HD3 The City of the Spider-God - Hyborian Age - Xoth

HD3: The City of the Spider-God
webs but contain no treasure. Area 8 is the
lair of the queen spider of this nest — a
particularly bloated and disgusting monster
of unusual size and virulent venom
(treat as a temple spider with maximum hit
points and +4 to poison save DCs). She
seldom ventures forth from her tunnel, but
if any creature sets foot in it she will rush to
attack the one who dares violate her
abode.
Far back in the place (Search DC 20) is
the treasure she guards, a golden idol
made in the likeness of a monstrous spider.
A successful Knowledge (religion) check
(DC 18) reveals that this is the likeness of
Omm, an ancient spider-god venerated in
the days of Acheron. The relic is only
about 1 feet long and about as wide
where the legs project. It weighs some 10
pounds, so it is obviously hollow. On the
bulging abdomen of the spider statue are
four spinnerets.
Holding this idol will impart knowledge that
the possessor can command any of the
following powers: send the equivalent of a
web spell up to 40 feet distant from the
spinnerets simply by pointing them at the
target and thinking of the result (up to
three times per day), be immune to all
webs, have the power to travel along
webs as a giant spider would, and the
ability to speak with spiders.
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Possessing the idol has two great dangers.
The foremost danger is that of complete
desire for the object. The character
picking it up must make a Will save (DC
22) or be overwhelmed with the conviction
that he or she alone can withstand
the danger of the idol, so none other than
he or she must ever touch it. Each person
handling the idol must so save, and those
failing their save will be convinced that all
others handling it will (or have) become
evil. Thus, desire is masked in altruism and
the “certain knowledge” that the character
is acting in the best interests of the
party by retaining the idol and attacking
any member who subsequently may have
handled it and been subjected to the evil
that he or she alone can withstand.
The second and more insidious danger lies
in the slow metamorphosis that the possessor
of the statue will certainly undergo. For
six days nothing happens except that a
careful examination of the character’s
limbs will reveal that he or she has black
and bristly hairs peeping forth, and if the
idol is removed from the possessor prior to
the end of the sixth day, this hair growth
will slowly disappear. After the sixth day
through the 66th day of possession a slow
but inexorable series of changes take
place: Four vestigal legs gradually emerge
and grow into those of a giant spider,
while the legs of the victim change to
become the same as a spider’s; the
character’s abdomen swells and rounds;
mandibles begin to grow from the victim’s
mouth, and as the head enlarges, the
buds of new, multi-lensed eyes can be
seen. On the 67th day the transformation
will be complete and totally irreversible —
the victim will have the mind of a giant
spider and nothing will ever bring back
the original form.
Treasure: If the idol can be brought whole
from the place it will fetch 5,000 sp in a
large city (except in Yezud, where the
priests of Zath most certainly will claim it
and/or seek to take it by force), although
to so dispose of it can have repercussions
for the campaign world as the worship of
Omm is revived by unwitting victims who
are transformed by the idol’s power. Any
mutilation of the idol destroys both its
powers and its evil curse (and its monetary
value).
Amidst the jumble of remains of the
spiders’ victims can be found (Search DC
17) a diamond-studded silver goblet
(worth 500 sp), a carved ivory dragon
figurine from Khitai (worth 125 sp), a small
metal container with a dose of golden
lotus juice, a rotten backpack containing
100 sp, a pouch with eight gems of 50 sp
base value, and the remains of food
rations long since rotted away.