The Spider Bearer
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: The Spider Bearer
Author: Rune Artisem - OES
I stood in the backroom of the second floor in the Necromantic Scholomance. The one that I was recreating had been a fairly strong man in life. Such was no longer the case, as he was now a lifeless bag of flesh that lay on a table. "So many things that I might do with this," I thought to myself. Perhaps I could attach the wings of a harpy to it? Or mixing it with parts of a dead orc might produce an interesting creature. I stood there for what seemed to be hours, debating with myself on what to do with this corpse. I then heard a faint laughter about. I quickly looked away from my work, to the rest of the room. The door was still tightly shut, and there was no other in the room besides myself.
At first, I thought it might be the Master summoning me, but as it continued I could clearly tell it was not. For this voice seemed to belong to a female.. ."Show yourself, or be silent!" I yelled to the laughter. In defiance of my command, the laughter now increased in volume. And then silence... I screamed out in pain, as something tightly grabbed my shoulder. Struggling free, I turned and saw that the corpse I had been preparing for unlife had attacked me. "I have sought you out, necromancer," the corpse said in the same voice that belonged to the laughter. "Whatever reason you have come here for, shall meet with punishment!" I shouted at the corpse. With that, I raised my hands and animated the bones that littered the floors into mindless servants.
"Separate its flesh from its bones..." I mummered to my servants. The corpse chuckled at this, and flames flickered from its eyes. Almost instantly, my skeletal servants collapsed back to the ground. "It would take little effort on my part, to cause the same to you," it said mockinly. "Now will you continue to act like the things you create, or listen to why I am here?" the corpse hissed. "What are you, and why are you here?" I directed towards it. "What I am, is my concern. Why I am here, however, is for your benefit." With that, a glowing book suddenly appeared floating directly in front of the corpse.
"This comes from the Tomb of Khal Ankur." the corpse said. The book began slowly floating towards me. "This book was written by the ancient one known as Anshu." I noticed what appeared to be somewhat of a smile on the face of the corpse. "I am sure your masters wish that they controlled all of Dagger Isle..." it said softly. The book was now within a simple reach.
"So you have come seeking services then? "I asked of it. "No, I do not. I simply wish to give you this..." it said. I grab the book and quickly glanced through it. I then tossed it to the ground and chuckled. "Oh, this is amusing... You're telling me that you are here to give me something? And that you want nothing in return? It would not be wise to take me for a fool," I replied. It cackled at this and said "You are right to be suspicious of me... Yet... The book is now yours... I shall not take it from you..." "And why me? Why did you not go before the Master or Lord Dealthagar? Surely they..." "Because I chose not to!!" it shrieked. "And in any event... I am quite sure that the one called Azalin is aware of this as we speak... I have chosen to give this tome to you. You can either profit from this, or be remembered as a fool!" With that, the flames in the eyes of the corpse flickered out and it fell back upon the table. I picked up the book and proceeded into the library section of the Scholomance. There I gathered many books concerning the history of Dagger Isle and the mysteries of Khaldun. The day turned into night and the night turned back into day before I was satisfied with what I had learned.
The ritual that was written in my new found tome was designed to transform all of Dagger Isle into an Island of the Dead! Any that live on it.... And any that would come to it.... They would all be given the wonderful gift of unlife! Most of the spell reagents that I found listed were interesting... However, there was one that puzzled me. It read:
"And the most important for the ritual is the life force of the spider bearer."
Since I began my services to the Darkness, I have heard many strange titles and names. Yet never have I heard of this sort. My research spanned over a week, and I could find nothing. Many libraries were searched. Even at Lyceaum of Moonglow.
And still... The meaning escaped my understanding. It was then decided that I would visit the very depths of Khaldun in hopes of finding the answer. I was accompanied by my daemon servant Verimos, who dealt with many of the creatures within the dungeon. We then came to what seemed to once be a library. I had Verimos bar the door to this room, as I did not wish to be bothered by the mindless dead or some silly adventurer. I poured over the books, and at last I found what I was looking for. I learned from a small book that there exist a family of mystics. The first daughter for each new generation of these mystics has a spider- shaped birthmark on their right hand. Although the name of this family was not mentioned, I now knew what to search for.
I only feared that this family could have died out since the time of this writing... But I will search for it... And once I find it....