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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shade" data-source="post: 5726087" data-attributes="member: 287">Noted.  Completed.Moving on...Spider, XakhunAs an extension of their worship of Lolth, the Xakhun revere spiders, for they are all the demoness’ children. Four types of spiders are most commonly encountered aboard Xakhun windships. The usual complement for a Xan Kraban is as follows: one doomspider (the captain’s “pet”), one spider rigger (for maintaining and repairing a ship’s rigging), and either 1d6+4 drop spiders or 1d4+1 leaping sword spiders.  For reasons that defy explanation, the drop spiders and sword spiders do not get along and cannot coexist aboard the same vessel without poisoning and dismembering each other. If there are any spiders aboard a windship, there must also be a trained Xakhun spidermaiden to command and control the sometimes ornery arachnids.Habitat/Society: The Xakhun spiders exist to bolster the fighting capability of the Xan Krabans. They normally  “reside” in the crew compartment of the windship until called upon to attack nearby ships and enemies.As mentioned previously, drop spiders and leaping sword spiders do not get along and cannot inhabit the same vessel. All spider types are raised with an inbred respect for the spider rigger and never conceive of attacking one, even if the spider rigger attacks it. The doomspider is basically ignored by the other spider varieties.Since spiders are sacred to Lolth and the Xakhun, they are well guarded and shepherded. The Xakhun do not mistreat their spiders nor dispatch them without any thought to their retrieval. A Xakhun ship that loses its entire contingent of spiders (or never had one to begin with) has disgraced itself in the eyes of Lolth somehow. Xakhun are uncomfortable serving aboard a vessel devoid of spiders, believing the ship to be cursed.Ecology: Lolth created these spiders to serve the drow in general as well as the Xakhun specifically. They are there fore found in drow cities and enclaves among the myriad other denizens and arachnids, usually at the beck and call of powerful drow priestesses. The chemical sacks of a paralyzed or held doomspider can be safely removed (although this process inevitably kills the creature) and then be used to create a powerful, portable explosive. Since the chemicals are individually safe, they can be transported in separate containers without fear of miscibility. The sacks and pads of the various web-spinning spiders can be used to create potions of climbing and slippers of spider climbing, while the legs of the sword spiders can be fashioned into ornate long swords (albeit with no special properties).If Lolth believes that a Xakhun captain is mistreating her spiders, the demoness might command the captain’s doomspider to explode in a manner that leaves the captain dead and the majority of the crew alive so that the survivors might consider the cause of their captain’s misfortune.Important Note:  Xakhun who have turned their backs on Lolth and have become privateers (or player characters) faithful to Eilistraee are unable to command or control any of Lolth’s “children.” In fact, spiders of all varieties attack these Xakhun on sight. Because the outcast Xakhun are hated so fiercely by Lolth’s minions, they cannot benefit from the presence of spider riggers, web rigging, reinforced webbing in their windships, and so forth. Instead, they must rely more on conventional materials such as rope or sinew for the rigging and various earthly glues and pastes for sealing holes in the ship’s membrane.Doomspider (Large variety) CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any non-arctic FREQUENCY: Very rare ORGANIZATION: Solitary ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any DIET: Omnivore INTELLIGENCE: Semi- (2-4) TREASURE: Nil ALIGNMENT: Neutral NO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 8MOVEMENT: 9, Wb 9HIT DICE: 1+1THAC0: 19NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1SPECIAL ATTACKS: FireballSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: NilSIZE: S (2’ diameter)MORALE: Average (8) XP VALUE: 270 The doomspider (known to foes of the Xakhun as the “Vengeance of Lolth”) is the most innocuous-and perhaps the most dangerous-arachnid aboard any Xakhun vessel. This furry black spider’s bite inflicts 1 hp damage and is not poisonous. However, the creature has a pair of internal sacks each holding about a gallon of non-volatile resin. The spider can, at will, relax an internal sphincter that allows the chemicals to combine, triggering a decidedly volatile reaction that not only consumes the spider but triggers the equivalent of a delayed blast fireball, inflicting 8d6+8 hp damage to all within 20 feet. The doomspider is intelligent enough to fathom basic commands, but it obeys only its chosen mistress (usually the windship captain). Although doomspiders await their mistresses’ command before mixing their internal chemicals, at least one Xakhun captain has been incinerated by her own pet-perhaps the result of offending Lolth in some fashion. Once the chemicals are mixed, the explosive process cannot be halted; the explosion occurs the following round-just enough time for the captain to make good her escape via magic.Killing a doomspider has the same effect, triggering an explosion one round after the creature’s death.When not commanded to “self-destruct,” the doomspider is a relatively docile arachnid. It bites only those who attack it or its mistress. If its mistress is slain, a doomspider usually explodes 1d4 rounds afterward. The trick is to throw it off the ship before the inevitable occurs.Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #244 (1998).</blockquote>

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