The deal was simple, kill the giant spider that resides in the tower of what remained of the crucible's outer defences. If were able to return with proof of the spider's demise then the Giant Wolf would take what remained of his pack and leave us and this place alone. It sounded too good to be true. Even though we had Jäger's and Oakey's fine bowmanship with Loral's stout arm beside me, I feared we may still not have had the ability to take this beast down. At least not with enough health left to finish finding some Iron Bloom Mushroom, the final ingredient needed to save the people of Falcon's Hollow. Killing the beast was also something that I felt we could avoid even though his evil aura could not be hidden from me and my blessing granted to me by Sir Ganther to detect evil. The wolf was obviously intelligent, more so than some men I have met in my short time, so there could be a chance that he could be turned to the ways of good. All it needed was a chance to redeem itself.
The rest of the party did not quite share my optimism but we went forth to complete our side of the deal none the less.
With a new sense of direction, we headed to the remaining tower of the complex where we knew the giant spider to be. Oakey came up with a good idea, rather than entering the tower at it's base he felt we would stand a better chance if he were to scale the side of the tower. If anything he could look into one of the window nearer the top in order to see if the spider was in fact still there. Watching Oakey climb up the side unaided was a marvel. Watching him climb the wall with such ease made him resemble the prey in which he stalking. I watched as he reached the window and carefully peer inside. He looked down and shook his head and began to climb what remained of the tower to reach it's peak. Oakey through down a rope that he had secured for Jäger to climb. Jäger took this as a sign that Oakey must have found a way inside and want help in dispatching our eight legged foe. It was agreed by all that it would be best if Loral and I should not attempt to climb but instead enter via the bottom in case the spider tried to flee. After all, we needed it dead and we needed the proof. The wolf may have been evil and capable of lying but I am not. we said we would rid this place of the wolf's arachnid enemy and by Sir Ganther's sword we would do just that.
Loral and I creep as quietly as we can into the base of the but I feared we could be heard, even possibly by our friends on the roof. We pressed onward in spite of our inability to hide our presence. The two of us precariously begin to climb the rickety wooden stairs leading to the hatch in the ceiling. We still had not heard anything from our scouts so we, as quietly as we could, approached the hatch and opened it a few inches. Hopefully enough for me to spot the spider but not enough for it to spot me. I scanned the upper room of the tower and all I could see was it's web stretched over the entire room so I opened the hatch fully safe in the knowledge that the spider had gone. As the hatch creaked open I managed to notice my two friends looking down at Loral and I from a trap door. Jäger was staring intently across the room after he spotted that I had seen him whereas Oakey had a look of mild panic in his eyes as he hectically pointed over to where Jäger was staring.
I was wrong, the spider was indeed still here and had begun to stalk silently towards Loral and I. I step up through the hatch and Loral joins me bravely by my side. If this creature was to attack us, I was going to make sure it was me and not my friends. Loral and I held our ground ready for it to attack and attack it did, just not how I expected. A disgusting spray of viscous webbing covered Loral and I rendering us unable to move faster than that of a snail. At that very moment arrows almost sprayed from the trap door above us, pinning the spider, dead, to the floor. Jäger deftly joins Loral and I and removes a leg from the creature to present it as proof that we had upheld our side of the bargain. Oakey, I assumed, had decided to climb down the outside wall to meet us outside the tower. As the three of us carefully and one at a time climbed down the wooden stairs when we heard desperate scrambles and a bone crushing thud just outside. We rushed outside to find Oakey unconscious on the ground with his ankle clearly broken. Thank Morriden and Loral's ability to channel his graces and of course her quick thinking and instinct to help for within a heart beat of finding our new friend in a heap on the floor, she was already using her divine skills to heal him and mend his shattered ankle.
This exhausted Loral of her daily spells so we took it as a strong hint from the gods to rest up to set off once again fresh in the morning.
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