once more against the spiders!

Beatriss had made a promise to the guards from the house of Mehwa that she would help them find the remains of their late master in the spider-infested forest— as she and the guards had planned to do in their last expedition to the Jangzy area. This time, Mehwa's son-in-law would be going, too. As would a priest, who could perform the proper rites in the general area if identifiable remains were not recovered.

The party was very much focused on their goal, with one exception. Just as they were leaving the "green zone," a local monk from the Monastery of the Two-Fold Path, approached her and asked that she give him passage into the green zone and show him where he could find Gwinch. This she did, and then the party ventured out to the "Spider Forest." They passed the ruined monastery in the hills west of Khanbaliq; there was a one-sided battle going on there, but they did not stop to investigate. Shortly thereafter they encountered about half-a-dozen men on the road who seemed to fleeing from something. They made sure that something wasn't chasing them, but didn't otherwise react.

When they arrived in the forest, the priest was able to divine the location of Mehwa's body—narrowing it down to one of three "cocoons" hanging from the bottom of a large spider web about thirty feet up in the canopy. The party didn't want to get to the web, and debated whether there would be to cut down the "cocoons" from a distance. While they were discussing options, they began to hear familiar clicking sounds all around them, as well as the sounds of something very large moving through the trees above them. The party debated whether one or two especially strong warriors should approach the web—or the whole party at once.

And then a familiar voice offered his assistance—the "handsome peasant" said that he could cut the bodies down. After the climbed the tree without being attacked, Beatriss climbed up to join him, lending him her sword for the actual cutting. A spider the size of a horse attacked the party watching from the trail. The priest noticed it at the last instant and dodged it, and then the rest of the party killed it. Beatriss asked their helper to cut down all three bodies and they dragged them out of the forest before any other spiders could attack. They confirmed Mehwa's body by his armor, took some other valuable stuff from the bodies (weapons, money, a curiously intact robe) and then performed rites for all three. Omesa (the handsome peasant) asked Beatriss to take him back with her and she agreed. They made their camp in the hills on the east side of the chasm.

While enjoying their dinner meal, they were surprised by a desperate man, wearing some kind of yoke. He claimed to have imprisoned for his failure to pay his debts and had been sentenced to work in the mines. He offered to serve the party in any way if released, and said that he would rather die than be taken back Khanbaliq. They fed him and, the next morning, helped him out of his yoke. They agreed that he would serve them for one year while he looked for way to get back to his home in the Kobar valley.

Gamo welcomed Omesa as his guest and was also agreeable to having a new servant.