Mack walked behind me on the stairs, practically pushing me up them.

"There must be another way," I tried, reasoning with her.

"I'm open to suggestions, but we both know this is what needs to be done."

"But anyone can use the ring," I said as we stepped onto the second level. 

They all wanted me to use the invisibility ring to scout out the spider's lair. But I had strong reservations about going naked into a monster's den.

"But no one else has offensive spells. You're the only one who will be able to defend themselves if something goes wrong. Plus, don't you get some kind of bonus from being naked."

She must have been reading up on Elenians. We did get a bonus to our defense rating that was diminished by how many clothes or armor we wore, but it didn't make me any more eager to go without them. However, I eventually let her bully me into it. I put the ring on and proceeded to take of my few pieces of clothing.

"Aw," she said. "That's no fun. I was hoping you'd put the ring on after you stripped down."

"I'm not letting you or anyone else see me naked."

"But we're both girls."

I told her I didn't care, and climbed up the ladder carved into the stone wall. Lifting the trapdoor an inch, I peered through the gap. The light was murkier than on the second level, and I soon saw that all the windows had multiple sheets of webbing a few feet in front of them. They were filled with skeletons and carcasses of birds and bats. None of the spiders were immediately visible, but webs had been spun just about everywhere.

Taking a deep breath, I climbed up. My exertion must've made some noise because there was a scurrying in the webs. The room was laid out exactly as the one below, but was blocked off in many places by the spiders' constructs. My feet stepped on old discarded webs, and I cringed as they stuck to my bare feet. I tore them off, and luckily they weren't super strong. If we got caught in one, it would be possible to break free. So long as we weren't paralyzed by venom or something.

There were a few clear areas creating halting paths through the lair. I traced them to their ends, mapping them in my mind, all the while trying to avoid the decomposing bones of small (and not so small) creatures. When I spotted the first spider, I almost screamed. It had been so still that it's sudden race from a corner of a web to the center made my heart leap. It wasn't the gargantuan Shelob-like spider I was expecting from the other party's account. It's body was about the size of a small dog (a pug maybe) with eight long spiny legs with spikes on each joint, making it look vaguely like a crab. By the time I finished exploring, I'd counted  fourteen of them. There were also a number of rotting bodies and skeletons.

I don't think I'd ever been more relieved in my life than when I got down and got my clothes back on.

I had an inkling of plan, and I'd need the ring to pull it off. It would take an hour before I'd be able to use it again, so I reported what I saw to the others, then sat outside in the sunlight and worked it all out.

* * *

Everyone had been briefed on the plan, and we were ready to go. I put the ring on again. This time, it was much more uncomfortable getting undressed. Sure, no one could see me, but I could see them—watching me. All the eyes followed my every move, which to them must have been the amazing display of clothes moving on there own, but was no less unnerving. And they all seemed way too close to me, like they might reach out and touch some of my exposed flesh.

I almost raced up the ladder to get away from them. On the second level, I moved deep into the lair toward the east side. Using Gust, I blew the webs clear of the eastern most window. This had the effect of sending the spiders into a frenzy. The beam from the morning sun caused them as much panic as the sudden destruction of their web. I'd read in the archives, this species was nocturnal and they had trouble seeing in the light. They rushed to see what had broken their hard work and to spin new webs to repair it. With them all swarming it was hard to tell how many there were, but it looked as though there were a few more than my initial count.

With the spiders distracted, Mack came up, using her cloak to add to her concealment. Aaron and Ellie followed, both using their Stealth skill. Three of them moved to their designated spots in the labyrinth of webs. Then the big moment came, Jonathan, the gnome, entered. Her chain-mail jingling and the ax in her hand clanging on the floor. The spiders instantly reversed course and came at her. She took a few halting steps moving deeper into the lair—moving toward the foes as well as making room for Josh, who was right behind her on the ladder. 

Aaron cast Starlight adding more brightness to the room, while Rick climbed up.

Before any of the spiders could reach Jonathan, I a cast Electric Charge and a cluster of them. I'd leveled up the skill behind it and it was stronger now. The pop of the electrical strike sent a few flying. 

I don't know what it was but casting that spell made me feel powerful. It wasn't just the energy extending out from my finger tips instead of my staff. Nor was it the obvious damage it caused. There was something about taking these monsters on naked, every inch of my skin glistening with sweat, the breeze from the window bracing me with a chill.

A couple of the spiders came at me, but without a visible target they were hesitant. More would have been on me, but the other party members began their attack, giving everything they had to eliminate these pests.

I hit one of the spiders heading to me with another Electric Charge from my right hand and blew the other one back with my left. Two-handed spell casting was the coolest! I can't believe I hadn't tried it until now. I'd been relying too much on my staff. Unfortunately, now the attacking spiders knew where the spells were coming from. The one I'd fried leaped at me, snapping it's mandibles. I knocked it out of the air with my forearm. One of the spikes on its legs scraped me, but didn't break the skin. Without thinking. I grabbed the offending leg and fired off another burst of electricity directly into it. It curled up dead.

But I had no time to celebrate because its friend was fast approaching and another had joined it, following a few feet behind. This time when it tried to launch itself at my head, I caught it with both hands. It's horrifying face was inches from mine as it writhed in my grip and stretched out hopping to reach me and dig its venom dripping fags into my cheek. I cast the spell with both hands filling the bastard with raw energy.

I cast the corpse aside, and went to fire on the last spider scurrying toward me. I realized too late, I'd used all my Mystic Energy. In all the excitement, I'd lost track. I had a potions that would restore some points, but before I could get to it, the little devil was on me. It's fangs bit into the fleshy part of my calf, and a sharp pain shot through me followed by a spreading warmth. 

I downed the potion and restored 20 Mystic points. Before it could come at me again, I hit it with a Gust and blasted it against a wall, then I zapped it until I was depleted of energy again, and it was a squashed splatter of bug ooze.

Then, I fell onto my ass. My legs had gone numb and my stomach felt like heaving up everything it held.

I barely noticed that the fight was ending. "Is everyone alright?" Mack asked. Someone said they were badly hurt, but my ears were distorting sounds, and I couldn't tell who it was.

"I've 'een 'it," I said, trying to get words out around my swollen tongue. "'Oison!"

Rick came running toward me and said, "I have a spell that will help."

I guided his hands to the wound and he cast something that immediately started to reverse the effects of the poison. Then, he used a different spell, chanting an unknown but strangely familiar language while waving his hands over me. My Life Force began to restore itself.

"Thanks! I thought I was a goner," I said, wiping the sweat from my face. Something struck me as off, but it took me a second to realize what it was. I was seeing my hand! And everyone else could see a whole lot more! Rick's eyes had gone as wide as plates.

"Eeeep!" I squealed curling into a ball. 

* * * 

Aaron fetch my clothes while I huddled with my knees in front of my chest and my feet crossed to cover anything that might be exposed between my thighs. Rick and Josh went around healing whoever needed it. And the others started clearing the webs away and searching for treasure. Which it turned out was quite plentiful.

Those spiders had been busy.

Most of the loot came from the desiccated corpses of ancient soldiers, twelve in all. Despite the age, some of the equipment was still good and highly rated. It was too bad that most of it couldn't be used by any of us. We ended up with only Jonathan being able to equip a helm from four assorted pieces of tier 2 plate armor. The rest went into inventory to be sold when we got into town. There was also a tier 2 long bow and dagger. No one could use the bow, but Aaron took the dagger. It was a bit large for them and not balanced for throwing, but she said she could use it with her new Knife Fighting skill. 

We also found a party of adventurers that had been killed much more recently. If I had to guess, they probably wandered up here shortly after the reset. They must have had a success or two before being taken down by the spiders because they were pretty well equipped. By the look of them (even fresh, they'd been sucked dry by the spiders, and the rot was eating away their features), there was a humanoid female fighter dressed like a viking, another who was a mage, a male halfling thief, and male Felinoid cleric. There was a lot of stuff to go through and more than a few arguments, but we eventually worked it out.

Mack upgraded her jerkin again. This time to tier 2 studded armor. It looked a bit like a leather corset covered in rivets and a fur ruff along the bust line. And in the rare instance of an item nobody wanted, Mack ended up with both the Garter of Vigor +2. It was a black garter belt with a steel ram's head buckle. It definitely gave her a slutty look. Jonathan would have been able to equip it too, but she already had a much higher Vigor rating than Mack.

Aaron snagged a bandoleer with two more throwing knives (both tier 2) from the thief, as well as Gloves of Finesse +2. They were black cloth finger-less gloves with an embroidery of flowers on the back in black thread. 

Josh got a tier 2 staff from the cleric that was a simple metal pole.

Rick took the Ankle Boots of Walking (slows Life balance loss by half).

Everyone wanted the Ring of Extra Life (Life Force +3), but we decided it would be fairest to give it to Ellie, who had one of the lowest Life Force ratings of the group. And also, she'd been unable to use any of the other equipment. Between her size, species, and class, Ellie could only use very specific items, which meant I got most of the good stuff from the mage.

There was a new robe with a +2 defense bonus. It looked a bit like a purple kimono and didn't cover any more than my old outfit. It tied with the belt around the waist, making it feel a little precarious. It was one of the rare instances when the game mechanics showed through. There was no way to equip it and leave my jerkin and shorts on, even though in real life that would have worked fine.

I also got from the mage a tier 2 Mystic Staff that was less a gnarled tree branch like my old one and more of a mahogany rod with some vines twisted together at the top. And lastly, I obtained a Nose Ring of Mysticism that boosted my points by +10, and luckily was equipped without me having to pierce a hole in my own nose.

There was also a bunch of health and mysticism potions and pile of coins.

We decided wait a couple of hours before moving on, so the magic users could restore their Mystic Energy naturally before our next encounter, and it was finally time to fix up my character sheet.

For my new skill, I picked Floramancy which gave me the spells: Vine and Prune. At its starting level, Vine grew a vine you could use to bind or strangle enemies that were human size or smaller. And Prune, would either deal damage to plant based monsters or befriend them, if they were intelligent enough for it.

All in all, it was a pretty good morning. Except, I still wasn't able to look any of the others in the eye, and I turned beat red every time I remembered laying there naked in front of all of them.