Brief Recap: Last turn the party made it across the chasm and headed up the mountain to find the tomb.

Enter the Tomb

The company treks up the mountainside. The trip takes them all day, and they are exhausted when they reach what they assume is the tomb entrance at sundown. The trail leads directly to a triangular opening in a rock wall. The trail at this height is very steep, and the party is glad to rest on the level area just before the entrance.

Ebenezer pulls out the map (see it in the files section at: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Eternal_Warriors/files/Low% 20Level%20Campaign/Maps/ ) and shows it to the others. "This is what I found in my research," explains the old man.

The party decides to take a rest before entering. They eat dried meat and fruit, fearing to light a fire. From their vantage they can see for miles, and the lights in the village are visible. They see no pursuit or disturbance in the village.

When they are done eating, Ebenezer speaks to Louie again: "I don't mean to overburden you Louie, but you're probably the best among us to safely enter this place. The map doesn't show any traps, but I wouldn't necessarily trust it. Anyone volunteer to be first?" Ebenezer obviously does not volunteer. Cat, on hearing the conversation, jumps from its perch on a boulder, disappearing. Clearly the animal doesn't want to be first either.

"Hell I will go first if everyone is too damn scared." says Timberline Sam slapping on his coonskin cap and stomping off towards the entrance with his axe drawn.

"How similar courage and ignorance often seem," Louie says under his breath as he heads after Sam. "Wait Sam, we shall go together."

Woodsy the Owl says " I can change into an owl again and fly into teh tumnnel. I won't be able to check for traps but I can scout ahead."

Once again, the female of the party sheds most of her clothes and does her amazing transformation. The party for the second time watches her change before their eyes, hearing bones pop and seeing feathers sprout from her smooth skin. The owl frees itself from the last of her clothes and takes flight, circling the party once before zipping into the cave with a quiet "Hoot."

The others wait outside. One minute passes. Five. Ten. No sound comes from the cave.

"I think there must be some problem," says Ebenezer. "According to my map, the first level of the tomb is not that large. She should have been able to scout and return by now. Everyone peers into the cave. Anwar the Immortal [Micah's guy's new name] has made a small fire and shines a torch inside, still standing on the threshold but not entering. The guttering light shows on black walls that are rough and uneven. The passage goes back beyond range of the torch.

"Plan B anyone?" says Ebenezer, a worried look on his aged face.

"Yes, we go in, in force. Sam, you lead with me. Then Eb. Anwar, you bring up the rear. Everyone holds a torch. If something got her, it will be expecting us. I will be scouting for traps." Louie smiles as he says this.

Anwar begins to object to being in the rear, but Ebenezer interjects, "Good, Anwar can protect me. Let's light another torch and go." Ebeenzer carries one torch, offering the second to Louie so he can find traps.

The company enters the portal, a triangular shaped fissure in the mountainside. The torches barely reflect off the dark walls, and Louie moves slowly in the lead. Sam is close by, with Ebenezer and Anwar following.

They progress about forty or fifty feet. Louie sees no indication of traps, so they continue. They notice cobwebs on the ceiling of the passage.

Soon they enter a large room, their torch light barely reaching the other side. The room is probably fifty or sixty feet across. Cobwebs are everywhere in this room, strung from the floor to the ceiling but especially dense on the ceiling. The party can see no exits to the room from here. [You are at the threshold of this room. Please either post an action or reply that you continue onward.]

Louie whispers, "Do you see any evidence that the owl-girl flew this way? Surely some of these cobwebs would be disturbed, if she did." Louie scans for such evidence hoping to figure out which way she flew.

The thief sees some cobwebs near the center of the room seem to be disturbed, and he focuses his scanning there. Higher up the webs look more like a gossimar curtain, and Louie fancies he can see a small bundle deep inside the webs. However, he is not certain of what he sees because of the obstructing webbing and the flickering of the torchlight.

Sam keeps a wary eye on his surroundings as he advancing cautiously into teh room with his ax drawn.

"I think I see owl-girl. She seems to be caught in that web up there. I bet there is some sort of giant spider of the like in this room. Ready your weapons. Beware of trap doors." Louie scans the floor for signs of trap doors where either they could fall in or a large arachnid could emerge.

Sam squints up into the webbing and sees a small, football-sized bundle near the ceiling. It is difficult to make out. Then the hairs on the nape of his neck stir, and Sam knows something is behind him. He whirls around with his axe just as Louie says, "LOOK OUT!"

From a dark indentation in the wall and ceiling above the door, a very large, hairy, many-eyed spider springs at Sam. The thing is probably as large as a small pony, though its legs give it much more volume. Those eight hairy legs spread in an attempt to envelop Sam as the spider drops from above.

[I will make rolls for surprise this evening. Meanwhile, please post your actions. If I don't get your post, I will assume your character attacks the spider as best they can.]

Posting Instructions: Please post your actions for the round.

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