The Spider

[edit] Statistics

Large Monstrous Humanoid (Awnshegh)

Hit Dice: TBA

Initiative: TBA

Speed: x ft. (full plate; base speed x ft.)

AC: x (-x size, +x Dex, +x natural, +x armor, +x enhancement, +x deflection)

Attacks: Claws +x/+x/+x/+x, Bite +x/+x/+x/+4

Damage: Claws TBA, Bite TBA

Face/Reach: TBA

Special Attacks: TBA

Special Qualities: Bloodline, TBA, Immunities

Saves: Fort +TBA, Ref +TBA, Will +TBA

Abilities: Str TBA, Dex TBA, Con TBA, Int TBA, Wis TBA, Cha TBA, Bld TBA

Skills: CTBA

Feats: TBA

Climate/Terrain: Any land (Spiderfell)

Organization: Solitary (Unique)

Challenge Rating: TBA

Treasure: TBA

Alignment: Always chaotic evil

Though it is less powerful than the Gorgon and Rhuobhe Manslayer, the Spider is still a foe to be feared. In combat the Spider scuttles rapidly from side to side, dodging blows all the while. When it attacks, it uses its two powerful clawed hands to swipe at an opponent, and follows with a nasty bite from razored teeth. If the Spider successfully bites an enemy, the opponent must make a Fort saving throw at DC 35, or instantly be brought to -10 hitpoints. Even a successful save inflicts 20 points of damage.

The Spider can jump 30 feet in the air and land on a target 50 feet away with a successful jump check. This is not a tactic it uses very often in combat, but is valuable for ambush or escape. Still, there are times when a good jump just seems right...

The awnshegh can string a web trail behind it or spin an intricate web. The web can cover an area 40x40x40 feet and holds creatures as per the [i]web[/i] spell although the web cannot be burned away. The webs do not dissolve, but are subject to natural weathering and tearing.

If the Spider is in a tight spot, it uses its blinding spittle to escape. This great gob of saliva can hit up to three people in a 10 foot radius with a successful attack roll on each, and blinds victims as per the [i]blindness[/i] spell for 1d6 rounds. Unless a Fort saving throw DC 35, is passed this saliva also causes 1d6 points of damage after 1 round. It can be flushed away with water, but this alleviates only the damage, not the blindness.

The Spider has Regeneration 1. The only way to positively kill the creature is to chop the remnants, set them aflame, and scatter salt over the earth where the ashes lie.

In the days when humans were first arriving in Cerilia, the woods near the modern lands of Roesone were controlled by a goblin tribe. The goblins, who commanded sorcery and dabble in powers beyond the ken of man, were a force to be reckoned with. Of all of them, Tal-Qazar was the mightiest. He was called the Spiderlord, for once his enemies were ensnared in his traps, they were doomed. He led armies of thousands of goblins and gnolls against the hated elves; many were the elven towers that fell beneath the booted feet of the Spiderlord's humanoids, and many were the elves that fell with poisoned arrows in their sides.

Eventually, Tal-Qazar claimed a large portion of the dark wood and called it the Spiderfell. At the same time, the Andu settlers who called themselves the Deretha drove the elves from the Erebannien. The Spiderlord crushed the elves as they fled, and only a few survived to reach safety in the elven homelands.

Tal-Qazar's goblins clashed frequently with the Deretha, until the day of the battle of Mount Deismaar. The Spiderlord led a mighty host of goblins, and great was the destruction they wreaked along the way. However, the host was all but obliterated by the blast of the gods' destruction, only Tal-Qazar and a few pitiful survivors from his once vast host crept home.

The Spiderlord had absorbed some of Azrai's essence and he soon grew to realize the power at his disposal. He used this power to reestablish himself in the Spiderfell and as news of his might spread young goblins flocked to his banner. As Tal-Qazar used his power to gain more money and more infamy for himself, Azrai's blood twisted him into one of the first of the Awnsheghlien.

Tal-Qazar, with no small surprise, soon found himself mutating into the bloated monstrosity that he is today. He tried everything within his reach to remain a normal goblin. However, no amount of surgery could permanently remove the additional legs that kept growing from his hips. No amount of cutting or binding could reduce the spiderish abdomen that replaced his lower torso. The only sure way to halt the transformation was to stop using his blood abilities or slaying others who had claimed the blood of the gods at the fateful battle; however whenever Tal Quazzar sought to do either his apparent weakness resulted in challenges by young goblins eager to claim his power as their own. And so the transformation continued apace, until the Spiderlord truly became the Spider.

Meanwhile, the Anuireans were driving the goblins back into savagery. Much of goblin civilization was lost when the Anuireans cleared vast tracts of land, and while the Roele emperors could not destroy the Spider, they could contain it and its hordes. Goblin power nearly vanished from Anuire for a time.

The Spider brooded in its wood, sending forth sallies of humanoids into the human lands only to watch them die. Its sanity frayed with each passing year, disappearing along with its goblinoid essence.

The Spider now appears as a gigantic, mottled, hairy spider with a muscled goblinoid upper body resting atop it, much like a spider centaur. Its mouth is full of fangs, its ears are pointed, and its eyes are almost invariably devoid of sanity.

The Spider can converse and be bargained with, but its temper swings wildly and it can kill a visitor without a second thought. It does have a twisted sense of honor, however, and it will keep its word - perhaps the last remnant of a once-noble goblin lord.

The Spider cannot properly be said to have any goals, not that would be understood by sane men in any case. It raids the neighboring kingdoms at whim, and mostly random, following some demented logic of it's own devising. Perhaps in some way, it is hoping to reclaim the goblin kingdoms lost in the ages past.

The Spider has no known lieutenants, but the land itself is filled with his minions. Humanoids of all descriptions are welcome in the Spiderfell, though only those who pledge featly to the Spider are free of harm from the numerous lesser spiders that make their home in the Spiderfell - and even they must tread warily in parts.

Nevertheless some tales tell of greater servants of the spider of both goblinoid and spider-kind, Karshak the Devourer is one name mooted by the veterans of Diemed and Medoere while the Spinner of Shadows is said to be a midnight black spider that preys on travelers of Ghoere In Endier tales are told of the Shroud, a dense swarm of tiny spiders of lethal toxicity said to have been turned back only by the magics of the mage Caine. So little is known of the Spider's realm however that these tales are surely no more than the night-stories of superstitious peasants whispered to frighten unruly children into obedience.

Categories: Stubs/NPC | Awnsheghlien | Domain:The Spiderfell