LunarTotems/Spider
Introduction
"You know what must be done, child."
"Yes Mother." Faran replied, lowering his eyes and taking a small step back from the robed figure of his mother.
"Our people have resided here under her protection for years, and we shall reside here until the end of our days. This is the compact we swore." The elder woman said softly, a cold smile upon her face.
"I will... speak to her." The quaver of fear in the boys voice was obvious for all to hear, although none aside from his mother stood in the cool stone passagway. Without another word he turned and hurried away, the movement helped to still the trembling in his body, but not the fear in his heart.
Down he travelled, further and further beneath the earth, further and further from the light of the sun. The carefully carved passageways gave way to roughly hewed stone, and the floor soon became slick with damp, and Faran had to struggle to keep his footing.
Finally, he came to a large wooden door set into the stone walls, encrusted layers of runes flowed across the surface, recording the names of those who had passed through for all eternity.
Pushing the door aside, he passed through and into the darkness beyond, his candle seemed to illuminate only the barest fraction of the massive chamber that lay before him, showing him only the faintest outlines of ancient buildings, their flowing and graceful lines marking them as remanants of an age long lost. Cobwebs and webs flowed from surface to surface, seeming to form their own city in the ruins, and within the webs things moved.
"Mi'Lady." Faran called, his voice a high pitched squeak that jumped into an echoing yelp as something brushed his foot, he danced away, not daring to look upon it. He could see the way the shadows seemed to writhe with movement, and knew from the stories of the other Speakers what moved there.
"I come." The voice echoed forth from the darkness of the ruined city, a silbiant hiss that sent shudders down Farans spine, and in the darkness, eight cold points of reflected light appeared, scuttling from web to web. Then she was upon him, an eight legged horror with the upper body of a beautiful woman, her perfect features marred only by the horror that was the lower part of her body. "Aaaaaaaaaaah, my child. Do you see my web? Do you see it's beauty?" She whispered, pressing herself close to the terrified mortal.
"Mi'la..." Faran's voice died away in his throat as the terrible beauty of the ancient woman stilled his voice.
"Is he here? Does he come?" Faran stared into the mad eyes of his mistress, the seer and knowlege-holder of his people, and he trembled in terror.
"He... She is here. She bears knowlege from afar." He whispered, forcing his body to be still with a supreme effort of will.
"She?" The ancient predator withdrew, an expression of clear curiosity on her face. "They send me a woman?"
With that, Weaves-in-Darkness drew upon memories of her mortal form, drawing in the raw power of her war form and assuming the simple form of a human. Naked but for the thousands of strands of webbing that clung to her form, she turned to her descendant and smiled coldly. "Take me to the seers, we have much to speak of." And much to weave. She thought silently.
Weaves-in-Darkess.
Symbolism : Wisdom (Metis, from Greek myth) and creation/weaving (Aracnida, also from greek myth).
Charms :
Finding the Spirits Shape: Big Spider
Deadly Beastman Transformation (1)
Humble Mouse Shape
Form-Fixing Method
Spirit Scenting Technique
Talespinning Mastery
Lore-Speaking Method
Divining the Hidden Truth
Sense Sharpening Change
Beastman Form : Web Spinning Style, Gift of Hands. Dex +2, Str +1
Hidden in darkness and in shadows, Weaves-in-Darkness draws her plans across creation. Guarded by a select few of her children (The Speakers) she ends the others to far-flung places to act out her will. A rarity among Lunars, she supports the structured stands of civilisation, and although she is not an agent of the Gold Faction, she corresponds often with the Sidreals, and considers many of them to be among her friends. She does not often choose to leave the ruined First Age town that is her home, in truth, she fears the outside world a little, and prefers to weave webs within the darkness of her home, which crawls with millions of spiders of all varity. She is not sure she seeks the return of the Solars - they are bringers of light, after all. But she would very much like to converse with one.
Many people dislike spiders, I place myself among them. Unlike many members of the animal kingdom, they do not look beautiful, in fact, like most insects they look utterly repulsive and alien close up. If you've ever examined a spider under a microscope you will know what I mean. They could be invaders from another world. Yet at the same time, spiders create something beautiful and unique, with great engineering skill. This proved a little hard to simulate using the Lunar mechanics, as they're not really that good at crafts, but none the less I'm pleased with the result. The character is a combination of the themes a spider often captures, wisdom, creativity, and thanks to her DBT, repulsive terror. She sits, waits and plans. She draws her webs across the world to create a thing of beauty, be it political, social, or magical. Additionally, she also holds somewhat unusual beliefs - a firm idea that civilisation is good is rare among the Lunars, but fitting for a creature often associated in White Wolf canon with creation and order.
Other themes for a Spider might be the quiet, stalking predator (stealth charms), the massive king of the jungle (Amazonian Bird eating Tarantulas), the deadly assassin (The Black Widow is a bit too small, but a larger deadly spider is entirely possible), or the secretive, isolationist trapper (The Trapdoor Spider). Of course, some of these might also require homebrew charms. But for those of us with Breedbook: Ananasi should have no problem making up something fitting.
