Epscot Roosgerald’s Even Bigger Book of Monsters, Pages 102-105 (Removed from the Complete Collection and all subsequent printings)
Peanut-Shelled Spider Sentries
Rarity: Rare
Threat Level (S.A.M.): 5
Epscot’s Overview:
Should you ever find yourself in a cemetery or on an old battlefield at midnight during a double full moon, you might find yourself in grave danger, dear readers. After all, there’s a good reason we teach school children that, “[Witches] delight in old death beneath twin orbs bright.”
Now, I know what you’re thinking: no sane person would ever be in such a place during such a time, but I humbly submit that you’d be surprised by how easy it is to slip off the precipice into insanity.
For example, you might be in desperate need of money, searching for valuable //Unique// {Artifacts} with no other options, or out for a romantic walk with your beloved along some magisalt chasms and not paying attention to anything but the color of their hair and the way the stars seem dull in comparison to their eyes.
It was in this latter situation that I once found myself, where I first encountered the Peanut-Shelled Spider Sentry. Now, before I go any further, I must once again lament that these creatures, like far too many others, have such an unfortunate name. While they are indeed spider-like and covered in something that looks like a peanut’s shell, they are not sentries of any kind so far as I can tell. Instead, they are hunters, and fearsome ones at that.
As such, I do not know who named them, dear readers, but I must restate my abject disbelief that this person survived for any meaningful amount of time given their obvious lack of imagination.
Regardless, I must press on.
It was a beautiful night, with the twin moons full overhead. My beloved and I were walking along in amorous silence, perfectly content with nothing more than each other’s company when a strange mist filled the air. It was thick and cold, and moving through it felt like wading through a flood. With every step, whispers in the air grew louder – the sentries, as I’ll call them, inflict Eldritch Whispers on their prey to disorient them before they strike – and my beloved seized my arm. She had grown up near the chasms and knew what stalked us, her aforementioned bright eyes filling with terror as our pace slowed and luminescent orbs appeared just beyond the mist. They flickered in and out of sight, and my beloved whispered in my ear that we needed to flee.
My mind turning to jelly with each passing second, I haltingly asked if there was anything we could do to protect ourselves, and she began to dance.
Now, this wasn’t as foolish as it might first seem, dear reader, for my beloved was a [Flaming Coat Dancer], and with several twirling steps conjured a wreath of fire around us that chased away the mist and dulled the whispers. Much like the rhymes I mentioned above, there is a good reason we teach adventurers to turn to fire first when facing the denizens of the dark.
My thoughts cleared enough to see dozens of spider-like limbs crawling toward us, all covered in segmented scales with thick purple veins that looked like a peanut’s shell.
Beyond that feature I saw nothing, though I readily admit that my thoughts were on other matters as I ran back to safety alongside my beloved.
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We returned to her village, and spent the night relishing the fact that we’d survived such a dangerous encounter. Ah, to be young once more!
The next day, I started asking some questions about the creatures, and realized that I’d heard similar tales across the continent.
Intrigued, I decided to learn all I could about these peculiar creatures, and while I make no claims that I understand them “properly”, I shall endeavor to provide as much of this information to you now, dear readers, as I can.
Just like I always have.
Origin and Social Structure:
It’s widely agreed that the Sentries first appeared in the aftermath of the Coven Wars, with most of my peers pointing to the Last Stand of The Six Jinxes as the event that brought them into existence. I do not know what sort of horror they were originally, but I suspect they were blood golems of some kind: their distinctive shell is reminiscent of the well-documented effects of certain recorded blood magics from that era.*
The first recorded mention we have of them is “a swarm of fairies in the fog around the battlefield, blinking and bobbing with quiet menace.”
A group of six adventurers – hardened veterans from said battle who were all at least level 40 in their primary classes, though sources differ on the speicifics – went into the fog, and while they all came out alive, three of them were seriously injured. They reported being struck by “crazy thoughts” and fighting “monsters that moved like spiders but with too many legs”.
Afraid that the beasts were some sort of accursed magical remnant, the army’s [General] sealed the battlefield and rallied his troops. They entered the next morning, but there was no trace of any monsters that matched the descriptions given by the adventurers from the night before.
For several years after that, it was believed that the sentries were nothing more than myth, until a kitrekin [Treasure Hunter] named Herold Fastpaw** brought a corpse home from one of his most successful expeditions. He claimed he’d “recovered” various {Artifacts} from one of their nests, and that he’d originally had four bodies in his possession. The other three, he explained, had disappeared as soon as they were struck by sunlight.
Other adventurers sought the sentries out, and more bodies – adventurer and sentry both – were recovered. From these corpses, I’ve learned that in general, Peanut-shelled Spider Sentries have six large eyes that look like seed heads and are attached to stalks. They have anywhere between eight and fourteen legs, varying in length and thickness for reasons we don’t fully understand. Their shells are hard, but oddly paper-like, and surprisingly susceptible to Impact damage. All but one of the specimens I’ve seen have only a single mouth, but one especially large individual had three.
In terms of how they organize, “nests” definitely seems to be the appropriate term. The size and number of members varies, and studying them is difficult. Any given nest can move without warning from one day to the next, or disappear for months or years at a time before reappearing in the same place.
Those who have fought them report that they seem to use rudimentary squad tactics when encountered in groups of less than four, but function more like a mob in bigger encounters.
Variations:
None recorded. There are folk tales of “crab-like sentinels" that exist in the canyons between Ogreheart Mountain and the Starving Sea, but I haven’t seen them for myself. Similarly, none of my peers have ever seen them, and so I am somewhat loath to mention them here.
Epscot’s Closing Thoughts:
Dear readers, I won’t lie to you. These are not creatures you ever want to encounter, unless you are a powerful warrior or some sort of [Eldritch Priest]. Like many of the entities that call our continent home, they are extremely dangerous, and seeking them out can prove fatal.
However, I implore you not to fear them overmuch. So long as you’re mindful of the moons and where you search, the sentries shouldn’t harm you.
So, go out and explore! Seek answers to questions that excite you! Despite all the darkness in our world it is a beautiful place with limitless potential for adventure.
Remember, those who seek to understand the world enjoy it best!
* E.R.
*For a more comprehensive overview of these powers, I humbly suggest that you consult Toil and Trouble: A history of [Witch] Magics, by the esteemed [Historian] Aleinza Suhett.
**Fastpaw is a fascinating character of history. He lived a colorful life, having once been a [Gambler] who was wanted dead by one of the most vicious crime syndicates to ever befoul the continent and a [Treasure Hunter] who literally mortgaged his life on more than one occasion to fund an expedition before fleeing with the money. Those interested in learning more should read Not Quite Fast Enough, also published by Wingheart Books.