Hidden Temple of the Spider God (The Final Part)

Deep Dark Pit of Spiders (#30/31; #211/365)

"This web-laden sinkhole goes in one direction: straight down into a black pit! There appears to be another cave on the far side of the pit, and spanning the drop is the log-bridge of an enormous dead tree, riddled with several large holes."

Contents: The tree is actually the resinous self-made home to three GIANT SPIKE SPIDERS that will attack as soon as several Heroes are half way across the log-bridge to the other side. It is flammable and will burn quickly, but then there will be no way across the pit. The spiders will not attack if the Heroes are disguised as spider cultists.

The pit is a six metre drop to the bottom, and full of webs, bones, and various kinds of GIANT SPIDER, that will attack anyone falling here or climbing down to investigate.

Among the bones and webs can be found:

• 14 GP (various coinage)
• a vial of blue dye
• a shortsword
• gloves made from Salamander skin (worth 30GP)
• the Eye of Amber, in a leather pouch
• a single Whitewood Arrow
  

Stats:

3 GIANT SPIKE SPIDERS, SKILL 7 STAMINA 6, 2 Attacks, Large Bite and Tail Spike, Light Armour. First attack is a Tail Spike which requires a Test for Skill to avoid being poisoned by the venom and paralysed completely.

For inhabitants of the pit, roll on the table below (one roll per Hero that fell in):

1. a GIANT BLOODSUCKING SPIDER, SKILL 6 STAMINA 12, 2 Attacks, Large Bite, Light Armour. Spits web - Test for Skill to avoid.

2. 1-2 GIANT TRAPDOOR SPIDERS, SKILL 7 STAMINA 8, 2 Attacks, Large Bite, Light Armour. Test for Skill to avoid surprise and automatically losing the first Attack Round.

3. 1-3 GIANT JUMPING SPIDERS, SKILL 6, STAMINA 4, Poison Bite (-1 SKILL and -4 STAMINA). First Attack Round is a leap - if win then knock opponent over.

4. a GIANT WOLF SPIDER, SKILL 8 STAMINA 8, 2 Attacks, Large Bite, Light Armour

5. a GIANT SPITTING SPIDER, SKILL 9, STAMINA 6, 2 Attacks, Large Bite, Light Armour. Spits web - Test for Skill to avoid.

6. a GIANT CRAGSPIDER, SKILL 8 STAMINA 10, Stabbing Proboscis (as per Spear), Medium Armour (see Citadel of Chaos, p. 36).

Temple of the Spider God (#31/31; #212/365)

"This immense pillared hall has a high ceiling, lost in curtains of tattered cobwebs. Guttering torches bracketed to the wall illuminate a large group of cloaked cultists, praying in front of an enormous jewelled idol of Arhallogen the Spider God; there are eight huge emeralds embedded in the idol as the eyes of the god. In front of the idol, a Dark Elf priest lectures the cultists, waving a curved knife about and telling them never to struggle free from the web of the Spider God. Behind the idol lurks an enormous hairy spider with the warped head of a human, while elsewhere you see giant spiders waiting patiently in the shadows."

Contents: This is the main prayer hall of the Spider God's temple and a group of new cultists are currently being admonished by Vigorn the Under-Priest to remain steadfast in their faith and vigilant against those who may be shirking their beliefs. Vigorn is a DARK ELF from the colony-fort of Rokyliarc on the shores of the Sunless Sea, in the Down Below. Rejecting the typical path of his people, he has wandered out into the world as a missionary to spread the word of the Dark Gods, and in this case, Arhallogen.

However, his duties currently bore him. He finds the lower cultists tedious to work with, and some of them are absolutely disgusting. While the GIANT SPIDERS in the temple instantly obey his commands, and the summoned and restrained DEATH SPIDER Quan T'ltoru is both terrifying and full of hate, neither are a source of intellectual stimulation. Worse, those that could be, such as Uncinata and Theraphosa, look down on him and share none of their secrets. In short, Vigorn is starting to think he needs a new challenge.

Similarly, the Death Spider Quan T'ltoru, lurking in the background, is completely bored of his commands, which are to guard the jewelled idol of Arhallogen and attack anyone who intefers with it. He is constantly looking for ways to goad people into touching the idol, so he can attack, slay the fool, and, now free from bondage, embark on an eventful mission of carnage. He wants to start with eating that smirking priest Vigorn, and then trying to track down his friend and colleague J'zel Vilthang, who he knows is also being held captive somewhere else on this particular dungeon level.

The eight emeralds embedded as eyes in the idol of Arhallogen are each worth 100GP. However, assuming they survive the attack of the Death Spider, whoever attempts to remove them triggers a pit trap. This is a two-metre square covered chute directly in front of the idol. It requires a Test for Luck to avoid, and dumps victims, after they lose 2-7 STAMINA from bumps and scrapes, straight into the bottom of the Deep Dark Pit of Spiders, as described above. 

If the eyes of Arhallogen are successfully removed, whoever did so will suffer the Curse of the Spider. This is an Affliction (see Heroes Companion, pp. 73-75). Any Hero afflicted with the Curse of the Spider will slowly turn into a Spider Man after one to three months, in a gradual and disgusting process, including a profusion of black spiny hair growth, random extra limbs budding off from the torso until the afflictee has eight of them, the growth of poisonous fangs, the reduction of the torso area into a globular abdomen, etc. etc. etc.  The cure should take at least a session to research, and 1-3 sessions to seek out an appropriate cure.

Stats:

4-24 SPIDER GOD CULTISTS: SKILL 6 STAMINA 6, Poisoned Dagger (does 4 STAMINA damage)

Each cultist has 1-6GP in addition to their poisoned dagger, their spider-shaped cloak, and various web-like tattoos on their skin.

The Director can assume the cultists all have the same stats; if you want to differentiate more, roll on the table below to determine the race of each cultist:

1 Cavern Elf

2 Human

3 N'yadach

4 Dark Goblin

5 Skeleton Man

6 Dark Elf

Vigorn the DARK ELF UNDER-PRIEST, SKILL 9 STAMINA 14, Poisoned Dagger (4 Stamina damage), Chainmail Cuiraas (under robes), Hand Crossbow with 10 bolts dipped in Spider Venom. Vigorn has Devotion 10 and the priestly Powers of Arhallogen the Spider God: Shapechange (into a Giant Spider), Weakness, Curse, and never attacked by, and can communicate with, all spiders.  In his possession he also has 3-18 GP, a Garnet Holy Symbol of Arhallogen (25GP), an extra vial of Spider Venom, and a Dark Elf Cloak.

2-12 GIANT SPIDERS: SKILL 7 STAMINA 8, 2 Attacks, Large Bite, Light Armour.

Quan T'ltoru, a DEATH SPIDER, SKILL 14, STAMINA 9, Small Bite. Test for Luck if bitten or be paralysed.