Monday, January 9, 2012

Weavers in Darkness


If the rumors are to be believed, in the places below the City, one can sometimes encounter creatures half-woman and half-spider. Unfortunate creatures--and dangerous ones.

The spider hybrids are the result of past illegal and immoral thaumaturgic practices in the City’s garment industry. Before the muckracking exposés and the formation of the Garment Workers Union, destitute young girls were preyed upon in a horrific way. Using thaumaturgic arts stolen from pagan temples of the Far East, unscrupulous sweatshop owners had these girls transformed, into spider centaur-things. The silk produced by these creatures was valued for its strength and its ability to hold enchantment better than mundane fabrics (halves the time for creating magical items).

After the practice was put to an end, not all the hyrbids were accounted for. It’s possible some escaped into the underground beneath the city. Here they spin--and hunt. Their minds shattered by the trauma they have undergone, they’re given to unpredictable, murderous rages.

Spider-woman: HD: 5; AC: 3; Attacks 1 bite (1d4+poison) or with improvised weapon; Move 12.

10 comments:

satyre said...

Very nicely done! Pathos and horror wrapped in a spider-silk cocoon.

Gothridge Manor said...

A horrifying practice that bred interesting results. Profitable to. Half the time. Think of the savings!

The Angry Lurker said...

Freaky web spinning chicks, I'd buy the comic....

Justin S. Davis said...

I could see a more sane (but still demented) specimen distributing cursed fabrics/garments as revenge.

Perfect opportunity for the classic "go undercover at a fashion show" plot.

There's a hot new designer in The City, and her clothing is to die for!

garrisonjames said...

Cool! Is there some sort of trafficking going on behind the scenes? When someone learns how to make a lot of money doing this sort of thing, they usually don't just go away and stop doing it. Practices might be publicly put to an end and officially discontinued, but outside the jurisdiction of the City, and in other, less fussy locales, this could still be going on...and it would be a terrible thing to learn that those missing kids from the milk carton were getting shipped off to some backwater pesthole to get transformed into silk-seamstresses...

Sylvaeon said...

those bloody magic-using capitalists! LOL

That is awesome... I've never seen a hybrid creature sweatshop before.

Unknown said...

An opportune post as I was thinking about using spider-women in tomorrow's Buffy game. :)

Canageek said...

CREEPYyyyyy. Creepy creepy creeeeeppyyyy.

Anonymous said...

Recently a copy of the ritual used to create these hybrid was stolen from the evidence room. The odd things was that the polite guards were drugged and tied with handmade silk ropes.

The disappearance of 13 young girls from the Mortenstein Orphanage the same night is obviously coincidental.

Trey said...

Obviously.