The Gaming Den

Betsy yanks the pole away from the corpse, and backs up into Sir Spastis.

"I am not familiar with all the local customs," she begins, "Is it permissible here to burn the dead? We could gather wood outside, and then wait there for the smoke to clear. I have lantern oil to start the fire."

Gilles turns from watching the bodies, with a sort of detached, analytical interest, to Betsy. "Not sure about the current ones, but these guys here are buried as according to ancient customs. Slaves, sentenced to serve their lord after death, although it doesn't look like they're doing a good job. Can't say I like the look of those spiders, though...fire sounds like a good idea to me."

"Is that really necessary now? This is a tomb, there could be thousands interred in here. Lets search both these skeletons manacles and the tomb at large and then decide what to do with the remaibs once we know the scope of what were working with. If they wanted caretakers and mourners for the site they didn't need to find a group as well armed as we are. "
"If you say its nothing to be concerned with I'll trust you both, and well move on"

Betsy inches forward to examine the 'bodies' more carefully. "It is not the remains that worry me, it is those spiders. But those are not even bodies, they are just bones covered in spider webs and spiders. So very many spiders. Surely we could burn them?"

"I don't see why not. We all agreed to come here to desecrate a tomb and strip it of all valuable metals; that is our quest . Annoint the departed with lamp oil and I'll baptize them with fire. From over there. Back up now, these spiders are gonna go everywhere."

If we can agree, Xaxus will chuck a *lit* torch at the corpses after somebody with lamp oil douses them, so that we can get at the silver shackles safely.

EDIT: *lit*

COMBO EDIT: it would be awesome if some lamp oil could be splashed in a circle around the skeletons, to hem in the surge of fleeing spiders.

Guillermo turns around quickly to the sound of rustling in the underbrush behind them outside.

"There's something outside"
Daggers in hand ready to throw, Guillermo heads towards the entrance/exit to see what it is.

Standing at the edge of the trees, the bloody carcass of an osquip in its beak, a massive owlbear stares back at Guillermo with its massive eyes. It stands very still, never blinking.

"I agree with Xaxus' plan," Gilles nods. "We have to get further in the tomb to do anything, and it's pointless to risk our lives for the sake of dead who we're going to loot anyways. Roast the spiders into the afterlife; they can join the bodies they inhabit." As Guillermo checks what's going on outside, Gilles turns to watch, lest the minotaur draws anything out.

If Xaxus is informed that there is an owlbear outside and we want to fight it, he will cast bless before we charge in.

While the party members further back discover the owlbear, Betsy pulls out a flask of oil from her pack, and pours a thin pool on the ground, from one wall to the other, between her and the spiders, to keep them back once it ignites. Then she shakes out the rest of the oil at the webs themselves. Then she backs up and waits for someone to throw a torch.

"Action!" Atani whispers celebratorily. Heading immediately behind Guillermo he comes to a stop as the Minotaur does. Pulling his bow string taut while the great bull holds it's blades. Seeing Guillermo hesitate Atani draws his string to his cheek
"Do it" he says.
Atani will fire 3 arrows using the double arrow trick, hopefully aside a barrage of throwing blades. His Thaco is 15 for all three shots and they deal 1d8+6 apiece. His shots are at an additional +1 if Xaxus got off his bless in time.

Unknowing of the ruckus brewing outside, Xaxus waits for Betsy to oil up the corpses and vacate the area, after which he will back up a bit towards the entrence and toss his lit torch to get this pyre started.

Trapped Between a Fire and Bloodthirsty 1,500-lb Carnivore
There is a sudden *woosh* as Xaxus puts flame to the oil; the silk blackens and combusts almost immediately, giving the flame a slightly greenish tinge and a profusion of blue smoke, but most of the spiders also blacken and burn almost immediately.

At the other end of the corridor, Atani looses squeezes past the minotaur's bulk to launch three arrows at the owlbear. One is lost in the shrubbery. One hits a tree. The third hits the bloody rabbit corpse in the owlbear's mouth, knocking the bedraggled remains of the fluffy critter out of its grasp.

The owlbear, in response to this challenge, stands on its hind legs to its full height of 8 feet, claws menacing before it, and lets out a series of roaring squawks. Disconcertingly close there comes a chorus of answering squawks from the nearby forest...

The flames die down almost as quickly as they arose, although the silk on the blackened bones still smolders and gives off a foul-smelling smoke.

Guillermo, under the cover of arrow-fire, rushes to close the stone door.

"He's got friends? That can't be good."

Ordinarily, Tim would be fleeing right away, except that there's nowhere to run to. He sighs, draws his dagger, and hopes his burly companions will be able to put paid to the owlbear and its companions.

If Xaxus sees the roaring Owlbear through the opening, he will try to cast cause fear on the creature. If he doesn't, he tries to get closer to the entrance to provide mundane/magical healing to the front line fighters and draws his sling to possibly use in the next round.

Sir Spastis frowns at Xaxus' remark on desecrating the tomb. "Desecrating the dead is one thing; taking valuables that are no longer needed, in order to save and feed the living is another. Don't lose focus of what we are trying to do here, please."

He turns to watch the fires consuming the vile spiders off the corpses, when he suddenly hears the cries of "Owlbear!" from the back of the party, along with the characteristic squawk of the beast.

"Our mounts are still out there, and our provisions for the journey back as well!"

Seeing the two strongest fighters in the party already in the process of engaging the monster, he suppresses his natural instinct to charge and battle the beast; he is loathe to expose the rest of the party to the unknown dangers lurking in the dark corridor.

(Use detect evil intent on the corridor ahead. If he senses anything he stays put and gets ready for combat. If not, he says "Stay close to the walls", before joining his fellows battling the beast.)

"Well, taking the belongings of the dead is the same as messing with their bodies. It's not like the deceased are going to need either."

Tim makes sure he is well out of sword range; irate paladins tended to pack a punch.

Guillermo grabs the lip of the door and pulls it down. His muscles bulge as the owlbear drops back down to all fours, but with a supreme effort the stone portal slides downwards, until only an inch of daylight can be seen.

"Well, that's a fair thing to do when suddenly an monster appears at our rear. I would hasten to point out that all our stuff is out there, and we can't complete our quests without the carts and horses. We can regroup, but allow me to bless the party and thereafter all of us immediately counterattack while it's distracted with eating our food and horses."

Betsy has no trouble staying low to keep away from the strange smoke. She notices the commotion and reaches for her sling, but here her small stature presents a disadvantage; with all the others blocking her view of the door, she can't see what's going on, much less line up a shot. So she pokes at the charred remains of the spiders, to make sure there's no threat from that quarter.

"I think that's a fine plan and am all for it, but if the group feels the prospect is too dangerous let me offer an alternative. If Guillermo raises the door just briefly I could sprint out into the woods. Given how angry the lead Owlbear is he would certainly follow and his pack would naturally follow suit. They would tear me to shreds if they caught me but in the cover of forest nothing can catch me, the creatures won't even be able to see me once I'm shrouded by the woods. I could lure them away from our supplies and pick them off with arrow fire whenever they lose me or if they lose interest. Either way the supplies and livestock would be safe and I could circle back around once the job was done. Either plan I have no fear of, what do you say. "

Standing as he is near the door, Guillermo can hear a snuffling and scraping, and the light leaking in from the slight gap at the bottom where the door does not close entirely is sudden blocked by shadows moving slowly to and fro.

*After everyone else is ready with their blessings and whatnot

Guillermo will lift the door to create a large enough space for an owlbear to uncomfortably squeeze its head through (so about 2ft) and get a face full of arrows n' rapier/dagger thrusts.

[I apologize for being overly cautious and will instead indulge in the gung-ho do-or-die attitude of 1st level AD&D. Lets murder all these owlbears in a choke point]

While Guillermo prepares himself to pull the portal open Atani says "Yes a trap!" and pulls his pack off his shoulders. Rummaging inside he produces a heavy winter blanket and proceeds to douse it in two full oil flasks, placing it on the floor a few feet in front of himself. He adds a final trail of oil leading back to where the party is gathered in the skeleton room.
"Light it if it breaks through" he says to both torch holders "Well kill them as they push through, they'll block each other with their own bodies and if one pushes through the door you'll light it aflame! "
Atani takes his position kneeled behind his trap ready to fire.
"Open when ready Guillermo then put yourself behind me. My small form won't block your blades and I'm happy to greet these creatures charge.
(Atani will fire 3 arrows at Thaco 15 for 1d8+6 apiece at anything Guillermo reveals when he opens the portal"