Further Fun with Shipping Crates

We took a few moments to recover from the attack. Thankfully, the wailing was gone. I hadn't noticed its absence during the fight, but now I could see where Rhegar's icy breath and Kalena's fireballs had mutilated the fungus. The two paladins poked at the scrapes on my head but I waved them off. Being a healing cleric does have advantages.

When Rhegar had decided that everyone was fit enough, he returns his attention to the crates. The scraping and chittering were coming from a particular crate. Vixi lowered her ear to the side. "It almost sounds like there are bats inside this box." She announces. Weary from our last encounter, the party creeps toward the crate in question. "Let's limit the surprises. Someone set it on fire." Rhegar said from the front. Obliging, I called up a divine flame to engulf the box. The scraping became frantic and the chittering turned to screeching. As the slats burned, we could see several stirges fluttering about madly. Yet for some reason they won't leave the crate.

Rhegar hopped up onto another crate to get a better view as Kalena ran forward. "Don't throw another fireball!" he yelled. "There's stuff in there and I'd like to see what it is. Wait until they rise." Kyri jumpped onto another set of crates and fired two arrows into the crackling box, hoping to stir up the stirges. It worked and a white stirge flew up from the crate only to plummet to the floor, seared by a magic missile and a lance of faith. A black stirge careened madly forward into Markas. Disgusted, I can see the thing bury its teeth into the half-elf's neck. Another hovers in front of Kyri as she shouted a warning. "There are four spiders headed our way! Take the stirges out quickly!"

There isn't much I can do about spiders but Markas is right in front of me. "How much do you trust me?" I asked. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" he replied back. I made a quite sign of devotion to Kord, but my attack swung wide anyway. A blast from our warlock caused one stirge to vaporize as the one attached to Markas' neck simultaneously explodesd spraying the two of us with warm blood. The last remaining stirge made a beeline for Rhegar where it found an opening in his armor.Suddenly the spiders are upon us.

"But they were half way across the chamber!?" I heard Travis yell. "They're young Deathjumpers," Kyri hissed, "if it's not obvious by now." Travis had dodged one but Vixi wasn't as lucky and a spider sank its fangs into her arm. A third hissed and spat at Rhegar on his crate and a forth caught Markas, already weak from the stirge attack. I could hear arrows richoting off the carapaces as Kyri searched for a weak point. Travis riposted back and forth with his quarry.

Markas didn't look good. I could see the spider's thick saliva slimed over the bite marks. His movements were stiff, but the paladin continued to return blows with the beast. Rhegar hit the spider with a crushing blow, even as the thing on his neck continued to swell. I bolstered Markas with a healing spell, pleased to see some of the color return to his cheeks. I was readying an attack on the stirge, but the dragonborn stopped me. "Get the mother," he said pointing to the large spider in front of his crate. I crouched behind the crate and launched a lance against its abdomen. From my vantage point I could see that the other half of our party had disposed of their pair. A few more blows from the paladins and the irate arachnid collapsed into a leggy heap. The stirge clung tenaciously to Rhegar's neck despite our efforts to dislodge it. It finally exploded from overfeeding, though I think Markas may have helped it along with a blessing.

Stepping down from his crate, Rhegar kicked apart the charred slats of the box that had held the stirges. He rooted around in the gooey black and green mess that had once been deathjumper eggs. From the mass he pulled two items and wiped them quickly on his cloak. The first was a small, ornate box which he passed to Travis. The thief made quick work of the lock and opened the hinges. The smell of fresh beef pies wafted up to meet us and we passed the pies around. Kalena examined the box further as we ate. "The box has an enchantment on it. I've read about boxes like this that can feed a party of ten indefinatly." She handed it to Kyri for safekeeping. "I was a bit damaged by the fire but I think I know of a ritual that could repair it." The second item was a glass vial containing a purple potion. This he handed to Markas and myself. Based on the color, thickness and odor, we determined it would most likely provide resistance to necrotic damage.

"We should break open the rest." said Travis. Right, because opening the last one went so well for us. We need to be moving on. Kyri agreed with my unvoiced thoughts. "We've wasted enough time here. We are chasing sirens and by now they could be almost a mile away." Travis continued to whine, "There could be useful stuff." By now I had decipered the symbols on all the crates. "I don't think so," I said. "Most of these are for restocking. Provisions. Canvas. Tar. Rope." I pointed to the crates as I spoke. "That one does say weapons. I think we should open it, but leave the rest until after we come back through." Rhegar nodded his approval. "Agreed. The rest would only slow us down." We levered open the side, but there was nothing but cutlasses and crossbows. Leaving the crates where they stood, our party headed down the narrow corridor at the back of the room.