Deadlands - Part 2: Comin' Round the Mountain

"Having defeated the spider-controlled zombies, the party prepares to enter the cave. Nicholas D. Wolfwood, suffering from shock after the battle, despite having wrestled the fiercest of demons, collapses in the clearing and cannot be revived. Gizelle and Dr. Sanders agree to stay with him and Denise for a moment to determine if they are really ok; Sanders uses some slight-of-hand to palm a couple of bucks from Nicholas' pocket while Alexander Baron makes a grab for a pack of smokes. Meanwhile, Dr. Magnus is focused on the zombie bodies, particularly that of Alan Saberth. He also finds some loose change upon searching the corpse, in addition to an advanced speedloader for a Gatling pistol.

Fully prepared, Magnus, Baron, and Lola approach the entrance of the cave and step inside. The cave itself, while appearing dark from outside, is well lit from several cracks and holes in the ceiling, which allow a soft green light to filter down. About 10 feet wide by 40 feet long, the cave is relatively clear of debris and the trio cannot see any sign of the creature. Before they can move any further into the cave, Sanders joins them.

Having examined the cave, the party notices that there is a larger opening in the ceiling at the back of the cave. Lola cautiously stays by the cave entrance while Sanders takes a position along the left-hand wall of the cave. Baron confidently approaches the opening while Magnus stations himself in the middle of the cave (an optimal position for torching anything inside the cave). Baron slows and cautiously approaches the opening, a hand raised to ward off any sudden attack.

As soon as he is in range, a large glob of organic goo flies from the hole and hits Baron square in the face. He stumbles back and wipes the crud away; at the same moment, the creature drops down into the cave.

It is a spider-like insect, though far larger than any normal spider; about 4 feet tall and 6 feet long, it has 6 jointed legs (3 per side) sprouting from its large abdomen. Two smaller feeding arms sprout from its relatively small thorax. Its head is also small but 2 dangerous mouth pincers click-clack aggressively. The creature is covered in a thick green-black chitonous armor, making it somewhat resistant to physical attacks.

The party is shocked by the creature's appearance, Baron noticeably so. Magnus fumbles with his flamethrower but is unable to get a shot off as it slowly approaches him. Baron, having recovered from his predicament, charges the creature from behind with his saber, damaging its rear left legs. Sanders steps away from the wall and also takes aim, landing a shot to its abdomen.

The spider is now enraged at the sudden retaliation and turns to Baron, savagely biting him with its pincers. Baron frantically bats it away with the butt of his saber, but not before angrily spitting in its eye and taking damage. Having landed a blow but facing prey capable of defending itself, the spider turns back to the center of the cave and charges Magnus. Waiting until the last second, Magnus is able to dodge the attack by jumping to the side.

By this time, Gizelle has heard the shouts and sounds of gunfire coming from the cave. Abandoning Nicholas and Denise, she dashes to the cave entrance, coming up behind Lola just beyond the entrance. Seeing the spider charge Magnus, Gizelle reaches for the first thing in her bag and pulls out the monkey wrench of her inventor's kit, instead of a landmine. Without hesitating, she lobs it at the spider, scoring a direct hit. This actually helps distract the spider from Magnus's dodge but does no significant damage.

Lola, shocked into action by Gizelle's appearance, pulls out her pistol and takes a wild shot at the creature, landing another shot to its abdomen. Baron, recovering from his wound, charges to help Magnus, once again stabbing the spider from behind. Lola quickly reloads and fires again, missing Magnus and Baron but landing a direct hit to the spider's back legs, effectively maiming it. Excited, she lines up a third shot but it goes wild in her eagerness.

Undeterred, Lola amazes everyone by stepping forward again with another round, hitting the creatures right leg instead. By this time, Magnus has gotten a firm grip on his flamethrower and, standing next to Baron behind the struggling creature, unleashes his wrath upon it. The spider is engulfed in a massive jet of fire with almost no room between it and Magnus. With no cover to shelter it, it is instantly killed by the inferno.

The party breathes a collective sigh of relief as they watch the creature slump to the cave floor as its carapice blackens and begins to crack. With a shriek of excitement and surpressed disappointment for having missed the fight, Denise rushes into the cave fully recovered. Taking out her spare flash unit, she begins snapping tons of pictures, getting silhouttes shots of each party member plus montages with the burning monster's body in the background. She is so excited she cannot even fully describe how incredible her story will be. The party ignores her and leaves to recover Nicholas, but not before Gizelle is able to grab several meaty spider legs for a possible future meal.

Leaving the cave, the party, plus Denise, recover the still unconscious form of Nicholas in the clearing and slowly make their way back to camp as the afternoon lengthens and the sun begins to set. As they walk back, they realize that the spider had been killing and collecting corpses to provide food and shelter for its young. As they were too young to develop a hardened carapice, the newly hatched offspring used the corpses as a makeshift form of armor, using the bodies also as a means to attack if anything entered their territory. Some of the party wondered if the adult spider also used its young as a means of defense, sacrificing them first in order to try and preserve itself, or give itself warning of approaching enemies. If the party had not been there to destroy the spider and its young, it is entirely possible that the surrounding forests, mountains, and caves would have turned into a spider-infested wilderness, blocking any travel through the pass to the West.

They make it back to the camp without incident, but Gizelle is hesitant to recover her landmines, in case there is anything else out in the wild that may try stalking their camp. The train passengers, seeing the recovered spider parts and the wounds suffered by Baron and Gizelle, are relieved at the party's return and are satisfied that the primary threat has been taken care of. Gizelle experiments with the meat from the spider legs and makes an acceptable meal. As the campfire roars into the night, Sanders sits down and treats the party and passengers to an exciting synopsis of the past two days of adventure. As the party recovers and settles down for the night, both Gizelle and Magnus step aside, collaborating furiously on their next inventions, pitch grenades and electricity-charged deer slugs. Everyone realizes that, unless they want to wait for rescuers, they must soon find a way out of the mountains."

To be continued......