(Character) made camp for the night along the edge of a high ravine. During the night, high winds forced him to seek shelter among the rocks and threatened to cast him from the heights. Finally, in apparent luck, he succeeded in finding a large hidden cave which protected him from the force of the winds. As soon as he made his way inside, however, he felt an ominous presence and a terrible foreboding. As he explored the cave, he came upon the body of a dark haired woman caught in a fantastically huge web. The woman was not moving, but a small glow seemed to emanate from a sack at her side. The maker of the web does not seem to be in the area.
Character Encounter
Usually within a couple of hexes of Barad Ungol (3224)
| Options | Free People | Neutral | Dark Servants |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATTACK the woman | ? | ? | ? |
| FREE the woman | Combat | Combat | Combat |
| STEAL the sack | Combat | Combat | Combat |
| BURN the web and the woman | Combat | Combat | Combat |
| Say (only one word) | Elbereth or Ungoliant - Escape | Elbereth or Ungoliant - Escape | Elbereth or Ungoliant - Escape |
| FLEE | Escape | Escape | Escape |
Location: Barad Ungol (3224).The woman trapped in the web is Shelob, a demon in giant spider form possessed of remarkable intelligence and formidable sorcerous powers. Shelob has a challenge rank of around 95, which makes her a tough opponent to beat. Shelob's ranks are as follows: Command 40-49, Agent 10-19, Mage 70-79. In addition, any combat generally results in death if the character loses. An unconfirmed rumour states that BURN the web and woman (which results in combat), means that Shelob starts out injured by the fire (giving you a better chance of cutting her down). I can't confirm it, but it certainly makes sense. Assuming the character is lucky enough to win a combat against Shelob, he'll get a large amount of gold and access to a lost list spell. A character can improve his odds of winning the fight by carrying the sword Ungolrist, which is enchanted to slay spiders. Another weapon also gives the owner a bonus when fighting spiders, but which I don't know. (Bobbins)
Jeremy Richman reported that he's used the "Elbereth" response twice and had no change in the scene (but no attack). I've never encountered Shelob, so I don't know if this is the 'escape' (when encountering Daeron and saying 'Luthien', there's also no change in the scene, but afterwards you can walk away without being attacked).