>>5205991>>5206103>>5206194>>5206488A more fortuitous advent could hardly be wished! Bates tumbles out of the vent, falls onto a rickety table, cracking it in half, and drawing the dozens of eyes of every spider present. You chew greedily, but as Bates futilely throws clods of dirt and swings his crowbar at spiders merely testing how dangerous he might be, you realize there is no one to notice you mightily rip through the webbing!
"Sir!? Sir, if you're in here, now would be a <span class="mu-i">really</span> good time to help!" As the young master speaks, you note Erabelle's eyes still in the tunnel. Above, the dridder stirs lazily, nonplussed by the commotion below.
You still have your stick. Your lantern is across the room, near a book and within reach of Erabelle, and presumably firebombs. You sneak along the edge of the circular room, and climb up to the scaffolding under the tunnel, where your belongings are stowed.
Meanwhile, Bates has succeeded in clobbering one spider, which is mildly annoyed, and gotten himself thoroughly webbed. You glance over. Gagged, too. Good thing he's too small for them to bother poisoning, or you'd not be able to tell if he was dead or alive.
You stroll to your lantern, and pick up the dusty book.
Erabelle whispers desperately to you. "What are you doing? You have to help my brother! They-"
"Quiet, young miss. Now is not the time!"
You thumb open the book. Hmm. A terribly barbaric dialect. "Spatio-Temporal Flux Drive User's Manual." Utterly meaningless. Inside are many diagrams.
Oh!
These are the instruments in the middle of the room! How helpful!
"Miss Erabelle, I dost believe this be'est not a spider den or simple abode of the great sorcerer Tampax, but a working of incomprehensible arcane might. Incomprehensible, if nothing else."
"Your sorcerousness, my bro-"
"Hush. We shall follow these instructions."
"BONG, MY BROTHER!"
You shoot her a glare, as do all the spiders. The driddermother stirs awake.
"Now thine hast bedone it, we were hithertofore safe! Hand me yon firebombs."
The bloated spiders rush in a conveniently packed formation towards you, and you chuck a bomb into their ranks. They writhe and curl up in the flames.
"Agh! My babies! What have you done!"
"Now. Back to business." You mutter, perusing the pages while the enraged driddermother descends, fangs dripping with venom.
<span class="mu-s">Bong:</span>
>>Deal with driddermom (How?)>>Activate the instruments>>Speak the incantation>>Realign the arcane cables>>Free Bates>>Have Erabelle do some of that