Egan's Wood - 1

"Egan's Wood is a mix between a thick, shadowy canopy and long, exposed roots tangled over one another.  Roots worm their way into the trunks of trees, strangling bushes, over the face of exposed rock walls.  Beneath your feet, the ground is spongy with black soil and dewy moss. Smells of wet growth and decay are all around. A rapid stream runs in the distance."

Egan's Wood

{If players approach the stream...} "As you near the shores of what is clearly a small river you catch movement on the far bank.  Was that a reflection of water of a glint of metal?  Whatever it was disappears into the thick brush.  The water runs fast and broad in front of you, in places 15 to 20 feet wide. Crossing seems hopeless."

{If players turn from the stream...} "At your left the trail takes a turn away from the river, reaching back into the overgrowth.  A flash of something bright and metallic at your feet catches your eye."

Combat

If players investigate the glint of metal they find in the shrubs near the ban a [short sword, 1d6] that appears to have been dropped in the brush.  An observant PC can make a PER check (CR10) to notice a glaze of a sparkling substance, almost powdery to the feel, on parts of the sword and the surrounding bushes.*

Giant Spider

Any player who attempts to sieze the sword is attacked from the tree above by a Giant Spider.  PCs roll for surprise (Spider +6, PCs -3).

*Players who passed the above PER roll receive no penalty to their surprise check.

After Combat

Players who search the shrubs near the spider's tree will find a gnawed [leather belt, 1GP], a belt pouch containing [15GP], a pair of leather gloves, and one [small sapphire worth 50GP].  All are glazed with the powdery remains of old webbing.  They will also notice, suspended from the trees, the dried corpses -- wrapped in webs and suspended by their feet -- of two goblins and one small human boy.  The PC who received the note at Sandpoint should roll PER (CR5).  If that roll succeeds, they will recognize the boy, despite the body's now-gaunt features and a layer of obscuring web.  A shock of blonde hair on the corpse reveals him to be Tuck Folger, one of the two missing children.