>>5485849>>5485860>>5485981>77 - Success"Surround it. Snap its legs." -- you command your allies in your usual ethereal, echoing voice.
In this cavern, it is tough to flank a large enemy without climbing the walls, but the warriors do their best. The demonologists come into play once again, casting ethereal chains on the monster. This makes the matriarch somewhat more manageable; you deflect one strike of its legs after another, buying time for your allies to attack from the sides.
The great spider screeches in pain as one of its limbs is severed with a slash of a halfdemon's sword. She turns and flails her chitinous legs around, knocking several warriors down, probably breaking some bones from the impact. You press on, making two precise strikes against its front legs, crushing the joints with your mace. The spider spews venom, which the manashields protect against, and as its helplessness becomes apparent, all it takes is a crushing hit on the head to end the matriarch's life.
The mages extinguish the burning spiders while you spot something glittering in the far end of the cavern. Making it past the matriarch's corpse, you lift your torch high, approaching the object. The light illuminates a two-handed axe buried in the webs; you pull it out. It is a solid work: atop a sturdy wooden handle sits a head of iron with streaks of brass forming intricate patterns near where the metal sits on the wood. It is heavy, but not so much as to be unwieldable.
You take it to the mages.
"Could you check if it's enchanted?" -- you ask Diodorus.
"Once we get back to the fortress."
You don't stay long. The oppressive dark of the cavern and the choking smoke from the smouldering spiders is enough to make everyone wish for surface again. You crush the spider eggs and ascend. Tallying the losses, it seems due to both good luck and some tactics, you've only lost 3 Asthurians, though several warriors have been wounded or poisoned.
Diodorus gets back to you in a few hours.
"About the axe... Dwarven work. Bears a minor enchantment for strength of hits. Probably why the spiders pilfered it in the first place. Otherwise unremarkable."
You consider replacing the mace with it. Both are two-handed weapons, the axe being of the cutting kind though, while the mace, even with its flanges, is, at its core, a blunt weapon. There's also some memories; it's been with you since the beginning of your journey, you could probably enchant it as well if you invested into it. The axe is, obviously, a superior weapon quality- and enchantment-wise. You could also keep both, but they're sure to weigh you down in battle. Rifrun, the leader of the Asthurians, took an interest in the axe, and would be happy if you donated it for the good of Asthur. He did receive his part of the pay already, however.
>Take the axe to replace the mace>Keep both the axe and the mace>Give the axe to Rifrun>Write-in 