Upon coming into town, hoping for rest and recovery, the heroes are witness to a terrifying sight.
Blockquote text – Read aloud
The east side of the village is draped with ghostly webbing that glows in the blue moonlight. Screams of terror ring out while the town guards attempt to gather a force to face the tremendous spiders.
Men, women, and children are spun into or trapped within webbing while a frantic unprepared handful bravely battle the creatures. The town guard will surely lose this battle without help.
Once the immediate threat is resolved, it becomes clear that the other side of the village is in serious trouble.
A group of 6 town guards are struggling to hold their own against 7 large spiders and 2 huge brown spiders. Without aid, they lose the main town square and many villagers become victim to their feasting.
If joined, the guards reveal that the spiders are somewhat timid around flame. Setting the webbing ablaze, however, could possibly (30% chance) set 2–4 houses in the immediate area on fire, exacerbating the problem.
Large Spider x7 – Freq: Common, # Enc 7, Sz Small, Mv 60, 150 in web, AC 6, HD 1+1, #Att 1, Dmg 1d4 SA Venom save at +2, SD None, MR Std, Int Animal, Align N, Lvl/XP 2 / 75+2/HP
Huge Brown Spider x2 – Freq: Uncommon, # Enc 2, Sz Large, Mv 30, 120 in web, AC 4, HD 4+4, #Att 1, Dmg 1d6 + venom (see Appendix) SA Venom, web, SD None, MR Std, Int Low, Align CE,
Lvl/XP 4 / 325+5/HP
Once the initial creatures are defeated, the remaining spiders recoil into the darkness of the forest.
The spiders do not return for 48 hours after being driven from the eastern side of the village. Of course, players do not know this and the threat seems ever-present with webbing looming over the buildings. An opportunity to heal [long rest] is possible, but perhaps not comfortable knowing the horrors that lurk in the webbed trees of the distant forest.