Chapter Three, The Shepards of Araneae

"Hold on, I just need to comment," Leon uttered as an aside from the usual gaming, "Did you write that prayer yourself?" Maureen looked up from the note she'd scribbled hastily in the library, "Sort of, it was modified from a hymn to Ishtar from ancient Babylon." "That's really cool," said Lynne, "I don't think I've ever heard of anyone coming up with an actual prayer for their character's deity." "I wrote something like that once, I composed an enchantment for my wizard a few years back," said Mike. "How come you didn't read it to us?" asked Steve, "I would've liked to hear that." "It wasn't on any of our campaigns, it was with a different group," Mike explained. "Well, I'd still like to hear it, if you wouldn't mind bringing it in." "Ok, maybe next time."

"If you'd read it aloud while on a campaign that I was DMing, I would have awarded you experience points," said Leon, "Like I'm about to now for Maureen." Maureen smiled, she had wondered how the other players would react to the prayer. She had never liked going to church but there was something about the Raven Queen that made her wish there was an actual religion associated with her. "Have you thought about joining a coven?" asked Magda. "No, I don't know any witches," replied Maureen. "Well, you do now," said Magda.

"We can talk about joining Magda's coven later, for right now I'm going to award Maureen fifty experience points, Maureen, write them down right here on your character sheet, when you get enough points you'll level up." Maureen added fifty points to the three hundred she'd received for helping to defeat the vine people and the labyrinth the previous Saturday. "Ok, now I'm going to have you roll initiative." "Oh no, now what?" whined Lynne. They all rolled.

As the sun sank farther behind a bank of clouds and the sky grew dark, the company grew warier and began to march closer. "No one should be leaving to wander the woods alone," said Hrothgar, meetingGwennevere's gaze sternly, "We are entering the land of Araneae , of which the map and lore tell almost nothing." An owl hooted right over their heads, unnerving them, and took to the air with an almost silent rustle. "A rogue should always be sent ahead in unfamiliar country," said Artemis, "I can go unseen and unheard, seeing and hearing. As a company we make too muchnoice and can be ambushed too easily." Hrothgar considered this, "Very well, but take Rowena with you, you're both rogues. Don't get separated in the dark, and don't lose the company." "I'll make sure of that," said Rowena, as though she alone could.

Apprehension that had been growing in Gwennevere since the sun had gone down intensified as Artemis and Rowena dissappeared silently into these new woods which had become denser and more tangled as the hours creeped on. As the half-moon rose visions came, of clinging, confining space and she thought she imagined odd, staccato thumping sounds as though from far away. The remaining group walked as quietly as they could, mindful of what Artemis had said, and they strained their ears and eyes for signs of danger. Hrothgar fell back from his place in the line and walked next toGwennevere, "What do you reckon?" Gwennevere chanted words in an eerie singsong with a blank, staring expression, not fully realizing their meaning: "The scouts must be called back, these woods are filled with peril." Hrothgar's eyes widened and he ran ahead to find the rogues, "No, not that way," she whispered, before throwing off the trance. "Wait!" she shouted, running after him.

Gwennevere passed Grond and Ferdinand, who called to her, confused and began to run, too. She realized that they couldn't all go scurrying into the woods panicked, wondered why they were and halted, letting them catch up. Hrothgar had already run off in the direction their rogues had gone, but the last thingGwennevere wanted to do now was follow him recklessly. "An enchantment has been laid on these woods, and I fear Artemis and Rowena have been captured." "By who?" saidGrond . "I don't know," she answered, "But they might not know of us yet. If we would know who they are, we must make them reveal themselves. We must build a fire, quickly." "But that would reveal us!" exclaimedFerdinad , "Are you mad?!" "We must build a large fire, very quickly," she persisted, "And we must hide a safe distance away and see who investigates." "Oh, I catch your meaning,"Grond whispered, "Set a trap! Good notion, that."

Having found a reasonably large clearing in the moonlight, situated on top of a small rise in the land and hemmed about with dense trees and brush, they ran about in circles, gathering brush and dried leaves, snapping large branches with all the care they could to keep from making too much noise. Grond agreed to stay behind to build the fire with flint and steel while Ferdinand and Gwennevere scaled a twisted oak twenty yards away, leaving a rope dangling to the ground for him to climb when he was finished. Grond had no sooner pulled the rope up after him when several darkling creatures emerged from the undergrowth surrounding their clearing on the opposite side from where they sat observing the scene.

Revealed in the light of the moon and the fire, the enormous spiders were easily identified. Ranging in size from one to three feet long, they made their way around the clearing on chitinous claws, making small dints in the damp earth were their unnatural weight pressed down upon it. Less easily identified were their stooped, halfling-sized comrades, covered in white hair and possessed of long slender arms and short, squat legs each ending only in a single black claw. Each one had eight sparkling red eyes and shining brown pincers and fangs protruding from their furry mouths over their pale round abdomens. They avoided the fire.

"Ettercaps!" breathed Ferdinand, "We learned about them in school." "Muamman Duathal protect us!" uttered Grond, gripping his mace a little tighter. They gazed, transfixed, as the spiders and their strange companions withdrew into the woods,Gwennevere marking the direction in which they departed. "What would you say there were, a dozen or so spiders and three ettercaps?" wondered Ferdinand aloud. "There are probably more," said Gwennevere , "What did you learn of them and how might they be killed?" Ferdinand scratched his head with both hands and rubbed his eyes as though to jog his memory, "Theettercaps aren't too smart, mostly, keep spiders as pets, can't see detail, just light and dark, and can sense you best when you touch a web they're on, through the vibrations."

"How are they killed?" repeated Gwennevere. "You've got to stab them in the face, I think," so that their scent packets aren't broken," said Ferdinand. "Why shouldn't you break their scent packets?" "Because that will bring a lot more of them. They'relivlier at night, so we should wait until morning before we do anything." Grond scratched his own head and then stroked his beard, his expression faraway, "Yes, I have heard of these ettercaps," he said, "My youngest brother was taken when we left our caves to forrage for food in our youth. No one could discover where he'd got to until his shrivelled body was found, wrapped in silk, a week later." They shuddered, wondering what to do next, when another figure appeared just inside the ring of dying firelight. It was Hrothgar. He moved cautiously, examining the tracks in the clearing. He fell to his knees and held his face in his hands.

Without a word, Ferdinand, Grond and Gwennevere climbed down from the tree and crept towards the fire, still fearing a trap. Hrothgar jumped up and looked out into the gloom, alert. He darted toward the cover of the trees when Gwennevere called, "Wait!" and he stopped just short of the ring of trees as they entered the clearing. "Thank Pelor! The tracks! I thought you'd been captured by the ettercaps!" His face was glad but worn with strain. "We built a fire to discover them, and hid in the trees," said Ferdinand proudly. "It was well done, but we must return to the darkness before we are found, whence came they?" Hrothgar asked. "They came and left through that opening there," said Gwennevere.

As they returned to the darkness (on the opposite side of the clearing) Hrothgar related how he had been unable to find Rowena and Artemis, at first suspecting some sort of prank, until he saw three small white bundles strung together at the top of a tree. "I would never have seen, were they not sillouetted against the rising half-moon." "Was it them?" asked Grond, "No, the casings were much too small, the work of their smaller beasts, catching forrest animals, and yet too large for comfort. I saw one of them, bigger than my head, spinning its night-web and I turned back to find you. When I saw that you had fled, I returned to where I had seen the bundles and kept going, thinking I might find all of you wrapped up in silk. I found two large bundles strung across the forrest path but when I tried to cut them down I was set upon by four of the ettercaps. I managed to kill them without getting bitten and was barely able to escape their spider brood." If you hadn't lit that fire I wouldn't have escaped. I suspect a goodly number of them went to investigate the clearing and so weren't guarding their prisoners."

"Well, there's nothing for it but to wait until morning," said Grond, "We've no chance of getting Artemis and Rowena back in the dark." "We can get them back now, we just need more light," said Ferdinad, "I can cast a light spell that would blind them momentarily." "It would be better if they were blinded longer than momentarily," said Gwennevere, "Do you think you can keep the light going?" "I can try," he replied.