PANEL ONE: Xaga, the champion, and Maiz sit at a table in a tavern. The man from the previous strip stands across from them. MAN: Unless you want to go hundreds of miles out of your way, to get to the Grand Observatory, you'll have to go through the Eagles' Pass... where the Spider Goddess lurks. PANEL TWO: Angle on the strange man, with the champion in the foreground. CHAMPION: The Spider Goddess? MAN: Oh, she's not the goddess OF spiders. Once upon a time, she was the goddess of architecture. But she was cast down and trapped in a new and terrible form. PANEL THREE: Angle on the champion, with the other man in the foreground. CHAMPION: Cast down? Why? MAN: Eh, they say she plotted to take over the Mountains of the Gods, and rule supreme herself. And she plotted well enough to almost get away with it. PANEL FOUR: Close on the man. MAN: Sort o' reminds me of a girl I used to go out with, years ago, actually. Oh, she was a schemer. I could go on and on about the things she tried to pull... PANEL FIVE: Closer on the man. MAN: 'Course, she was never trapped in a terrible inhuman form, but maybe she should have been. I'd have liked to see that. It's not like she didn't have it coming, what with the— PANEL SIX: The man stops himself, looking surprised at his own digression. PANEL SEVEN: Angle on the man, with Xaga in the foreground. MAN: But I'm getting off track... XAGA: Yes, thanks, we noticed.