Giant Spiders
Overview
Giant Spiders were a colony of massive arachnids that inhabited 2-3 city blocks of forest canopy in the mountains near Hearthgate. The colony was completely destroyed during Session 3 in a battle with Kovat forces and the fire giant Flerg, with the entire forest nest burned and all spiders killed. Their tarantula-sized offspring (spiderlings) survived the destruction.
Physical Characteristics
Parent Spiders:
- Size large enough to cover extensive canopy webbing across 2-3 city blocks
- Nocturnal creatures that avoided sunlight
- Not truly vulnerable to sun but sleepy and inactive during daytime
- Capable of mass attack when disturbed
- Lived in extensive webbing that covered forest canopy, creating gray appearance from distance
Spiderlings:
- Tarantula-sized young (large enough to possibly carry an orc child)
- Emerged from egg sacs in thousands
- Responded to communication attempts
- Capable of coordinated search operations
- Survived the nest's destruction
Habitat and Behavior
Canopy Dwellers: The colony created extensive webbing throughout forest canopy, transforming the visual appearance of the forest.
Darker Underneath: The webbing coverage made the area underneath the canopy significantly darker.
Sticky Webbing Throughout: The forest was covered in adhesive webbing, creating natural traps and obstacles.
Nocturnal Schedule: Active at night, sleepy during day (though not incapacitated by sunlight).
Defensive Response: When disturbed (such as by Nyx on Vkkal), the colony would mount mass attacks.
Session 3 Events
Children's Disappearance: Several orc children from the refugee group went searching for giant spiders after Mortimer's stories about spider-riding halflings from the City of Bells.
Nyx's Reconnaissance: Nyx flew over on Vkkal (pegasus) and performed a Look Closely action (partial success):
- Discovered the webbed canopy
- Learned spiders were nocturnal and light-averse
- Disturbed the colony, causing mass attack
- "Discovered the hard way" that bothering them triggers aggressive response
Spiderling Communication: Nyx successfully used Talk Sense with thousands of tarantula-sized spiderlings:
- Convinced them to search for the lost children
- Offered food as payment (1 food item)
- Full success on the roll
Children Rescued: The spiderlings found the orc children unconscious in a ravine, webbed up, bloody but alive. Something had frightened the children before they fell.
Kovat Scout Encounter: A Kovat scout had chased the children into spider territory, got frightened by the spiders, lost track of the children, and reported back.
The Spider Nest Trap
Nyx's Strategy: Nyx orchestrated a trap that lured the Kovat hunting party (entire regiment of orcs plus fire giant Flerg) into the spider-infested forest.
Mutual Destruction: The battle between Kovat forces and the spider colony resulted in:
Complete Annihilation: The spider colony was utterly destroyed - nest, webbing, and all parent spiders eliminated.
Spiderling Survival
Orphaned Colony: The thousands of tarantula-sized young survived the destruction of their parents and nest.
Unknown Future: What happens to the orphaned spiderlings is unclear:
- Will they rebuild the colony?
- Can they survive without parents?
- Will they remember Nyx's communication and assistance?
- Might they become allies or remain wild creatures?
Combat Capabilities
Mass Attack: When disturbed, could launch coordinated attacks with multiple spiders.
Webbing Advantage: The extensive webbing provided home-field advantage in their territory.
Defensive Power: Strong enough that a Kovat scout was frightened away rather than attempting to fight.
Matched Kovat Regiment: Despite ultimately being destroyed, the colony inflicted complete casualties on an entire Kovat regiment before falling.
Succumbed to Fire Giant: Flerg's fire-based abilities proved devastating against web-covered forest and its inhabitants.
Tactical Information
Light Averse, Not Vulnerable: Daytime exploration was safer but not risk-free.
Disturbance = Aggression: Any significant disruption triggered defensive swarms.
Communicable Offspring: The spiderlings could be reasoned with through Wild Speak or similar abilities.
Home Territory Advantage: In their webbed forest, the spiders had significant tactical advantages.
Comparison to Other Creatures
Versus Crab Bear: While both are dangerous creatures in mountain regions, spiders operated as colony while Crab Bear appears solitary.
Versus Void Titans: Natural creatures rather than entropy manifestations, but still significant threats.
Environmental Creatures: Represented natural dangers of the world separate from The Entropy Shepherd's forces.
Story Significance
Mortimer's Consequences: Mortimer's well-meaning stories about spider-riding led to children endangering themselves, demonstrating unintended consequences of heroic tales.
Nyx's Tactical Victory: Used the spider colony as weapon against Kovat pursuers, eliminating an entire enemy regiment.
Collateral Damage: The complete destruction of the colony represents the cost of using living beings as tactical assets.
Children's Bond: The rescue of orc children by spiderlings created potential for future relationship between Ulion (bonded with the children) and the surviving spiderlings.
Current Status
Parent Colony: Completely destroyed, all adults killed
Spiderlings: Thousands survived, orphaned, future uncertain
Habitat: Forest burned, webbing destroyed, nest eliminated
Legacy: Created opportunity for Nyx's trap but at cost of entire colony
Unknown Questions
- Will the spiderlings remember the Fellowship's aid?
- Can spiderlings mature into adult giant spiders without parents?
- What were the spiders originally protecting or guarding?
- Why did the children fall in the ravine - what frightened them?
- Could the orphaned spiderlings become allies or resources in the future?
Campaign Themes
The Giant Spiders represent the collateral damage of warfare and the cost of tactical decisions. Nyx's successful use of the colony as a weapon saved the Fellowship from Kovat pursuit but resulted in the extinction of an entire colony. The survival of the spiderlings raises questions about responsibility for the consequences of tactical victories and whether natural creatures should be weapons in cosmic struggles.