheet of sticky webbing that stretches almost invisibly across the center of the stone floor. val'drin, however, and anyone who does not get a 20+ on their spot check, does not, and wanders right into it, where their bodies stick to the gooey strands, becoming entangled. ] Oh for heaven's sake--

[cuivre]

[Yeah, Miles' spot check of a whopping 11 does nothing to help him whatsoever, and he walks right into it as well.]

The hell?