Middle Earth FA64 D&D Game: Seventh Adventure – The Ruins of Old Hatha

Ceol no longer detects evil. Thoroncir's longsword is glowing even dimmer now. The undead seemed to have once been men.

The party heads up and heads where?

I think head into the main city and have a look at some of the buildings in the main area, preferably those which are still standing, and keeping an eye out for all the usual suspects: rats, snakes, ghosts, ghouls, wraiths, vampires, dark lords of terrible vengeance.

You know, the usual.

Heading through the final gate to the city proper two things are noticed. Large parts of old city are swathed in heavy webs and from the tracks in the rubble in the gateway, dozen of human type creatures had used it the prior night.

The main path through the old city and up the hill appears to be largely clear of webs at 8' and lower but many heavy webs cross over the path higher up. The streets and alleys between the buildings are covered far more thickly and to the ground in many cases. Most of the webs appear quite old though and the city could not possible support a large colony of giant spiders. Tis a shame Elfstan is not here with Sting though.

Interesting. Does Folca see anything of interest from aloft as we head deeper into the city?

The buildings are in much better shape in the old town and largely intact. Not far from the entrance keep, about one building in you'll see a triangular open area and there seems to be a particularly large and extensive web in this area.

Nothing appears to be moving in the town. Visible windows all appear to shuttered, bricked up, boarded up or webbed over.

I'll keep Folca aloft, looking for anything dangerous or interesting.

Searching my memory for any tales or songs of web-grown cities... and if there are none, I had better compose one soon. Meanwhile, all senses alert and bow out and ready.

Shall we proceed to the triangular open area with the particularly large and extensive web?

"Sounds good to me, Thoroncir", agrees Rorimac, "After all, there may not be a colony of Giant Spiders here. Probably just the one or two instead."

Mulligan gets a nasty gleam in her eye. "Webs are sometimes flammable, so if we set light to the web, do you think it would burn them all down across the city?"

"Would the resulting fire act as a deterrent to those whom we wish to battle or would it act as a beacon?" asks Prestolwen.

"It certainly might burn things we don't wish to burn," Sir Thoroncir says thoughtfully. "There may be a great library somewhere here in the city, or a museum that could tell us much of those who used to live here. I would not favor such indiscriminate use of fire."

I would expect webs - even these - to be too filmy and slight to serve as effective kindling, but we would have only one chance to find out. I advise against it for now, and even though we have not Sting with us, we have other blades of Elf make; let us try those to begin with. And I am of one mind with Sir Thoroncir concerning the open triangular area.

"Let us go forth, then," says the knight-errant, eager to see more of the ancient city ere darkness falls.

The party moves into the city proper and head for the heavily webbed area. As the party moves into the triangle, Deor through Folca sees some of the webs vibrate, almost like messege lines. Deor quickly decides the messages are moving between 6 location. These lines are not visible from the ground and would have been missed if not for Folca and Deor's link.

"Deor, can you tell from whence the messages are being sent?"

Deor can pinpoint the 6 locations. 5 near buildings and one near the center of the court area.

Are any of the five set particularly apart from the others? Since I suspect each may be a giant spider's lair, that might be a good place to investigate and/or attack first. Divide and conquer.

They are spaced fairly equally apart. The nearest two are at the corners of the building forming the sides of the triangles. Then another pair about halfway along the same walls and one on the south east corner of the building at the far point. The 6th in roughly in the middle. None are all that far from another.

"I would suggest we start by investigating the nearest of those locations...and, be prepared for a response coming from the other locations."

Are the message lines thin enough for Folca to destroy? Or do we have a fire spell that could target them? It would be helpful to cut the enemy's communications.

"Folca's a fairly large hawk... Cutting those lines might just be possible. That said, those strands must be pretty strong to withstand all that vibration. I don't know if I can get Folca to understand the nuances of tool use in order to use a knife to do this. However, there is one other option. I've prepared both Fly and Invisibility- I could make someone invisible, give them flight (which I can cast for a very, very long time), and let them zip around and burn or cut the strands."

I don't know. The very act of cutting or burning the weblines would itself probably send a signal to which a giant spider (if that's what we're dealing with here) would respond.

Sure, but it (or more likely they, since it's not communicating with itself*) would respond in an uncoordinated way, rather than a coordinated one. Further, it may get the spider to come out to us, rather than wait to ambush us on our way to it.

"Let us find a defensible location, and then cut the message lines one by one," thinks Ithilneth.

I am happy to fly invisibly, and the notion of finding a defensible place is a sound one - and I would rather provoke a spider into showing itself by cutting its message line than allow our enemies to communicate without let or hindrance.

"Why waste a good invisibility when at least two people here can do that for free", Mulligan chimes in, "besides, I'm small enough to be towed by Folca to the right spot, if the pair of us are flying around.

"You lot find a good defensive hidey hole or barricade and I'll go and rustle up some Giant Spiders to come and visit. It's not like I haven't done this before...."

Mulligan's suggestion makes good sense to Thoroncir, who turns to his beloved, Princess Gilraen, with a smile. "What say you, my lady? Would you prefer not to see an Elf or a Hobbit fly today?"

Gilraen replies, "Either way I would fear the poison of the spiders. But we know that spiders don't fair well up against invisible Hobbits at least."

"Let us send up a Hobbit, since the Elves are more suited for the upcoming upfront fight on the ground," says Ithilneth. "But we still need to find the defensible location."

We need to find someplace where we cannot be easily attacked from multiple sides.

Ok, given that it is likely they are giant spiders, trying to hide is not going to be very useful as they will climb all around it. I would suggest holding a line at the main gate entrance while I go and annoy them, or at least cut off their main lines of communication.

If they do emerge, we have a line of retreat and also a clear view of them coming, giving us some advantage.

If they decide not to stick their spidery necks out, we go and take each one out, one at a time. We know where they are, thanks to Folca.

We don't have that much time before the end of the Day, but taking them out would be a good step. Otherwise, they will probably follow us to our camp. I don't fancy waking up to see a set of them attacking us.

Sala, "If I could, I would suggest that we go through the building that runs from the road nearest the gate and runs mostly North to the southern edge of the webbed triangle. We clear the building and use it as our base. Just ensure those with undead detectors keep them handy in case they try to come at us from underneath. We should also open, clear or unboard any windows to bring in more daylight. Does the Hobbit have a blade suitable for cutting the webs?"

Notwithstanding that this suggestion came to us via an NPC from our DM, Thoroncir is dubious of Sala's advice. The Sea-knight responds, "A 'base' in this city could quickly become a death-trap. If we can avoid it, I would not wish to stay overnight here. Our horses and other beasts remain outside the city, and we ought to check up on them and find defensible ground ere nightfall."

Now I really wish Elfstan was here. He would be through those webs in an instant. However, these daggers of mine should be good enough to cut them. I'll leave Khosal's Blade with Rorimac, you may need it more than I.

Sala, I think your idea has merit, but I prefer having a route out of the city available. If we are still here at nightfall, we are likely to have bigger problems.

I really hope that those Giant Spiders cannot control the undead as well, or we could be in deep trouble. Of course, if they are Giant Undead Spiders...... :eek:

No matter we're we want to make our stand, however, we stand the risk of being attacked from multiple points. At least if we secure a sturdy, intact building, we know exactly where the weak points will be. Since the town walls are mostly rubble, they are useless for fortification. Either we take our chances with getting trapped in a building, or we take our chances exposing ourselves to being overcome by enemies due to a lack of choke points.

Personally, I vote the building. It wouldn't be the first time I've been surrounded by an enemy in a fortified place.

Anyone else want to chip in, I think we have more in favour of a defensible spot than not.

If so, then let's clear out that building quickly.

"I would agree, if nothing else, that narrowing the avenues from which we can be attacked is a good idea."

Making this easier
The party starts on the south end of the building and systematically goes through it. The Dwarves knock out a few rotten walls that are not weight bearing and the debris is used to block off the one entrance to the basement. Windows are thrown open wide and cleared. It is not stealthy, but surely they know the party is here.

When this is completed Deor casts a Fly spell on Mulligan. It will last 7-12 hours thanks to Deor's magic Hawk Pendant and allows 12" movement through the air.

Disposition of party member in or on the building is another story. Gil-Gandel could easily gain the roof and drop a rope to help others up.

Ithilneth will help bring any non-melee types up to the roof. Depending on how many we have left on the ground, she'll go back down. Numbers are useful to reduce the chances of being over-run.

Despite his misgivings about this plan, Sir Thoroncir will also help Gilraen and any others who ask in making their way to (relative) safety in our new fortress. How many stories above ground does the building have? Is the roof flat, with a low wall or other cover? Would it be best, tactically, for all or most of the party to be on the roof?

The building is only 24' high, 3 floors in all. The roof is sloped but a single gentle slope from a high point of 26' on the west side to 24' on the east side. If I was a hand to hand person, I don't think I would want to be on the roof. Probably good for Deor and the archers though.

There is an invisible giggling floating around the house as Mulligan gets used to flying, "This is so much fun, no wonder birds look like they are enjoying life." :D

Rorimac helps with preparing the house. He will stay inside and shoot through the windows to begin with, but will be switching to hand-to-hand when the time comes. "Let's see what comes to meet us Thoroncir as to where we should stand. I would suggest the Bitur, Gwaelur and Drindoleth on the ground floor, Ceol, Theogrim and yourself on the next floor and Redward, Sala and myself on the top floor. The roof will have Gil-Gandel, Itilneth, Prestolwen and Deor. I'm just not sure where the best place for Lady Gilraen is."

Once everyone is in place, she will head off with Folca to cut the webs. She will be flying slowly and attempting to avoid getting caught in any webs.

With the party ready and Gilraen on the ground floor in case of surprise undead attack Mulligan is off.

She gets to the first message line and saws at the tough fibers. They are tough to cut, much tougher than expected. They are very thick and taunt. The fibers are maybe a quarter of an inch in diameter. Mulligan will need to hack at them to cut them.

Let hacking commence. "Folca, keep an eye out and if anything bad comes this way let me know."

I should have bought a torch

Mulligan hacks at the thread, unlike a rope it does not begin to part in strands but the magic sword does cut into it like an axe into an oak tree. Folca squawks and flies off fast and Deor sees sudden explosive movement from the central mass of webs. What Mulligan sees is horrible, dozens of very large spiders with bodies a foot across come pouring out and a far more massive looking pair of spider legs emerge.

Crap!!

Ithilneth will loose arrows as soon as they are in range. She will prioritize the smaller spiders with the hope that a single arrow will either kill one or pin it to the ground.

Mulligan gathers her thoughts and decides that discretion is the better part of valour. Or possibly being turned into Giant Spider baby food.

If she can cut the spider silk completely before they get there, then she will do so, otherwise she will start flying back to the house and slip the invisibility ring off. Its not like they don't know we are here.

Thoroncir involuntarily shudders at the sight of the large spiders skittering towards the party, but draws his longsword and raises his shield, ready for action and determined to do his duty. Are the spiders all at the same level, or spread across several?

The spiders are coming along many strands but all fairly close to the message line.

Deor, "Should I hurl a fireball?"

Yes, Deor. Watch for your best chance of a group hit, and let them have it. Assuming we're in bright daylight and Faerie Fire will be of small account, I will start strumming Lindorn and give the gigantic spider something to worry about.

Spiders great and spiders small
Weave their webs in vain;
Warriors strong and warriors tall
Strive with might and main!
Spiders come for us to kill
By the ten or twenty:
We are armed with blade and skill,
Courage too in plenty!
These who once, in days of yore
Greenwood's tree-glades haunted,
Come to trouble us no more -
Gone their death-webs vaunted!
Stand against the spiders' malice,
Fight the battle glorious:
Then shall draught of brimming chalice
Toast the day victorious!

Bardic chant