Merlin TV Universe, Royal Castle
Time: Day 24
Current Celestial Points: 0
Celestial Points Gathered (This Year): 200/1000
Monthly Roll: 1/1
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The spider clung to dark wooden beams that crossed the ceiling. Her legs spread wide, testing each surface. The stone here felt wrong - cut too smooth, fitted together with careful precision. Not like the rough cave walls she knew. But the shadows remained familiar, wrapping around her body like a second carapace.
Torch flames flickered in iron brackets along the walls. The spider's multiple eyes tracked the moving light, measuring safe zones between pools of orange. Heat rose from the flames, creating currents of air that carried scents of smoke, iron, and human sweat.
Vibrations rippled through the stone as guards passed below. Their boots struck the floor in steady rhythm - left, right, left, right. The spider's legs twitched at each impact. She could taste their presence through the air, smell the blood flowing beneath their skin.
The Authority of the Beast hummed through her body. Every part of her had changed, adapted to hunting these two-legged prey. Her venom burned stronger. Her fangs could pierce deeper. Even her web silk had transformed, becoming almost invisible in torchlight.
More humans walked the halls as night deepened. The spider watched them all, learning their movements. Unlike the mindless zombies and skeletons of her cave, these creatures followed rules she didn't understand. They avoided certain areas, gathered in others, spoke with varying levels of respect.
A door creaked open beneath her position. A human female walked out carrying wooden buckets. Water sloshed inside, spilling drops that echoed against stone. The servant moved slowly, tired after a long day of work.
The spider shifted position, rotating to track the human's path. The servant walked alone, heading toward a darker section of corridor where torches burned low. Perfect hunting grounds.
Patience came naturally to the spider. She moved only when necessary, each leg finding secure purchase on the wooden beams. The servant's footsteps grew quieter, more hesitant in the dimness.
The spider's body, no larger than a mouse, cast no shadow on the floor below. She crept forward along the beam, matching the servant's pace. A loose strand of silk anchored her to the wood - insurance against falls. The servant stopped to adjust the heavy buckets, shoulders sagging with exhaustion.
Eight eyes measured the distance to the floor. Twenty body-lengths down, perhaps more. The spider tested the air currents flowing between torch flames. No humans approached from either direction. The servant stood alone in the corridor's darkest section.
Water splashed as the servant set down one bucket. The sound masked the soft tap of spider legs moving across wood. The human reached up to rub at a sore neck, exposing skin above a rough wool collar.
The spider dropped. Silk unspooled behind her, controlling the descent. The servant never looked up – most animals rarely did. The spider landed on the back of the wool dress. Her legs gripped the coarse fabric as she climbed toward exposed flesh.
The servant scratched at her neck, fingers brushing spider legs. "What-"
Her paralyzing stinger struck deep. The Authority of the Beast guided them to the perfect spot, where blood flowed closest to the surface. Venom pumped into human veins.
The servant tried to scream. The sound died in her throat as paralysis spread through her body. She stumbled, knocking over one bucket. Water spread across the stone floor.
The spider retreated up the wall, watching her prey collapse. The servant's mouth worked silently, eyes wide with terror. Her fingers twitched, then stilled.
Vibrations through stone warned of approaching humans. The spider waited in shadow as torchlight brightened the corridor. Two guards rounded the corner, weapons drawn.
"Mary? What happened?" The first guard knelt beside the fallen servant.
"She's not moving." The second guard touched the servant's neck. "There's something here - like a bite?"
The spider observed the guards' reactions. Fear sharpened their movements, made them check dark corners with weapons raised. But they looked in the wrong places, never seeing the hunter above their heads.
More humans would come soon. The spider retreated along the ceiling, legs carrying her silently through shadow. She needed to learn more about this stone nest and the prey within it.
The corridor branched ahead. Cool air flowed from the left passage, bringing scents of food and smoke. Warmer air drifted from the right, laden with the smell of unwashed bodies and metal. The spider chose left, following the fresher air.
She heard shouts behind her when more guards found the servant - frozen, paralyzed. Boots scraped against stone as humans ran through the halls. The spider pressed herself into a gap between stones, waiting as three guards rushed past below.
"Get Gaius! She's still breathing!"
"Search every corner! Whatever did this could still be here!"
The spider's legs detected increasing vibrations through the stone. The entire nest stirred like a disturbed ant colony. Humans moved with purpose now, no longer following their usual paths.
A new passage opened into what seemed to be a storage room for food. Herbs hung from ceiling beams, filling the air with sharp scents that confused her senses. A cooking fire burned low in the hearth. Two servants whispered near a table while cleaning the day's dishes.
"Did you hear? Mary was attacked in the north corridor."
"What? But she was just here helping with the Lady Helen's supper."
"They say she's paralyzed. Won't move or speak."
The spider stalked along a beam above the servants. These humans were distracted, vulnerable. But killing them would only bring more attention. She needed to escape this stone nest first.
A window caught her attention. Moonlight spilled through the opening, promising freedom. But the gap looked out over empty space - no walls or beams to climb down. The spider remembered her cave home, how webs had helped her cross difficult spaces.
She began to spin, anchoring silk to the window's stone frame. The servants continued their work below, unaware of the predator preparing an escape route above them. Their whispered fears drifted up through the warm air.
"First Thomas Collins, now this. The castle's cursed, I tell you."
"Hush! Don't let the guards hear such talk."
The spider tested her silk line, making sure it would hold her weight. A guard's voice echoed from the corridor - too close. The servants below jumped at the sound, knocking a pot to the floor. The crash covered the spider's movement as she slipped through the window.
Cool night air wrapped around her body. The spider dangled from her silk, suspended against the castle wall. Moonlight revealed a courtyard far below, where guards carried torches in widening circles. They searched the ground while death hung above them.
More silk spun from her spinnerets as she began moving sideways across the wall. Stone blocks provided plenty of grip for her legs. Each step brought her closer to a drainpipe that ran down the castle's face.
A servant leaned out a window below, emptying a chamber pot. The spider froze, pressing against rough stone. Water splashed in the courtyard. Guards shouted in disgust, moving away from the mess. The servant laughed, then yelped as a guard threatened to report him.
The spider reached the drainpipe. Moss grew thick around the metal, offering secure footing. She began descending, staying close to the wall. Her legs sensed every vibration - guards walking battlements above, servants moving behind walls, rats scurrying through spaces between stones.
Halfway down, a window opened beside her. A young male servant stuck his head out, breathing in night air. The spider could smell sweat and soap on his skin.
The servant never noticed the small shape crawling onto his sleeve. He kept staring at the moon while death crept toward his neck. The spider's stinger struck just as he began to turn his head.
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"Wha-" His voice cut off as paralysis spread through his body. He toppled forward, through the window.
The spider leaped clear as the servant fell. His body struck the courtyard stones with a wet crack. Guards shouted in alarm, torches converging on the fallen human. The spider used their distraction to continue her descent.
Eight eyes divided the world into overlapping sections. Her front pair tracked guard movements while side eyes monitored the walls for threats. Rear eyes kept watch above, where more humans might look down from windows. Darkness held no secrets from her vision - every shadow revealed details as clear as daylight.
The drainpipe ended ten body-lengths above the ground. Guards clustered around the dead servant, blocking her planned escape route. The spider sensed their agitation through vibrations in the stone - rapid heartbeats, shuffling feet, armor clinking as hands gripped weapons.
"Another one! Like Mary in the corridor!"
"Search the walls! Whatever did this must be nearby!"
"Get more torches! Alert the captain!"
A rat scurried past below, fleeing the commotion. The spider's eyes tracked its movement beneath a grate in the courtyard wall. Water trickled through the opening, carrying scents of waste and rotting food. The smell promised a way out through the castle's gut.
She released fresh silk, lowering herself toward the grate. A guard's torch swept past, light reflecting off her thread. The spider pulled herself flat against stone as boots approached.
"Did you see something?"
"Just shadows. This whole business has us jumping at nothing."
The guard moved away. The spider dropped the final distance, legs finding purchase on wet stone around the grate. Water seeped through gaps in the metal. The spaces between bars measured three body-widths - more than enough room to squeeze through.
Shouts from above announced the discovery of her silk line on the window. The spider slipped between the grate's bars as torchlight brightened the courtyard. Cool water embraced her legs as she entered Camelot's sewers.
The tunnel widened into darkness. Water flowed in a shallow stream along the center, while raised stone paths ran along both sides. The spider's eight eyes adjusted instantly, revealing every crack and crevice. Rats squeaked in the distance, their tiny hearts beating rapid rhythms through the stone.
She chose the driest path, legs testing each step. The sewers reminded her of her cave home - the constant dripping, the echoes, the way sound traveled through connected spaces. But these tunnels bore marks of human design. Polished stones fit together in regular shapes, and metal grates divided sections at measured intervals.
The spider began to spin. Each web served a different purpose, just as in her cave. Alarm strands crossed intersections, warning of approaching threats. Capture webs filled spaces where rats commonly passed. Guide lines connected safe spaces, offering quick escape routes.
A young rat wandered into her first web. The spider struck without hesitation, stinger finding the spot between skull and spine. The rat's body provided food for days.
[ 10 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 10 ]
Weeks passed in darkness. Small insects gathered near water provided steady meals.
[ 15 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 25 ]
Another rat, larger than the first, tested her improved hunting skills. The fight lasted longer, but her venom proved stronger.
[ 10 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 35 ]
The sewers marked time differently than the surface. Instead of sun and moon, changes came with water flow. More water meant humans above were awake and working. Less water meant night had fallen. The spider learned these rhythms, hunting when water ran slow.
Two months brought five more rats and dozens of insects. Each kill improved her skills.
[ 75 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 110 ]
By the third month, her legs stretched longer. Her carapace hardened further. Rats began avoiding her territory, forcing her to expand into new tunnels. Three more rats fell to her venom before winter arrived.
[ 30 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 140 ]
The fourth month brought colder water from above. Ice formed near grates. Rats grew desperate for food, making them easier prey. Four more died in her webs.
[ 40 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 180 ]
Winter deepened in the tunnels. The spider had grown to match the size of a large rat, her legs now spanning the width of the stone paths. Each step echoed with the click of hardened claws against rock. Her hunts grew bolder as size brought confidence.
The fight that changed everything started with an ambush. Four rats ran out from different tunnels, surrounding her hunting grounds. These were not the usual prey - scars marked their faces, and missing tails showed they had survived previous battles.
The first rat lunged at her back legs. Sharp teeth scraped against her carapace as she spun to face the attack. A second rat darted in from the side, aiming for her joints. The spider reared up, fangs bared.
"Skreee!" The lead rat's cry echoed through the tunnels. The sound carried challenge, territory, hunger.
The spider answered with a harsh clicking of mandibles. Her stinger struck out, catching the third rat as it charged. But the venom sac ran low from previous hunts. The rat stumbled but didn't fall.
Teeth found purchase in one of her legs. Chitin cracked. Pain flared through her body as the fourth rat tore the limb free. Blood dripped onto stone as the spider backed against a wall.
The rats pressed their advantage. Claws scratched at her carapace, seeking weak points. The spider's remaining legs lashed out, throwing one rat into the sewer stream. But another climbed onto her back, teeth gnawing at the base of her horns.
She rolled, crushing the rat against stone. Bones snapped. The dying rat's screams drove its companions into a frenzy. They attacked as one, a mass of fur and teeth and hatred.
The spider's stinger found an eye, bursting it. Her fangs sank into a throat, tasting blood. Legs kicked and clawed as bodies thrashed in the confined space. Water turned red around them.
A rat's teeth pierced her abdomen. The spider's screech echoed through every tunnel. Rage and pain drove her forward. Her remaining venom pumped into the nearest rat. The creature convulsed, foam spraying from its mouth.
Two rats dead. Two remained. The spider's blood left trails on stone as she faced the survivors. The larger rat charged. She met it with spread fangs, venom long spent. They rolled together into the stream.
Water filled her lungs. The rat's weight pressed her down. The spider's legs found purchase on the rat's belly and pushed. Intestines spilled into the water. The rat's screams bubbled up through red foam.
The last rat fled, leaving three broken bodies behind. The spider dragged herself onto dry stone. Her missing leg would take weeks to heal. The wound in her abdomen leaked with each movement.
She consumed the dead rats slowly over many days, healing between meals.
[ 30 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 210 ]
Spring brought warmer water from above. The spider's missing leg grew back, covered in thick carapace. Her hunting grounds expanded as smaller rats fled deeper into the tunnels. Only the largest rats remained to challenge her territory.
The fifth month yielded rich hunting. Twelve rats fell to her venom, each larger than the last. Insects swarmed in the warming air, providing steady meals between larger prey.
[ 140 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 350 ]
By the sixth month, her body had grown longer than her leg span. The spider's horns scraped stone when she moved through smaller tunnels. Rats no longer fought back - they fled at the sound of her approach. She caught fifteen before the month ended.
[ 170 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 520 ]
Summer heat drove more prey into the cooler tunnels. The spider's webs filled with rats seeking escape from the surface warmth. Twenty rats died in her silk during the seventh month. Each meal strengthened her carapace, lengthened her fangs.
[ 220 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 740 ]
The seventh month marked the end of summer. The spider now rivaled a small dog in size. Her webs spanned entire tunnel sections, turning intersections into deadly mazes. Twenty-five rats and countless insects vanished into her mandibles. The smaller tunnels no longer fit her growing body.
[ 60 Celestial Points Gained. Total: 800]
The spider rested in her largest web, legs spread across tunnel walls. Eight months of hunting had changed her. Time passing strengthened not just her body, but her mind. Thoughts formed clearer now, moving beyond pure instinct into something more.
Her pocket space bulged with remains she couldn't fully consume - bones, fur, and other useful materials. The spider had learned to save everything. Even the smallest piece might serve a purpose later.
The hundreds of kills had restored her lost lives. She could tell that her stock was full - three chances to survive death. But mere survival wasn't enough anymore. The spider wanted more.
The spider flexed her legs against the tunnel walls. She had gathered power, saved it like storing prey for winter. Eight hundred Celestial Points gathered through patient hunting. Perhaps it was time to spend them.
The spider reached out with her mind, seeking more power. Something stirred in the space between moments - an offer of change. Of fertility.
[Superior Mother – Generic Fertility] – Costs 500CP, 800CP available to spend.
Anything birthed from your body is a superior life form. The reasons for this are many. The superior quality of your reproductive abilities leads to far superior offspring, easily outmatching other members of the same species. None of the weaknesses of your female form will bleed into your children, as they take only the better traits from you and the father. Your offspring have a high chance of inheriting one or more of the parents' powers, and pregnancy is sped up greatly. Spawn have high loyalty, grow at an accelerated pace, and can be summoned to you with increasing amounts of blood sacrifice.
The spider's eight eyes focused on nothing as she considered the offer. Her body could create superior offspring, children that would inherit her strengths without her early weaknesses. Any male could father them, regardless of species. The eggs would develop quickly, and blood sacrifice could summon her children to her side.
The thought sparked something new in her mind. An army of spiders, each one deadly to humans. Each one sharing her hatred, her ability to hunt them. No more hiding alone in sewers - she could fill every shadow with eight-legged death.
The spider's mandibles clicked in amusement. To think she had once worried about finding a mate among the pathetic specimens in these tunnels. Now she could breed with anything, create children far superior to normal spiders.
She accepted the power. Pain shot through her abdomen as changes ripped through her body. Her egg sacs transformed, becoming something more. Something potent. The spider's legs twitched against stone as the sensation passed.
[ Superior Mother acquired ]
The sewers had served well as a sanctuary, but the spider had outgrown these tunnels. Her body, now the size of a small dog, scraped against low ceilings. The remaining rats avoided her territory completely, making hunting less productive.
Water dripped steadily as the spider moved through her tunnels one last time. Each web held memories of successful hunts, of growth, of learning. She gathered useful strands into her pocket space, along with bones and other materials that might serve later.
The spider's eight eyes tracked movement in a side tunnel. A rat watched her pass, pressing against the wall in terror. She ignored it. Such prey no longer interested her. The spider needed a proper lair, somewhere she could expand without stone walls constraining her.
She followed the water's flow downstream, toward where the sewers emptied into the surrounding forest. The tunnel widened as it approached the exit. Moonlight shone through a rusted grate, painting silver lines across dark water.
The spider's front eyes measured the grate's spaces. Too small for her current size. But the metal had weakened over years of water flow, creating gaps where rust ate through iron. She braced her legs against stone and pushed.
Metal groaned. The spider pushed harder, carapace scraping against corroded bars. The grate bent outward with a sharp crack. Cool night air rushed in, carrying scents of trees and earth.
It was time to birth an army.