Banishing the blight from the Haiden stone left me dragging, and I decided it had something to do with the pain of the attack more than anything else. The Lightning rune and elf boy's fireball to the eye left me feeling the same, physically fine, but mentally tired, like I had been stressed out all day.

Maria went to talk with Siroka, so I wandered the tree for a while, saying hello to any of the fox people who said it to me. The vulpa were a lot like humans, because I found their version of a tavern a hundred feet up, and inside a larger than normal building. They didn't rent rooms, but they did sell a version of ale that they were happy to share.

With no one else around to make them shy, I found myself the center of attention, and quickly had a small crowd gathered around me asking questions about the 'upper world'. During the question and answer session I found out that the Vulpa, while small in numbers, lived a long time; a couple of centuries from what I could figure out. It made the small numbers a little more understandable.

They used to travel the underroads more, but the poisoning of the great tree meant they had to have defenders at most entrances to Mora Rosel to fend off intruders, and that meant curtailing their explorations since those took larger groups for safety.

"The drakelings came soon after the dragons arrival" a male fox named Gorssut (or as close as I could come to the sound) said "but are slow to expand their dens, and stay in the upper, western reaches of the underroads. It is the goblins who have begun to encroach on our forest in larger numbers, and are making the lower roads and eastern reaches more dangerous"

"The undead" a female vulpa said, getting a round of hissing from the gathered crowd "they are driving the goblins out of the lower caverns, pushing them toward us"

Gorssut gave a quick nod and ear flip as he said "Aye, the cursed Lich has begun to stir from his lair below Lor Frell. He will use the underroads to spread the blight, out of the dragons sight, then destroy the dragons and raise them for his army"

A young vulpa female gave me another of their ales, a sweeter version than the ones Samuel made, but good none the less. I smiled at the shy way she sidled up and slid the mug beside me, then reached out to touch my arm before giggling and scampering away. Taking a sip before nodding appreciatively for the crowd, I said "My companions and I are traveling to Lor Frell to aid our friend Dalmar in his quest, but the Guardian Queen and I have been tasked by the goddesses with the destruction of the undead, so we will destroy the Lich before departing Lor Frell"

New Quest

Destroy the ArchLich inhabiting Lor Frell

Oops. The message popped up and didn't even give me a yes/no option. The message faded after a few seconds, leaving me sort of shrugging as I considered things. We were going to do it anyway, and this way I might get more experience from the whole thing. Like the way Shadow and her people got double experience for us killing that dumbass dark elf. It did make me grin at the thought that I had given myself a quest, and made me think it might be time to see about Bob's quest.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon, and I wished my sister had been able to see it, she had always loved stories with talking animals. The thought surprised me, and I shook it off as I wandered back down the tree, picturing Mary here instead. I was seriously considering what it would take to set a portal after picturing that hammock idea again. The actual trip from Riverbend was only about a week, so we'd be talking about two weeks round trip. Of course, that was two weeks through seriously dangerous territory. But still, a hammock and a beautiful girl under a magic tree. Who could pass that up?

I found most of the team sitting where we had grouped up this morning, with only Anna and Neara still out and about. We settled in to do a leisurely dinner, deciding to wait on the other two before discussing plans. When they did arrive, Siroka was pacing along beside Anna, and the shamaness joined us in our informal circle.

Dalmar led off with "I found the road we want, and it's still open, though our friends here say none of them are really safe anymore. Going east, we have to traverse a couple of large caverns, though none this large,and the closest one is supposedly spider infested" he grinned at the group before saying "Spiders of unusual size" Maria laughed, but Neara and Rayna just rolled their eyes.

"Goblins after that" Dalmar continued with a chuckle "though that's just a guess by our hosts. It's pretty much a straight shot east, so if we get separated for some reason, you just head east. There's a lava flow we have to cross marked on the map, about a day away from Lor Frell, so you'll know you're close when you reach it" he shrugged before saying 'Then we deal with the undead"

"That's a good point" Rayna said "If someone pulls a Bilbo and gets separated, it might get pretty interesting finding your way"

"Everybody good with riddles?" Maria asked with a laugh, she waved a hand to stop any replies and said "but it's something to think about. Any of you guardians find yourself alone, remember you can cloak yourself and probably avoid a lot of trouble"

"Stay on the dwarven roads" Siroka said "and you should be able to find your way. Many creatures have built tunnels that lead away from the roads, but they are easy to recognize"

Anna and Bob's groups hadn't found anything unusual, but they were all impressed with the place. As Bob said "If it weren't for things in the surrounding tunnels trying to eat you, this would be paradise"

"You guys said the Hainar stone was infected with the blight, right?" Neara asked "and there are supposedly two more out there? Does that mean there's two more places getting affected by this?"

"If they have not been destroyed" Siroka said "One was in Lor Frell, one here in Mora Rosel, one in Lor Daana on the border of what was the elven lands, but is now the Desolation, and the last on the southern coast at Lor Koss. Lor Daana and Lor Koss were both lost when the dragons arrived from across the southern sea, with Lor Koss being the first dwarven city to fall"

"Do the underroads reach them too?" Anna asked

"Once" Siroka said with a flick of an ear, something I took for her version of a shrug "but it would be a perilous journey to attempt to reach them by the underroads now"

"I know a group of ladies who might take up the challenge" Maria said, her eyes distant as she considered something. She focused on me and said "Having a portal on the coasts would be pretty convenient a few years from now when we start exploring this world"

That got a shrug from me as I said "Something to consider in the long term"

We chatted in a desultory fashion for a while, and when it appeared we had covered everything of interest, I stood up and said "Got something important I need to cover"

Everyone kind of blinked at my serious tone, but they all looked up at me as I said "We've been talking about the blight for a while now, but this is the first time I've dealt with it directly. I'm not sure what it is, but it's not just some disease or infection. The thing I fought in the stone felt pain, and it tried to kill me when it realized what I was doing. I think the barrier from the ceremony of sacrifice prevents the blight from spreading directly, but it appears to be connected to any of the undead that manage to cross into our lands"

Maria was nodding, and when I paused, said "It damn near did kill Jake"

I nodded in agreement, but just said "It's time to get serious about dealing with the thing, and I doubt it will go quietly or easily" I looked down at Bob, and his face hardened as I said "Telina needs a champion to destroy the blight before it can spread beyond the barrier" Bob started to say something, so I held up my hand, and when he relaxed, I said "Telina doesn't have any information on the blight, much less on how to end it, so this is a pretty open ended thing" I paused to look the group over, then added "I also think this blight is aware enough it might resist you"

Everyone else got doubtful looks, but Maria was nodding slowly. I shrugged and said "It did over two hundred points of damage, and that was through the stone, so don't underestimate it" I gave Bob a questioning look and said "I'm offering you your chance at redemption Bob. Will you take up the quest to destroy the blight?"

His eyes got the vague look of someone reading an interface message, and we all heard when he said 'Yes", though the sudden flare of white light around him was probably just Telina being a show off.

"There you go" Maria said, her satisfied tone making it clear she had been expecting this. Her eyes traveled over the other ladies, getting nods from each of them, before Maria said "We have to find the anvil for Dalmar, and have the Lich to take care of, but after that it looks like you guys are ready to take up your quest" she looked back at Diana to say "Tarra wants you to travel with Dalmar until he has his forge set up, then you'll join the quest. Learning the smithing skill will supposedly come in handy"

Maria clapped her hands together and gave everyone a big grin before saying "So what are you going to call your group?"

Dalmar, Maria, Siroka and I left the others talking about team names, and formed our own group by the Vulpa's bonfire area. A lot of laughter came floating over from the other group as some one would suggest something weird or funny for a name.

"Do you truly believe you can destroy the blight?" Siroka asked doubtfully from where she was sitting close to Maria

I shrugged, looking at my friends to see them give me their own shrugs, before I said "Don't really know. I would think so, since someone created it at some point, but the question will really be if stopping it will be more destructive than containing it"

Siroka's face showed her confusion, so I added "We don't know what it is, or even where it is for that matter. It might be like cancer in our world, where the treatments for destroying it are almost as harmful as the cancer itself"

"Made a bit of a production out of it, didn't you" Maria asked with a grin.

I frowned, agreeing with her, but trying to think of a way to explain why it was needed, when Dalmar spoke first.

"Bob needed it" Dalmar said, giving me an approving nod "Guys young, probably early twenties. Acted the fool when he got here, but your and Jake's approval is important to him" he looked over at where one of the women in the other group let out a loud laugh, then turned back to Maria to say "This redemption thing means a lot to him, and Jake taking it seriously will help. So you need to keep that in mind when talking about his quest"

Dalmar was correct, and most of the reason I had made a production of it, but I had also been speaking for Siroka, as the locals seemed to spread rumors quickly.

"Ok" Maria said with a grin and a nod "I'll give a royal blessing after we finish your quest and they head out"

"Your presence has been a holy blessing" Siroka said seriously "my people could not have stood against the goblins and drakelings without the power of the Great Tree"

She stood up, the leaned down to stroke her cheek along Maria's, something I had seen her do before, and guessed it was something similar to a hug. Siroka pulled a small wooden box, about the size of something you would have a ring in, from somewhere in her vest and held it out to Maria, saying "The goddess Tessa once blessed my people with a Luminia seed, and I believe it is time for us to offer the same blessing to you"

Maria hesitated, but when Siroka pushed the box toward her, Maria took it. Holding it out where Dalmar and I could see, she opened the top to reveal something that kind of resembled a small walnut, but green, with gold striations in it.

"Plant the seed where it will most aid those in need" Siroka said "the Luminia will wither and fade without people who appreciate its beauty, and in turn, people that the tree can care for"

"This is a...wondrous gift" Maria said softly "Are you sure?"

Siroka laughed and reached out to close the box and clasp her small hands around Maria's before saying "Without a doubt your majesty"

Turning to me, Siroka said "My people do not place much value on the things those above seem to covet, so I have little to offer you in thanks for your suffering on our behalf" she raised a hand to stop me as I started to say something, then continued by saying "but we have gathered some few items from travelers and those who we defeated"

Siroka pulled a necklace with a small, round pendant from her vest and handed it to me.

The Safe Traveller

Quill the Vagabond created this necklace as he believed that if one wished to safely travel the byways of Tarinath, one needed: "The wisdom to avoid a fight, the speed to flee a fight one lacked the wisdom to avoid, and if necessary, the toughness to win the fight you could not flee"

+3 Wisdom

+3 Dexterity

+8 Armor

Usable by: All

Wow. Talk about the perfect gift!

Siroka leaned down to give me the same cheek rub, her fur feeling amazingly soft on my face as she did so. She stood upright again, then turned to look up at the tree before saying quietly "You saved my people, and these are such small things for such a great gift, but we will honor you and your companions in word and song for as long as the Vulpa hold the Buried Forest"

I could tell Maria was a little choked up, and it felt good to be seen as something other than "cursed eternals" Siroka didn't let it get awkward, just turned and walked away, leaving us to exchange looks.

"Always nice to be appreciated" Dalmar said, reaching out to give Maria's shoulder a pat.

We spent the evening with the Vulpa, enjoying a final gathering, one I stayed awake for, but morning found us gathered at the base of the great tree, exchanging goodbyes. I liked the informality of the Vulpa, so we didn't do any speech making, just had the whole fox clan gathered to watch us leave.

"It's nice to know this world has places like this" Bob said as we left the grassy area under the tree and headed back onto the road.

I could see the waterfall now that we were out from under the tree, and it was impressive as hell. It flowed out of an opening twenty feet wide, about fifty feet below the ceiling of the cavern, then fell straight down. I couldn't see the bottom yet, but Dalmar had said it had formed a pool at the base that anchored the river that flowed through the cavern. Being able to see it seemed to make the noise clearer, since the thunder of the falls became something I couldn't tune out.

The small lake, which I could see when we finally cleared the forest, was shrouded in mist from the falling water. The lake itself was probably a hundred feet wide, and twice that long, with the waterfall forming a backdrop that the thousands of overhead lights turned into a scintillating ribbon strectching hundreds of feet upwards. We all stopped at the forest edge and just gazed in awe.

Dalmar let us all look for a time, then said "Our road is to the left"

Dragging my eyes away from the falling water, I followed his pointing finger to see that the road split at the lake, circling to either side, and on the left, entered two separate tunnels. The one he was pointing at being not far from the lake, with the other a good two hundred feet to the first ones left. Both had carved stones surrounding them, appearing like archways that framed the entrances. There was a a single tunnel to the right of the waterfall, making this a real crossroads for the underground road system.

We gathered at the entrance to our road and got organized. "Anna, you move back with Bob again until we see what we're facing" Dalmar said. He looked my way and added "I think you should move forward Jake, or you'll never get a chance to use that snake thing. If it looks like we're getting overrun, slide back and do your healing trick, but until then I don't see why you can't have some of the fun"

Damn right! I grinned at Maria as I stepped forward, saying "Guess who gets to ride up front" getting a giggle before she stuck her tongue out.

I settled in between Dalmar and Diana, and the rest of the group shook out into position behind us before Dalmar said "Let's do this"

The light from the cavern faded fairly quickly, and Rayna and I pulled out torches to help out. Maria could see ahead well enough to warn us of traps, and the roadway matched the one we came in on, so there was enough room for three abreast.

The road appeared to be level, not showing any tendency to descend, so maybe we were as low as we were going to go. We had been walking about ten minutes, when Maria said in a whining tone "Are we there yet?" getting a burst of laughter from the group. Dalmar, Diana and I stayed focused, but the rest of the group talked quietly as we walked, everyone much more relaxed than they had been on our initial descent.

Rayna and Neara ended up getting everyone to listen when Rayna said "Yeah, they've locked down on information about the virtual worlds and stuff, but my old boyfriend worked for one of the gaming companies, and he said any of the worlds they transferred a person's consciousness into, it had to be totally closed. Said the government tried making cyborg type things, but any time they allowed outside stimuli, it disrupted the persons consciousness. I don't think they really know for sure how this stuff works; you know, like really understand it. John, my boyfriend, said the game worlds have really sophisticated programs, almost AI type stuff, that controls a lot of it, and when they make these places, they create like the framework, then let the AI thing handle the rest based on parameters they give it. But not, you know, like a living program, just something that makes stuff based on rules"

"Yeah, I've read net articles about the government putting people in the computers that run tanks and stuff" Neara said "but I don't think anyone's ever really proved it"

"People are too crazy for that to work" Maria said "you imagine some asshole who actually lived in a tank. He'd be out humping cars and reading automotive porn"

The girl had a weird way of looking at things, but she did make me laugh. Dalmar added his own deep chuckle to the group laugh, but followed it with a "Shhh" as everyone had gotten fairly loud.

Our first day of walking was fairly uneventful, but early the next day Sam went from decoration to whip from one step to the next, though nothing was in sight. I stopped and said "Hold up", getting everyone to halt and look my way. I held Sam up slightly so everyone could see he was ready for a fight as I studied the road ahead of us.

"Something's there, but I'm not seeing it" I said. The torches let me see fifty or sixty feet ahead, but it was dim enough that it took me a moment to realize the dust on the floor was disturbed in a path moving our way, up to a point about twenty feet in front of us; as if something had moved that far, then stopped.

I called fist, then focusing on the spot where the disturbed dust stopped, I snapped Sam forward. I could feel the difference the +3 dexterity made, the whole slashing motion feeling smoother and more...efficient. Sam hit with a crack, causing a sudden spark of electricity, and a small flare of white fire from fist, that revealed the ugliest damn spider I'd ever seen. It was about four feet high, even though the whip strike had caused the thing to collapse with its eight legs splayed out. It had a hard shelled body that was solid black, sort of like a black widow without the red color, and two large pincers below its multi-faceted eyes.

Shroud Spider

Level 11

Health 105

My hit had taken three quarters of its health off, so I was getting at least the full effect from fist, if not more.

"Gross" Diana muttered as I called fist again, then slashed forward. The second smack of the whip got a high pitched screeching sound from the thing, just before it turned into a small pile of junk on the ground.

"Nice" Dalmar said softly. Sam flowed back up and turned into a bracer again, but he was feeling just as happy as I was. Two hits in a row! I was hoping the move above the magic eighteen in dexterity was making a difference, and that this effectiveness would continue.

"How'd you know it was there?" Diana asked

"Dust trail stopped there" I said as we moved to the small pile on the floor. There was a couple of gold pieces, a small vial, and a glowing crystal.

Paralysis Poison

Paralyzes upon contact for 30 seconds

Resistance to poison is based on victims level, stamina attribute, and intelligence attribute

Shroud Crystal

A shroud crystal is the source of the shroud spider's ability to hide itself from its victims sight

"Level, stamina, and intelligence numbers" Maria said seriously "These things are player killers. Not many players are going to raise both stamina and intelligence, so you're pretty much guaranteed a player is going to be weak in one of those areas"

"If you add those three things up" I said "Dalmar probably has the highest numbers"

"Like an average?" Neara asked thoughtfully, before nodding and adding "good way to think about it probably"

"Don't think it really matters, does it?" Bob asked, a small grin showing "we're all going forward regardless"

"True enough" Dalmar said with a shrug as he shouldered his hammer, then looked around the group and said "we get to the cavern, a bunch of invisible spiders will be a problem. Anyone got anything that will let us detect them?" he grinned and nodded at me before adding "Other than Sam"

"The shroud thing blocked my ability to detect the creature" Maria said with a frown, just before Anna asked "Dispel magic maybe?"

"Possibly" Dalmar said with a nod "Worth a try at least"

"We have to cross the cavern?" I asked, and at Dalmar's nod, said "That means we'll be surrounded fairly quickly. I can stun everything there for ten seconds, but that won't do us much good if they recover while we're still there"

"We need to deal with them before we walk into their house, where they're strongest" Bob said thoughtfully. He was staring contemplatively down the road as he stroked his mustache and considered things "These are monsters, so we need to think in aggro distances, and how to draw them to us. Best way to cross the cavern is if it's only us in it"

I looked around to see everyone nodding in agreement, drawing a grin from me as I looked back at Bob. He stood a head taller than anyone else there, bulky and strong looking in his armor, with his sword handle stuck up over his shoulder from the sheath on his back. He saw my grin, and gave me one back as he said "So I say, rather than risk a running fight, we stop at the cave entrance and draw them to us. If nothing else, Jake can cast his holy fire spell around the cavern to attract their interest"

We talked it out a bit more, deciding Sam would be our early warning until we got to the cavern, then we would set up a defensive position and draw the spiders to us, where we could concentrate our strength. Rayna had the same vine spell Sienna had, as well as the slow spell, so she would be really effective for setting up a defensive front.

Sam made another appearance about thirty minutes later, but this time Dalmar waved for everyone to wait, then walked forward on his own.

This time the spider was actually hanging onto the ceiling, and when Dalmar walked under it, it dropped on him. Dalmar was holding his hammer across his front, the head upright by his right shoulder, so he kind of pushed upward with the hammer to shove the spider off, and It didn't manage to knock him over.

I was surprised he stood still and let the spider recover, then just let it lunge forward and bite him on his upheld arm. Dalmar sort of...stutter stepped, as I guess the paralysis tried and failed to take hold, then he commenced to whooping ass. An upward swing of his hammer caught the spider under its pincered mouth and flipped it onto its back, where a follow up swing came down hard. A sharp cracking noise was swiftly followed by the spider turning into a pile of junk.

"Burns, and did about twenty points of damage" Dalmar said when we joined him "Body is hard like armor, so expect some reduction in hit damage"

"So all we have to do is wait outside, and Dalmar can go in and clear the cavern?" Diana asked with a laugh as she picked up the drop, getting a grin from Dalmar and a chuckle from the rest of us.

The next time Sam did his thing, Dalmar halted us and let Rayna do a dispel magic, hers dispelling up to level 20, and mine only going to 17 at the moment. She cast it at a point in the tunnel at a distance the previous spiders had been since the dust was to disturbed to pick a single point, getting a flash of blueish light, but nothing more.

"I guess we do this the hard way then" Dalmar said, hefting his hammer, with Diana doing the same. I called a fist spell, but waited in place as the two of them moved forward.

Two spiders made a sudden appearance, one dropping down from the ceiling on to Diana, the other surging forward to lock its pincer jaws around Dalmar's right arm and hammer. Diana fell down, pushing her hammer up to hold the spider away, yelling "Shit!, get off me you ugly piece of..." The spider bit her hand at that point, and she locked up, totally frozen.

Sam slashed out at the same time two arrows, and five magic missiles passed me, all aimed at the one on Diana. The arrows both hit, followed by Sam and his display of lightning and the flash of white light from fist, then the missiles swept in to finish the thing off. A small pile of items dropped on to Diana's stomach, but she just stayed locked up on the floor, arms extended, hammer held up.

Dalmar actually kicked his to get it to release his arm, then killed it with two overhand blows, before turning to crouch down by Diana. Sam was still in whip form, so I drew in a calming breath, then said loudly enough to be heard by my whole group "Still have more here. Bob, move forward, Anna and I will cover the back"

Bob had his big sword in one hand as he strode past me, then stepped in front of where Diana and Dalmar were, eyes scanning the hall in front of us. Maria and Neara had arrows nocked, and Anna moved in a little tighter before facing back, as I called holy fire down at a point about ten feet in front of Bob.

The column of white fire shot down from the ceiling, then splashed outward, revealing two more spiders clinging to the walls. They both let out chittering noises as the flame washed over them, then they both scuttled forward. The one on the right got met by Bob, who let out a harsh yell as he did a two handed thrust into its open jaws, while the other got two arrows, and a swarm of magic missiles. I called fist, but waited and watched, wary of being surprised by more.

Bob's spider had the sword slide almost all the way in before turning into a junk pile, while the other fell off the wall, but surged forward in a rush of clattering legs. Bob spun and hit it across the back a second after two more arrows hit, killing it a couple feet away from where Dalmar waited in front of a suddenly released Diana.

"Son of a bitch!!" Diana screamed as she rolled to her feet, eyes flashing angrily, glowing red hammer held cocked back over her shoulder like she was going to take a swing. Sam had slithered back into bracer form, so I said calmly "We're alone"

"I'm going to pound those things into paste!" Diana yelled, rage pouring out of her as she stomped forward a little and glared down the hall

Maria touched my arm, and when I looked over, gave me a serious look and nodded for me to move back. She walked forward, getting Dalmar and Bob to join me, as her and the other women moved forward to join a still cursing Diana.

The girls huddled up, with Maria talking quietly, but intensely to Diana. Dalmar and Bob stopped next to me, with Bob glancing back at the other group, then saying softly to Dalmar and I "That's got to be tough, being made helpless like that"

I made a silent "oh" expression as I realized what the problem was. Dalmar nodded his own understanding as we moved back a little more to give them some privacy.

It didn't take long, maybe two or three minutes, before Diana got hugs from the others as they broke up and Maria said "Alright, lets go kick some spider ass"

"We'll pair up" Dalmar said gruffly as he walked forward to join Diana "Bob and Anna, Diana and I, are the front line. Maria, you support Bob and Anna, Neara, you support me and Diana. Jake, you and Rayna are our artillery section. You might try a dispel on us if we get paralyzed, otherwise, use your own judgment on how best to help"

I took a moment to cast a group blessing, then an armor spell, though it probably still had a while on the last one. A quick restore, and we were ready to go.

The group was more serious now, quieter and more focused as we all waited for Sam to make an appearance. A dim light ahead of us resolved into a background glow from an open area ahead of us, getting Dalmar to say quietly "The cavern. We must have taken out the guards back there"

Anna and Dalmar were slightly ahead of Bob and Diana, in a staggered formation, and they all stopped about ten feet in from the end of the hall. I was kind of surprised Sam hadn't indicated any spiders, so I nodded for Maria to follow, and stepped up to join our lead people.

"You want to take a peek?" I asked Maria, getting a nod and a grin as she stepped forward, disappearing from sight within two steps. From where I was standing, I could see the cavern wasn't nearly as large as Mora Rosel, but it did look like it was covered in webs.

Maria appeared in front of us a couple of minutes later, and she said quietly "Maybe five hundred feet to the other side. Walls and ceiling are covered in webs, and there are some hanging down in the middle, so we'll have to be careful crossing. Spiders were visible, and I counted seventeen, though there might be more I couldn't see. Looks like a boss spider on the other side, at least twice as big as the rest"

"Let's see if we can draw them to us in small groups" Anna said just as softly "Target a couple with arrows and see if we can pull them to us"

We all exchanged looks, then nods, as Maria turned back to the entrance, saying over her shoulder "Ok, I'll hit a couple of close ones. Get ready"

She disappeared again, but popped back into view a couple of feet into the cavern as she released an arrow. She was a blur of motion as she drew and fired two more arrows, before sort of waving her bow overhead to attract attention. She was grinning as she trotted back, then slipped behind our front line, saying "Three of them"

Sam flowed into a whip a couple of seconds later, but this time we could hear the clatter of the spider legs as they scuttled after Maria. All three were visible, with two surging into the tunnel from the left side, and one crawling in along the ceiling. They all appeared to be level 11, and had a small amount of damage from Maria's arrows.

Two arrows flashed out, one for each of the two on the floor. I paused a second, then called fist and slashed Sam at the one on the ceiling, striking it directly on its left eye, causing it to screech in pain and fall to the floor.

Anna met the one on our left with an upraised shield and a sword thrust that caused it to come to a floundering halt, only to receive a thrust from Bob's sword that turned it into a pile on the floor. Dalmar pushed his hammer into the face of the one on the right, holding it in place to receive an overhand blow from a glowing red warhammer, swung by a very angry Diana, that killed it. Rayna finished the one I had knocked off the ceiling with a round of magic missiles, and we were suddenly alone again. The whole thing took maybe fifteen seconds and Sam was suddenly a bracer again.

"That worked well" Maria said in satisfaction, getting a chuckle from Dalmar.

It turns out that eight eternals is a hard combination to beat, and Maria had no trouble luring small groups of spiders to us, damaging them enough with her arrows that they stayed visible when they chased her. I received a level up message on the third group, but ignored it for the time. We finished fifteen of the spiders off with little or no trouble, but Maria stopped after that and signaled for a huddle.

"Ok" she said "Last two are next to the big one, so I don't think I can attract them without drawing the boss too"

"Can you see the boss's tag?" Rayna asked, getting a head shake from Maria, who said "Nope. But it's a boss, so it'll probably be Dalmar's level or better, and have some kind of special attack I'm sure"

"Won't fit into the tunnel, right?" Anna asked. Maria looked around, sort of judging things, then said "Maybe, but it'd be tight"

"We don't want to be grouped up when we attack the boss spider" Dalmar said "if it has an area of affect attack, it could take out the whole team. I say we move as a group across the cavern, slow enough we trigger anything between us and the boss spider, then see if we can take out the other two spiders from a distance so we can concentrate on the boss"

"Holy fire will probably kill one, and do a little splash damage" I said

"Me, Maria, and Neara, target the other one" Rayna said "Which should leave us in good shape to deal with the boss last"

Dalmar looked around the group, getting a series of nods, then said to me "Ok, sounds like we have a plan. You're our back up on this Jake. You and Rayna. I'd like you two to be ready to go all in on the big one if it gets the upper hand" Rayna and I exchanged looks, then Rayna turned back to grin and hold up her staff before saying "Safeties off"

She got a round of chuckles as we formed up and moved forward into the cavern. The walls and ceiling were covered in webs, with things that looked like bodies wrapped up and hanging down in various places. The floor had a scattering of webs, but they were avoidable, though it made for a slightly winding route forward. The big spider was...big. It was around fifteen feet high, and I could see it as soon as we entered, but didn't see a tag until we were over halfway across.

Queen Spider

Level 22

Health 410

Not as bad as I had expected, but I would bet at its level it could paralyze Dalmar and I if it bit us, saying nothing about the rest of the group.

"Jake, take the one on our right" Maria said "We'll get the one on the left"

The two smaller spiders were flanking the big one, so I raised my right hand and began to cast holy fire. In the middle of the cast, Sam flowed forward and turned into a whip, but I didn't let it distract me, just finishing the spell. My flame hit a couple of seconds after two arrows and a swarm of magic missiles hit the other small spider, and just as a pair of follow up arrows killed that one, my fire shot down from the ceiling, a hundred feet above, in a column of white fire that slammed into the smaller spider. It was pressed to the floor as it chittered in distress, then disappeared to leave behind a small pile of treasure. The fire splashed outward, lapping over the queen spider, getting a tremendously loud, high pitched screech that made me wince.

The queen surged forward, its legs sounding like eight steel rods being slammed into the ground as it came at us with incredible speed. Dalmar stepped forward as the others spread out, with Anna and Bob going left, and Diana and Neara going right. A couple of arrows hit, but it moved so quickly, it was on Dalmar before Maria could get off another shot.

Dalmar looked pretty darn small as the thing thundered up to him, but his hammer's impact on its left pincer caused it to stagger to the side and caused an appreciable drop in its health bar. A leg swept upward, catching Dalmar square in the front, and sent him flying backwards to land to my right. I sent a quick heal his way, but kept my focus on the spider as it let out a harsh spitting sound.

A short stream of black liquid shot at Maria, but hit Bob instead as he stepped in front of her and he staggered back with a bellow of pain as he was covered in black goop. His health bar dropped over a third, so I sent a healing spell his way as I said "Slow it down Rayna!"

Anna and Diana both took swings at the things back when it faced Maria, both managing a hit, but getting swept aside like Dalmar had been when it spun back to face them. I tossed a second heal spell at Bob as the poison spit did more damage before disappearing. His skin was melted in places, and he looked like it hurt like holy hell, but he had a tight grin as he staggered forward with his sword raised.

Rayna's slow spell hit then, causing the spider to stumble sideways, then fall forward onto its face as its legs got tangled up.

"Hit it!" Rayna yelled "Ten second spell!"

She started making more gestures, so I called fist and sent Sam into the fray with a loud crack and flare of magic. I was tempted to send holy fire down, but this thing did so much damage I wanted to save my mana for healing, so just called fist again, then monitored things.

Bob, Diana, Dalmar, and Anna all surrounded the spider as it got itself straightened out, each swinging at a leg or part of the body as black vines rose out of the floor and wrapped around parts of the spider. They held for about three seconds, then the spider tore loose and surged forward, running over Dalmar again as it charged Rayna and I.

I should have had Bruce in my off hand for something like this, because it was to close to swing Sam. I leaned toward the charging spider, planning to slow it down, and as I cocked my hand back to punch the thing, found I had a silver gauntlet on my hand. A silver gauntlet with three triangular spikes across the knuckles.

My punch landed between its eyes as it wrapped the pincers around me, raised me up, and bit the living bejesus out of me. I latched my Sam covered hand around the right pincer and squeezed as the paralysis took hold. A slow spell hit as the thing tried to shake me loose, but my body was stiff as a board, and my right hand was clamped tightly to its pincer, so I was just jerked back and forth, with what I was sure was a smug, frozen grin on my face. Got something stuck in your teeth, don't ya?

I couldn't move, not even my eyes, but I caught glimpses of my friends swarming the thing from every direction, and a third slow spell hit just before the last one wore off.

It was a loud fight, with the spider's legs sounding like pistons as they slammed the floor, people screaming war cries as they swung weapons, or just plain yelling from excitement. The paralysis wore off a couple seconds after it died, which meant I got an additional couple of points of damage when I fell to the floor.

A group of faces were looking down at me worriedly as I took a huge breath, then grinned up at them and said "How you like them kittens?"

Maria burst into a loud laugh as everyone else looked confused and Dalmar held out a hand and pulled me to my feet. I immediately did a healing spell, sighing as the various pains accumulated from being bitten and tossed back and forth faded away, then looked around to see if anyone else needed one. Dalmar looked a little beat up, and Anna and Diana had a bit of damage, but Bob was the worst, so I sent one his way and watched the last of the damage disappear from his skin.

"You're a nut" Maria said with a giggle, punching my arm lightly before adding "you had me worried for a second there, until I saw you grinning like an idiot as the thing chewed on you"

"Really" Anna said, eyeing me doubtfully "you were smiling. That's a little...weird, don't you think"

"Hell no!" Bob said with a laugh, reaching out to give me a punch on the other arm before laughing and shaking his head as he added "man, that was genius. I wish I'd thought of it"

"Don't try that with dragons" Dalmar said with a deep chuckle as he went over to scrounge the queen's drop.

Everyone was pretty pumped from the fight, so I got to hear various versions of the battle as we searched the cavern for more treasure. Anna found a goodly stack behind a pile of rocks, and everyone else sorted through it as I dealt with my latest level up.

You have reached Level 13

You have earned 1/2 an attribute point

I sort of waited expectantly, then realized that was it.

It was a good thing everything else was so much fun, because this level up thing was kind of a bummer. Of course, I had been begging for a holy lightning bolt, and I ended up with a lightning rune, so maybe I needed to start wishing for something else.

Hmm, what else was there to wish for? I had a wonderful girl, great friends, some kick ass spells, and an awesome weapon, so I was pretty happy with things.

This would take some thought.

______________________________________

Updated Stats for those who are interested.

I don't want to drop them from the story, but after reading a variety of VRPG life type stories, I find I don't like the endless tables or listings of stats. I want to see if the story will flow better if I add them at the end of the chapter when needed.

I've tried to update them, and rejiggered the numbers a bit.

Feel free to offer an opinion or point out any errors. Of course Jake would prefer those errors be in his favor.

Healer Priest (Dragonsbane)

Level 13

STR 10 (12)

DEX 10 (20)

STA 20

INT 10 (11)

WIS 16 (19)

Health: 320

Mana: 190

Endurance: 200

Armor: 46 base : (22 spell) : x 1.3 = 59 base (88 spell)

Defender of the Faith

Priest focuses on aiding those in need and protecting the oppressed. Spells will focus on group and individual protection and aid, while the priest's personal aura will become a healing channel for your goddess's will.

Blessing spells now apply to all allied creatures within ten feet of priest

Healing spells cost half mana

+10 points health/level

10% damage reflected back on attacker

Armor 30% stronger

Priest's aura does following for allies within 10 feet of player::

+5% stat boost to party members (+5% every 10th level)

+25% mana restore rate

Spells:

Telina's Gaze

Applies 65 points (+20%) of healing to the user or any creature selected

10 Mana/use

Telina's Fist

Applies 65(-15%) points of damage when activated and a successful hit is made

20 Mana/use (effective hit)

Telina's Restoring Touch

Restores mages mana when touched by transferring priests mana. Amount of mana restored chosen by priest

Each point restored removes one point of priest's mana. Cannot transfer more than presently held by the priest

Cure Disease

Cures disease (Level+10) of any creature touched

40 Mana/use

Telina's Holy Blessing

On creature: 65% increase in hit damage and hit chance

70% increase in healing rate

Duration: 6 hours

(+5%/level to level 10)

On flora: 75% increase in growth rate

80% crop amount

(+5%/level to level 10)

40 Mana/Use

(Does not stack)

Create Potions

(Cool down 12 hours)

Healing potion:

Vial of water with Telina's Blessing + Telina's Gaze

Healing= Telina's Gaze + Telina's Blessing + 2(Faith)

Cure Disease potion:

Vial of water with Telina's Blessing + Cure Disease

Cures any disease Level 75 and below

Mana Restoration potion:

Vial of water with Telina's Blessing + Telina's Restoring Touch

Mana restoration =Amount of mana chosen (not more than presently available)

Telina's Flame

Holy fire strikes to cause 120 points damage to creature chosen

Splash damage: 25% damage to enemy creatures within 10 ft

Double damage to undead

(+5/level to 120 damage)

75 Mana/use

Dispel Magic

Dispel Level+5 magic on creature or area chosen

-Does not dispel enchanted objects or potions

-Does not dispel own castings

(Cool down 4 hours)

75 Mana/use

Create Rune

Ability to learn and place runes of power

Player determines activation requirements

(Cool down 3 days)

Rune of Flame:

When activated by user will do 100 points +5/level of fire damage

100 Mana when placed

Rune of Retention

Placed on an item, it will allow the priest to store prepared spells for later use.

Requirements:

Item that has not already been enchanted through standard means

A Mage may imbue the item with the spell by casting it upon the item, but

Blessing by a priest after a spell is placed is required to retain it

Others may activate item if specifically identified by priest when placing the first blessing

Command word spoken when placed, then to release the prepared spell while holding the item

If more than one charge of the same spell is placed, the same command word is used, releasing a single instance of the spell each time

More than one type of spell may be placed, to a maximum of three spells

Spells can not mix Mage and Priest types

Item may receive a replacement spell after use of one, but must be the same spell

Usable once every seven days, though after placement of rune, item may receive spells at any time

Rune of Lightning

Lightning:

When activated will do 150 points of shock damage to a single creature, and stun for 5 seconds + 1 sec/level of caster

Chain Lightning:

When activated will do 50 points of shock damage and stun for 10 seconds all creatures within twenty feet that meet activation requirements

Mana required to cast: 180

Telina's Protective Aura

Player receives 10+level armor bonus for 2 hours (+30%)

(Does not stack)

40 Mana/use

Resurrection

Cast on self or other player

Allows player to return with no loss of level after next death at the location the player died

Or

Allows player to choose new spawn point

(Cool down 7 days)

Group Heal

Heals completely all allies within 100 feet

Once a day

140 mana

Create Portal

Connect two points via an archway

Requirements:

One end of a portal must be within the aura of a shrine to Telina

The end situated close to the shrine must be defined by a carved, circular archway of 12 feet diameter.

The other end must be defined by an entryway. A cave entrance, room doorway, or something similiar.

To prepare the portal. After placing the circular stone archway, it must first receive Telina's blessing. Within 21 days, the other end must be chosen, and a blessing placed on the entryway. The blessing must be repeated once a day for four days. Within 21 days, the circular archway must receive another blessing to bind the portal.

When completed, the portal may be used by anyone who has received Telina's blessing.

Telina's Beneficent Word

Shouting this holy word will cause all who hear it to do the following

Friends:

Heal 50% +1%/level of accumulated damage.

Restore 50% +1%/level of used mana

Dispel all enemy spells presently active.

Enemies:

Do 8 points/level of damage (Double damage to undead)

Stun for 1 second/level

(Cannot be silenced)

Mana: 200 (One day cool down)

+20% Healing Spell

-15% Spell Damage

+ 1.3% hand to hand

+ 94% light armor

+ 85% Blunt Weapon

+ 90% Concentration

+ 60% Faith

+ 93% Cooking

+ 91% Repair

Legendary Weapon (Serpent Strike)

Bond (5%)

Weapon (3%)

Magic (0%)

The Safe Traveller (Necklace)

+3 Wisdom

+3 Dexterity

+8 Armor

Ring of Serizon

+1 Strength

+1 Dexterity

+2 Armor

Warrior's Heart (Ring)

+3 Strength

+2 Dexterity

+4 Armor

Serpent's Strike

-1 Strength

+3 Dexterity

+1 Intelligence

Ring of Serizon

+1 Strength

+1 Dexterity

+2 Armor

Leather Armor of Telina's Light

25 Armor

15% Magic resistance

+4 to dodge

Once a day player may send out a blast of holy light that blinds opponents within 50 feet for 10 seconds

Worn Leather Boots

2 armor rating

24/24 durability

Not usable: Mage

Leather Bracer

3 armor

+2 armor

22/22 durability

Mace of Holy Lightning (Bruce the Mighty)

18-32 damage

+10% hit chance

10 points electrical damage

60/60 durability

Serpent's Strike (Sam)

As one of the legendary weapons created by Xirat Krisnon, Serpent's Strike must be won in battle. This weapons capabilities are determined by the wielder's skill, experience level, attributes, actions, and intent. Wielder be warned, once earned in battle, it can not be removed, and a legendary weapon takes great patience to truly master. Becoming one with it's wielder, the Serpent will draw strength through the bond.

-1 Strength

+3 Dexterity

+1 to attribute of choice other than strength, for every 10 experience levels earned

Damage:

1 point/level of impact damage

1 point/level of elemental damage (type determined during strike)

Level 1-5: Wielder may channel a spell through the weapon with 20% less mana required

Level 6-10: Wielder is capable of hitting targets up to 50 feet away. Wielder may cast silence once per day upon successful strike.

Level 11-15: Wielder can disarm an opponent with a successful strike against the opponents weapon

Level 16-20: Weapon strike can absorb incoming spells, then Wielder can direct the damage on any following strike.

Level 21 and above: ??

NOT WORN

Ring of Wisdom

+1 to player's Wisdom attribute