Giving the ring to the ghosts gets you experience - I suspect that is the preferred approach but <blush> admit I've never tried the other way.
The spider web is one of two ingredients for a potion needed to revive some imps in the southern forest near a huge mushroom - a note near them tells what the ingredients are.
The hero is first found in the same forest as the spider queen - as you enter he is right at the beginning if you head left - not that he is very heroic.
