Session 55 – The Eye of the Spider

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

The rest does not last long. As the party tries to catch its breath, a lapping or slurping sound suggesting something moving along the tunnel floor emanates from the passage opposite to that which the troll used to try to escape. The watchers peer down into the darkness, seeing only some stones, and perhaps, humanoid body parts carried along – by something – and elevated above the ground. They hold their positions until a nearly transparent cubelike thing glides into the chamber and barrels into Enkidu and Kek. Enkidu manages to struggle himself out of the creature to prevent himself from being absorbed, but poor Kek is fully incorporated into it, issuing a psychic scream that resonates in the minds of all his fellow inmates. Goltur charges in, as do the rest of the inmates, though Eglandath mostly hangs back. Through collective effort, the transparent creature is subdued, and its liquid filling pours out onto the floor. Goltur is seriously hurt, but Brandon, Enkidu and Eglandath dispense cures for all who need it, and aside from Kek, the group survives the encounter intact. Brandon searches through the flotsam the creature leaves behind, and notices a peculiar wooden object, shaped a little like a macahuitl, though blunter. It strikes him as a key, so he picks it up and tucks it away.
Enkidu, however, decides that the party has had enough, and calls on the rest of the group to return to the grotto before they are attacked by another horror. The rest agree, and Blossia, who has a good memory, leads them back to their cell. Once there, everyone sleeps, and on the following “day”, Miletus decides to check on the status of his request – who knows how many more lives another trek through the maze will claim? He yells up into the shaft to see if Lhingril might meet with him to talk. In response, the elevator arrives with an empty, rolled up scroll, and a sharp, scalpel-like stylus. The elf is initially unsure of the meaning, until Eglandath explains that this kind of stylus is used by his people in ritual writing, using blood as the ink. Some of the fellow inmates suspected as much. But absent other options, Miletus stabs his finger with the stylus, and pens a message a Lhingril, that says that he and his companions are in Xibalba against their will, and at the bidding of Claymore’s ruler, and that they have no quarrel in Xibalba, and want to act in concert with it against Claymore if they are released. The elevator takes the message away.
Hours pass, and there is no response, so the decision is made to go back to the maze, although spirits are starting to fall, as it dawns on the inmates that they may never leave here alive. On the way back into the maze, Blossia converses with Eglandath, and tells him that she has noticed that he is not contributing his share to the overall effort, but tells him she is fine with this. Eglandath responds that he will not take up arms against Xibalba, and attempting to escape constitutes doing so. Enkidu questions his loyalty to the city, asking how much good it has done him, but Eglandath says that his only future is with his people, and any chance of coming back into favor depends on it. He is coming along with the group because he does not want to get left in the grotto alone, and because he hates to see needless suffering, and will aid any inmate who requires healing, if the need arises.
The group returns to the mirror, where they see the same distorted images, and then backtracks to the chamber of their battles against the troll and the cube. Then they take an unexplored tunnel that seems to lead away from the lake. They soon run into a cul-de-sac, but discover a chute in the ceiling, through with their jailers either throw garbage, or food for the monstrosities that dwell here. Taking a side passage, they find themselves in a winding set of tunnels that seem to lead nowhere. It is as if the ingoeth are adding insult to the injury of Miletus’ letter. Worst of all, no tunnels lead up, back toward the surface.
Finally, coming out of the winding maze, they continue forward along the tunnel that brought them there to begin with. Up ahead, they hear the sounds of grinding, whirring and bubbling, but to their right, a short passage opens up into a room. A screeching, groaning, burbling sound is coming toward them. Enkidu forms the group inside the room to take up defensive positions, so as to allow as many party members as possible to take part in the coming fight against whatever monstrosity is now approaching them.
The monstrosity comes – it is perhaps the most horrid thing they’ve seen yet. It looks like a mass of muscle tissue, with numerous eye-stalks and toothy mouths, and mouths inside mouths. Its screeching is disorienting, making some people stop everything they are doing, and stand, as if in a stupor, and some to move in random directions, even bumping up into walls. The creature also spits a viscous goo, though fortunately, it is temporarily blinded by Minocquanee, and does not hit any of its intended targets with it.
Goltur and Miletus engage the abomination, with Brandon and Blossia rotating in and out of front rank, Blossia trying to claw at the thing with the tentacles she grew and her arcane blade, and Brandon slinging necromantic magic at it. The rest hang back, throwing rocks, when they can. The creature takes a big bite out of Miletus. Eventually, it is subdued, but not before the mongrel Meriadar, disoriented by the screeching, takes a swipe of his lobster claw at Eglandath.
The two of them start to have words in the common language of the Underdark. Meanwhile, Enkidu says that the party should head back to the grotto, because they can no longer fight on this day. While he begins to head back down the passage with his boar, Eglandath magically commands Meriadar to flee. Enkidu manages to grab the mongrel, and yells at the ingoeth, asking why he attacked a fellow inmate. Eglandath responds that the mongrel attacked him, and he refuses to believe that the attack was the product of the mouthy horror’s screeching. Enkidu gives Eglandath a knuckle sandwich for good measure, and then turns to leave once again. At this point, Eglandath once again commands Meriadar to flee, and without anyone to stop him, the mongrel flees in the direction opposite to which the rest of the party is retreating.
Brandon and Minocquanee run after the hapless mongrelman, and find themselves in a large, octagonal-type chamber, with a mud pit in the middle, an alcove with some sort of device in the back, and a troll on the side, over by a staircase leading down, munching on the last of Meriadar. The grinding and bubbling is coming from here as well. The creature looks up, spots the half-elf and the Earth Goblin, and begins to pursue. Blossia blocks the creature from chasing them down the passage, and Brandon and others harry it from the side tunnel leading to the chamber where the previous fight took place. The troll is finished off in somewhat easier fashion than the previous monstrosity, but the large chamber seems to offer things of interest, Enkidu’s calls for retreat notwithstanding.
Most of the group moves back into the chamber. On the far alcove, a stone disk hangs 20 feet up off the floor. It depicts animals familiar from the Xibalba cavern ceiling – a spider in the middle, and other beasts – lizards, bats, deformed cats – at the end of its eight legs. Concentric circles within the disk are spinning in different directions. The mud pit in the middle of the room is churning, bloody and membranous, and vaguely humanoid limbs occasionally attempt to poke up through the surface.
Brandon looks at the disk, and notices that just below the spider’s single black eye, that is reflective in ways reminiscent to the mirror they passed through on the way into the maze, is a small aperture where the spider’s mouth should be. He wonders if the wooden key might fit into it. It seems much too high to reach, but Miletus summons up an arcane hand to jam the key into the hole. As this is happening, another troll begins to climb up out of the mud pit, and heading toward Enkidu and Blossia. The key fits, and the spider’s eye falls onto the ground underneath the disk. Its stone is attached to a copper-gold-colored ring. The disks stops spinning, and the mud pit stops churning (though the troll is already out and attacking).
Suddenly, Eglandath, who was hanging back in the tunnel, runs into the chamber, and heads for the ring. Brandon scoops it up, and puts it on. Immediately, the ceiling above turns to mud, and collapses on top of Brandon, Miletus and Eglandath. Brandon manages to get out of the way, Miletus is partly covered by the mud, and climbs out, but Eglandath appears to be buried underneath the avalanche. Above the hole, the ceiling of the huge Xibalba cavern, along with its flickering animal lights, can be seen.
The new troll, seemingly groggy, flails away at whatever comes at it. Blossia tries in vain to drive it back into the mud pit with her booming blade, while Brandon, after attempting to flash the ring at the creature in an attempt to get it to stop, backs up to the wall, and starts trying to blast it with fire to get it to stop regenerating. Enkidu comes in, swinging Brandon’s dagger. Miletus, who has been getting punished all day long, is taken down, and has to be resuscitated by Enkidu and Brandon.
Finally, the troll is hacked up and burned, and some of its remains fall back into the now inert mud pit. Brandon pulls off the ring, and stares up into the gaping hole.

Report Date

20 Oct 2018