Session 2 - Group 3 Report

This session began with the party of Dorc the Orc, Krisb, and Tom just outside the main doors of the Forgotten Academy, building up their courage to step inside and truly begin their careers as adventurers. In the previous session, they had discovered signs that they were perhaps not the first group of adventurers to reach this place in thousands of years - the shredded remains of a backpack not more than a few weeks old near the entrance suggested otherwise.

Undaunted by neither this ominous find nor the thick sheet of cobwebs that stretched across the narrow gap between the slightly ajar left door and the still-closed right one, the Halfling Tom boldly strode up to the doors and tugged hard to pull open the rightmost door. Doing so stretche and ripped the cobweb sheets; this was enough to attract the attention of the weaver of those sheets - and a few of its friends.

The first giant Tangleweb Spider suddenly appeared and lashed out at the halfling with its mandibles, scoring a glancing blow. Tom leaped backward, allowing the spider to come through the door after him. A second spider also appeared and attempted to trap the halfling in a thrown sheet of webbing. Tom's reflexes saved him, though, and he avoided entanglement. He lashed out at the first spider with his shortsword. Dorc, who had taken up a position by the left door, held it closed while also attacking the spider that had first appeared. Krisb, in the meantime, stepped back and aligned himself with the open door as he readied his bow.

The first spider went down under repeated attacks from Tom and Dorc, while Krisb aimed his arrow at the second spider trying to come through the door. Letting loose a perfectly aimed shot, the Goblin's arrow pierced right through the body of his target, and went on to skewer a third creature that was clamoring up behind the second in an attempt to get at the party. Two kills with a single shot! Heartened by this, Tom and Dorc leaped over the lifeless husks of the first spiders and into the Academy Entry Hall to finish off the fourth and final spider adversary.

After catching their breath for a moment, Tom lit a torch to get a better look around the dark entry hall. Doing so, he noticed that the flames from the torch singed the cobwebs that hung and stretched everywhere in the place. But while he could easily burn his way through the web obstacles before him, the flames did not spread very far - at least at first.

Tom and Dorc spied a person-sized and shaped coccoon os spider silk lying motionless near one of the three large statues of some long-forgotten wizards. Investigating, they discovered the remains of a dwarf in typical adventurer's garb. Perhaps this was the owner of the backpack found outside? The lifeless dwarf had been literally sucked dry by the spiders, apparently; all that was left was sunken, leathery skin, tattered clothing, and a thick bushy braided beard and head of hair. Tom did managed to retrieve a leather pouch with a few coins in it, and Dorc noticed a dagger lying nearby - one that clearly had not been here for very long.

Tom then moved to the southeast corner of the hall intending to investigate first the standing set of full-plate armor along the wall, and then the door leading out of the hall. The armor, which held a halberd before it, appeared to be nothing more than decorative - lifting the visor revealed nothing within. But as he approached the door, the armor suddenly animated and moved to block the door with its own bulk and the halberd. It did not threaten; but it was clear that the party would not be permitted to passs through the door. At this time, Krisb, who had remained in the center of the hall near the door to keep watch on the dozen or so spiders that were still scuttling about high up in the webbing near the vaulted ceiling, noticed the sign above the door on the north wall. "The sign over here says 'Visitor's Reception'... we're visitors, aren't we?" he asked.

As the group turned its attention to this door and approached it, two things happened. First, Tom, still using his torch to burn through the webbing, finally managed to alight a particularly thick strand of the stuff - thick enough to sustain burning up its length to reach the ceiling. Suddenly, flame spread across most of the ceiling as the webbing was particularly thick up there. The dozen or so spiders rapidly fled the flames, most disappearing somewhere out of sight to the west. Three, however, fell to the floor and moved toward the party members. Already singed by the flames, these were quickly dispatched. Bits of charred webbing wafted down like rain across the hall, the stench of burning cobwebs becoming stronger - but in moments, the hall appeared to be completely clear of the eight-legged adversaries.

The second thing that happened as Tom approached the north door was that, while the armor statue next this door did suddenly twitch as he approached, it did not block the door. Tom opened the door and entered the mostly circular room that was obviously the base of one of the corner turrets on the building that the group had seen from outside. A sign on the wall read, "Visitor's Talismans must be worn at all times". Apart from the sign and the baadly decayed wood paneling, the only other thing in the room was a badly rotted wooden desk - so rotten that spongy pieces could be broken off by simply grasping them. Attempting to open one of the desk drawers caused the whole thing to collapse into small, decaying pieces. But visible amid the rotting wood were glistens of silver. Eight silver medallions, each fitted with a thick silver chain, were found. The medallions bore the image of the front of the Academy - and neither medallions nor chains showed the slightest hint of tarnish or aging. Also found were eight varnished cards that explained the importance of Visitor's Talismans, and added instructions for seeking an audience with the Headmaster of the Academy.

Assuming the medallions to be the all-important visitor's talismans, each party member donned one. The remainging five were stowed in backpacks, along with the eight placards. Tom then decided to try approaching the south door once more. This time, the armor did not obstruct him - the medallions appeared to be working! But as Tom opened the door, he was suddenly struck by another spider. This one was larger, nastier looking, and far faster moving than the ones they had already dealt with -- and before he staggered backward, reeling from the blow, Tom noticed a second one beyond the door. Hearing his shouted warning, and noticing that Tom was showing signs of struggling to keep his feet, Dorc leapt forward and slammed the door shut once more. He hoped to catch the spider's legs as he did so, but the spider was agile enough to retract its legs as the door slammed shut.

At this point, the party decided to step outside into the fresh air and sunlight to regroup and catch their breath before continuing to explore.

The session ended here.

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