The creature landed on him, bringing with it the full weight of its body. He could feel the sensation of the creature’s tarsal claws sinking into his flesh as it knocked him to the floor, pinning him in the process.

The oil lamp flew from his hand, landing nearby with a thud. Miraculously it landed upright, managing to spill only a portion of the oil on the floor. He grunted as he grabbed at the creature’s hairy appendages and realized finally that he was grappling with a large, hairy arachnid. In a panic he punched the spider wildly, several blows landing on its eyes. This in turn loosened its grip and he managed to push it away. He rolled towards the table and quickly got to his feet as he grabbed for his blade -- the sound of tattering feet swiftly skittering towards him. As the creature leapt to strike again, its jaws extended to bite down , he spun around -- swinging his blade with all of his strength. The Broken Blade sliced into the spider’s legs, cleaving them effortlessly from its body. When the blade struck the spider’s sternum it sliced several inches deep and grew stuck -- the result was the spider being knocked across the room two meters or so.

He heaved wildly as his panic slowly began to settle down, the creature wasn’t dead yet but it could not move properly missing several of its legs. He walked towards it, clenching his blade as he raised it high and struck downward with such force that he buried the blade up to the hilt in the spider’s face. The creature shuddered and twitched, green bodily fluid seeping out as it finally succumbed to death.

For a moment he gathered his nerves, sinking to one knee as he sat before the spider’s corpse. It would be a few seconds before he witnessed something amazing. The creature’s body began to break down, first melting then slowly transforming into black mist. The smoky substance dissipated into the air leaving his blade to fall to the floor with a clanging thud. He was just about to reach out and reclaim his weapon when he noticed several orbs beginning to form. The color from them was warm and inviting, ephemeral in nature. On reflex he reached out his hand to touch one and was filled with the sensation of “pulling”. This sensation expanded and he could feel his consciousness reaching out to the glowing orbs as they drew closer to his outstretched hand. Red, Blue and Yellow -- each flowed towards him and instantly another sensation filled his body. First a warm wave of heat filled his body. He could feel the fatigue and pain slowly disappear. Next the sensation of a cool, minty chill and finally the sensation of a gentle breeze.

When all was said and done he gazed at his hands in wonderment as a new alert appeared before him

“You’ve gained your first soul orb. Visit an Acolyte of The Dark Mother to learn more.”

He knelt for a moment processing the new sensations running through his body. His arms and legs were no longer racked with pain and his mind felt a bit more clear. After a few more moments he got to his feet, grabbing his blade and then turning to recover his lamp. More than half of the remaining oil was gone. It wasn’t broken, rather cracked in a certain place so all of the oil above the crack leaked out. Though he was somewhat disappointed by this he noticed that the alert prompting him to search the room had now disappeared.

Did that mean there was nothing more to find? He decided to test the theory. Sword at the ready he went from corner to corner of the room looking for more hidden threats. After thoroughly inspecting his surroundings he set about searching for something -- anything that might be of use. All in all he spent another fifteen minutes scouring the cabin and found very little of value. He found a torch which he managed to tuck in his waist cloth, a piece of hard bread (still edible surprisingly) and several strange coins of different sizes and coatings.

He was just deciding what action to take next when the sound of skittering could be heard nearby. He grabbed his blade without a second thought and quickly placed his back against the wall as he peered around the room wildly. If he was to be attacked again at least he could limit the creature’s options -- or so he thought.

He felt his blood beginning to run cold as the sound of movement intensified, even more so by the realization that the noise came from outside the walls. He clenched his blade and steeled his resolve as he walked towards the cabin window and peered outside. All he could see in the distance was darkness and trees, faintly illuminated by the light of a half moon. The forest’s edge was several meters away but even amidst the faint moonlight trickling in he could see the spiders. There were dozens of them, of varying sizes moving to and fro on the ground. He watched in horror as even more filed out from the treeline and the sound of thumping and tattering claws echoed from the ceiling above.

He took two steps backwards, his mind racing as he desperately searched for a solution to his impending problem. The best he could come up with was silence. He retreated to a corner of the cabin nearest the door and covered the light of the oil lantern with his cloak. He could do little else but watch and wait. By now the spiders were swarming all over the exterior of the cabin, so much so that they blocked what little light the moon could offer. A creeping sense of dread was slowly beginning to overtake him.

As long as the house was secure and he didn’t make any noise they wouldn’t really have a reason to break into the cabin --right? He felt as if he was missing something. Trusting his life to a pane of glass was near the height of lunacy but it made more sense to wait until their numbers thinned. He’d struggled with one spider, hundreds would make quick work of him to be sure.

Then it struck him. How did the first spider get in? Had it always been lying in wait inside the cabin? And if so why did it wait to attack? He glanced in the direction where he first heard the spider and realized there must be a hole somewhere inside the cabin. If he had to guess, it was on the far wall. He quietly got to his feet, taking extra care to conceal the lantern light as he moved forward. He peered at the wall from one end to the next, moving as quietly as he could. It seemed solid, yet he was sure there was at least one place.. Just one -- in a moment of epiphany he knelt down before the bed, his eyes widening. He thought back to the sensation of air filtering into the cabin and now he knew why. The hole was large enough that a spider over three meters in diameter could slide through with a little effort. What’s more, there was no way he could plug a hole of this size.

His only option was to flip the bed on its side before any of the creatures could enter. He carefully sat down his lantern and blade then took several deep breaths as he slowly pulled the bed across the floor as quietly as he possibly could. He occasionally paused, kneeling to gaze through the opening to make sure no creatures had found the opening. He mentally prepared himself for what must come next. The bed wasn’t particularly heavy and made of a wood frame, but all the same it was heavy enough to make significant noise. He braced himself, taking a wide stance as he prepared to tip the bed over on its side -- and in his haste he forgot about his sword. The sound clanging metal as it was knocked across the floor was all that it took. In that instant he forgot to be gentle with the bed -- it snapped in two as it hit the floor of the cabin with an even louder thud.

He cursed his own foolishness, quickly abandoning his plan, instead he reclaimed his blade and took up his lantern once more. He took several deep breaths, preparing himself for what was to come as he leapt backwards, baring his own “fangs” as best he could. He brandished his lantern in one hand , his blade in the other as the spiders began crawling from beneath the broken bed.

He slashed and stabbed wildly, trying to kill as many of the creatures as he possibly could but for each he killed three more skittered past. Soon the spiders were crawling on the ceiling and walls, all much smaller than the previous one he’d fought but dangerous all the same. He could feel the creatures crawling on his feet, biting him as their teeth pierced his flesh. He batted them away with the lantern and tried to fight his way back towards the door but fate had other plans.

He was but a few meters from escape when the window burst open under the attacks of another large spider. Soon the window was broken and dozens of spiders began to file in. His heart skipped a beat as they leapt at him from all sides. It was all he could do to fend them off and finally he did the only thing he could do -- he tossed his lantern full force into the jaws of the oncoming army of arachnids. The oil ignited as the lantern smashed against the floor, splattering liquid flame everywhere -- even on many of the spiders. He then fought his way to the door using his cloak to ward away as many of the spiders as he could with his free hand, cleaving wildly with his other.

The ignited creatures ran around in chaos and eventually one trailed through the spilled lamp oil, catching it ablaze as well. Soon the floor and dozens of other spiders were aflame, the fire quickly spreading from the floor to the desk -- even the walls.

This was his chance and he would not see another. There were bound to be more spiders outside but given that hundreds of them had already filed into the cabin he could do little else but gamble with his life. He pulled forth his torch and ignited it as he dashed towards the nearby wall. He then lit as much of the cabin on fire as he could, nearby cloth, papers -- anything within reach. He finally tossed the torch into the nearest corner of the room and quickly ran to the cabin door. He burst through with all of his might, quickly slamming the door shut behind him as he heel stomped several spiders crawling near his feet. And then he broke out in an all out dash. He bounded several times to avoid the spiders at his feet and then broke out into a mad dash. Though he could feel several smaller spiders crawling on him dared not stop. Instead he used the flat of his blade to knock away any of the nuisances or to cleave them from his body.

He ran through the forest, taking only the occasional glance backwards. The cabin was now fully ablaze, growing smaller and smaller in the distance with each step. Soon he was alone, sprinting through the forest and into the night.