Episode 9: The Horror on the Bridge

General Summary

Disciplined defence

The fellowship manage an orderly retreat to a choke point between the spider cavern and the ancient dwarven refectory and make their stand. Sigmarr suffers a fearful sting from one of the Giant Spiders that causes the veins near the puncture to turn a mottled dark purple hue as he succumbs to a poisonous sickness.

Fortunately the Giant Spiders are put to the sword and hammer and Hathus tends to the poisoned wound before the infection spreads too far. Further investigation of the mine reveals a desiccated skeleton of a long-dead goblin, an ancient windlass and shaft descending deeper underground and a series of regular dwarven rooms containing a few old yet serviceable tools and an old satchel. The satchel contains a ledger that Monin scans through. It describes a list of ore that the dwarven miners seem to have discovered:

Ang ('iron') +++
Celeb ('silver') +
Paer ('copper') +

The satchel also contains a crumbling letter written in Khuzdul:

Brother, Return to Khazad-dûm with your work crew as soon as practical. We have discovered a marvelous seam of kibilsanbits and need all miners at home. Close up the early workings so we may one day return and continue our early diggings. Your brother Romli

After a brief discussion about the risks of further exploration the fellowship decide to return to the surface and brief Hartfast and the miners about what they have discovered. The new shaft is covered by strong oak boards and piled high with rock to form a temporary barrier to the depths. Hartfast is concerned that the fellowship has confirmed an orc threat from below and has also opened a route to a possible assault.

Deeper explorations

The following day it is clear that Hathus' poultices have done the trick and Sigmarr is well on the way to a full recovery. Monin spends the morning working with the local blacksmith to reinforce and service the windlass and, new rope attached, he recommissions it above the long disused mine shaft. Cautiously the fellowship descend into an unexplored cavern. The large cavern contains a stone-built ruined structure, which surrounds a truly gruesome scene. Perhaps a dozen mummified goblin and orc corpses in various states of desiccation are hanging suspended within the building on rope-like threads of spider silk. Forging ahead anxiously, after being stymied by a few dead-ends, the fellowship emerge into another grand cavern with a deep rift stretching across it and an ancient bridge spanning the chasm.

Great Spider of Mirkwood by Jon Hodgson

Giant Spiders begin crawling from the rift to attack the group, launching foul spider webs to entangle the warriors. As battle is joined, a disgusting, horse-sized spider levers itself on top of the far end of the bridge and, with an over-jointed, skittering gait, slides its way towards the melee before rising fully ten feet tall on its hind-most four legs and hissing a chilling warning. The fight is bloody, with no quarter given. Monin is momentarily paralysed by the giant monstrosity, but snapped out of it by Hathus' own hypnotic words. All the while, Sigmarr and Arahad maintain a decimating barrage of arrows that eventually take their toll. Just as the fell beast turns to flee, leaking foul fluids from a multitude of arrow holes, Hathus steps forward and delivers a final crunching swipe with his staff, breaking a foreleg and causing the creature to lose its footing and fall screaming into the rift. The sickening crunch of its massive bulk connecting with unyielding rocks leaves the fellowship in no doubt that the spider is no more. With the massive spider dead, the remaining dog-sized Attercop scuttles North along the ravine out of sight. Miraculously, no one is badly injured, and the fellowship cautiously cross the ravine and continue their exploration. A series of steps descend into a sloping cavern containing dark water. As they wade through cold, thigh-deep water, in search of further signs of the goblin threat, realisation dawns. Was the massive spider the only barrier between the Goblins and Mountain Hall? Hathus' strained face turns towards Monin.

"May I humbly suggest you start keeping an eye out for somewhere where we can make a strategic rock-fall, in case we need to seal off the mines from a stream of nosey goblins, now that we have cleared out that horrible Giant Spider. I suspect it was doing a very useful job, and now it isn't."

Monin glowers for a moment at the scholar.

"What? Let them have the mines of my people?" His eyebrows knit as he considers something. "Yet." Staring through the scholar, he absently picks a drying spider web from the raw spot under his beard. "This place is no grand collection of halls. Indeed, the mountain folk claim it now." He focuses once again on his companion. "Will they be happy if we collapse it? Will they be happy we removed the very creatures who protected them? Isn't it their problem now?" He looks about the rest of the fellowship. "Oh, for a stout company of my brothers! We'd flush the goblin filth from these tunnels!" Suddenly a sly smile starts to creep across his cragged face, "Though if the tunnel were collapsed, they would not mine down here. They would need the help of my kin to clear away the rubble, deal with the infestation and the mining!" He claps Hathus on the back, "Indeed Brother, we should look for a weak point!"

Hathus smiles as he continues.

"It is a mere last line of defence Master Dwarf, should the strength and ferocity of the vermin be temporarily too much for us this day. And I am very much hoping the collapse would be in the goblin-hewn tunnels and rat-runs, when we reach them, rather than in these fine ancient workings. It might buy us time to clear the human hobby-miners to safety, and indeed maybe summon some of your brothers to share in the fun."