Web of Love
Two low level sprites (one male and one female) who succeed in causing one mortal to trip over one string of Aranea web, will cause him or her to fall in love with the first creature seen for four crazy nights.
Web of Dreams
Four low level sprites who tie one mortal into his bed with Aranea webs - can cause him to dream what they wish for as long as he his tied, and doesn't wake up. The dreams have no direct influence - and can be interpreted in any way by the dreamer.
Web of Deceit
Five mid-level sprites who succeed in causing a mortal to fall into Aranea web, can make him believe what they wish him to (one lie - but with whatever content).
Web of Nightfall
Seven high-level male sprites need to tie one mortal to his bed. He will not wake up for three nights - and they can make him dream horrid nightmares. The dreams have some effect in reality: If the dreamer is killed in his dream - he will be wounded in reality (but not dead), If he loses something (or someone) in his dream - the object (or person) will indeed disappear, etc. There might be some severe effects on the dreamer's sanity as well.
Web of Fate
Nine high-level female sprites need to weave a small web, dyed with the victim's drop of blood. Thus, they can retell his fate and control his destiny. The sprites can decide on ONE event that will indeed happen in the mortal's future. They cannot decide that the victim will die at a specific date - but they can decide on his manner of death.
I never thought of the connection between Fairies and Aranea before. I like all these web ideas though. It brings it all together.
Håvard
Originally posted by havard
I never thought of the connection between Fairies and Aranea before.
Well, maybe because the connection was practically nonexistent up until around... hmmm... yesterday. ;)
I must say that the whole Shadowdeep idea is very inspiring. Just imagining those Dwarven wanderers...
Originally posted by Lost Woodrake
Well, maybe because the connection was practically nonexistent up until around... hmmm... yesterday. ;)
I must say that the whole Shadowdeep idea is very inspiring. Just imagining those Dwarven wanderers...
Hehe, well i'm looking forward so reading more about the Annwn.
The aranea are often a nasty lot. I wonder what they'd do if they got there hands on the fairies responsible for all of these web spells...
Håvard
Originally posted by havard
The aranea are often a nasty lot. I wonder what they'd do if they got there hands on the fairies responsible for all of these web spells...
Mmmm... Good point. And how the fairies got control over the Aranea at the first place? There is a lot of history write-up to do here.
I've been thinking again about the history of the Aranea-Fairy conflict, and I had some ideas - but I have some questions and I need your help:
Maybe the Aranea had been close to the Azcans in the past, and learned from them special techniques of Weaving, which they applied on their webs (Question No. 1: I recall that some ancient south-American cultures, myabe the Maya, indeed had a special cultural interest in weaving. Does anybody remember anything similiar about the Azcans?).
After the Azcans disappeared to the HW, the Aranea saw it as a bad omen from their immortals (Question No. 2: Who are their immortals?). When the fairies arrived (Question No. 3: When did the arrive? and why? and how?) the Aranea saw it a good divine omen and submitted themselves to them.
What do you think?
Any suggestion would be MOST welcome.
Originally posted by Lost Woodrake
Question No. 1: I recall that some ancient south-American cultures, myabe the Maya, indeed had a special cultural interest in weaving. Does anybody remember anything similiar about the Azcans?).
Not offhand, no. However, that doesn't rule out your supposition. The Azcan people that the aranea may have learned this from need not be "cookie-cutter" Aztecs. The Hollow World Azcans are only one of the Outer World "native american" cultures that existed. The Oltecs (like the Olmecs) were the other major cultural group, but certainly others could have existed at the same time, or have emerged from the remnants of the post-Cataclysmic Oltec/Azcan cultures.
So you could just do a bit of research into some NA weaving/ritual/religion (I don't recall offhand if any South American groups had any religious/weaving traditions, but it seems to me that many of the Southwestern/Great Basin groups of North America- such as the Navajo- do/did.) Given that they were strongly influenced by Mesoamerican NA groups, you might be able to find a Maya connection there.
Question No. 2: Who are their immortals?).
I did a little piece of "history" on the Aranea that was posted on the Vaults. The Empire of Aran. It's basically me trying to reconcile the different "origins" of the Aranea from the Savage Coast materials and the M5: Talons of Night module. The two primary Immortals I mention are Korotiku and Arachne Prime.
There's another article on the Vaults. Aranea and their Immortals.
Also, from the Savage Coast campaign materials, here is a list of Herathian Immortals:
Enebaan (Masauwu): Patron of diplomacy, intrigue, influence, masquerade, rulers, spies, and thieves.
Negyavim (Iliric): Patron of Herathian wizardry, but also of greed and insensitivity.
Shaibuth (Eiryndul): Patron of forest dwellers.
Shaya (Valerias): Patron of beauty and love, especially unrequited love.
Yehm (Korotiku the Spider):
There's a bit more to be found here: Herath.
Question No. 3: When did the arrive? and why? and how?)
As for the fairies, I don't know. There is a fairy/Azcan connection, from Gaz HWR1: Sons of Azca. The sister of Titania (can't think of her name offhand) has her realm in the Hollow World Empire of Azca. So, presumably, the fairies were around even when the Oltec/Azcan civilizations were thriving on the Hollow World (not necessarily, but probably). My personal assumption is that the fey races of Mystara are actually Spirits (from the Spirit World) that have become attached to Mystara from centuries of contact and "native-ized" (err... so what if that's not a word.) IE, the first fey were spirits who traveled to Mystara in primordial times and remained, and their ancestors became inextricably linked to the world and are thus different from the spirits from the SW who are summoned by the Ethengars.
One thing for now, though:
Originally posted by Cthulhudrew
As for the fairies, I don't know. There is a fairy/Azcan connection, from Gaz HWR1: Sons of Azca. The sister of Titania (can't think of her name offhand) has her realm in the Hollow World Empire of Azca. So, presumably, the fairies were around even when the Oltec/Azcan civilizations were thriving on the Hollow World (not necessarily, but probably).
I didn't know that! What it might mean is that the three factions (fairies, aranea and Azcan/Oltec) were involved with each other before the cataclysm - and not that the fairies "replaced" the azcans, as I suggested earlier.
So maybe when the cataclysm occured, some of the aranea and some of the fairies also got stuck in the Shadowdeep. The fairies took advantage of the situation, and established Annwn - and the Aranea stayed inferior.
How does that sound?