Arachne - Spider-taur

[Amanojyaku]

Long ago, before the Fall, when Lolth was first staking her claim to the Webway, she came across a girl-child lost there. The girl was young, but full of hubris; the Spider Daemon demanded her fealty, but the girl refused. Lolth demonstrated her power, swarming the girl with hordes of arachnids, filling the air with webs, and still the girl would not kneel. Finally, she asked what skills the girl had, that made her so infuriatingly convinced that Lolth would spare her insolent soul... and the girl complied. Gathering the silk that Lolth's spiders had created, the gir wove quickly, dying some with her blood and more with ichor from the crushed arachnids, until she had woven a scene fit to display to the Spider Daemon.

And it was so galling that Lolth was fit to be tied, and gave her the rope. She cursed the girl, and all of her descendants, forcing her and hers into the likeness of the animal she had refused the fear of. That girl's name was Arachne, now borne proudly by her descendants as they pour out of the Webway to weave a bridge across the Wheel.

Physical Characteristics
Average Height: 1.8-2.1m
Average Weight: 75-120kg
Languages: Trade, Arachne
Common Personality Traits: Focused, decisive, predatory, blunt, patient
Common Physical Traits: Nimble, twitchy, chitinous body, dark colors, multiple eyes
Example Names: Achidna, Anansi, Iktomi, Rachnera, Silitha

Racial Statistics
Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Wisdom or Dexterity
Skill Bonus: +1 to Crafts and Deceive
Power: Spider Butt: Your lower half is a giant spider, giving you Armor 2 on your Legs and allowing you to scale walls and ceilings as easily as walking on the ground. A result of 3 or 4 when determining Hit Location hits your Left or Right Back Leg Pair, respectively, instead of your Body.
Size: 4

Racial Feats

Fighting Spider [Arachne]
You're particularly adept at hand-to-hand, having developed some nice little claws in a throwback to your ancestors. Gain Armor 2 on both Arms, as well as a pair of Claws (1k1 R; Melee; Brawling, Toxic).

Hunter in the Dark [Arachne]
You are a great nocturnal hunter, stalking prey in the abysmal darkness of the Webway. Gain the Dark Sight trait, and +2k0 to Stealth tests when in total darkness or at least that of an exceptionally cloudy night.

Kenku Eater [Arachne, Paragon]
The largest spiders are not just the hairiest, they also use that hair as a weapon. Gain +1 Size. Once per session, you can flick the hairs lining your abdomen, producing an attack that uses the same profile as a scatterspiker.

Master Weaver [Arachne]
Your diet and practice have resulted in strong, plentiful webbing. You can ignore most material requirements when making cloth items, as you spin the silk yourself. With the use of objects in your environment, you can cobble together simple (no moving parts) weapons using your silk as a Full Action, or spend a Scene to make some large otherwise-environmental feature that might be useful, such as a simple bridge over a gap for others to cross.

My Own Web [Arachne]
It is a very embarrassed spider that gets itself stuck in its own web. Your nimble feet can always find the best toeholds, allowing you to ignore movement-related penalties based on terrain, and reduce the TN for escaping any restraints (including the Snare property) by 5. If you have the Master Weaver feat, you can make an attack using the profile of a web pistol once per scene.

Physical Qualities

Arachne are, despite appearances, large spiders with the upper bodies of humans. Their abdomens are covered in a fairly durable chitin that sloughs regularly, some covered further in a fine sort of fur. This fur is usually the same color or within a shade or two of the Arachne's hair, which is typically white (or at least very fair) or black (or extremely dark), and generally complements the shell underneath, which is most commonly black, white, or brown in color. Any unarmored flesh is comparable to a human's in range.

An Arachne's torso is built so that it could pass for a human or Elf at a glance. The face, however, is where similarities end; Arachne have between two and seven additional eyes adorning their foreheads, much like their arachnid ancestors. Arachne eyes are monochrome in color, commonly red or black.

Arachne are oviparous, and grow quickly after hatching, reaching maturity after about seven years. Females tend to be taller and heavier on average than males.

Playing an Arachne

Arachne communities tend to be quiet and something rather less than lively, with inhabitants coexisting to the extent that they rarely have need to interact with each other. Each family fabricates what they can and forage or hunt for the rest, eliminating the need for trade among themselves. In fact, most people are shocked when they arrive in an apparently empty area, only for a horde of Arachne to come swarming out to see the intruders.

A race of predators, Arachne are the ideal that most others look to when they think of gender equality. Every individual, from the smallest male to the largest queen, is expected to hunt for itself and defend itself, and none expects demands to be made of others, let alone heeded. Children are a very minor exception for their first year, taken along when hunting in order to teach them the necessary skills, while still supported by the parents.

Among other, more "diplomatic" races, Arachne often find themselves annoyed by the inability to say what one means, and so they tend to develop an almost hypocritical demand for honesty, while acting the ferocious tease themselves. An Arachne will very rarely volunteer unimportant information, preferring to help others along to it themselves. But they will always give a perfectly honest opinion when asked.

Arachne Heroes

On her homeworld, Carmine was a fierce and solitary hunter whose red-streaked abdomen struck fear into the hearts of her kin. She was faster and more deadly than most. A visiting spelljammer captain challenged her to a duel in the depths of a cave, revealing himself as a Vampire... and Embracing her when he won. She followed her father in darkness off-world, to hunt more prey in the Great Wheel at large.

At a young age, Nathra was sucked into an Acerath-worshiping cult that traded information in secret for their god, and was prized for her stealth and ability to negotiate through fear. Her thirst for knowledge and secrets led her to open a package she was delivering, to find a luminous golden fruit inside and, ever curious, she soon found herself tasting the Fruit of Life. Her days as a courier for Acerath are long over, but Nathra continues to be thrilled by the cosmic insights brought on by her monadic nature.

Achidna was a fearsome fighter who used a long-handled axe to cripple his prey, never knowing defeat. A roving band of Orks fought him to a draw, and were impressed enough to declare him one of Da Boyz. He now travels with them across the Wheel in a quest for strength and for moar choppa!