Spiders? Why Does It Have To Be SPIDERS? [TSE Acolytes and Knights]

[Darth Caecus]

Serenno​

Ancient Ruins of Zannia​

A year ago, Serenno had been swallowed into the influence of the Empire. The Sith ruled once again, and the planet sat comfortably with the weight of the Empire's hand upon it, neither heavy nor light but just right to the expectations of a place with such a history as this. The Dukes still schemed, though more for internal jockeying, but something had shifted on Serenno, some underlying current planted there by certain.... interested parties.

That, however, was not the focus here today. The Ancient Ruins of Zannia, not particularly interesting on their own, but instead for what a certain pair of women had left behind.

Ostensibly? Sithspawn. Giant Centipedes large enough to constrict a grown wookiee and inject a poison with their feet that would melt it from the inside, turning it into a drinkable soup wrapped in fur. Blind Dagger Wasps, only the size of a falcon but with a sting the length of a short blade and capable of doing as much damage- easy to fight alone, but their true strength came in the swarm and how the death of one would enrage the others. Carrion beetles the size of speeders who were perfectly content to make their *own* carrion, rather than waiting around for it to happen naturally.

And of course, the Spiders.

There was no name for them, the creators hadn't bothered. Who needed a name for a spider with a leg span topping three meters across, with a poisonous sting that brought agony and nightmares but not death? Perhaps they had been named, but individually, with small pet appellations like 'lovely eyes' or 'razor butt' only in strange languages because it sounded better.

Only two people knew, and well, they weren't telling.

The task was simple, on the surface. Go into the ruins. Retrieve samples of the various insects found within (living if possible, but dead just as well). One of the 'artifacts' had been left here after the trickery a year ago, and the creators of the objects and spawn were very interested to see just how it had affect them, how their darlings had changed.

Of course, implicit in that directive was to survive.

OOC:

Spoiler

This is not a DMed thread. This is a PvE, self propelled adventure. I would recommend finding a posting partner and stretching your limits! Pair up with someone and explore how your characters interact with each other under stress, learn new skills from each other, etc. Or go on a solo adventure! Characters who IC complete the objective (returning alive with a sample) will be rewarded at the end of the thread. No, it doesn't count if you post once saying you did the thing, btw Post a minimum of five posts (can be more and we encourage it!) and complete the objective IC to be eligible for your reward.

 

[Rosalina]

Alm was not scared of bugs. They may have been annoying at times but they were an ever present part of living in the rural area where she’d grown up. And while she could understand Basic well, there were still some gaps in her understanding of the tongue.

The Nasvali roamed the outer layers of the ruins, Warhammer in hand with a predatory confidence. Bugs? Alm could handle bugs. What she didn’t understand was why the Sith would send them after such a trivial task—sure, Acolytes were at the bottom of the barrel but couldn’t this assignment be left up to someone else? Was the Sith Empire’s task force for bug collection out with the flu?

Alm thought that they were collecting your everyday creepy-crawly pests. Alm also did not understand the full reach of Sith alchemy and what it could create. Thus, Alm was properly startled when a grotesque centipede with the girth of a tree trunk skittered over the wall directly in front of her.

One swing of her hammer was all it took to demolish that part of the decaying stone wall, small pieces of shrapnel flying about as the creature hurriedly scrambled down the wall, around the corner and away from the startled teenage girl with a hammer. Unbeknownst to Alm this was a somewhat malformed version of what was really lurking within the depths of the ruins—this one was smaller, less aggressive and inert where poisoning was concerned.

Her eyes followed the creature as it disappeared from her line of sight, frowning. Perhaps this would not be as easy as she thought. Growling to herself, the young woman hefted her weapon over her shoulder and stepped through the hole she’d made.

“Hm, big bug.”

 

[Czon Xul]

Czon Xul​

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Ancient Ruins of Zannia, Serenno​

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A lone, tall figure walked independently through the Ancient Ruins of Zannia, wrapped inconspicuously in an array of dark robes, including a dark-purple cultured robe from the planet of Falleen, that was the only especially distinguishing piece of clothing on the character. Beneath the guise, was the exiled son of Falleen nobility, Czon Xul, after having taken to meeting with the counts of Serenno, had taken to personally investigating and collecting the samples of the hostile environment of Zannia.

Although Czon Xul predominantly despised insectoids, as he found them simply outrageous in their natural habits, Czon Xul did instead sought after the opportunity of improving his combat senses and concentration, for the Ancient Ruins of Zannia were an exceptionally hostile environment, where danger lurked around every corner. The thought of danger irking around every corner did not place fear into the heart of Xul, only a keen sense of interest and intrigue in the martial matter, to see if his capabilities with the force could match that of a more hostile environment.

Czon Xul continued down the cavern as it pertained to the Ruins of Zannia. The cavern was alight with the light of azure-colored crystals that glowed prominently throughout the cavern, as they effectively lit him a path like any hallway decorated and adorned with torches would've. With the help of the azure light, Czon Xul was able to make out the source of the consistent crawling and scuttling that frequently reverberated around him. There, he saw a beetle - the size of a speeder - it's silhouette reverberating off the reflection of the shine of the azure light, it was intelligibly so as it scuffled and made it's visual presence aware. The vile vermin of a beetle turnt to Czon, as it apparently had detected him. The two stared each other down for but a moment, as if time had frozen itself the gaze of the prince met with the mere antenna of the beetle. The charismatic Falleen, Czon Xul, stared down the beetle with a piercing gaze; a gaze that could be felt even against a creature as visibly-impaired such as a beetle. Feeling the uneasy affliction of Czon's presence, the enlarged beetle scuttled, and retreated further back down the greater blackness of the cavern to better omens.

It was then Czon Xul had turnt left face to find a creature roughly twice the size of a rat - in the form of a caterpillar - inching across the rocky cavern wall. Spotting an opportunity to fulfill one of his objectives, Czon Xul forcibly peeled the caterpillar with the aid of the telekinetic force, before squashing it down onto rocky surface below in a great expunge of an insectoid's internals that splattered against and stained the rocky surface below. He was elegantly quick to take a sample of the organism, before proceeding on his way, under his calm and composed guise.

 

[St0rmSlaSh]

Spiders... that's it? Darth Tihl strolled patiently through The Ancient Ruins of Zannia, his feet emanating a loud thump each time as they settled into the numerous puddles, which defined the environment of the ruins. Tihl looked to his right and left under his deep brown hood, watching for any activities of the crawling predators of the night, of which he was assisted in sight by the many crystals that gave off blue light. He had heard only fables of the creatures beforehand, but after witnessing a giant spider a couple hundred feet away the Sith Knight knew not to beckon with stories anymore.

With the ancient ruins, the man was fond of the environment. It was such a quiet place to study the dark arts of the force. The only think one had to watch out for were the insects that roam these ruins like villagers in a fire. When the Knight was assigned the mission, he took it with up most honor. With the award that was mentioned, nobody could just say no. Now, Tihl found himself strolling and waiting for a creature to come to him.

His strategy was simple. Let them come to him instead of him chasing them. That way, no swarms or groups chase him after. Only, the hardest task was to get them to go to him. Everywhere he turned, all the beasts crawled into the shadows. Except for one. It was a spider. Darth Tihl examined it and noticed its impressive and vast leg span. This spider could easily out perform a land speeder in weight. The thought frightened him, but moved towards it nonetheless.

The brute spider gave a sort of shriek, which shook a 10 feet radius of the ruins. The Sith could feel its vibration. It shook him in his boots, but Tihl was not going to give up trying to either capture or kill this creature. He was already in the damn ruins so he has to finish the job. He took out one of his lightsabers and ignited its bright crimson blade. The spider looked hypnotized in the light. The Sith counted eight eyes on the spider's face.

Then, the spider started to come to him. It was very strange.

What if I turn it off? He thought.

That was one of the most horrible ideas he had ever had. The second he turned off his lightsaber, the creature resumed in its shrieking. To accompany it, it knocked back Darth Tihl 50 feet with its two front legs. The Sith screamed in utter pain of hitting the ground with massive force. His angered now fueled his actions. Just like that.

He grabbed his two lightsabers and ignited them, going into an attacking stance. He was getting that sample no matter what.