The road way was narrow and the trees presses so close together that there were no paths into the forest. Haran Jamis was driving the cart full of seeds and tools back to the village of Introsia. Suddenly from the forest three ettercaps leapt into the road. Two were the normal ettercaps the heroes had fought in the Abbey, but one was twice the size.
The ettercaps fell upon Haran and the hose as the party stood, somewhat stunned in horror. Arvien yelled we can't let this happen, which broke the spell on the party and they moved to attack. Drovic caused the grasses around the ettercaps and the wagon to become a movement barrier while Baru, Seglun and Varrid moved to attack the ettercaps. Grunyar fired arrows into the melee while Arvien called forth an earth elemental to attack the large ettercap. The large ettercap attacked Haran while the other smaller ones fell upon Baru and Seglun. Haran managed to drive the horse forward pulling the cart out of the grasses. As the battle raged one ettercap moved to attack Haran and slew him immediately. The large ettercap was taking damage but it seemed to be a reduced amount and some damage seemed to heal itself. Each bite from an ettercap dripped with venom as the party mostly avoided whatever poison those bites entailed.
The two smaller ettercaps were vanquished with relative ease. The large ettercap was another story as it regenerated damage. Ralom backed off and blessed his mace and waded back into attack, damage now seemed whole. Arvien through some fire attacks at the creature while Seglun used her silver weapon to full effect. The combination of silver and good weapon damage, along with fire damage allowed the party to overcome the creature. Ralom headed for Haran's cart but just then the misty sky swirled and the party was engulfed in darkness. Even dark vision could not penetrate the inky blackness.
The heroes other senses were working just fine. The felt the disturbingly light touch of cobwebs brushing their faces, arms, and head. The also felt heavy burlap sacks beneath them, and the small, beetles moving inside them. The arms and legs of each character were tied with rough roping. With mighty force Ralom broke the ropes binding his hands while Seglun twisted her arms and wrists into unreal figures to slip out of the ropes. They set about freeing their feet. The rest of the party felt revulsion as thousands of tiny spiders dropped down on them and crawled into their clothing, their mouths, their noses and their ears. By the time Seglun and Ralom set the others free, Varrid and Arvien were shaking with fear, swatting away spiders, many of whom were not even there. The group felt the sacks of seeds and tools under them just as the Abbey shook as though caught in an earthquake and they found themselves in a field outside of Introsia. A fire raged all around them, intense heat rolled out of the fire in blistering waves, and the noise of the crackling flames was deafening. Thick smoke limited visibility and some of the party started racking coughs from searing smoke inhalation. Varrid and Baru started to run toward the village, hoping to find water, and people to help put out the fire. They felt as if they were running in molasses, making little to no headway as the village appeared just as far off as ever. Ralom and Grunyar were the first to hear the cries for help. Ralom looked around for villagers but determined that the crops were the source of the cries for help. Looking closely he saw the that the crops had taken on human-like faces. Stalks of corn cried for help, rows of wheat screamed in terror as the flames licked at their blades. Grunyar pulled out his sword and began to shear off the corn stalks. "Murderer!" screamed the plant as blood spurted in every direction from the sheared off stalk. Ralom tried to pull a plant from the ground, "Murderer!" screamed that plant also. Every time the heroes tried to catch a breath they felt the searing smoke enter their lungs, causing growing pain inside.
Finally, as if these tests weren't enough, a walking pillar of fire appeared. At least 7 feet tall this pillar had rough versions of arms and legs crackling from its main body. Gleefully it set fire to the screaming plants. The heroes leaped into action but found that this monstrosity was difficult to damage. It also ignored Varrid's flanking maneuvers, ignored Grunyar's critical damage and was of course immune to fire. Seglun found herself aflame after being hit by the Fire Monster, she hit the ground and rolled to put the fire out. Grunyar shot magic arrows at the monster, Baru hammered away with his sword. Arvien fired cold rays at the thing, which actually staggered it a bit with extra damage. Then Varrid was aflame, hit the ground but failed to extinguish the fire as she crawled away. Drovic flew to her side, trying to use his cloak to smother the flames but succeeded at setting the cloak on fire. Once again everyone breathed in the searing smoke and Varrid's head dropped lifeless to the ground and then her body disappeared from the battlefield. Meanwhile the party continued its attacks, eventually overcoming the pillar of fire. As they breathed in the smoke once again the whole party awoke in their rooms at the Twilight Yawn, the fog filtered sun was just beginning to shine through the windows. Varrid lay slumped in the chair she was using to "stand" watch, her eyes flew open with a start as her life passed before her eyes. All the heroes dimly recalled a wagon, some spiders and a fire pillar.
DM's Notes: A total of 314 XP were gained by the party for the evening's work they now have 15342 XP requiring an additional 7658 to reach 5th level.
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