Our fourth day in the time of Ancient Netheril (NY 3522)

Dear Master Zorthaster,

We find ourselves in an ancient, spider infested forest, exploring ever deeper into the lair of what appears to be a gargantuan spider. The sounds of battle ring out ahead. We are heading into the center of the web.

We arrived at the infested forest sooner than we expected on our hunt for the evil Dubricus. Following the battle at the bridge, Kerith discovered a magical back road that was guarded by a fey creature, a friend of the eastern forest, Thorgil. He was captivated by a beautiful song Kerith was playing and before long had invited us to stay with him for the afternoon and over the night in a place of safety where he lives. Thorgil was a creature unlike anything I have ever seen. He stood a good 12' tall with a torso of beautiful elven nature, very long pointed ears, the body of a forest deer and the wings of an owl. He was covered all over in beautiful feathers. He carried a wooden sword carved with a pattern of leaves across its blade.

Thorgil told us more about Dubricus and his history of consorting with phaerimm. The evil arcanist has taken over an old temple to Corellon and is using it as his stronghold. He has been making alliances in the forest with dangerous allies. Thorgil and Primula seemed to strike a friendship easily, and he was very respectful of her calling to Corellon's service. He also taught Kerith and Oskar new spells that they were quite excited by.

As the afternoon stretched into evening, we were able to examine some of the things we recovered from the battle at the bridge. Amongst the items shaped by the Art, were a ring with an abjuration aura which is now carried by Shane, several scrolls and potions, a traveling spellbook, and a crossbow. The bow is an intelligent weapon that allows its wielder to see invisible objects and evade the effects of area based spells. It is quite fascinating, and for now, I carry this remarkable weapon. I think that I may give it up to someone who can put it to better use eventually, but I am enthralled by its magical enchantments.

In the morning, Thorgil offered to let us use the back road as it would cut days off our journey toward the defiled temple of Corellon Larethian. The back roads from this fey gate lead to either the Serpents Bridge or a mountain overlook closer to our goal. As it was a true road between these places, it also lead back from those locations to this spot by the bridge over a small tributary to the Tesh.

We arrived at our destination immediately after stepping into the small circle of stones adorned with snake symbols. The site was a rock ledge overlooking a vast forest of dark green. Large flying creatures wheeled over the treetops, hunting for breakfast. I guessed that they were wyverns. The wilderness of ancient times surrounded us as we set off. Xanthalus scouted ahead, looking for danger. He found an ambush of sword spiders before they could attack and alerted us to the danger. The spiders, following Xan back to us, pounced, but we were ready for them. Unfortunately, the sound of the battle drew the attention of three hunting wyverns and we were soon fighting them as well. It was a frightening encounter but my friends are skilled warriors and they prevailed against the wyvern. Oskar got poisoned by the spiders, but with Primula's intercession, he was healed through Corellon's power.

We camped that night, using a rope trick for shelter and concealment. It was a bit cramped and musky in there with the big hunting cat. Oskar calls the cat "the Breath of Moradin." I don't mean to insult his god, but the cat at least could use some mint leaves for its breath.

Xan discovered another trouble spot the following day. Several spiders were trying to drag a dead deer through the forest. We arrived in time to ambush them. They moved with incredible speed and my attempt at using the Phaerimm Finder crossbow nearly resulted in disaster as I did little more than attract the attention of a spider who nearly bit me. Once again, my friends were more than up to the task of dealing with the threat and the spiders were quickly dispatched.

About mid day the following day, after getting deeper and deeper into the forest where spider webs dominated the canopy, we arrived at a truly frightening spot. The webs completely covered the trees, blocking out the sunlight and looking like nothing less than walls and ceilings of a cavern complex. We milled about outside the obvious entrance, no one wanting to go in. Finally, with some murmuring about getting on with it, we brought out lights and entered the spider's lair. The walls were sticky, damp from the day's rain, and slightly spongy when pressed. In a larger chamber of the web-nest we discovered the cold dead body of a wyvern wrapped in spider silk strands the size of thick ship's cable. The strands had to be incredibly strong.

Our first encounter in the spider lair was with a group of nettle spiders that sent up dark cloud of stinging hairs that pained the eyes and irritated the throat. It was a powerful defense. As the cloud dispersed, we chased the escaping spiders into another room where more spiders were lurking. As we fought these, we saw overhead, a long rip in the thinner webs of the nest. Captured in the thick, cable-like strands was a crystal flying ship. It appeared to be the ship flown by Tyche's Favored, now broken and trapped. The ship looked to be a spelljammer, and I wondered briefly about the condition of its passengers. Just then we heard the distinctive thunderclap that follows a lightning spell and I knew that at least one arcanist must have survived the crash.

That is all I have time to write now for I am a fly in the parlor of a very large spider but I remain,

Your faithful student,

Cedar