Episode 2

The thumbnail for Episode 2, illustrated by Nelson

"**Temple of Venom - Episode 2**" is the second episode of the first arc of *Soulbound.* The party continues their trek through the jungle, finding themselves faced with a variety of wildlife both hostile and passive, as well as a new friend.

## Synopsis

The party stays overnight in the ruined cottage. Flint is awoken in the middle of the night by a crunching noise from the bushes, where he sees a long, dark shape among the shrubbery walking past the house. He doesn't react at first, but wakes the other two when the creature approaches the grave Kalius dug for the old woman found in the previous episode and begins to dig it up. They send Flint to get a closer look at the creature, which turns out to be a giant crocodile. He returns to the other two and alerts them to the situation. Ronja nearly alerts the crocodile to their presence, but is quickly silenced by the rest of the party. The crocodile begins to eat the old woman as the party argues over what to do next; however, their voices draw the attention of the crocodile and it begins to approach.

They try to sneak further away, but Flint's appreciation of Kalius' stealth activates the Hat of Homosexuality, and its glow draws the crocodile toward the party again. Flint tries again to move away from the crocodile, but runs into a tree and the movement catches its eye, drawing the party into a proper fight. Ronja uses *Minor Illusion* to make it sound like a branch snaps off to the side away from Flint, drawing the crocodile's attention and successfully distracting it. Kalius stands and uses *Command* on the crocodile, forcing it to flee and ending the fight.

They leave the house, Kalius carrying Ronja, as the sun begins to rise. They encounter a Golden Bird, which flies around the three of them before settling on the ground. Kalius outstretches his hand to the bird, which hops onto his arm briefly before rocketing into the sky and leaving a burst of sparkling golden powder in its wake.

The party continues up the hill through the jungle, taking note of a large, cylindrical trail of crushed foliage beside the path. A while later, they come across a small humanoid shape crouched on a ladder in a tree, holding a net in one hand and a stick in the other as he prods at a beehive in a tree. They startle him, causing him to fall off the ladder, though Kalius manages to catch him before he hits the ground. The boy thanks Kalius and introduces himself as Rumor. He also introduces Fuzzle, an oversized bumblebee that Rumor keeps as a pet. The party attempts to help Rumor with collecting honey from the beehive, but only succeed in nearly knocking Flint out and angering the bees in the hive, which then proceed to chase them through the jungle for a while until Kalius manages to immobilize the swarm. Rumor rewards their efforts with a small vial of honey each.

Once again, the party finds themselves faced with a split in the path. The path to the left is muddy, and follows the trail of destruction that they had noted before; the path in the middle is overall unremarkable; and the one to the right is covered in brambles and pricker bushes. The party decides to go down the center path. As they continue, the forest gets darker and the ground becomes sticky, and they realize that the area around them is coated in spiderwebs. Upon seeing a pile of corpses that have been drained of their blood near the path, the party unanimously decides to turn around and pick a different route.

Before they manage to do so, they are noticed and attack by a giant spider. Kalius lands one of two attacks on his first turn in combat. Ronja uses *Firebolt,* setting the spider on fire in the process. Flint misses his attack, but so does the spider when it attempts to bite Kalius. Kalius uses the spell *Divine Favor,* then cuts the spider in half just as they notice the sound of several more spiders quickly approaching. The party flees, managing to outrun the spiders since they don't want to leave their lair, and decide to head down the left path instead.

## Trivia

* This episode is the first time Ronja calls Flint 'Sparkler.'
* Charles decides that Kalius has a fanny pack.