Arachnea

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

Arachnea Aren is a Zarosian Mahjarrat roleplayed by QueenArasene on W42.

She currently lives at the Academy of Heroes with her husband, Evgeni Avencianci and is a high-ranking member of the Aren Family.

Freneskrae
The beginning

"Freneskrae is where war is not only a necessity, but a matter of course. Peace is a word we do not know; There are only pauses in between battles."

- Brontoneo Freneskae was a place of great terror, great power and much destruction and war. Here, Arachnea was born into a nomadic family of mahjarrat. She grew fast, for she had to, and learned everything she could to survive. The times were hard, but each day she survived gave her more knowledge, new powers and more often than not, new wounds to nurse. But she conquered each day like Alexander the Great conquered much of the world and grew in power, knowledge, wisdom and scars. When she was of appropriate age, Arachnea was married to a suitable man, a mahjarrat of great promise called Dyluneris. They weren't too fond of each other at first, it being an arranged marriage, but in time they became not only good friends, but a wonderful couple. Over the course of the next five hundred years, Arachnea bore three children. Z'Tubra, the firstborn, was a healthy child and the greatest pride Arachnea had for several decades later. Aylya, her second child, was stillborn. A sad time came, but as yet another war shook the realm of Freneskrae, Arachnea never got to mourn her second child properly. In time, her third, and so far last, child saw the light: Her first boy. Dyluneris, her husband, was overjoyed over having a proper heir. "Rochnir!", he called the baby as he held it triumphantly up before the assembled tribe. A thunder underlined this statement.



Z'Tubra was old enough to not be jealous of Rochnir as his father spoiled him quite badly. Arachnea arranged for her daughter to meet suitable suitors, and got her into a nice arrangement after three decades of arguing. Rochnir was also married, but he developed a sad habit of sleeping around, a lasting effect from being spoiled by his father. This was also the cause for the next large war Arachnea became involved in. Rochnir had gone a step too far with a young female from another tribe called the Harri Ezarri, and they descended upon Arachnea's clan not long after she had become pregnant for the fourth time. The fights were often long and bloody. In the first two, several of Rochnir's bastard children died. The third and final battle was the worst ever. It raged for two and a half weeks, and claimed Dyluneris, Z'Tubra, Rochnir himself, Arachnea's parents and almost all others of the tribe. Arachnea, already badly injured, was one of the few to escape the battlefield alive. Her pregnancy, she was sure beyond doubt, was no more. The only survivors she found among the dead were Amyina, Wyd, Ny'kal, Yet'nit and Xevoy. With them, she made her way away, far away from the blasted county where their beloved laid still under the glowing sun of Freneskrae. Ny'Kal was lost under the journey, defending the small group from one of Freneskrae's scariest beasts. Yet'nit was heartbroken as Arachnea and Xevoy tugged her onward, away from the predestined battle.

Back to the start

"Much have we lost and little have we gained. Yet we continue onward, for a new battle awaits us ahead."

- Yet'Nit Almost two decades later, they ended up in the same spot where their foes and family had fallen, pitched in a senseless battle about nothing more than an ignorant young boy. They looked for the remnants of their loved ones and buried what they found. Then they erected a memorial stone to the senseless slaughter between tribes. As their magic converged over the memorial to preserve it, the ambush was sprung. Their old enemy tribe had never forgotten the war, and still hated them for slaying their leader in the last battle. It was not much of a battle, and Arachnea's family were captured within minutes. Xevoy was the last one still standing and took the most injuries. While the other tribe discussed what to do with the "murderers", Arachnea and Yet'nit did their very best to keep the badly maimed Xevoy alive. Amyina and Wyd listened to what their captors were talking about, concern and fear mirroring on their faces. After a particularly loud round of laughing, they crept to the two self-proclaimed nurses.

"They want to torture us!" Arachnea could see it in Wyd's face, the girl would die of fright before it ever got that far. "They won't. We will escape before that happens." The authority in her grandmother's voice calmed the young female, and they went back to listening what the other tribe intended to do with them. Meanwhile, Arachnea conferred quietly with Yet'nit and Xevoy as to what was to do. Digging a tunnel was possible, but it would take too long. Xevoy was the one who, despite his half-unconcious state, came up with a plan that was likely to work.

"You don't need to sacrifice yourself, dear. We can find a way out and you will be fine", Yet'nit and Arachnea tried to assure him, but Xevoy believed this was the only chance and he did not trust in their doubtful reassurance that he would survive. With grim faces, they gathered around him, as he left himself to the void, his power flowing into the assembled remains of his family. When the blast was over, they knew they had to act fast. Yet'nit and Arachnea looked at each other for a mere moment, then they nodded in agreement. The prison was easily taken apart with their renewed powers and the four stepped into the momentary silence. Moments later, hell broke loose as their captors descended upon - just Arachnea?

Indeed - Yet'nit, Amyina and Wyd had fled as fast as their physique and magic would allow them. Arachnea had stayed behind to cover their backs - she counted as the weakest link. Amyina and Wyd were young and aspiring to a great future, while Yet'nit was the absolutely most knowledgable group member. Arachnea herself was the most average one of the four, so she laid down her life for the three others by unspoken consent with her aunt.

Empowered as she was by Xevoy's sacrifice, Arachnea was a formidable opponent even to a small group of enemies. Yet she knew as well as the ones she fought that her boost was but a temporary one, and that they were far too many for her to escape. So be it, then. She thought to herself, before throwing down her staff, breaking it.



"I surrender, suckers!"

"When you know the situation is hopeless, surrender. When the enemies lower their weapons to arrest you, destroy them."

- Arachnea Knowing this move, the opposing force immediately moved to knock her out. Arachnea had anticipated this and taken several precautions. The blows to her head were by far not as fatal as they could have been. When Arachnea woke up again, her head was pounding. She also appeared to be tied securely to a slate, or maybe a table, apparently made from marble. Above her was a canopy, possibly a tent. Struggling against her bounds was useless, she quickly found, so she calmed herself as best she could, conservating strenght for later, in case she was able to escape her imprisonment. Magic seemed useless while on the slate; she had tried it against her headache, so it was safe to assume that her magic wouldn't work on anything else either. Nothing to do but stay still and wait for the inevitable.

''Lying on a table for hours on end is a punishment in itself. You are not only exposed to everything - you also lose track of everything around you. I do not even know when it is now. How long since I was "caught"? Have my kin escaped or did my captors catch up to them after all? What exactly  is their plan for me now? Will it be ritual sacrifice? Torture? Neverending pain? Sudden, painful death? Direct bodily humiliation? Wait- I can hear steps now is the time that I find out......''

And then they appeared in the corner of her vision. Masked faces even though they must know that she knew who they were. What came next would have been a war of stares, if Arachnea had been able to look nay of them directly in the eyes. The way she was tied up only allowed her to catch looks from the outmost corners of her eyes. Finally, her annoyance broke through. "Just start already, whatever you are going to do!" As soon as the words had left her cracked lips, she knew she was going to regret them. She closed her eyes, anticipating the backlash. They waited her out, she knew they did, and struck just when she almost relaxed again. Blinding light emitted from where their hands must be, and then....

'''Pain. Pain is everywhere. The world is a flash of bright light, so bright it hurts my eyes, burning them into my head. Time has no meaning, consumed too quickly by the pain to be observed. My senses are sharpened by the pain, only to become aware of more pain. An agony like no other, worse than when they ripped my family out of my heart. If there are screams, they are mine. I cannot hear them through the torment, but neither should I be able to scream through the daze of anguish. Impossibly, the pain grows, ripping through every fibre of my body, which should be charred to ashes by now. Body? There is none anymore - merely the pain. Me and the pain, forever fused together in a neverending instance of agony. '''



''Through the daze of pain comes a moment, a mere flash of awareness, of impossible clarity. What I was, I am no more. The moment is gone, time has moved on. Unnoticable through the pain, yet irrevocably true. The world has unraveled before me, destroying my old self and instantly reshaping it from the sharp shards. I am renewed, reborn, recreated. My powers return to me as time resumes and the pain falters, ever so lightly. Limbs tingling, smarting and burning as I fought to find my lungs and force them to draw breath through my throat, raw from my own screams which I never heard.''

The captors had warily taken a step back. Most likely they expected Arachnea to explode now, from the immense magical overload and the thousands of different spells that had been laid unto her. Their expectations were appropriately rewarded when a blast originating from the prisoner's bench sent them tumbling, spreading dust, confusion and a good deal of destruction throughout the camp. When they sat up again, Arachnea was free. Standing in the crater where her torture bench had lain, free of bounds, and with a look in her eyes that promised certain death to everyone in the vicinity. A second look from those who dared brought forth even more fear. Death was not the thing that stood in those eyes, it was revenge. A yearning, a rage for revenge so all-consuming that nothing short of death or the complete annihilation of the object her rage was directed at would stop it. This in mind, they fled. Scattering like frightened puppies, as the vengeful mother, wife and daughter descended upon them, a trinity united to destroy. Several of her captors were slain before they realized that to stand a chance, they had to gang up on her once more. A momentary standstill emerged as the two parties stood on the battlefield of so many years ago once more, ready for mortal combat. On one side, Arachnea, who was completely out of bounds, yet so focused that no distraction could reach her. On the other, the assembled murderers of her family, united to murder her too.

The Battle began

"Fighting is what we were made for, it is what I live for. Why else do you think I'm so good at it?"

- Arachnea A gigantic fireball emerged from the ranks of her capturers. Arachnea stood still until it had almost reached her, at which point she move her hand ever so slightly - and the fireball rebounded from a shield made from one of Freneskrae's most rare substances. The shield was scantly half an inch thick, as it floated in front of her. With a flickering motion, she sent it at her former captors, several of them being sliced in half before they got away. As the shield was gone, Arachnea started to bombard them with all the most powerful spells within her arsenal. Screaming, burning shapes fell to the ground all around, until only one was left, their leader. He laid on the ground, smoking slightly. "You...." he started, but then Arachnea had him by the throat. With crippling force, she slammed him into the rock again, pinning his limbs to the barren earth with magical barriers. Curling her right hand into a fist, she slammed it into his chest once, twice, three times, each strike becoming more powerful. At the third strike, the one who had had so many of her family killed, screamed of all his heart as Arachnea felt she had broken through his chest. Fingers stretched out, she bored her hand through his weakening flesh, accompanied by his screaming. Her hand closed, tugged, and brought out .... the streaming, glinting, bloody heart of what seemed to have been her ultimate foe. She held it up victoriously, proclaiming her conquest. Then she fell to the ground amidst the smoking bodies of her enemies, drained of all energy.



When she woke again the light fell into her eyes, which had sunken deep into her skull. Around her was the carnage she vaguely remembered causing with her own hands. Slowly, ever so slowly, she crawled forward. In the light of the setting sun, she fully comprehended the beauty of life for the first time. When the sun set and her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, she saw how frail everything became. Straightening up into a sitting position, she remained sitting the rest of the night.

''Life is a fragile thing, much more so than I knew. Love and trust are equally valuable, and even more fragile. I can see now, as everyone I know is dead, what we have been doing wrong all along. We live for the fair fight, and fighting is our essence. What we do not live for is the kill. Death is what causes us strife, always has and always will. It will catch up to everyone eventually, as it has caught up to me... But I diverted it. Sent it tumbling. Or did I? Something in my being is different. Never before have I been what I am, never again will I regain what I have lost. I do not know what I lost, yet. Time will show, for I will not dwell upon it. Never again, if I can avoid it. Remind me to remember this moment for ever more. Light and dark, life and death, in harmony and uproar. Death in battle is not what we live for, but what we live to avoid.''

As the first ray of sunlight broke through the skies, Arachnea's head dropped to her chest and she was lost to the world for a long time afterward. Beside her laid the swords she had taken from the enemy leaders' body and the strange round shield she had summoned during the battle.

When the world came back

"Sitting still as stone for centuries is not something your body enjoys."

- Arachnea She was in an unfamiliar place. It appeared to be a tent, but she couldn't be sure as she was lying on her stomach. ''If this is heaven or hell, the prophets have bummed out terribly on the description. Either that, or I am, against all probablility, still alive.'' Her head felt oddly light as she tried to lift it to see more of her surroundings. A smell of flowers wafted over, startling her. Was this heaven after all? The battlefield she fell asleep to flashed before her eyes, and she lurched into an upright position. A groan escaped her lips as her limbs, unused for too long, did their best to change themselves to her wishes. She thudded down onto her resting place again, momentarily being aware of only the pain. Memories flashed before her eyes again, and her eyelids snapped open again. Someone must have heard her futile attempts at rising, for before her stood a young mahjarrat she could not recognize.

"You are awake! We knew it would happen. Can-" He was interrupted as Arachnea slowly brought her hand up to stop his squall of words. "Help me up first," she managed to croak forth from her cracked, dry lips. "Then tell me what has transpired." After a few more painful minutes, during which the unknown youngster helped her bring her slowly waking limbs into a position that resembled sitting, barely aided by Arachnea's own movement and her silent yelps, she was at least partially ready to take on the world again. My magic? She wondered. ''What will have happened to it? Will it have fallen asleep as did my body?''

Aware of the young mahjarrat watching her expectantly, she spoke slowly. "Now relate to me how I came to being here, wherever here is." Then she said nothing for a long time, while the other mahjarrat told her the history of the place. It was a long and winding poem, but she drank in every word of it. Warring Flowers, Arachnea reflected when the tale was done and silence settled once more, ''They grow only on the sites of great battles. History has been made, and I am caught in it....''

Her eyes glazed over as she continued to reflect over her realization during the Time of Pain in conduit to this newly found information. ''We live in a place of eternal warfare, eternal death. The Creator God seems to have created us for only this purpose, to fight each other to the death for his amusement. He gave us the sense for an equal fight so the battles become more interesting, but he seems to have missed when he gave us emotions.... Or maybe not....''

"Mistress Statue?"

"Later, I perfected the skill of fluid stillness."

- Arachnea The soft voice broke through her daze of thought and the sudden intervention triggered an instinct to defend herself faster than she could realize. One wall of her tent ripped as the other mahjarrat was heaved through it by her unaware strike of magic. Gaining a grip, she stood up. Her magic was back, that much was good. She felt it trickle down her body, aiding the reparation of sore spots even as she strode out to see to the one she had reflectively assaulted. He had landed in a field of Warring Flowers and was bleeding heavily from a multitude of cuts. "Why...." he coughed blood as she did her best to drag him out of the deadly sharp jungle by magic. "Because," and this was the only answer he ever got to this question. Extending her reach of magic, Arachnea set forth to close the most severe cuts to sustain his life, at least until a better healer would look at him.

Later, she stubbornly refused to tell her "followers" what had transpired exactly. She told them a vague outline, never admitting her own involvement or losses. As she was, the Elders of the group accepted her into their ranks, occasionally listening to her small, but sharp comments on important matters. On her suggestion, they stayed at the site, founding their very first permanent lair and defending it against any and all who sought to take it. Arachnea's prowess and worth in battle was rarely, if ever, proven during this time, as she never entered the front line of carnage, or even the middle ground. Her apparent dislike of mortal combat earned her many strange looks from her new allies, but she dismissed them instantly, concentrating on her silent, unnoticed work behind the lines.

The byname "Mistress Statue", the first name the Blasted Followers had given her, had been stuck deep and well by now. It was a name to rely on, a name that exemplified incredible accuracy, punctuality and, somehow, knowledge far greater than was made visible at first glance. Arachnea took to sitting in front of her tent silently whenever she was not needed in other matters, further fastening her byname. Always beside her were the Harri Ezarri's twin blades and her own magical shield. Staying still became a trend, and sometimes she would find herself looking into a dozen expectant faces as she woke up from her silent stance. Once, she told them "You will get bored of this soon enough. That will be the time when one of you draws his weapons against me in anger, and at that time, History itself will be made."

The Future (catches up)

"My predictions have never failed. I doubt they will in the future."

- Arachnea She had been right. Whenever she had come with a similar comment, it had turned out to be true eventually. Not necessarily in the way shes had said, but the essence of her words were unquestionably true. The occurrence she had spoken of occurred exactly seven hundred years, three months, one week and five days after her initial warning. It was during her midday meditation. She had barely seated herself, she felt, when a loud voice wrestled her out of her daydreams and into the real world again with pointed insults.

"Why are you doing this? Why!? WHY? You never do anything, you just sit there and look mysterious! Your small hints at what might come are pointless and never help anyway!" The well grown Mahjarrat who stood there, shouting, appeared to be the son of one of the Elders, who had died in a most recent battle. Arachnea had seen it coming, had seen it in his eyes when the battle started, and told him to refrain from going if he wished to live. He had given her a long look and answered "Some of us cannot change the way we are made." After the attacks had subsided, his broken body had been brought in for its final rites. As Arachnea closed his eyes for the last time, she was sure she heard him whisper "But you can."

And now his son was standing there, glowing in his anger and loss, torn between deadly rage and incurable loss, shouting at her the accusations she had heard before in her dreams of what would come. "Your "Premonitions" are never accurate anyway! And if they were, you should have used them to Help us! If you knew my father would die, why didn't you stop him from going!?" A single tear ran down his face. Arachnea let it roll, let him shout until he was finished. "If you know what might happen, why don't you use your knowledge to improve the future to our good? What is the point of having a Sage in our encampment if she is worse than useless and never even helps in battles?" He went on for several minutes.

"Enough," Arachnea stated eventually. The word dropped into the now murmuring crowd of onlookers like ink into water, spreading its tendrils everywhere until every sound had been strangled and complete silence ruled the place. "The Future cannot be changed. If you are lucky, you may catch a glimpse of it, but you cannot change it. The Future is what will happen, no matter what you do. Attempting to change things only makes matters worse. Your father knew this. He went into his last battle with his head held high, well aware that it would be his last."

"Then you should have stopped him with force!" And the young Mahjarrat, named Ekros, drew his swords, stepped forward and sent a flashing blade directly for her head. The swish of the shining, polished blade which had so recently tasted blood awakened something in Arachnea. A little part of her, buried and forgotten, reared its ugly head: The lust to kill pounced on her. The blade stopped three inches before her head, stuck in an impregnable wall of air. Arachnea rose, an action that was later described similar to an unfolding flower. "You wish to fight me? So be it." With these words, she sent him wheeling across the clearing. He landed with an unpleasant crunch as he slid across seven feet of of gravel, before he got up and jumped forward again, yelling.

Arachnea stood up.

The chattering and murmurs of everyone else subsided instantly and dead silence set in, only broken by the crunch of the young mahjarrat's feet on the ground. He came closer and closer, raised his sword - and whirled past her as she did not stand where she had just a moment ago. The tent she had sat in front of collapsed as he burst into it and buried him within. Ekros uttered a number of vile curses and insults as he fought his way out of the fabrics. "You shall die for this!"

''Fighting on two fronts is never fun; I have to fight my adversary and myself. I must combat the need, the lust to kill him! For killing will never bring us forward: only life can do this.''

Arachnea was detached. Her mind was busy thinking, debating what to do while keeping an eye on her body lest it kill the young one. Ekros was slashing at her wildly from all sides, completely enraged, but Arachnea's swords served her finely as protection. Then he sprang back and channeled magic. Arachnea snapped back into her body in time to deflect the blow. A house nearby crumbled into dust.

''My reactions are too slow... I have not fought for too long. It is true, what the Elder told me: We cannot change what we are, but we can change...''

Her line of thought was interrupted as another blast of magic slid her back several paces. She briefly responded with a small explosion right before Ekros' face, sending him back into a small pile of rubble.

''We can change what we do. We are creatures made to fight wars; fighting wars forevermore. Therefore, death is wasteful; how can we fight when we are dead? We, I, must strive to fight, not to kill. And fighting is only for those worthy.''

She bent sideways, sending Ekros' next fireball upwards into the sky, before talking to him, no louder than normal speech, "So fight me then, man on woman! Come here and fight me!" Ekros jumped. Arachnea watched his trajectory, calculating. All other Mahjarrat watched with bated breath. It happened faster than anyone could see. One moment Ekros was in the air, hurtling toward Arachnea, the Sage, the next he was on the ground, pinned down by the neck by a powerful fist. "Admit defeat."

Arachnea's steely gaze bored itself down into Ekros. A tiny part of his brain warmed up and informed him that the owner of these eyes would not hesitate a second to give him the most painful death he could imagine. Another part coupled in, mentioning that dying in a very unpleasant way was not a good course of action, upon which his consciousness came by and told him that he did not want to die. Especially not unpleasantly.

"... All right."

The collective breathed in again, and Arachnea released him. He thudded back onto the ground.

The Sage of Blasted Mountain

"You wonder why I do not want to become a god? Because I have been as close to a god as a mortal may come and believe me: It was not fun."

- Arachnea After this incident, nobody ever challenged Arachnea's right to stay behind battles again. The oldest Mahjarrat were amazed, the youngest big-eyed enthusiasm. The ones of Ekros' age granted her, begrudgingly, their respect. She became a wise person, after pointing out that she had foreseen this very incident, as she had foreseen the death that caused the scene and many more tiny, tiny things. "I am not a prophet," She kept repeating to those who wanted her to tell their future, "I am merely better than most at reading the signs of what is to come."

Notable "prophecies" Arachnea made in this time was a large battle in which she would be drawn out to fight, but would prevail in, and the destruction of the Camp, which was growing into a city. In a very prophetic moment, she called out across the courtyard in a clear voice "There will be the time when Freneskrae is abandoned: No Mahjarrat will remain on this plane." As she was battered with questions about this, she merely shrugged. "It will be. I cannot tell you how, but it will come to pass."

Between the ones most eager for her advice was the one who had awoken her from her sleep. He unquestioningly followed whatever she told him, even though he still had scars from the time that she inadvertently had thrown him into a field of Warring Flowers in full bloom. In battles, she would sometimes give him advice beforehand on where he should fight, which either resulted in his survival as the company he else would have gone with was decimated or an opportunity to seize control of the battle. He grew to be one of the main Generals within the camp, never admitting that his strategies were derived from Mistress Statue, the Sage of Blasted Mountain.

At least, he never admitted it until a very decisive battle. This was seven decades later, when the dust had settled around Arachnea and her followers. Arachnea herself had left the growing city to visit the place that had once been her birth place, and she had left everything - and everyone - behind. Not even three days after her departure, a force of enemy Mahjarrat, allied with several fierce beasts, approached the gates and demanded entrance. When they were let in, they loudly demanded to see the Sage, claiming they had important news for her. As it turned out that Arachnea was away for the first time in a century, they were enraged and started laying waste to the center of the town. The general forced them out of the city, upon which they retreated a ways and called for reinforcements. When these reinforcements arrived, they laid siege to the city, their attacks usually thwarted by the young general. A month-long stand-off ensued, the fight that would in time become famous under the name....

The Siege of Blasted Mountain

"Another beautiful city burned to the ground. I knew when I laid my eyes upon the wreckage that it would not be the last time I saw this place, or was to see a city being burned."

- Arachnea Arachnea was lost in thought. She had traveled days to reach her birthplace, but all she now was capable of doing was to stand and look. Her eyes rested on the ruins of her childhood, slowly shifting to give her a complete view of the camp. There were broken tents, corpses and ashes everywhere, mostly untouched even after so much time. She strode forward, into one of the best-kept tents. She knew what she would find inside before she entered, but she had to see it. There, on the spot where Aylya had been born and buried. A single Warring Flower grew there, emitting a feeling of immense sadness and loneliness. Arachnea carefully stroked the sharp leaves. Then she sucked her finger, which had been cut despite her best effort to avoid the razor-sharp edge. Straightening up, Arachnea put her mourning and sadness behind her, foreseeing that this was a place that she would never see again. Then she went out of the tent.

She paid no heed to the horizon as she walked around the wrecked camp, stopping at important points; where she had been married, where Z'Tubra had been married, where Dyluneris had died.... Even where Rochnir had stood before the elders of the group, trying to defend his conquest of women. She relived each memory in silence and subsequently locked it away in her head, so she need never see it again.

Finally, she came to the road out of the camp. Lifting her eyes to the horizon, she spotted a faraway cloud of smoke, exactly at the place where the city of Blasted Mountain must lie. Putting a hand to her head, she told herself "I should have known this. My foresight seems not to be trained enough...." She went through the camp once more, finding leftover weapons and the occasional supply. When she was done, she was at the other end of the camp. Straightening her back like a plank, she went through the camp, setting everything on fire, letting it go up into flames. "So I rise from the Ashes of my family, toughened by my loss and my gain." Then she set out toward the distant column of smoke rising from her new hometown.

In the City of Blasted Mountain, the Siege was going wrong for the besieged. A number of battles in front of the city had caused them to incur major losses, while the siege wore down the food supply and mentality of the inhabitants. After two weeks, the attackers broke through a section of the wall surrounding the town. The young general, taught by the Sage, did his best and managed to contain them, though losing valuable troops and supplies in the process. All in all, the whole siege had been a major loss for him. After having lost part of the town, he turned to the Council of Elders. He admitted that his previous victories were mainly dependent on advice from the Sage and that without her, he was not fit to be in a leading position. Several of the Elders nodded, having noticed this before. Now they took charge of battles, but it was too late for a resistance. Two and a half weeks after the official start of the siege, the city was lost as the Elders and the General gathered what was left of the inhabitants and fled the city through a secret exit. They set a major section of the city on fire, so the attacking forces should not have much joy from their victory.

The attackers did not mind that the city was mainly in ruins by now. They walked in through open doors, put out the largest and the most dangerous fires and settled in the biggest house in town, a building commonly known as the Castle, or the House of Elders. None of them ever bothered to venture into the fields of Warring Flowers, where the tent that Arachnea called her home laid. This was not very surprising, as the flowers, weakened by fire, were spreading razor-sharp bits across the area.

Then the Sage returned



"I had seen the city burn from afar. When I saw the condition the inhabitants and the buildings were in, I decided that the ones responsible would burn themselves." She came alone, with nothing but her swords and a staff on her. One moment, the ones who had fled the city were alone, the next she was there among them. No-one had seen her coming. Looking up at the smoking city, she asked only one question: "Who?". The Elders and the General found themselves unable to answer. Nobody knew what the group who had attacked called themselves, or why they had risked so many of their people to take the city. Arachnea nodded briskly. "Then it is time for me to see what they wanted to tell me." And she strode out toward the gates of her new, though burned, hometown. Inside, she found nobody. Her eyes narrowing, her steps swiftly carried her to the House of Elders. Here, she found the attackers. Several large beasts prowled the area, but they took one look at her and quickly turned away, as if they knew what waited them if they came too close.

Arachnea ignored them and walked on. The doors of the Castle opened before her as she paid them no further heed. When she was through, they closed behind her with a sound that signaled capture and no escape. Untouched, Arachnea strode on until she reached what could have been called the Throne Room. It had used to be the chamber where the Council of Elders gathered in public, but their chairs were all removed in favor of a large throne, which was inhabited by the new "King" of the city.

He stood up when Arachnea entered. Then the two measured each other up, until their eyes met. Arachnea's metal gold gaze met the cold, yet burning steel-gray eyes of the conqueror. For minutes they stood, interlocked in an immense battle of stares. Then Arachnea averted her gaze. "Who are you?".

The conqueror on his throne laughed. "I am your worst fear, "Sage". I am the Ghost from your past, come to end your miserable life and that of all your loved ones, too!" Arachnea showed no emotion. "That will be difficult to accomplish." The other one snorted in response. "We will see." Arachnea nodded very slightly to herself, before proceeding to ask,"Tell me then, who you are." The one on the throne cast his arms out, looking down at her with scorn. "Haven't you foreseen who I am? I am Octagon, heir to the noble Ezarri!" Silence spread after this statement. "That is why you are here to kill me, then. Revenge for your family." Arachnea inclined her head. "You are welcome to face me." Immediately, seven guards marched up, ready to apprehend her. She tutted disappointedly. "I would have thought you to show more courage than this. You are even more cowardly than your family!" Octagon got up in one movement. "Silence! I will not have your insolence under my roof." Arachnea waggled her head and turned to one of the guards. "Don't you think that he should back himself up? A weak leader is one who is afraid of facing his enemies alone." This set the guards to thinking. The let off her, making way for Octagon to approach her himself. The Mahjarrat in question was beside himself. "Insolent bastards! I will have you all beheaded for this!" Then he took a deep breath and looked straight at Arachnea. "But only after I finish this unworthy being who calls herself a sage".

Arachnea clasped her hands behind her back as he stepped down from his throne. She followed his movements as he walked closer, and then around her once in a wide circle. "Come now," Arachnea prompted him, "Surely you aren't afraid of me? Or are you not so confident in your abilities after all?"

Octagon gritted his teeth. "What makes these people fear you? You are as dangerous as .... a spider!" Arachnea, with a display of impressive control of bones, lifted one eyebrow of her half-rejuvenated face. The next moment, a large spider fell from the ceiling directly into Octagon's face. "AARGH!" He screamed, batting it away quickly. Then he glowered first at his guards, who were chuckling, then at Arachnea, who remained motionless. Gritting his teeth, he growled "You will pay for this humiliation."

"I know," Arachnea passed back sadly, "Even though I hate having to spill your blood to pay for it."

With an inarticulate cry, Octagon sprung forward at her, swords slashing. Arachnea twirled out of range with unusual grace for a creature as large and heavy as a Mahjarrat. She nodded at him, inviting him to attack again. Instantly, Octagon threw himself at her once more, missing for the second time as Arachnea moved from where she had been. He hit the floor with an unpleasant sound. A shoulder scraped, he rose again and spat to Arachnea's feet. "No more games, 'Sage'. Show me what you are made of. FIGHT ME!" More cautiously, he stepped forward and swung his sword at her in a diagonal slash.

With a metallic clang, Arachnea's own blade parried the blow, leading his sword to the ground. Wasting no time, she sent her own sword in a thin arc toward Octagon's throat. His sword rose to parry her strike, upon which he disengaged, taking a step back. In his face, it was clear that she had earned a slight bit of begrudging respect.

This time, Arachnea engaged. Her sword suddenly poked forward toward Octagon's abdomen, a strike that decimated his respect for her skilled swordsmanship instantly as he easily deflected it to his side. Arachnea's blade slid up the length of his as he did, nicking him in the hand holding the sword. Again, they disengaged and circled each other, wary eyes gazing into each other.

Octagon's guards formed a loose circle around the two, watching the fight with great interest as they descended into another flurry of blows before stepping away again. In the heat of battle, it was hard to discern who had the upper hand. Twenty-three rounds of exchanging strikes, parries, glancing blows and a few insults later, the two swords of the combatants met in a loud clash above their heads. A very faint tinkling was heard in the silence that ensued, the sounds as Arachnea's sword cracked and broke, sending her back into the circle of guards.

As they shoved her back into the ring, she ripped a sword out of someone's sheath, again facing Octagon in a match of swords. This time, it was clear who was on the offensive; it was Lord Octagon, Glorious Conqueror of Blasted Mountain. Step by step, Arachnea was forced under a flurry of heavy hits. She retreated calmly, more calmly than Octagon expected from someone who must know he was fighting a losing fight.

Eventually, they drew up into one decisive exchange of blows on the doorstep of the great house. Octagon, only momentarily distracted by the sunlight, lost his sword to an unexpected strike that sent both swords clattering to the ground. His gaze snapped to Arachnea, who caught him hard in the cheek with her hand. Thrown off balance, Octagon stumbled down the steps, straightening himself at the bottom of the stairs and glaring up at her.

Arachnea curled her hands around an empty piece of air, igniting a glowing ball of arcane power. Octagon threw his hands up, creating a defensive shield as Arachnea cast her hands forth. As nothing happened, he looked up at her again, subconsciously lowering his shield, which was the moment when Arachnea cast her spell at him, the explosion ensuing as it hit directly before his feet throwing him several yards back.

Spitting dust, ashes and a large number of foul names, Octagon rose again, throwing his own spell at Arachnea. A howling, expanding fireball headed toward her, only to miss by mere inches and blast a large hole in the building behind her. Arachnea, her hands outstretched in a triangle for the spell to deflect, twisted her arms along with the air around Octagon, sending him face-first down into the mud again.

Snarling, Octagon rose again, earth and water dripping off his twisted face. A dangerous, insane glint in his eyes, he charged forward. She met him at the bottom of the stairs, halting his advance with a fist of air to the chest. Coughing, he staggered back and bent down. Behind Arachnea, Octagon's guards were spilling out of the burning building.

Arachnea stood waiting, looking down at his bent figure. "Have you had enough yet?" Octagon looked up, defiance, even victory in his eyes. "You can't beat me..... whore." With this he rose from the mud, swinging his sword that he had picked up from the ground. Arachnea bent back, narrowly avoiding the sharp slash to her neck. Her fist balled and struck forward at Octagon in his wild charge. Wheeling, he stepped back, into open air. Charged as he was with fury and magic, a current in the background thamathurgy had picked him up, hovering him ever higher above the battlefield. Out of melee range, he charged his hands again and started raining fire and blood on the assembled mahjarrat below.

Arachnea drew a breath through her nose, crouching down for a second so her knees touched the ground. "Forgive me for what I must do," she murmured silently, before she launched herself upward, to the figure of Octagon, who was laughing crazily. "Not so tough now are you, 'Sage'? I bet you're wishing your granddaughter was here to cuddlymoze you! Hah, she begged me to kill her when I-"

A fist caught him squarely in the jaw from below, cutting off the provocative sentence. In the confines of empty air, he performed a backflip and faced Arachnea again. It was a short battle, widely visible throughout the city below them. After but one strike, Octagon lost his sword to Arachnea, who discarded it and let it drop to the ground, her arm bleeding from the gash she had incurred when disarming him. Now the two were even again, both unarmed and yearning to murder the other.

For a moment, there was silence. Then, Arachnea lunged. Deflecting her blow, Octagon lashed out, only to have his hand met with a sweeping foot, which broke his arm. Grasping it with the other arm in his pain, he was distracted and looked up to see the fierce resolve in Arachnea's coal-black eyes as she hit him in the chest.

A loud crack rang out as her fists connected, marking the discharge of magical energy and the fracture of bones. Seen from below, Octagon was thrown out of the ring, his body careening wildly through the air before landing in the thick of a Warring Flower grove. The sound it produced was a mix of fleshy impact accompanied by a faint tinkling that practically screamed of sharp shards.

Thump, Arachnea's boots on the ground announced her landing, drawing everyone's gaze to the victor of the duel. She said nothing, her mouth set in an expression of extreme mistrust, disgust and anger. Swiftly, she advanced on the grove of Warring Flowers that Octagon had landed in.

Nomad's Requiem "Being a nomad has many advantages. The biggest one is that you move on before anything can catch up."

- Arachnea [To be written soon!] (Yes, I know it's a total ripoff of the Quest Name)

A short version

Eventually, as the mahjarrat population dwindled due to warfare between the tribes and the environment, they merged more and more, putting aside personal differences for a greater survival chance altogether. Arachnea resided in this group as medium-class member, being one of the very last to follow the tribe through the World Gate to Gielinor.

Gielinor


Under Itchlarin

She was Deadly.

Under Zaros

She was Terrifying.

The God Wars

She was Secretive.

Fourth age

Gielinor once more
She soon found a magic guild that would bring her closer to the world, but was rejected because the guild leaders found out she was a Mahjarrat, and they distrusted Mahjarrat. She tried again, in another magical school, and was rejected again. The guild-leaders did not know then what a terrible mistake they had made in not accepting her. Now driven by anger, she looked for someone to help her fight these unworthy so-called magic schools. In the Aren Family she found what she was looking for.



Vox Ex Affectum

The Arens taught her the basics of more elemental magic, mostly water and air even though she already knew them. But it was part of her plan to stay unnoticed like this for as long as she could. In her time with these dark mages, she met many of her "friends"; Julian Duphrane, Aranitus Aren, Zane Aren.... Oh yes, she enjoyed herself there. She even started to like some of them, something that would, in time, turn out to be a mistake. Together with Julian and Aranitus, she went out in the hunt for Aranitus' father, who did not live long after they went out for the hunt.

Alas, the enjoyable time in the Aren family, called Vox Ex Affectum, could not last forever. Yanille, under Eden Syivan, attacked and eventually destroyed the family; Aranitus escaped, though destroying the Aspera tower in the process. Luckily, Arachnea had thought of rescuing their valuable artifacts before the tower went down in a gigantic fireball. This, of course, ended the relaxed atmosphere in Vox Ex Affectum. Arachnea turned to the far north, hiding in a cave and cursing herself for surrounding herself with humans once more.

<p style="font-size:17px">She Was Disappointed.

Weeks later, Arachnea was disturbed in her meditation. Julian Duphrane, the Demon Lord of Chaos himself, had foolishly entered her temporary residence. In her paranoia, Arachnea thought he was here just to gloat, and attacked. Not even a demon lord can withstand the power of an enraged Mahjarrat, and he was subdued quickly. To find the truth, Arachnea brought Julian to a secret place, preparing to torture him until he told her everything. A night pinned onto a water wheel in motion, being ducked under every two minutes, almost destroyed the demon. Lucky for him that he was rescued. Arachnea, however, retired to her cave once more. Too soon, she was disturbed again. A woman of around 35 rattled the peace of the cave, unsettling the mighty being within. It turned out to be a traveling mage sick of the horrible doings of the world. Arachnea extracted the woman's name; Wilma. The middle-aging one seemed curious as to what Arachnea was doing. In fact, she exasperated the old Mahjarrat so much that Arachnea let slip a silent prayer to Zaros. The foolish woman tried to ask Arachnea out. Eventually, Arachnea let slip on some of the knowledge of Zaros. The young woman seemed happy with what little she knew, so Arachnea apprenticed her; eventually brainwashing Wilma enough so she thought Arachnea was her mistress, whom she had to report everything important to. After this piece of magic, Arachnea sent the young one out to locate Zarosians foolish enough to make themselves noticeable. And surprised was Arachnea when Wilma actually found some. Under the leading of a Mahjarrat, no less. So she let Wilma continue the research of Oblitus's followers, while she herself pursued more important matters. Eventually, Arachnea made a pact with an old acquaintance: Aranitus Aren. They got engaged, and Arachnea had to reveal her true nature. No living thing, excepting maybe the other Mahjarrat, had ever seen Arachnea's true form. Of course, Aranitus was unsettled. Even more so when Arachnea sealed his tongue, rendering him unable to willingly tell anyone of Arachnea's true nature. They started making their plans, to spite their enemies by getting married right in front of their noses.

<p style="font-size:17px">Wilma's Death

"A surprise, even to me. It has cast my world out of balance...." The plans were interrupted by Wilma's death. One late night, Wilma appeared near Aranitus' hideout with a loud scream. He found her in a bush, almost cleaved in half by a mighty sword-cut. While Aranitus did his best to heal her (He probably didn't even know why), Arachnea came along. She understood that the situation was hopeless for her young apprentice, and slave. So she decided that the White Knights had wrought this, and the White Knights should receive her spite. Arachnea picked Wilma up, and teleported to the White Knights Castle. The teleblock was easy to remedy; Arachnea just appeared above it and let herself gently to the ground. And then she let Wilma's body go up into a net of holy flames dedicated to The Great Lord.

After this event, Arachnea withdrew from the world, smothering her loss and anger at the Death of Wilma. Eventually she returned, when it became clear that Wilma somehow had gotten herself revived in mysterious and strange ways.

Wilma got involved in the Enchanted Gems legend, and another Mahjarrat, something Arachnea wasn't too fond of; then again, she never liked others of her race since her fall. Arachnea agreed to keeping one of Wilma's Gems in her house, safely away from the world.

<p style="font-size:17px">Some Gem Stories

"The Gems of Salvyn, a confusing matter at the least. I should be glad that I'm rid of one of the things." In the late evening, Aranitus summoned Arachnea to his house to talk about the Gems. She was slightly shocked to see the state he was in, with an eyepatch and all. They discussed a while, about giving Aranitus' demon friend, Julian Duphrane, the gem to keep Arachnea "Out of harm's way" and about their new ploy to dispatch Zenthos. (As if Arachnea needs to be held out of harms way) Sometime in the middle, a random persona by the name of Felix appeared and was led away by Julian, so as not to reveal the gems to him. While the two were gone, Aranitus convinced Arachnea to trust Julian (Who has been betraying her several times already) just enough. So Arachnea got up and started summoning the Gem in her safekeeping. It took several minutes, because Arachnea's house does resemble a high-security prison, just with more traps. Eventually, with Arachnea murmuring "Behold..... The Topaz" the Gem appeared, warm and damp from the journey. Arachnea carefully handed it to Julian, who had come in again. She made sure not to touch it, and reminded him again that if he lost it in any way, his life was nothing more worth.



<p style="font-size:17px">The Tale Continues

"I appear untrained in family matters- A shame, considering the future I have seen." Arachnea was called into the Aren tower, where Zenthos was trying to escape. He had entered through a rather dark and suspicious hole, freshly made by, you guessed it, himself. Too bad that Aranitus had trapped him after that. Now Zenthos was trying to escape, hindered by Julian Duphrane, Renthgar, Felix, Aranitus and Arachnea Aren. Xido, on the other hand, seemed more willing to help Zenthos, along with an unknown would-be assassin ranger who randomly appeared through the hole Zenthos had left.

In the ensuing fight, Zenthos used his Freneskaen linguistics, to drop all humans in the room to their knees.

Arachnea fell too, to not spoil her "Elven" appearance. As they rose again, she cleaved Zenthos' head almost in two even as Xido blew him clean through the keep wall. Aranitus, Xido and Arachnea stormed out to intercept Zenthos, while Renthgar, Julien and Areya battled with the would-be assassin Ranger. Zenthos had managed to summon his ship of undead, which now started to attack the four on the Keep's moat.

Xido started some kind of storm, and so the battle went inside again. Eventually, Zenthos and the would-be assasin ranger (who was still not dead) turned into shadows and went to flee. The ranger escaped, but Arachnea managed to trap Zenthos, who went to hide in the shadows of Xido's armor. Aranitus eventually dispelled Xido's Family Ring, causing him to fade out of the tower. Zenthos escaped this way too, but at least he would not be around for a long, long time afterwards. Head wounds of that caliber heal slowly, even for Mahjarrat.

Now, Zane Aren himself brought an army of undead to storm the tower. While Aranitus and Renthgar fought them, Arachnea headed upstairs to meet her "Stepdaughter". She found Areya in the process of trying to make a shiv. And Arachnea was nice to her! ''One needs good followers, and these must be loyal. But not get too close to them...''

Julian Duphrane, someone who Arachnea now knew was absolutely untrustworthy, called her to him once more, and told her another wild story about Aranitus. Not that she believed him and she left very soon. Leaving Duphrane with several unpleasant souvenirs in the form of biting, demon-headed potatoes and an angry band of Goblins.

Then one day, Arachnea returned to Keep le Aren to find her daughter-in-law, Areya, kidnapped. Obviously, she is way displeased about this. Just as she is about to fly into a rage, Arachnea remembers the day before, where Xido betrayed them all, helping Zenthos to escape. Reluctantly, she recognizes him to be the bigger threat for the moment, and sets out to set up a trap that is supposed to keep him from betraying the Arens once and for all, pouring her rage into the devious traps.

Of course, a trap of the sort she set takes a lot of power to build up, and her body slumps into a mini-hibernation, to keep the drain from harming her. Aranitus is hugely alarmed, as his wife seems to be dead. However, Arachnea wakes again, and starts plotting again at once, still exhausted from her trap-setting. Soon after, her letter to Elizabeth, the Queen of Ardougne, appears on the desk of the aforementioned person. It mentioned a minor threat, along with the information that Arachnea knew Elizabeth's real, mahjarratean name, and the request to get Areya and Felix back.

Few days later, her request for Areya's release not having been answered yet, and Wilma getting her only remaining Gem in trouble, Arachnea decides to take matters into her own hands, and resolutely takes the Onyx off Wilma's hands.

The following day, as she came into Ardougne, she saw, and couldn't believe her eyes; for it looked like Areya being burned at a stake. Not exactly a pleasant sight for the Mahjarrat who had grown to like the young woman somewhat. As a result, Arachnea set out to tell Kisbeth off once and for all; she set Ardougne on fire. Subtly, of course, but leaving an unmistakable trace that she was sure Kisbeth would notice and follow.



<p style="font-size:17px">''Meeting Kisbeth. (!)''

"Kisbeth, the cranky Mahjarrat. One of my favorites, really, she is highly amusing to converse with" Kisbeth must have been a little surprised when she found Arachnea completely peacefully, after having set a major city on fire. The conversation was full of hidden meaning and subtle jabs and threats. (expand)

<p style="font-size:17px">And Then I Died  (!)

"This day has saddened me, yet I know it had to come. I did what I had to, so that the future may come as I saw it." One day, Arachnea realized how she had made a mistake in falling in love with Aranitus. Immediately she separated herself for several weeks, while getting him out of her head as well as possible. Then, she used a trick to convince Aranitus that he need not love her anymore; she faked her death in a very impressive way.

The burning house and the bloodied cane in the wall convinced Aranitus completely. Arachnea was obviously still alive. She had taken possession of a gem, and was searching for a way to get all others, but one day it was gone. She raged for several days, then returned her attention to the world; it wanted to be supervised, too.

<p style="font-size:17px">Miss Assumed Name

"The Order of Equilibrium? A waste of time." In the following times, she came closer to the worldly actions within the Order of Equilibrium. She helped the fighters defend her ex-love and husband Aranitus Aren and shrouded a corpse for them. (In grass, somehow)

She has also taken an interest in the ensuing conflict of the Arens, egging Ataneq to start the fight for the title of Grandmaster and supreme head of the Arens.

The Order of Equilibrium disbanded off quite soon, without ever having taught Arachnea the fighting she joined for originally. She was not pleased and raged in her home, until she felt a wave of power pass the island. Few moments later she was in full activity, finding out what it had been. As she cast a look in her fire, she saw a face she recognized. It spoke to her: "You know what to do, my time has come." And Arachnea knew what it meant; she was now a Helper. But as the Chosen did not require help yet, Arachnea sought out a traveling Lunar mage who was willing to teach her. The price was a bit high for Arachnea's taste, as she had to tell the story of her life without lying. But she did learn the Lunar magics from the friendly old mage, Lin.

<p style="font-size:17px">Fire Rising

"Aspertina is returning... How pleasant. Ancient mages returning appears to be in season." When she was sure of her knowledge of Lunar magic, Arachnea's "Human" face stretched into a grin. She knew who was awakening. She knew, of course, that she would be the one to help her student's Helpers.

The first one she had to work with was Nymal. She used an old trick of hers, the shadow mage. After Nymal had defeated the picture alive, Arachnea granted her the set pieces. Days later, she helped "Doc" on his way by teleporting him to Ardougne, suddenly and without asking. Her third help was swiping five terror mages aside from Hansuke as they went in for a killing strike.

Now she sits and waits patiently, preparing all her plans, including the setup to ruin Falador from the inside.

<p style="font-size:17px">The Ritual of the Mahjarrat

"Another Ritual, another one facing the Void." The time came for a new Ritual to commence. They had all felt it, when one of the "greater" mahjarrat died, and knew that the time for their own rejuvenation drew close. Arachnea had met with several Mahjarrat before the Ritual commenced. She arrived at the Ritual Grounds shortly before the choosing was to start. The verbal exchange was heated on the Zamorakian's and Zarosian's side. The Mahjarrat formed a loose rectangle, with the Zamorakians on one side, the Zarosians on the other and those who would not tell, or served both gods when the need be, on the sidelines. Suggestions were placed, threats were thrown. Both Kisbeth, Ptolemos, Kemses and several others were suggested as potential sacrifices. True to tradition, the verbal sparring soon turned into a real fight. Arachnea stayed on the sidelines, until she discovered Draezkorn planning Kisbeth's demise. She argued with him and his cronies for a while, not really getting into a fight. She had just thrown Draezkorn's crony, who had suggested her as the race whore, at his master when the Ritual itself began. Arachnea turned and teleported closer to the Ritual Stone, directly next to the sacrifice where there was an empty space. The skies roiled and the ground shook when the sacrifice died, releasing her power to the surrounding Mahjarrat. Arachnea, Kisbeth, Tenebra, and Draezkorn, who flew above the Stone, were closest to the eruption of power.

After the Ritual itself was over, and there were renewed, fleshy faces on all sides, the gathering of Mahjarrat started to disband. Arachnea was approached by Draezkorn's crony, whom she warned that fighting her might well be the last mistake he ever made. The last thing she did at the Grounds was to watch the battle between a full Mahjarrat and a half-breed, trying to prove itself worthy of attending the Ritual. After she had watched for a while, smiling, Arachnea teleported away in a peculiar storm of Glyphs, to her home, where important matters awaited her.

<p style="font-size:17px">The New Arcane College

"The Arens! Always nosy, always poking their nose into things they have nothing to do with.... I suppose that is why I like them; they resemble me, in a way." As the Ritual had come to a closure and she was fully renewed, Arachnea set out to help the Arens once more. She knew they needed the help and could not deny herself to see Aranitus once more, even though she knew it was a fool's dream. She called upon Ptolemos, a Zamorakian Mahjarrat she knew to be rather weak, and upon his appearance, convinced him he had lost his magical powers. When he failed to use his renewed power because he believed he had lost them, she laughed and sealed him in her personal dungeons.

Arachnea was called into the Kandar Institute of Magic, where Chris and Aranitus revealed that they had seen through her disguise as Leila Kala Aren. Aranitus was severely shaken by the final revelation.

Arachnea's first new lesson was a failure, and she recons she needs to learn how to teach again.

A duel (or three vs. her) in the Runespan, following the Wizard's Conclave ended up with Arachnea being banished to a nearby plane. As it turned out, she found herself unable to return on her own, as the plane did not permit the full opening of a portal from within itself. She needs a trustworthy person on Gielinor to help! She can trust no Aren, so she has turned to the one she knows best; Aspertina Feu Vigilantis. She contacted a random Aren through the ring and told him to find her and tell her what he'd heard. With the help of her most trusted servant, Arachnea tread the ground of RuneScape once more.



<p style="font-size:17px">Arachnea's Bracelet

"My bracelet is not made to be beautiful..... but it does serve this purpose quite well, too." As a result of her banishment to a nearby plane, Arachnea found she had to build herself a foolproof way to return to her home in any eventuality she might face. To ensure that it would be impossible to lose and easy to access, she prepared a magical bracelet. During the designing process, she constantly reminded herself that the bracelet might have to fend off hostile attempts of removal.

As a result, she started anew time after time. By creating several layers of enchanted gems, she figured, she could place a multitude of enchantments within the bracelet, to make it impossible to remove. She started with a core of Onyx, a substance extremely hard to come by and yet she had enough for her thin bracelet core. A thin layer of Dragonstone adds to the protection against direct physical attacks. After the dragonstone, a layer of diamond is enchanted to hold off any attempts to enchant the bracelet. Ruby, following the diamond, contains the enchantment against elemental magic. Upon the ruby layer, a plating of Emerald was placed, holding the main protection against physical attacks. Sapphire composes the second last layer, set with the simple enchantment of keeping the bracelet intact against most raw magical attacks. The very thin Ivory on the top is charged with fitting itself snugly, too snugly to the wearer's arm.

In time, more accurately over the course of a night, the enchantment on the ivory will tighten the bracelet so much that it will fit itself flawlessly into the wearer's skin, leaving almost no trace of itself.

To ensure that all her enchantment worked perfectly, she took a length of the alloy to the newly founded Mages' Research Institute, where she instructed the mages to cast any and every spell they could think of at the material

"Dear Client,

I have cast several spells on the compound that you had given to me, and the results are interesting. It seems that both fire and advanced water or ice spells have effects on it. Fire spells make it light up like fireworks, as you said. Ice spells do something rather interesting to it though. Long after the ice around it thawed, the compound remained solid as a rock. It seems the compound easily reacts due to temperature. All the other spells I tried seemed to have no interesting effects. I haven't tested anything on the hardened mass yet though. Contact me if you wish to have further testing done on it or if you wish to be given all of my results."

- ¨¨ºArthur Ironarmº¨¨ When it was found completely resilient against magical attacks, she proceeded to the Academy of Heroes, where she asked the residents to attempt to destroy her alloy with the power of their swords and other melee weapons.

As a final, and absolute test, she made a spare bracelet and fitted it onto Ptolemos, charging the Onyx layer within to inform her of his whereabouts and his attempts to remove it, be they successful or not.

<p style="font-size:17px">Within My Prison

"And so, Ptolemos and Azulra reside within my prison. Laughable really, how easy they were to capture." After capturing Ptolemos, Arachnea held him within her prison for weeks. In regular intervals, she used him for experiments where she would turn parts of his body into fruit, only to change it back again with a new formula. Not all attempts were successful, but as she progressed, she made sure to eradicate all signs of her experimentation from his body. A while after Ptolemos' capture, Arachnea called for Azulra, easily defeating her within the confines of Aspera and casting her into the prison beside Ptolemos.

Azulra's and Ptolemos' minions were frantic with their masters gone. A servant of Ptolemos, Rosaline, came traveling out from Forinthry, where she was intercepted by Aspertina Feu at Arachnea's command. Aspertina told Rosaline few things, beside the fact that "Leila Kala Aren" was the one who held her master imprisoned, and sent her in the direction of Aspera. Rosaline turned up near Aspera with several chaos monks at her side. They were decimated with ease by Arachnea's destructive magic, even their prayers to Zamorak could not stop her. Arachnea took the opportunity, saving the life of two of them, on the condition that they be her slaves forevermore - without them noticing. The last remaining Chaos Monk was turned into a zombie and sent to retrieve Rosaline, who had fled.

Azulra's minions were much quicker in their reaction, and severely more aggressive. A group of demons approached Arachnea's house and attempted to enter it. Being what she was, Arachnea had not intended this to be easy, or even likely. A force wall surrounded the house, burning the first demon to attempt a frontal attack. The demons, being more intelligent than most demons by far, found a weak spot in the barrier and, after disrupting it, broke through. Planning ahead is a great thing, Arachnea reflected as they found only a small room that started to move downward, to the lower levels of her dungeon. For her own entertainment, she misguided the Demons slightly to cause strife between them, even though she was unsuccessful in the end. Meanwhile, Azulra did her Mahjarrat best to escape her cell all on her own. With a small pin, she fumbled in the lock of her cell until she managed to break it open. Arachnea appeared to attempt to put a bracelet on her too, but Azulra turned into her smoke form even as she summoned one of her demons to fend off Arachnea. As she summoned a giant spider to distract the demon, Arachnea smiled inside; She was seen as a failure again. Azulra managed to teleport away without a bracelet, and Arachnea destroyed the demonic forces she had left with ease.

<p style="font-size:17px">Reality Strikes

"Much has transpired, and much have I gained." After Azulra's escape from her prison, Arachnea moves her plans for Ptolemos along faster. Only days after the prison break, Aspertina Feu met a cleric near the Wilderness wall north of Varrock; a high priestess on search for the 'emissary', one of Ptolemos' aliases. On Arachnea's command, Aspertina directed the high priestess, Rosaline, to Aspera Tower, where she would find 'Leila Kala Aren', who knew where the emissary was being kept. Rosaline turned up near Aspera a few days later, with five minor priests at her back. Arachnea met them in the guise of Leila, carefully mentioning that she did know where Ptolemos was upon their queries. 'However,' she lectured them, 'I wouldn't dream of telling you.' Rosaline, enraged by this, sent her henchmen forward to seize the cocky lady. Arachnea, in the vicinity of Aspera and being what she was, easily ripped several of the priests apart with magic. The remaining clerics, horrified by her display of power, prayed to Zamorak to protect them. Against the protection of a god, even Arachnea could not do much; instead, she made the ground cave in under the priests, causing them to falter in their faith. With glowing eyes, she stepped down to them. 'I make you an offer,' she told them. It was a very cheap favor; they sign a simple contract and in return, are let free. Two of the three priests accepted at once, signing quickly and running as fast as their legs would carry them once they were let go. The last refused stubbornly, not submitting to anything Arachnea offered him. Impressed with his faith, yet disgusted by his refusal, Arachnea split his head, killing him instantly. Taking a long look at the corpse, she reanimated it and sent it to hunt after Rosaline, who had fled in the ensuing skirmish.

Later the same day, she offered Ptolemos a deal. She would let him go, even giving him back his magical powers! All this and more and the only thing he needed to do in return was to put on an ivory bracelet.

Ptolemos was suspicious. It was too good an offer to be true, really. Freedom, magic and power just for a bracelet? He declined. Arachnea raised an eyebrow at him. 'I would have thought you smarter than that, Ptolemos.' Without effort, she forcefully added the bracelet to his right arm. Ptolemos was enraged, but Arachnea silenced him by cuttingly making her promise true; she told him the secret of how she had taken his magical powers. This revelation surprised and enraged Ptolemos even further, and he teleported away. Arachnea, satisfied that he was wearing the bracelet and would shun nothing to remove, seated herself in her best chair to wait.

While she waited for news of what Ptolemos had done to remove her bracelet, the war against the soul-eating lich, Thorvald, ran high in Ardougne. Seeing it as her partial duty to aid in the war, Arachnea made an appearance in the southern battle, decimating zombies by the hundreds. Azulra contacted her at some point, bringing a worrying message of Ptolemos and the creation of a weapon of mahjarratbane. Arachnea agreed that it was a dangerous object, before returning to her home, where a message was waiting for her, combined with a number of coordinates.

"Bracelet 1: Hand chopped off." 'Ah!' A smile crept onto Arachnea's lips. 'I figured he might do that, although he always struck me too cowardly to injure himself for such a cause..... there must be something behind it.'

The next three days were hectic, as she prepared a special spell to regain the Bracelet and all the information stored within. Occasionally, she could get coordinates to the location, but her attempts to scry the small item were largely unsuccessful. It took seemingly forever, but eventually Arachnea reached the bracelet from afar and reclaimed it, leaving the hand of Rosaline in its stead, a hand that Azulra had given her. The bracelet was still attached to Ptolemos' hand, proof of its near indestructibility, endurance and engineering.

<p style="font-size:17px">Mahjarrat Dealings

"Mahjarratbane has no place in this world- but then, the Mahjarrat do not belong in this world either, initially. So many wrongs, so few willing or able to put them right." Arachnea and Azulra were worried. Ptolemos' mahjarratbane dagger posed a threat to what remained of the Mahjarrat race; it was an abomination in the face of the Evil Creator God. The two females reached a mutual agreement to destroy Ptolemos, along with his magical weapon. As such, an assault was soon mounted on the fort of Ptolemos' ally, Kemses, where the traitor was in hiding, probably recovering after creating his weapon.

Azulra's demonic forces led the main charge. They stormed toward the castle, being deflected by an unholy ward that kept them from entering further. Gargoyles and other flying demons sent rocks tumbling at the barrier from above, while the rest of the demon army stood strong even as Kemses' men peppered them with arrows from the battlements. Arachnea found the solution soon enough, and a single human was spotted walking toward the fort's entrance. It was a Saradominist Monk, a strange sight in between the large amount of demons writhing under the barrage of arrows. The small human appeared to see nothing of the demons, continuing toward the gate. A staff in her right hand, she raised her holy symbol to the gate with her left. A bright light shone, as the barrier trembled, cracked, and dispersed. The Monk disappeared in the rush of demons that raced into the fortress through the now wide-open doors.

A large, casualty-heavy battle ensued between the warriors of Kemses, Azulra's demons and a number of Aren Mages, called in from Aspera. Eventually, Kemses' forces were forced back and decimated, leaving the demons in possession of the keep. This was the time when Ptolemos called upon Azulra to reveal herself. After a few minutes of arguing, Azulra agreed to meet Ptolemos at his premises, bringing with her a hellhound and Arachnea, who remained silent and invisible at her side. As the two stepped through the door to Ptolemos' room, they were entangled in a binding spell.

Ptolemos greeted them with confidence, not noticing Arachnea's presence in the room. He flicked back a cloth from his bed to reveal a glowing orb. 'It will explode in thirty seconds,' he informed them, as he started gathering his magic to spirit himself away. Azulra immediately started building up a defense, while Arachnea thought faster. She waved her invisible hand, causing the exploding orb to attach itself to Ptolemos even as he cast his teleportation spell. A look of fear passed his face as he vanished from the room. Mere moments later, his aura winked out.

Arachnea was torn. Ptolemos had been a danger, a threat. The removal of his presence had been a necessity, and she did not enjoy the 'victory'. More silent than usual, she gathered her mages from Kemses' fortress and retreated back to Aspera, then to her home, where she seated herself in a chair as every bit of knowledge about Ptolemos she possessed stormed her brain, to reach the conclusion whether he had been good or bad.

Within all this, Azulra again contacted Arachnea. Arachnea was annoyed by her constant nagging and dragging, but agreed to meet her in a remote location again. Azulra seemed very uplifted after Ptolemos' "death", carelessly flaunting her rejuvenated form and casually killing a troll child that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Finally, Arachnea had enough and asked what Azulra wanted. It turned out that Azulra had obtained an amount of Bane Ore through means unknown to Arachnea and wanted her to tune it, as she had the knowledge and power to use the Lunar Magicks, which included a spell that might be usable for this purpose. Reluctantly, Arachnea agreed. She called Ptolemos' hand to herself, using it to tune the Bane Ore into a shimmering heap of Mahjarratbane. What Azulra did not know, and did not notice, was that Arachnea had subtly removed a decent portion of the Bane Ore before tuning it, to further study it later.

Azulra, happy with her tuned Mahjarratbane, claimed her half of the Ore and spirited herself away. Arachnea looked on her share with moderate contempt, before sending it to the most highly secured part of her personal weapon vault, to never be heard of again.

In the evening, Arachnea found a letter on her doorstep. Unusual, as most letters failed to find her house, even by magic. She carefully picked it up and read the message within. So much trouble to send an invitation! she thought. For indeed, that was all the letter was: and invitation to the "brave warriors" who "handsomely stood against the undead hordes." Arachnea snorted and tossed the invitation away. As she did, her eyes blanked out, showing her a glimpse of the future. Something was to happen at this party, something vitally important. Sighing resigned, Arachnea gathered a few items, before preparing herself to journey to the location of the celebration.

In the guise of Leila Kala Aren once again, she stepped up to the house housing the feast. Spirits were running high, as alcohol flowed and old friends patted each other on the back, appreciative of their great victory. Arachnea was hardly interested; she had invested near nothing in the fight against Thorvald and neither deserved nor wanted any praise for her involvement. The only thing that caught her interest was her former husband, Aranitus Aren. From a short conversation, it was clear that he was still in great turmoil about their separation. As Arachnea, not intending to stay long, was on the way out, she chanced upon the unlucky man once more. He accused her of having come merely to torment him, to which Arachnea could only answer that she never wanted to hurt him.

''I saw my path; it did no longer converge with his. With great effort, and even greater sadness, I tore myself away from him. Even now, looking at his face fills my heart, my heart of stone, with pain and sadness. -...''

Aranitus rose, shouting that he never wished to see her again. With a deep look from her onyx eyes, Arachnea waved once before his face, shimmering out of his sight. The spell had caught hold; he could not see her again unless she willed it so, or he broke the enchantment.

Knowing now what the important event of the day had been, Arachnea retired to her home, where she remained seated in her large armchair for three days, mourning what she and Aranitus had had together.

When Arachnea recovered from her temporary fit, she stood tall as ever. Back straightened out, her velvet black eyes showing nothing more of her grief than they ever had. So adorned, she transported herself to the desert, noting how the else so desolate area grew populated once more, especially with those of her kin. Near the Academy of Heroes, she found the source that had called her. It was a younger Mahjarrat, disguised as a genie. Arachnea nearly scoffed from the presumptuousness. After a number of minor insults flung in either way, the other Mahjarrat admitted her name; Lu-Kreeza. Arachnea, fearing nothing, revealed her own name. The pleasantries having been served enough, the two females chatted farther. Arachnea got to know about another Mahjarrat in the world; named Mavelus. According to the genie Mahjarrat, he was as stealthy as Dimissione, who was always infamous for his extremely recognizable and outgoing, boasting behavior: A man who held no secrets and rubbed his existence and true form into the face of everyone.

Another interesting point, quickly found and interrogated by Arachnea, was Lu-Kreeza's missing presence at the last Ritual. She had no defense, although Arachnea thought to herself how good an ally the kharadian might make.

The next day in the Jolly Boar. Arachnea, on this day in the guise of Pastalina Hellion, had occupied a table in the corner and was busily working with a large lump of clay and a glass of cider. Admittedly, the cider was mostly ignored as skilled hands caressed the clay, slowly molding it into a spherical shape. At about this time, a stranger in blue entered the inn. He conversed with Arachnea for a while, by large ignoring her handiwork on the table. To her, the thought of Lu-Kreeza's words about the one called Mavelus crept into her mind. Spurned by a particular comment from her, the stranger stormed out.

Arachnea pondered for a short while about the appearance, before returning to her clay shape. She lifted it into the air with magic, when suddenly the window in front of her exploded inward from a powerful bust of shadow magic. Outside was, grinning, the stranger in blue, who turned heel and fled into the night. "Incompetent idiot!" she shouted after him, but he was gone. Clearly, one of her Kin. However, not one of the more intelligent. Shaking her head, Arachnea commanded the fractured window back together, as she picked up her clay form. With a few muttered words, it reformed- and brought forth an incredibly lifelike head, the head of a Dragonkin. Another word, and the material accepted a leathery texture and grey color, creating a perfect replica of a dragonkin's head. Arachnea slid one of the eyelids up and almost shivered at the vicious eye glaring back.

<p style="font-size:17px">The Redemption of Arachnea

"With Evgeni, my past has caught up with me. A grave mistake, I greatly fear; loving once more is the most terrible thing I have done to myself." Where Arachnea finds the dawn of a new age with Evgeni and the death of Azulra. Meanwhile, a new Aren Civil War casts its foreshadows upon the brightening day, while Azulra's relatives enter Gielinor to disrupt the balance.

The next weeks were a busy time. Kisbeth called in on one late evening with shocking news: Guthix' resting place had been found and Sliske, the ever-evasive, had ended his existence. The Edicts of Guthix, ever-present since the God Wars, were no more. The implications were hard to comprehend. ''The gods will return. Old alliances will die, new ones evolve, and the whole world will engulfed in war....''

...... War.

Arachnea shivered slightly, even though it was a rather warm summer day. She thanked Kisbeth for the message and excused herself, with the reasoning that she had to plan her actions following the reveal.

She did not get much time to plan. The Mahjarrat were in uproar, and Arachnea met an unusually large number of them in the course of days. These meetings turned out a number of interesting things: For one, the one she had met in the Jolly Boar was called Mavelus, and he was not friendly. Another interesting thing was the rumour of Ptolemos' great plans; according to Arachnea's informants, he planned to use his Mahjarratbane dagger to overthrow Zamorak in the past.

Between these well-known dealings, something more sinister showed; A few of the Mahjarrat had begun to conspire against one of their own. Arachnea became involved as Xolotl asked her to; The plan grew, and the target was... Azulra.

''A former ally; though I never liked Azulra. Infernal, she called herself, and infernally annoying she was. Yes, I believe she deserves what is coming to her.''


 * Xolotl, Myestial and Arachnea swear a blood pact that they will kill Azulra.
 * Arachnea and Xolotl meet near Lumbridge and talk about vandalism.
 * They then proceed to the desert where a test of power will be occurring. Whoever scores the first hit, wins - and incurs the penalty from their blood oath: instant death or eternal servitude.
 * Azulra attends the duel, watching from the sideline. When Arachnea accidentally throws Xolotl at her, she joins the fight.
 * Arachnea and Xolotl turn on her, in quick order defeating her with minor penalties.
 * She meets with Evgeni. He confesses his love for her, and they do "it" all night.
 * Yurlungur approaches the Aren Tower. Arachnea watches him a while, and converses briefly with him.
 * She continues her things with Evgeni.
 * Kisbeth visits the two at the Academy of Heroes.
 * She is visited by Yoral Neraka, and agrees to teach him the Common Tounge.
 * Demelza Aren visits her and foreshadows the next Aren Civil War.
 * Ptolemos falls to the hands of his own creation, Yoral and Domino.
 * Ptolemos mysteriously reappears; When Arachnea tentatively contacts him, it turns out that he had visited his past in Freneskae. She gains a sliver of respect for him for his more mature way of being, though she still has no love for his plans.
 * Arachnea and Evgeni discuss their child's name, eventually coming to an agreement.
 * Arachnea meets Lu-Kreeza, who notices that Arachnea is pregnant. She warns her that this carries danger, and offers her help should it be needed.

A new Aren Civil War

Which will be added as the roleplay develops!

<p style="font-size:17px">My beautiful baby

"Remember me while I sleep, Beloved." Ptolemos was calling the Kin. Arachnea and Evgeni both heeded the call, Arachnea ponderous about Ptolemos' newfound resolve and inner conviction. After the initial disagreements and questions about why they had been called, the fifteen-ish mahjarrat gathered around Ptolemos to hear what he had to say. Ptolemos spoke clearly, full of conviction. The gods are fools, he preached, ''caring only for their dominance. We, who have been their valuable and loyal servants, they see only as disposable tools to an end. The only end this can bring us, is the quick and complete eradication of our entire species. What we should do, is convene on the gods and take the world for ourselves.''

Arachnea listened. She knew, of course, that Ptolemos was right, at lest in some ways. In others, he was as wrong as he always had been. She urged Evgeni to stay and listen until the preacher was done, even as other mahjarrat left in flocks from disinterest and rage. Ptolemos came to the end of his presentation. He offered the remaining mahjarrat the choice to join him, claiming it to be the only way to survive. With a sweeping gesture and an enormous discharge of magic, Ptolemos welded his hand to the skies, creating a new constellation.

<p style="font-size:17px">I dreamed a Dream....


 * Coming soon!

Current Role-Play

 * Arachnea is deeply asleep in her bed
 * Arachnea wakes up from her month-long hibernation and returns to the Academy of Heroes.
 * She makes a plan to divide her time between important issues; tending to Halcyone, keeping tabs on the God Wars and General Inventing.

Appearance
Arachnea has the ability to shapeshift at will, and she does so frequently, only rarely showing her true form. There is one distinguishing mark all her forms have, this being her eyes. After centuries of attempts, she has been proven incapable of changing the color of her eyes from black.



<p style="font-size:17px">Lich Form Currently obsolete; She is rejuvenated.

In her lich form, Arachnea stands at 7'0, with a permanent grin etched into her featured. Her eyes are, at the first glance, black. Should you examine them for a period of time, however, they appear an indefinable color that seems to shimmer out of view as soon as you try to focus on it, making it extremely hard to look her into the eyes. She wears a set of deep forest green robes that are not only decently armored but allow great freedom of movement.

<p style="font-size:17px">Rejuvenated Rejuvenated, Arachnea will still stand at 7'0. She will appear taller than in her unrejuvenated lich form, thanks to her renewed magical might straightening up from the confidence it gives. Her octarine hair will show up wonderfully in this form.

<p style="font-size:17px">Aranea Aranea was the alias Arachnea used the first time she joined the Vox Ex Affectum. In this form, she appeared to be an aged elf female clad in white robes. She wielded a bouquet of flowers, or a cane (in her later days of this form). Aranea had gray/white hair and stands at 5'6.

<p style="font-size:17px">Leila Kala Aren Leila Kala Aren, Aren Archmage of Aspera, is Arachnea's current Aren alias. This form stands at 5'5, with the usual Aren black hair, although her eyes remain black as coal, dulled by the transformation. Leila is frequently met near the entrance of Aspera, sitting in her wide armchair, reading an unspecified book, which is assumed to contain Arachnea's Notes. She wears golden glasses of the type that we expect old teachers to.

<p style="font-size:17px">Gallery

Skills and Abilities
<p style="font-size:17px">Magic ''Arachnea is well known and feared for her proficiency in shadow magic. She has gained a decent understanding of the Shadow Realm, although Arachnea recollects that the place stinks, lacks color and frankly, is barely useful in honest combat, only of real use in some very complicated events.''

"Healing magic, my dears, only really becomes a help once you fully and completely understand the body. If you ever gain such understanding, biology is no longer your limit."

- Arachnea ''Much less known is Arachnea's immense healing power. Mahjarrat are known for their destructive abilities, not their reconstructive. Within her knowledge of healing magic lies at least part of her secret to age-wise immortality. It also influences her ability to shapeshift, as well as her physical combat abilities.''

''In most, if not all, other schools of magic, possibly excepting Ikra Magic and the Blitzen Vekon technique, Arachnea has trained vigorously and become a dangerous combatant. Were she restricted to any specific school or element of magic, she would lose little lethality.''

''The magic that Arachnea favors most in many cases, is the use of mind magic to prevent loss of memory. Said application of magic grants her the ability to learn at a far steeper rate than most students, while it preserves all her previous knowledge for future use.''

''Within combat, Arachnea's use of personal gravity manipulation endangers people. Coupled with her unusually agile fighting style, she may suddenly attack you while standing upright on a wall or even from the ceiling.''

<p style="font-size:17px">Melee ''Magic frequently refusing to work, or working wrongly, in Freneskrae, Arachnea learned ways to defend herself without the use of magic. Within melee combat, she has learned the use of a number of weapons to varying degrees of proficiency.''

''Her greatest danger lies in agility. Uncommon for Mahjarrat, who may be viewed as "Tanks" - Able to withstand heavy blows as well as dealing them out. The armor of these people is often a nuisance and reduces their speed and freedom of movement. Arachnea is not a fan of armor; She believes that the hits she cannot deflect with her combative abilities are hits she deserves and should learn from.''

''Following up on her agile fighting style, it is natural that she developed a certain understanding of martial arts. A technique used by her mostly for evasion, but if she really decides to hit someone, said person may expect to be taking at least several steps back while clutching their stomach.''

''Swords are things most Mahjarrat have come into contact with, one way or another. Arachnea never favored this way of fighting, especially after the Battles of Blasted Mountain. She did accept that it would become necessary eventually, though, and learned to handle the sharp things.''

<p style="font-size:17px">Other

''Arachnea is a born diplomat. Her way of speaking is in almost all cases completely noncommittal, and perfectly neutral. She does not take sides, she delegates.'' ''Arachnea is quite a skilled Artisan. Though the use of magic helps her shape materials into any desired form, she frequently devotes time and effort to creating objects of use and beauty.''
 * Diplomacy
 * Arts and Crafts

<p style="font-size:17px">Weaknesses ''Arachnea is not good with anything that involves any kind of bow. Even when throwing a stone, she is not very proficient. She does not like ranged combat, she cannot aim well with this form of ranged combat, and she is absolutely clear on that magic is a much better form of this.'' Arachnea can be tricked somewhat easily; She does not have a knack for seeing through intricate plots. ''Arachnea is often bored by long periods of inactivity, even though she has lots to do. This can lead to strange decisions or actions, which in turn may lead to potentially dangerous situations.''
 * Ranged combat
 * Gullibility
 * Boredom

<p style="font-size:17px">Languages spoken Ranging from best to worst in descending order. Arachnea has a natural affinity for languages and enjoys learning them. With the use of interpretive magic, Arachnea is able to understand most other languages at least semifluently.
 * Old Freneskraen (Master)
 * Freneskraen (Master)
 * Ancients (Master)
 * Old gnomish (Good)
 * Common (Good)
 * Gnomish (Good)
 * Ghost (Good)
 * Elven (Good)
 * Fairy (Good)
 * Kharadian (Good)
 * Eastern (Semifluent)
 * Dwarven (Semifluent)
 * Monkey (Semifluent)

<p style="font-size:17px">Languages written Ranging again from best to worst in descending order. Arachnea is not particularly fond of writing, as she finds that written information falls into the wrong hands far too easily. She prefers the relative ease of the spoken word, combined with the knowledge that a word on your lips is by far more versatile than a word in a book.
 * Old Freneskraen (Master)
 * Freneskraen (Good)
 * Ancients (Good)
 * Common (Good)
 * Gnomish (Good)
 * Old gnomish (Good)
 * Elven (Semifluent)
 * Kharadian (Semifluent)
 * Eastern (Semifluent)
 * Dwarven (Can read)
 * Fairy (Can read)

Personality
''At the very moment, Arachnea is unusually emotional, easily aggravated and slightly aggressive. She has taken to a distinct dislike of strong spices and very sweet foods, her reaction to these ranging from flight to destruction, depending on her momentary mood.''

''Arachnea, after Eons upon Eons of living and learning, has become someone who will neither trust anyone, nor believe that anyone could possibly be stupid enough to trust her. She still frequently points out the lack of faith others have in her, noting that she is completely trustworthy and would not harm a fly unless it gained her anything. (At this point it is worth noting that "Gaining her something" still can translate to "Toying with for fun")''

''She is extremely hard to annoy, and rarely manages to stay at 180 for long, cooling down her rage very quickly. Some would say that this is even more dangerous, as she is likely to start plotting your demise after becoming calm. ''

If she does get into a rage, your best bet is often to hide under a rock, preferably quite far away.

''Arachnea has come to enjoy the simple things in life, like food, drink and friends, although the latter is lacking quite a bit due to her inability to trust fellow Mahjarrat. She is well versed in good wines and absolutely hates anyone in love; thanks to her own rather unlucky ventures into said area.''

''Despite all, she is still loyal to Zaros. In him, she sees a force to follow that will grant her fulfillment of what she sees as her purpose in life: to fight worthy opponents. She is not a fanatic, but she would give up her life for Zaros if it saved his so future Mahjarrat may carry on their purpose, led by this worthy God.''

While Zaros is away, of course, and with no seriously worthy opponents in sight, she spends her time enjoying life.

The Curse
Arachnea's Curse, derived from her torture and the magical overload by the Harri Ezarri.

(Coming soon!)

Important Quotes
Commonly used whenever imparts to her something she believes worthy of the phrase or something she did not know before

Note the double meaning!

Anyone who flaunts their powers or does an overly dramatic entrance.

A truth to live by.

"SILENCE WHEN YOU SPEAK TO ME!!"

- Arachnea You should listen to this sound advice, even though it is given rather infrequently.

Relatives
Arachnea's family is quite numerous, partially due to Rochnir.

Yashimina [Mother, deceased] - Arachnea learned about half of what she knows from her. She died in the third battle against an enemy tribe of mahjarrat.

Brontoneo [Father, deceased] - Died along with his wife in the third battle against the Harri Ezarri.

Ny'kal [Uncle, deceased] - Generally known to be the best melee fighter of the coven. He survived the battles of Blasted Mountain, but was lost not much later in a struggle to protect what remained of his family against a dangerous Freneskraen beast.

Yet'nit [Aunt, deceased] - One of the few to survive the Harri Ezarri. She was moderately confused after Ny'kal's death and never completely regained her former strenght. Arachnea last saw her when she fled the Harri Ezarri's lair together with Amyina and Wyd.

Xevoy [Brother, deceased] - Died tragically in a successful attempt to save what was left of his family, by sacrificing himself.

Dyluneris [Husband, deceased] - Always wanted a mahjarrat son, and spoiled him horribly when he got one, eventually leading to the death of most of the family.

Aranitus Aren [Husband] - What more can be said? He hates her.

Z'Tubra [Daughter, deceased] - Died, along with most other family, in the third battle against the Harri Ezarri. Arachnea married her to Gran'ina, a setup that proved to be good, but fatal as they stepped into their graves holding hands.

Gran'ina [Son-in-law, deceased] - Z'Tubra's husband. A much simpler man than Rochnir, enjoying the simple pleasures and battles of Freneskrae.

Aylya [Daughter, deceased] - Stillborn, and one of the saddest memories in Arachnea's life.

Rochnir [Son, deceased] - Arachnea's only son. He was widely regarded to be one of the most spoilt children around, and also well known for sleeping around every chance he got.

Mukina [Daughter-in-law, deceased] - Rochnir's unlucky wife. She was partially responsible for the war that broke out between Arachnea's family and the Harri Ezarri.

Unnamed Mahjarrat - One of Rochnir's many conquests, more or less willingly. She was the actual cause for the war that destroyed Arachnea's family, and the third casualty claimed by the war.

Amyina [Granddaughter (Z'Tubra), deceased] - Arachnea's dearest grandchild, a formidable battlemage and one of the five to survive the war with the Harri Ezarri. She escaped their enemy's lair along with Wyd and Yet'nit. Beyond that, what happened to her is as of yet unclear.

Arweyl [Granddaughter (Z'Tubra), deceased] - Known for very little else than being the first one to die in the war between Arachnea's family and the Harri Ezarri.

Akriney [Grandson (Z'Tubra), deceased] - A great healer, even for her relatively young age. She was kept out of the battles, but a sneak attack from behind in the final clash claimed her life along with many others.

Rad'on [Grandson (Rochnir), deceased] - A particularly bloodthirsty boy who cared less about defending himself than dealing out damage. He perished in the second battle between Arachnea's family and the Harri Ezarri.

Krr'nay [Grandson (Rochnir), deceased] - A surprising backthrow in the family, and a rather dreamy wizard. In battle, his defences were near unsurmountable, making him one of the last to fall in the final battle.

Wyd [Granddaughter (Rochnir), deceased] - One of the very few to survive the war with the Harri Ezarri, and Rochnir's only "legal" child. She escaped the Harri Ezarri's camp along with Yet'nit and Amyina, leaving Arachnea behind.

Pkn'ad [Grandson (Rochnir), deceased] - He whose birth sparked the war. Nobody really knows what became of him, but it is assumed he was murdered sometime during the second battle.

Related Pages

 * Arachnea's Realm - The home of Arachnea.
 * Arachnea's Spellbook - Containing every spell she trusts to leave in a book.
 * Raising Fire Incarnate - One of the many books Arachnea has written herself.
 * Arachnea's Notes - Knowledge and opinion on Mahjarrat, according to her.
 * Arachnea's Collections - The vault of things she has gathered or taken off defeated opponents.
 * /A Thesis on Magic/ - Groundbreaking theories as to how magic works.
 * /The tale of Blasted Mountain/ - A poem of Arachnea's origins

Trivia

 * Arachnea suffers from, ironically, a light case of Arachnophobia.
 * The idea to the name "Arachnea" originated taken from Alexader Wolkov's "Der gelbe Nebel", supposed to be a sequel to the famous Wizard of Oz. (The original is Arachna)
 * Arachne, Arachnea's almost-namesake, was a greek weaver whom Athena turned into a spider.
 * Despite her name's close association with spiders, Arachnea neither favors the arthropods nor spinning metaphorical webs of intrigues.
 * Arachnea's current complementary selection of names and titles is Arachnea Luzern Achillea Anchusa Nocturne Vitex Fraxinelle Leontodon Fuchsia Lilac alba Lilium D'Umbrea Feu Aren Great Gigh Mistress of Shadow Magick, Overlord Teacher of the Ancient Magicks, Archmage of Enchantments, Honorary member of the Feu Vigilantis, Member of the Aren family, Grand Glyphiere of the Mahjarrat and Aren Archmage, Re-Founder of Aspera.
 * Arachnea is among the oldest known Mahjarrat walking Gielinor today. The time-counting of Freneskae is part mystery, hence why there is no closer information about her complete age.