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Into the Spider's Web
SS blindfoldedemissarygaz
Type Story Event
Linked to Saviour's Rocks

Into the Spider's Web is a Sunless Sea Story Event based on the events at Saviour's Rocks.

Trigger conditions[ | ]

This is triggered after delivering 3 x Tomb-Colonists in Preparing for the Festival of Silk.

Overview[ | ]

Once you start Into the Spider's Web, you can't return to your boat until you complete The Web of Stone, either by using up all the actions (see below) or choosing to Burn the Tree of Seasons.

Into the Spider's Web provides some colour and background to Saviour's Rocks. There's a chance to earn a handful of Fragments and reduce a little Terror, so explore all the options - there's very little downside. After making it over the bridge of webs, you'll find yourself at the The Web of Stone, where your story choice is made. If you choose to Burn the Tree of Seasons, you'll head down the path of Scourge of Spiders. If, instead, you choose to leave it, you'll be summoned to A council of sorrow and head down the Stooge of Spiders path, which will ultimately lead you to The Wreck of the Nocturne and a pretty cool fight.

Interactions[ | ]

Into The Spider's Web...[ | ]

This is triggered after delivering 3 x Tomb-Colonists in Preparing for the Festival of Silk. The status of Caught in the webs of Saviour's Rocks remains at "A Supplier to Spiders" throughout.

Sitting next to the Emissary of Spiders, you travel through a wasteland of webs and the glimmering eyes of their spinners.

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Speak with the Emissary of Spiders

He seems a reasonable fellow. How did he come to be here, speaking for a council of sorrow-spiders?

Failed event Terror can be hard to manage down here. Grab this free reduction.
Life is a but a web, a many stranded thing of beauty

He gently bids rather than drives the elderly horse to a faster walk. He speaks of following the perfect geometry of a spider's web to its natural conclusion, and of the day his mind was ensnared by one as effortlessly as it might have caught a fly.

The way he tells it, it almost makes sense. Except of course, for the part about allowing sorrow-spiders to harvest his eyes to make more of their kin.

Successful event
Life is a but a web, a many stranded thing of beauty

He gently bids rather than drives the elderly horse to a faster walk. He speaks of following the perfect geometry of a spider's web to its natural conclusion, and of the day his mind was ensnared by one as effortlessly as it might have caught a fly.

"I confess however, it did still take a while to be talked into the harvesting," he adds, gesturing to his empty eye sockets. He chuckles to himself. "Ah, the ignorance of youth. Oh my..."

The Great Crossing

Between the Nativity and the grand spider-council of Saviour's Rocks is a bridge of webs, coated in thick sands to allow passage between islands.

"You may wish to avert your gaze for a moment."

The Emissary of Spiders carefully undoes his blindfold, revealing two hollow, scabbed eyes. Unbidden, the sorrow-spider on his shoulder crawls across his face, stabbing one leg into each with a squelch. Just for a moment, the Emissary's face flickers with the euphoria of a new disciple of prisoner's honey, but only for as long as it takes to shiver. His normal, polite countenance returns as the cart rolls onto the webbed bridge, taking you high above the black zee.

Take in the surroundings

This whole island is littered with ruins. Do they look familiar?

Failed event
An ancient mystery

There remains a visible craft to these ruins and a definite symbolism that persists even now. Their meanings however would require an expert scholar, and it is unlikely that any could be enticed here for any reward.

Successful event
A page removed from history

There are no obvious signs with which to date or identify these ruins, though a few details spark memories of Third City legends from less than trustworthy stories. They are however far too faded and broken to draw any real conclusions from.

The Web Of Stone

The cart approaches a long ruined citadel, little but a maze of foundations still recording a time before it became the demesne of the sorrow-spiders.

End of the road

The clicking of sorrow-spiders is nigh-intolerable by the time the cart pulls up by the Web of Stone. The Emissary of Spiders pauses for a moment to carefully detach the juvenile and replaces his blindfold. Absently, he touches and tastes a drop of lingering blood, savouring the sting of poison.

"You will be summoned when the irascible masters are ready. Until then, please, do enjoy our hospitality." He pauses, turns, licking his finger clean. "I do however urge you to to mind your manners in this place. And of course, to be most careful where you choose to sit, hmm?"

The Web of Stone[ | ]

SS spidertreegaz

The Web of Stone

The only way into this section is from Into the Spider's Web.

The choices below mostly present a chance to learn more about the Spiders with little downside to exploring various options. The Spying requires increasingly higher Veils checks. The Walk Into My Parlour, Said... acts as a timer of sorts - everything you do increases it by 1, so you effectively get 10 actions before you are summoned to A council of sorrow and will have no choice but to leave. There's also a chance to end the Saviour's Rocks story by attempting to Burn the Tree of Seasons.

The last remnants of an ancient citadel, now home to the spider-council of Saviour's Rocks. Eyeless Weavers and Widows busy themselves tending to the spiders and their Tree of Seasons, showing neither interest or concern at your presence. You will be Summoned.

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Summoned by the spider-council

It is time. You have been called.

The Tree of Seasons runs black with sorrow

From the eyes of the statue pours a poisonous conclave, a thousand lesser sorrow-spiders perching on every rock, brick and outcropping. The Emissary of Spiders rises from his meditation at the base, his robe festooned with the most senior members of the council that they might whisper their will in his ear. They speak, of course. Most eloquently, in fact. That does not mean they will lower themselves to speak to you. Not directly.

"Excellent. Excellent." The Emissary of Spiders bows slightly. "My mephitic masters bid you welcome. I believe we have business to discuss."

You only get 10 actions here before this is basically forced - Choose wisely.
Attempt to rest until summoned

Amongst an army of poisonous spiders and deranged cultists? Still not as rough as the flophouses of Spite.

An uneasy rest

There is little to be had. Every time you close your eyes for more than a moment, you feel the hairs of a sorrow-spider on your skin or an exploratory rub of a mandible against your eyes. But time slowly passes even so, and eventually, time is what it is.

Will relieve some terror, and skip all the options below. Probably not the best choice, except possibly as action 9.
Hospitality of the sorrow-spiders

A polite Widow indicates her fellow disciples' willingness for you to take a meal with them.

A feast of gods.

The sorrow-spiders often resort to cannibalism when food is low. It is on occasion the Weavers and Widows' privilege to share that bounty, that they may be a greater part of the whole. At least the poison has been removed, and the legs are surprisingly effective when pressed into duty as impromptu toothpicks.

Not a terrible choice. Terror might be high right now. Only available as the 6th action.
Rare event (29%)
Where is the horse that pulled our cart?

This is one of many questions for which an answer can serve no good. The meat is not especially tender, but it is at least filling.

A new initiate

A naked young man lies on a stone platform, his shaking hands squeezed tight by his brothers and sisters to be.

An eye for an I, said the spider to the fly.

There is no chanting and no singing. There is just a low-pitched noise from the cultists' throats as a sorrow-spider climbs up the initiate's body. He quivers as it reaches his face, drips of excited poison dripping into his lips. Strong, caring, but above all else, firm fingers peel back his eyelids and hold them wide.

A scream. A mouth silenced with bundled cloth. An embrace. A note raised high and loud, until the Tree of Seasons itself seems to shake in the cacophony.

A Widow gently kisses his new brother on the forehead, wrapping a silk blindfold around his hollow eyes.

Only available as the 8th action
Behold the Tree of Seasons

The heart of the spider-council. Few have laid eyes upon it, and most of those have had said eyes ritually removed to birth new sorrow-spiders shortly afterwards.

Pride of the sorrow-spiders

Branches of webs hang in their thousands from the colossal statue of some being as far from an angel as an angel from a man. The spider-council has made its home in the chipped out eyes, surrounded by its lessers and a precious collection of ensnared unfortunates. Hundreds of these captives dangle in silk cocoons, the sane and still-living tended to just enough to serve their full measure of both use and suffering.

The increase in the Caught in the webs of Saviour's Rocks here is just to track if you're ready to burn the tree down. This path won't affect the story, unless you want to burn the tree. It's automatically set to 30 when you're summoned.
Further investigate the Tree of Seasons

The sorrow-spiders have taken many prisoners.

There is no escape but death

The captives have long since ceased moaning, though some still quiver as sorrow-spiders crawl across their bodies, milking their secrets. A Venturing Cartographer who travelled too far east. A Lady of Means, from a voyage eighteen years prior. The Captain of the wrecked ship Nocturne. A broken Devil, old enough to have forgotten the smell of brimstone. Their eyes long since harvested to birth the sorrow-spiders' progeny, they hang immobile in darkness, dreaming of oblivion.

Burn the Tree of Seasons

The Weavers and Widows have torches to warm them during their work. Now you will use them to put an end to it! D__n the consequences!

Time slows to a crystal moment

Wait. Are you making a terrible mistake?

Difficult Iron Challenge, you have a chance to refuse, but will cost you a Walk Into My Parlour, Said... whatever you choose
Spy on the Weavers and Widows

To spy on the blind is no challenge, but the glares of the sorrow-spiders all around make it clear that while here, you will never not be under observation.

A family of red and green

The cultists politely ignore you as you watch them at work; the Weavers in red, tending the webs, the Widows in green, caring for their masters by reducing grisly foodstuffs to paste and feeding the more senior members of the spider-council by hand.

If there is any reason for these assignments, it is impossible to tell. Certainly, there is an assortment of male Widows and female Weavers amongst the cultists' ranks.Perhaps the sorrow-spiders have as much interest in human gender as in spider-gender.

This whole spying chain is just for flavour (but oh my, what delicious flavour). Success or Failure does not affect any other part of the story. But spying on spiders who are spider spies themselves is fun. I think I spied 'er.
Spying: On the grand spider-council

A group of Weavers and Widows is quietly discussing something. You might be able to listen in.

Failed event Will unlock only after you spy on something else. Need to check if there's a benefit to increasing the Spying value down the line in this quest. Loop back and update this! Also, failure will still cost an "action", limiting your choices.
The cultists go quiet

Did they hear your footsteps? Did something else alert them? Either way, you will hear nothing.

Rare failed event (36%)
The sorrow-spiders hiss angrily

They do not appreciate outsiders trying to steal their secrets. They guard them ferociously.

Successful event
Before the harvest, an orchard must grow.

They speak of a chaos brought under control by a spider-council formed from the blinded eye of a great zee-beast. They speak of the strained partnership it maintains with those who could so easily be enslaved. They speak of a Tree of Epochs, to be birthed in forbidden light, its branches stretching through the Neath to become the perfect geometry of sorrow.

Spying: On a deal with a...?

A group of Weavers and Widows is quietly discussing something. You might be able to listen in.

Failed event Need to have spied on the Weavers and Widows, AND the Spider Council (Successfully). Failure here still costs an "action".
The cultists go quiet

Did they hear your footsteps? Did something else alert them? Either way, you will hear nothing.

Rare failed event (36%)
The sorrow-spiders hiss angrily

They do not appreciate outsiders trying to steal their secrets. They guard them ferociously.

Successful event
A secret shared is no secret at all.

They speak of a century of stolen secrets, and an almost as long regretted promise made to a great zee-beast. They speak of its greed for knowledge, for which it willingly blinded another creature with the light of the stars. They speak of secrets, eagerly grasped, reluctantly relinquished. They speak of the curse of curiosity. In hushed tones, they speak of a trap, yet to be baited.

Spying: On the Tree of Ages

A group of Weavers and Widows is quietly discussing something. You might be able to listen in.

Failed event Need to have spied on the all the previous things successfully, and the difficulty kicks up a notch. Failure here still costs an "action".
The cultists go quiet

Did they hear your footsteps? Did something else alert them? Either way, you will hear nothing.

Rare failed event (36%)
The sorrow-spiders hiss angrily

They do not appreciate outsiders trying to steal their secrets. They guard them ferociously.

Successful event
The council that sits, the council that sails.

They speak of a ship sent forth from Saviour's Rocks to catch secrets in its webs. They speak of its triumph, stealing a star-blinded eye of the deep. They speak of a greater eye still; unseen, unseeing, finally attainable.

Spying: On the subject of eyes

A group of Weavers and Widows is quietly discussing something. You might be able to listen in.

Failed event Need to have spied on the all the previous things successfully, and the difficulty kicks up a notch. Failure here still costs an "action".
The cultists go quiet

Did they hear your footsteps? Did something else alert them? Either way, you will hear nothing.

Rare failed event (36%)
The sorrow-spiders hiss angrily

They do not appreciate outsiders trying to steal their secrets. They guard them ferociously.

Successful event
But what is it that truly births the masters of sorrow? A thing of the jelly... or the soul?

They speak of the secret origins of councils; of apples blinded by Correspondence becoming cores. They speak of the grand council that is, and the greater council that is to come; the Tree of Epochs that will turn joy into sorrow and from that sorrow hatch eschaton.

Burn the Tree of Seasons[ | ]

SS flamesgaz

Burn the Tree of Seasons

Doing this will cost an action, even if you decide against it, so only choose it if you're certain it's path you want to take. If you take this path, it'll ruin Saviour's Rocks, allowing you to become a Scourge of Spiders. Note that you'll take 1 or 2 Menaces: Wounds so if you have one or more, you might die. You've been warned.

A deep breath. A moment to collect your thoughts. Even if you escape alive, it will not be without cost.

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
On second thoughts...

Even if it went well, you might not survive the reprisal.

None A Weaver smiles as you warm yourself

She suspects nothing. None of them do. There's probably still time. Time enough not to rush.

Lose an action for no reason at all
Yes! Burn the Tree of Seasons!

The tree, the spider-council, the island itself if you can!

    SS ironsmall Iron challenge (247 for 100%)
Failed event Whatever the outcome, this will irreversibly set you down the path of Becoming a Scourge of Spiders and return you to Saviour's Rocks
For the fallen! For those who-

Tearing a torch from the wall, you throw it deep into the Tree of Seasons. The ancient webs catch fire instantly, spreading quickly as the screams of the captives join those of the Weavers and Widows and the burning spider-council in a cacophony of pain and anger and fury and gratitude.

The sorrow-spiders surge as one, tearing your flesh into ribbons as you flail helplessly towards the cliffside in a cloak of legs and fangs. The black zee embraces you, salting the wounds until unconsciousness beckons. If you're lucky, you'll be fished out by a friendly face. For now, there is only the memory of a nightmare not yet escaped.

Successful event
For the fallen! For those who will not be taken!

Tearing a torch from the wall, you throw it deep into the Tree of Seasons. The ancient webs catch fire instantly, spreading quickly as the screams of the captives join those of the Weavers and Widows and the burning spider-council in a cacophony of pain and anger and fury and gratitude.

The sorrow-spiders surge as one, but while this is their domain, the zee is yours and it is only one crazed dive from the walls away. The rush of air explodes into an ice-cold blackness as the water tries to pull you down, but you fight it; fight the cuts and the bites and the poison surging through your system as you swim for your life. Finally, the shadows are still enough to risk dragging yourself ashore. As you collapse, you see the ship... not far, not far... close enough for the crew to send rescue... barely a heartbeat before all goes black.

Saviour's Rocks story events
Into the Spider's WebBurn the Tree of SeasonsA council of sorrowThe Secret of the NocturneA council of joyThe Final Voyage of the Nocturne
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