It was almost an hour later when Thora finally came around, a crick in the neck forming from the awkward sleeping position in the chair. Stretching out, the dwarf looked around the shelter to find most of the others quietly chatting or similarly taking a moment to sleep. It was tempting to find a more comfortable spot and lie down, but the soldier knew that they still had a lot of work to do. Thora’s left leg seemed like it would heal up eventually, likely a nasty scar left as a reminder. From the corner came soft drumming rhythms as Alandal hunched over his favourite tightly-skinned drum. The sounds filled the shelter with a sense of calm which helped everyone get ready for what lay ahead.

There were still many miners out there to find and, based on the disputed count made by the miners, there was at least one more gnoll pack hunting in the tunnels. For now, the group was ignoring the talk of ghosts haunting the mine. Duanne had filled the rest of them in on the sight of giant webs formed across one of the chambers the tortle had passed through, so the group was thinking something eight-legged was far more likely to be the culprit.

The wizard had a solid idea to teach the group at least a few words of dwarven so they could identify themselves to the miners, should they find them. It would be difficult to get the pronunciation right, this quickly, but with Thora’s guidance it was probably a simple task to learn a word or two. The soldier had been using the phrase “Unhund’dharok”, meaning “Not gnolls”, or more precisely “Not dog beasts”, to make sure the miners knew they were friendly. It didn’t take long for the others to pick up this simple phrase. In the event they got separated, at least the others would be able to say something in dwarven to the miners if Thora couldn’t be there.

Now, what would have been really helpful to learn was the phrase “Fylga oz narhe otemme”, roughly translating to “Follow me to the other shelter”, but that was probably going to be a tall order for their first day of dwarven lessons. At least they weren’t having to learn the runic alphabet! Although, that could… no, it was time to focus.

“If everyone is ready, we should check out that other door down the hall” stated Thora, picking up a pack off the ground. “Alandal heard something strange behind that one and it wasn’t dwarves.”

It seemed most of the others had forgotten that strange sound the dragonborn had heard, but Thora hadn’t. The description the bard had made was eloquent and descriptive, enough to fill the dwarf’s heart with worry about what might be lurking in the dark behind that door.

There’s a little something on your face

Deciding to take a more cautious approach, now that they felt less rushed, the group slid quietly down the hall, advancing the few meters to the next steel portal set into the mine’s wall. Taking up positions on either sides of the door, the group allowed Thora to step forward. Starting first in dwarven, and then switching to the common tongue, the soldier tried to get the attention of the miners who might be hiding behind the metal door.

“Unhund’dharok, friends. We’ve come to help” whispered Thora reassuringly.

But there was no response, just the faint sounds of fluttering.

The door before Thora was solid, with no obvious handle to open it with. The steel frame was set tightly into the mine walls, not leaving much room to maneuver anything into the door. However, there was a small slot, around Thora’s eye level, that featured a sliding metal panel. The peephole was probably intended to be used by the occupant to check outside before opening the door, but the dwarf was thinking it might help in both ways.

The soldier pulled out one of a matching pair of razor sharp knitting needles that Thora had hand-crafted. With swords stowed away for the moment, the dwarf used the implement to slide the steel peephole cover aside to take a glance. There, on the floor near the door, was the body of one of the miners, motionless. Before Thora could take a closer look some sort of stinger or other small sharp thing flew at the peephole, causing the soldier to jump back in surprise, the peephole cover slamming shut in the process.

“Well, that doesn’t look good” reported the dwarf. “I only saw one dwarf, but they aren’t moving. And something is in there. I’ll see if I can get the door open.”

Bending down on one knee, Thora pulled out some infiltration tools from a tactical pack inside the dwarf’s cloak. It took only a moment to pry up the locking bar on the other side, signaled by the loud metal clanging sound as it hit the hard floor on the other side of the door.

“Everybody ready?” asked Thora, getting both blades ready. “Take your shot if you have it, on the count of three.”

Zearach lined up behind Thora, ready to fire into the room at a moment’s notice. Duanne, impatiently tapping a peg leg along to the count, prepared for the charge. Alandal pulled out a shortbow, ready to support with ranged fire when needed.

“THREE!” whispered Thora, throwing aside the steel door and rushing in.

There was only a split-second to assess the situation. The body on the floor. The buzzing sound. A swarm of large insect-like creatures filling the air. The dwarf charged forward, both blades flashing through the air, sending mosquito-like creatures slamming against the wall as the steel swords sliced through their horrid little bodies.

Arrows flew through the air from behind Thora, slamming into more of the swarm. There were so many of them! Pressing forward, the soldier kept swinging through the mass of flying bodies, sending one creature after another to its death, only to find more still flying about. Having reached the back of the small shelter, Thora spun around to put the few remaining creatures between the rest of the party and themselves.

As the dwarf turned around, spotting the rest of the group still by the doorway, there seemed to be only one left that hadn’t been taken out by the rest of the group. Annoyed and frightened, the tiny beast zipped forward, its needle-like proboscis piercing into the soldier’s forehead.

“Do it!” cried out the dwarf, struggling to find a way to get the wretched thing off their forehead.

Zearach happily complied. Taking only a moment to size up the length of the room, the ranger drew an arrow back in his longbow. Calmly breathing, one eyebrow raised, the archer watched the struggle between dwarf and stirge to get a sense of the movement pattern before letting loose. The short-range shot by the long-distance bow sent the missile slamming into the creature’s body with a velocity that caused it to explode violently all over the dwarf’s face. The flowing blood streamed down the soldier’s forehead, continuing over the cheeks and down to the chin. Thora used the back of a sleeve to wipe the blood off, nodding with approval.

“Nice shot” complimented Thora, a small smile showing through the streaks of crimson-stained beard.

The last of the pack

While the commotion with the stirges was happening, the wizard had tended to the unconscious miner on the floor. He would live, but he wasn’t ready to come about just yet. Heaving the stout dwarven miner up on their shoulders, the group carried him back to the other shelter where his companions could treat his wounds and nurse him back to health. There were still other miners out there to find.

Thanks to his earlier shenanigans, Duanne had managed to explore quite a few of the mining tunnels in the area. He had even found another way out of the mine and another shelter door, though he had not had the chance to inspect it yet. Following the tortle’s guidance, they headed in that direction, passing through a large cavern.

The walls and ceiling were coated in thick webbing. A desiccated arm stuck out from a webbed cocoon, and the bodies of many long-dead stirges were trapped in various spots in the chamber. Putting the clues together, it seemed to reinforce the idea that something less-than-ghostly was haunting the tunnels. Thora peered intently into the surroundings, trying to find a sign of whatever had left this webbing, but could see nothing lying in wait. Perhaps whatever creature had left this had abandoned this hunting ground?

Finally arriving at the steel door that Duanne had noticed earlier, the group repeated their greetings and convinced the dwarven miners to come with them to the other shelter. Together, the miners would prove to be able to protect each other much better than apart. It would also make it a lot easier to find them later! The adventurers even took the time to go outside to the miner they had found along the side of the road and bring him to the shelter. It was getting quite crowded in there, but it seemed like quite the festive mood was starting as the miners were reunited safely.

“Do you think that’s all of them?” inquired Thora, having lost track of the count of the miners.

“At least a few more” replied Zearach. “Assuming the old miner in the shelter had his count right.”

That meant searching deeper into the mines. Doing so seemed safe enough at first glance, the dwarves had done good work at clearing the way and laying tracks down so the way was clear. Unfortunately, in their absence from the mine, several critters had decided to set up shop. There were quite a few scorpions, which apparently were quite easy to smash as Duanne discovered while skewering one with his peg leg. Annoyances, at most, but they unfortunately served as quite the distraction. While trying to clear out the pests, a loud growl echoed towards them from their right. Dark shapes moved towards them from just outside the reach of their torches.

The charging figures came at them from the dark, snarling as they descended upon their flank. Duanne did his best to keep them back as the others were still dealing with scorpions, but Thora knew that couldn’t last long. Seeing a surge of electrical energy leap from the tortle’s claws into the nearest beast, the dwarf took advantage and barged forward, both blades flying. The first swing sunk deep into the gnoll’s neck, nearly cutting the head clear off, but getting stuck in a shoulder. The follow-through from Thora’s other blade severed the spinal column, leaving the body to crumple to the floor. The soldier’s nose flared with an increased breathing rate, eyes scanning around for the next threat.

Thora didn’t have to wait long. A hyena rushed in, flanking the dwarf from the left. The spear-wielding creature on the other side slammed deep into Thora’s unprotected side just as an arrow slammed into the dwarven warrior’s shoulder. The surge of adrenaline from the charge a few seconds ago drained away quickly as Thora’s vision got cloudy.

Around the soldier were the sounds of combat. Thora could tell that something was happening, that the others were fighting nearby, but the dwarf was relying purely on instincts to survive at this point. Somehow Thora managed to land a strike through the haze, and it sounded as if the others were pressing forward, but eventually Thora couldn’t focus anymore and missed a parry. The piercing end of a spear slid through a gap in the dwarf’s armour and, for a moment, all went dark.

It was beginning to be a feeling Thora was getting almost too used to.

The unconscious dwarf wasn’t sure how long had passed, but suddenly the world came rushing in, along with a drowning feeling. Thora quickly realized that a liquid was being poured down forcefully by a shape above. The sight of Duanne’s beak this close was enough to bring anyone to their senses.

“Get up, mammal.” whispered the wizard, with what might have been a smile.

Rolling along the ground to the side, Thora leapt up defensively, guarding against the spear-wielding gnoll for a moment.

“Did you miss me?” taunted Thora, feeling suddenly very confident after the potion had taken effect.

Kneeling for a low blow, it took only a single precise swing to take the gnoll out at the knees. Thora confidently strode forward towards the archer that had stuck him with an arrow a moment ago, a low growl building up from deep inside the dwarf. You would not have been able to tell this was the same figure that had been lying unconscious on the mine floor only a moment ago.

Leaping forward along with Thora, the party made short work of the remaining hunters. The lone gnoll archer and a hyena were no match for the party’s focused power. Fittingly, it was the dwarf who had the final word as Thora drove both blades into the final gnoll’s back, ending it.

The pounding of battle still filled Thora’s ears as blood pumped quickly through the dwarf. In the moment it was almost like a drug, a feeling of euphoria mixed with fear, anxiety and bloodlust. It was sometimes hard for Thora to rationalize that part of themselves, especially against the calm dwarf who would silently work the smithy for days on end without complaints. Or spend evenings with the yarn and knitting needles.

From here, finding the last dwarf was almost trivial. The final shelter was easily found and the remaining dwarves were more than happy to group up with the others and enjoy each other’s company. At least for now, the immediate threat of the gnolls was over, though there were still the nuisances crawling around in some of the tunnels.

The real threat they needed to focus on was whatever had made those webs and was causing miners to disappear. They had been fortunate not to come across it yet but that luck could only last so long. First, they needed a plan. Then it was time to hunt it down.

What if we light it on fire?

“What if we filled a cart with some flammable materials?” asked Thora, remembering an old trick they used to use to clear out mine tunnels back home. “A portable camp fire would help us have something to burn away these webs and clean up the place a little.”

Nobody seemed to object, so they filled up one of the carts with some coal and wooden planks and whatever else they could find lying around. A bit of flame from the torch was enough to start a roaring fire that they could take with them. They wouldn’t want to burn it for long, you didn’t want too much smoke in closed, underground, spaces, but there were enough vent shafts and openings and space that a short fire wouldn’t hurt.

Going back to the large cave where they initially found the webbing, the quartet worked to burn away all the existing webbing. The place looked a lot less frightening without giant spider webs clinging to the surfaces. The smoke set off a nest of stirges, but outside of that they saw no sign of the web spinner that caused this mess.

Moving on, Thora and Duanne got behind the card to shove it forward along the track while Zearach scouted ahead. The winding track led away from the cavern, deeper into the tunnel system. They had not been to this part before and the tunnel felt much more tightly packed compared to the large cavern they had just been in. Smoke obscured Thora’s vision as they continued to move the cart along, but Zearach motioned to everyone to stop just as the tunnel began opening up ahead of them.

There, on the tracks ahead, was another set of webbing blocking the way. The dwarf’s vision could just barely make out an almost glowing-white shape in the darkness, slowly skittering back and forth. It was huge, at least 4 times the size of the soldier, with long legs that looked like something from the night terrors that plagued Thora.

“Ready yourselves” whispered the elf, drawing his bow and taking aim. The others around Zearach similarly took out their bows and prepared to let loose.

Duanne, however, had another idea. With a mighty shove, the wizard sent the cart careening forward down the tracks, the flames licking away at the webbing in front of them. Light filled the cavern, brightly illuminating the strange-looking spider creature as they released a volley of arrows at it. Shrieking, the creature charged at them, many eyes reflecting the flames back at them as it closed the distance. Thora braced for the impact but suddenly the creature disappeared!

Looking all around, the group formed a tight circle, back-to-back, trying to figure out where the beast had gone. Pulling out the swords again, Thora and the others prepared themselves to pounce. Eyes darting back and forth, they waited in the dark for what was coming, anxiety levels rising.

A shout from behind Thora alerted them that the creature had re-appeared. The soldier spun around to find Duanne and the spider tangled in each other as the monster took a massive bite out of the tortle with its huge mandibles. This close, Thora could almost see a shimmering translucence on the creature, quite beautiful actually. And deadly.

Duanne’s shouting stopped, his body suddenly going completely motionless, and then the tortle toppled over to the ground. Was he still alive? Thora wasted no time, pushing forward and driving both blades into the belly of the creature, a strange ichor covering the dwarf as the spider’s massive frame collapsed to the ground, still.

Alandal rushed to the wizard’s side, trying to find out what had happened. Closing his eyes, the dragonborn murmured a short rhythmic phrase and a glow spread out over Duanne’s body. The wizard’s eyes flashed open and looked around in terror, calming a little as the tortle recognized Alandal’s scaled features, followed by anxious movements. The wizard couldn’t move.

“He’s paralyzed, but stable” the bard told the rest of the group, reassuring them. “With any luck, he should be fine within the hour, but it’s going to be a long hour for Duanne.”

“Let’s take him back to the shelter” suggested Zearach. “At least we can get him comfortable while we rest and wait for him to recover”.

Thaw at room temperature

The tortle was very heavy. It took the three of them to lift him up over their shoulders and cart him back, and the walk was slow-going. Eventually, they found their way back to the miners and informed them of their success.

“The mines should be mostly safe now” Thora reported. “We didn’t clear out all the smaller critters like scorpions and the like, but we figure you know how to deal with those.”

“Oh, thank you!” said one of the miners, shaking their hands vigorously. “I don’t know how we can ever repay you!”

“Perhaps a drink?” suggested Alandal, only half-joking.

The next few hours were spent in a more relaxed mood. Eventually, the wizard’s limbs started working again and Duanne was able to join in the celebration. The tale of the giant ghost spider, the terror of the mines, became more and more exaggerated as the festivities went along. Alandal drummed along, filling the small shelter with pleasant rhythms as they rested.

By the end of the day, all of them had enjoyed a good meal and spent several hours cleaning up the mess left by the hunting party and the spider. The miners seemed eager to reopen their operations as soon as possible and the adventurers were feeling the need to press on in the morning. It was a long way back to Wilted Gulch from here, but perhaps they might make a stop on the way.

After all, it wouldn’t do to waste the trip and not get a little sight-seeing in!

Credits

• Cover image: “Little buddy”, generated by Jason St-Cyr using NightCafe
• Gnoll image: “Gnoll charging with spear”, generated by Jason St-Cyr using NightCafe