The moon hangs thin and sharp over the rusted mouth of the Copper-Vein Mine. Dust hangs in the stagnant air, stirred by the heavy, stone-clad tread of Nogandar.
Nogandar
This silence is heavy, but it smells of recent rot. The spider queen Eulstria leaves her mark in the stagnant chill.
Deep within the shaft, a flickering torch illuminates a hunched figure rooting through the satchel of a prone pilgrim. The beggar turns, eyes wide and reflecting the torchlight.
Beggar
Please, beast, I saw nothing. The silk-clad ones took the map, they left the body for the worms. I only wanted the copper coins in his boot.
Nogandar
His eyes dart to the shadows behind the ore cart. He is not alone, or he fears what lies in the dark more than he fears my stone hide.
The beggar drops the satchel, his fingers trembling as he points toward a web-choked tunnel. A skittering sound echoes from the abyss, followed by the wet, rhythmic clicking of mandibles.
+ Scene Quest Added
Investigate the spider queen's presence in the mine
“I investigate”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +3)
Nogandar
The beggar's fear is genuine, but he lacks the smell of a brood-slave. He is just a desperate scavenger. My infravision pierces the gloom, ignoring the flickering torch to reveal the heat signatures skittering along the ceiling. They are not merely spiders, but something warped by the queen's touch.
Nogandar
Stay behind me, scavenger. The darkness here hungers for more than copper.
Nogandar steps forward, his stone talons scraping against the mine floor as he raises his heavy arm toward the rafters. A massive shadow drops from the darkness above, mandibles clicking with the sound of snapping bone. The creature is the size of a warhorse, its obsidian legs serrated and dripping with caustic ichor. It lunges, not for the beggar, but for the gargoyle's throat.
+ Story Quest Added
Defeat the spider queen's minion
“I use flame breath on the giant spider”
FAILURE (Good Arcana, rolled -1)
Nogandar exhales, a searing gout of dragon fire erupting from his maw, but the beast is faster. It skitters sideways along the tunnel wall, limbs digging into the stone, and the flames wash harmlessly over the cavern floor instead. The spider’s mandibles clamp onto the gargoyle’s arm, its fangs scraping against the reinforced stone of his skin as it begins to coil silk around his chest.
Nogandar
My focus is shattered. The heat of the fire dissipated too quickly, leaving me exposed. If this creature binds my limbs with its caustic web, I will be nothing more than a statue waiting to be hollowed out.
Beggar
Stay back! I am leaving!
The beggar scrambles toward the mine entrance, his boots clattering against the copper coins, leaving the gargoyle alone to wrestle with the nightmare.
“I grapple the spider”
SUCCESS (Good Gargoyal grappling, rolled +3)
The gargoyle’s stony fingers lock onto the spider’s thorax with crushing force, his massive bulk pinning the chittering horror against the cavern wall. The creature shrieks, a wet, clicking sound that echoes through the tunnel, but its frantic thrashing is useless against Nogandar’s superior weight. With a primal roar, the gargoyle rips the creature’s hooked limbs away from his own chest, snapping chitinous joints like dry twigs.
Nogandar
This is the filth that serves the Queen. Weak. Brittle. As fragile as the pride of those she commands.
He swings the thrashing monstrosity upward, intending to smash its bloated abdomen against the jagged ceiling spikes. As the spider writhes, it releases a final, desperate spray of silk that coats the area in sticky, glowing filaments, catching the glint of the spilled copper coins below.
Quest Complete
Defeat the spider queen's minion
Skill Upgrade: Arcana Good→Great