Terrdi, day 81 of Autumn, 554

Today's trip had an odd feel to it. We reached the Pitch Caverns with the usual amount of effort and in good time. The initial entry into PC1 was workable, although many non-webbers were roaming about. Consolidating control of PC1 simply eluded us. We spent over an hour moving in and out of PC1 before being able to advance into PC2. The combination of Crimson backspawns and odd protracted lures from PC2 kept us stalled in PC1. The lures from PC2 were very unusual, since when one Pitch Arachnoid would come over following the bait, then another, and another would come, but separately, with 15-20 second delays between them. Usually they either seem to come instantly with the lurer, or not at all. If this is a change instead of some odd luck, we need to be aware that more Noids may be coming, and try to keep the fighting area clear for that next round.

In any case, despite the intense fighting in PC1, we eventually moved deeper and reached PC5.

The entry into PC6 today was so promising. Things seemed to be going well and the Noids in the Landing Zone were killed one by one. Unfortunately, there were just a couple more of them than of us today. We were one Pitch (red) and one Crimson Noid away from consolidating control of the Landing Zone. In the end, Tater did a remarkable job running that Pitch around so the other healers could try to raise some fighters. But the Crimson and pell-mell webs managed to kill most of the healers before they could get any up. Finally only Sai was left, and she was reduced to running the Crimson and unable to stop at any fighter long enough to raise him. It was only a matter of time before Tater and Sai fell too. Still, I could almost taste the victory today before it turned sour. It's hard to say what single act might have changed the outcome, but we were close, very close today. One more hit by a Bloodblader, or a small Zu wall planted anywhere in the LZ to pin back the Pitch or Crimson Noid for a minute to give Tater or Sai a moment of peace to raise someone - might have turned the tide.

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