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

[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?

[theshameofcain]

Aw for fuck's sake- [Bambi backs up and throws her arms out.] No one else move!

[zwy_il]

[Spot 6... Action point.... 9! +8... Still no good. Balls.]
[Nels turns to look at Bambi, and he takes another few steps and slows.]

Wha... [He tugs, struggling against the invisible webbing, and sighs.]

...Orbbs elg'caress. ["Spider bitch."]

[valdrin]

[ abruptly, two small monstrous spiders descend on strings from the ceiling where large webs stretch, right towards bambi. they both try to shoot webs down at her (touch attack 12 and 23), ensnaring her as well. yup. ] Oh, it gets better.

[theshameofcain]

[SCREAM.

Bambi aggressively flails her baseball bat at the base of the webbing, attempting to free herself through sheer force. (atk 18, dmg 4.. if that is even a thing you can do). If it's not, she basically just flailed a baseball bat AT NOTHING LIKE A GIRL.

#smarthero.]

[valdrin]

[ that is sure what bambi TRIES to do. however, being stuck in the web allows no such movement, and so she finds herself struggling helplessly to move the bat and failing. since we skipped val'drin's turn by accident, he'll take his now, and try to slip free (escape artist 18) ... successfully! woo!

one of the spiders tries to re-webify him, but the sticky strands shoot beyond him. the other spider crawls over to bite at miles (atk 6), not to much avail either ]

[zwy_il]

[Well Fuck. Nels tries to tear out, with a Str 15.]

No good. Little help?

[cuivre]

Shit!

[He's not sure which is worse, dinosaurs or spiders.

Who cares, though. They both suck.

He tries to wrench free of the webbing as well, because this is the literal worst (swaps out that 4 with an action point for a 16 for a str check of 20 total).

Fortunately, it's enough to get him out of the hold of that webbing and he'll start moving toward Bambi. Sorry dude, he's helping the lady out first.]

[valdrin]

[ assuming that it's likely to chase after miles and maybe prevent him from freeing bambi, val'drin shoots at the spider that had bit him. his attack of 11 isn't doing him any favors tho. THEY'RE SMALL OK, IT'S HARD TO HIT LITTLE SPIDERS. ]

[theshameofcain]

[Bambi saw what Val'drin and Miles did to escape and decides to apply it to her situation. (int 15) So she puts a little dexterity into it (escape artist 17) instead of screaming girly force.]

Screw this. I'm not getting eaten by freakin' Joy, Aranea, and Nellie today.

[valdrin]

[ she almost makes it, but ... not quite. the spider val'drin shot at turns to scurry towards him, leaping at him with a nat 20 bite check (2 dmg). right in the neck. mmm.

the other spider goes after bambi (atk 19, 1 dmg), but she luckily... resists being poisoned. ]