Hollow Eve Festival 432/Vision List

Leading up to and for the duration of the Hollow Eve Festival 432 event; these visions were spontaneously experienced by characters of all guilds.

Festival Opening Vision Sequence

The following set of visions were seen by all characters in the hour or so leading up to the opening of the festival:

• As the sun descends further towards the horizon, the sky seems darker than it should.
• The ground trembles strongly, nearly knocking you over! A great, rhythmic thudding follows. In the distance, you catch sight of a glistening, bulbous spider towering over the treetops, moving westward towards Forfedhdar. Something is wrong with the way it moves -- it stumbles and lurches to the side. The awkard movement continues until the beast is out of sight.

Hollow Eve 432 Visions

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see an endless desert with a singular line of camels slowly meandering across a dune ridge. The hot sun burns above, and a heat shimmer distorts the surroundings, but it is clear that the camels are making their way to a distant oasis. A small grove of palm and date trees enclose a spring, and the clear waters burble, fed from a reservoir deep beneath the sands. Suddenly, a half a dozen bulges in the sand rise and begin streaming towards the camels, leaving a pocked trail. The camels spook and begin to run, when a massive vortex of sand opens beneath them, articulated legs reaching up and pulling the beasts downward.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a lush apple orchard, varieties sweeping down a long line of planted rows, the rich scent of blossoms carried on the gentle breeze. A farmhand lugs a pruning saw and a bushel of dead wood and examines the trees as he walks the field, occasionally stopping to trim a branch. He pauses a moment and squints, cocking his head as a shuddering rumble can be heard nearby, causing the trees to sway. All goes silent for a long moment, and one of the trees begins to creak, then splinter. Suddenly, it explodes in a flurry of insect legs, dirt, and shattered wood. In seconds, there is nothing but a vacant pit in the ground, and the stunned farmhand blinks in shock and begins to run.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you find yourself on a tranquil forest path. Birds chirp, and small creatures flit about merrily. A sudden shadow momentarily blots out the midday sun, and the forest noises abruptly cease. All life has hidden itself, save for you. You feel a drop of moisture on your head and look up to see the massive chelicerae of an enormous spider descending rapidly through the forest canopy directly towards you. You raise your arms to defend yourself from the predator, and a shrill shriek escapes your throat. A moment before the creature is upon you, your vision blurs, and you find yourself back where you were previously, albeit still shrieking and covering your face with your arms.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a dusty caravan pulled by a team of massive oxen. The reinforced steel wheels creak under a heavy burden, and as the wind catches the canvas tarp, you glimpse enormous slabs of metal -- lumium, glaes, kertig, haralun, silver, and brass -- the incredible weight borne by thick oak beams and steel struts. The team makes steady but slow progress, gradually working along an open road. Glancing ahead, one of the caravan guards scrutinizes the area, when suddenly, the road ahead explodes with articulated legs, and a tide of enormous spiders washes over the caravan.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you feel bile rise in your stomach as your vision blurs and the ground beneath you rocks. Suddenly, twin sets of massive legs shoot up through the earth in front of you as the ground buckles and falls. You are swept up in the turbulence and look down to see a gaping maw and two gigantic palps reaching for you, flanked by eight soulless eyes. Just as the abomination is about to swallow you, the vision fades and you find yourself alone, with no hint of the gigantic arachnid anywhere in sight.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you find yourself standing before an enormous wall of stone, and for a moment, time blurs. The bricks are freshly quarried and masoned, and they are ancient and crumbling, infiltrated by ivy. A stream of people have touched the wall as they passed, soldiers dying as boiling oil is poured from the ramparts, ivy climbing and dying with the seasons, and the ever constant rains and sun and snow. You forget, the walls remain, the city grows and changes, and the city is founded and nothing more than a patch of cleared dirt. Suddenly the ebb and flow of the scene freezes. A shuddering rumble can be heard in the distance, the walls begin to crack and fall, and people begin to scream.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you sense oppressive weight of stone, the damp darkness of a narrow, cramped hallway, and blink in the dust of a fresh mineshaft. In the distance, a flickering light approaches as a lone miner holding a single candle and heavy pick trudges towards you. Pausing a moment and setting down the candle, the miner readies the pickaxe to probe the bare stone wall. With a sharp intake of breath, the pickaxe swings down. The miner stays the blow, jerking up in surprise, listening to something in the distance. A shuddering rumble causes the ground to flow like water for a moment, dust and debris falling. Eyes wide, the miner drops the pickaxe and begins to run as the vision fades.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a herd of wild horses winds its way across an expansive steppe, grazing on the thin grass as it makes slow progress across the rough terrain. Stopping by a stream, a handful of foals begin to play and chase one another, scampering with youthful awkwardness and exuberance. Far above, a single hawk glides on thermals in sweeping, slow circles. A few of the horses scratch themselves against a large boulder, while others lounge in the cool sands of the streambank, flanks shuddering and tails swishing to fend off biting flies. A shuddering rumble can be heard in the distance, and moments later, the stream surges with a flood of debris and murky waters. The horses whinny and begin to flee, and the boulder abruptly shifts and splits in half.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a woman lies asleep on a short dock, a wide-brimmed hat covering her face, her foot resting on a short, upright fishing pole with a long line cast out into the still pond. A gentle breeze teases the water and pushes the small balsa float along, stirring the summer trees and thick grass, and the strangely idyllic scene uneventfully continues for several long minutes. As your attention starts to wander, a shuddering rumble can be heard in the distance, and a flock of birds erupts from the trees and fly away, angrily chirping at one another. The pond ripples, and the woman stirs, sitting abruptly in confusion. With a sudden jerk, the fishing pole snaps in half, vanishing below the waters without a trace.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a robed woman with a short cropped hair bend over the outer ring of a brilliant sand mandala a dozen feet across, immaculately arrayed geometric and floral patterns sweeping across the floor. As she gently rubs a ribbed metal tube, a minute stream of emerald green grains flow across an ocean of color, an explosion of petals and starbursts encapsulated within perfectly straight lines and angles. Pausing a moment, she sets her work aside and stands to stretch, shaking her hands and rolling her neck. She examines her work a moment, and reaches for the tube to resume, when a shuddering rumble can be heard in the distance, and the mandala blurs and scatters. She frowns, and looks to the distance.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see the three moons hanging low and full in the western sky. The stars burn brightly above, familiar constellations dimly pulsing in sequence. As the moons sink towards the horizon, Yavash leading, and seems to shine with exceptional brilliance. Suddenly, you see a small spider skitter across the face of Xibar, and descending from a crystalline strand of silk, quickly wraps Yavash in a tight web. Climbing back up the line, the spider leaps to Katamba, and working back and forth, quickly binds Xibar and Katamba by a thick rope of webbing. The moons slow, and freeze in place, and the constellations above brighten wildly, and the spider extends its spinnarette and sprays fine silk upward, which billowing in unseen winds, drag the spider into the darkness.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see an burning library filled with endless rows of webbed tomes and scrolls. Still wearing a dull brown robe, the remains of a scholar lie against one wall, hand still clutching a brass missive tube sealed with bright red wax. A slow skittering can be heard, and the long and articulated legs of a large spider approaches. Plucking the tube from the dead hand, the spider carefully opens and unrolls the contents. Eight eyes track across the scrolls text, and an old woman begins to laugh.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see the massive mechanical spider slowly making its way across mountainous terrain. It stumbles, one of the legs giving out underfoot, but recovers by grasping a broad hillock and pausing a moment. A flock of doves approaches in the distance, and the spider crouches and begins to spin a wide web, blanketing the land. Setting its body down on folded legs, the spider begins to pull strands around itself in a large spherical cocoon. The doves land on the cocoon and begin crooning, and after some time, the cocoon begins to contract.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a school of brilliantly colored fish swimming along a shallow reef. Some of the fish are infected with a mottled fungus, and trail brown and green strands behind them as they sluggishly try and keep pace with their schoolmates. One of the sick fish slows a moment near a rocky outcropping, and suddenly, a large spider dives from above, a small silken web holding a layer of air to its abdomen. The spider grabs the unsuspecting fish, wraps thick strands of silk around its fins, and expanding the webbed sack of air, ascends to the surface as it begins to feed.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see an old woman sitting on a stump watching the sun set over a broad valley. A cool breeze stirs the grass, carrying the distant scent of pine and sea salt, and a flock of geese noisily soars by, a seamless wedge chasing the dwindling daylight. She begins to cough, thick and wet, unable to clear her lungs or catch her breath. After a long effort, she expectorates a glob of blood and phlegm on the ground, and takes a few steadying breaths. Finally, she stands, withdraws a vial of naphtha from her cloak, and pours the fluid over her head, casting the empty container aside. Grasping a flint and steel, she gazes into the thin sliver of the sun as it flickers below the horizon, and strikes a spark.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a massive tapestry hung from the upper levels of a towering cathedral, thick woven fabric and delicate embroidery depicting a complex scene. Among the multitude of images, you make out armored knights clashing on an open field running red with blood, a potter shaping a lump of clay into a living child holding a dove, a protea blossom unfolding to reveal a skeleton, a tall bonfire burning over the ocean, and a man playing a flute for a mesmerized bear. Shining through brilliant stained glass windows, multihued sunbeams creep across the floor of the cathedral. Reaching the bottom of the tapestry, the light sets the fabric ablaze, and soon flames are licking up its length, until there is nothing left but ash and cinder drifting to the ground.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a vast, angry ocean. A circular gap in the clouds hazily drifts overhead, slowly losing its definition as the winds surge and billow upward. Everything freezes, and time begins to flow in reverse. A massive black plume gathers in the circle of clouds, and begins to contract, collapsing and drawing down to the ocean surface, as a vast shuddering shockwave races inward, a pressure front of null color, bleaching the sky and rending the ocean, the air pungent with ozone and salt. As the plume contracts, it recedes into a column of water, crowned with crackling lightning and flotsam and jetsam. Falling, falling, the column diminishes to a mountain, then a hill, then a burbling lump of roiling steam and fire beneath the waters surface. From the ocean's depths, a brilliant flash, then calm waters and a gentle sea breeze.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see the husk of a massive oak in the center of an expansive field. Stripped of leaf and vine, the branches are wound in thick spidersilk, dangling with cocooned prey, some occasionally twitching or pushing against the restraint. Periodic bursts of movement too fast to follow betray the presence of a massive spider skittering along the tree trunk and tending to the foliage of webbing. Grabbing what appears to be a very recently paralyzed deer, the spider secretes digestive fluid into the cocoon, and after waiting a moment, begins to consume the animal. When there is nothing left but bones and hooves, the spider crawls back to the tree trunk. Suddenly, the spider twitches, and vomits crimson blood, and begin fastidiously grooming itself.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a large locust perched on a stalk of corn, chewing a leaf ravenously. The scene expands, and an entire field of corn appears decimated by the pests, devouring whole stalks and taking flight to continue their feast. As the swarm progresses downwind, it approaches a copse of trees, and as the first few insects begin landing on the branches and seeking leaves to begin eating, the trees shudder and shake as if in pain. Suddenly, the ground explodes, and a river of spiders bursts from hidden burrows, rapidly climbing the trees and devouring the locusts. Rapidly weaving webs around the perimeter of the foliage, the spiders wait, and the vision fades.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a sick man lying in bed, struggling for breath. He reaches for a glass of water on the nightstand but lacks the strength and begins coughing. As his body shakes, the glass rattles across the nightstand and falls to the ground, shattering. The man slowly stops coughing, and the puddle quickly evaporates. The vision fades.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you feel yourself soaring on mountain thermals over an expansive steppe. You catch a glimpse of a farmstead, a single figure holding a hoe gazing to the north with a look of amusement. He glances up at you, and the vision abruptly ends.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see massive arcing blades of grass and towering flowers blooming overhead. A grasshopper staggers through the undergrowth, moving erratically. Continually grooming its limbs, body and head, the grasshopper bends and twists in an effort to scrape an unseen agent off its thorax. Shuddering in agony, the grasshopper rolls its head to the side and mightily leaps to an overhanging branch, grasping it firmly and clamping down with its mandibles. With a final twitch, the grasshopper stills, tightening its grip on the branch in death. Suddenly, the grasshopper's wings snap outward and freeze in place, and its abdomen begins to swell, a white puffy mass extending outward, bursting from between joints. A single long tendril extends from the nape of the grasshopper's neck, and with a ripple of color, fades to a dull black and dries to a husk.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you see a pristine field of snow. A single green stalk pushes through the frost, a small bud slowly unfurling revealing blood-red petals. A cold wind begins to blow, and ice crystals gradually accumulate on the flower, encasing it entirely. The wind intensifies, and the flower is entombed in ice. The vision fades.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you feel a burning, twisting sensation in your stomach. You begin to gag, feeling something sharp coming up your throat, and vomit a jagged lump of broken metal into your hand, covered in blood and phlegm. As you stare at it, it begins to grow red hot, and melts between your fingers. The vision fades.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Date and Time: Unknown
Your senses reel with chaotic energies, and you find yourself floating underwater, surrounded in cool darkness. Your skin begins to burn, the water bubbles with the intensity of the heat, and you open your mouth to scream. Instead of a stream of bubbles and sound, a brilliant luminescent cone of light shines from your mouth, illuminating a pair of enormous cat-slit eyes before you. The vision fades.
Possible Subjects: Hollow Eve Festival 432	Repeat: ?

Spider Closure Event Lead In

• A strange shudder runs through the area, and fellow shoppers and clerks all glance around wide-eyed a long moment. After some time, everything returns to normal, and amid nervous laughter, the hustle and bustle of the crowd returns.

• A low groan reverberates through the area, causing fellow shoppers and clerks to squint in confusion at the source-less noise. After a moment, the sound recedes, and with indifferent shrugs, the hustle and bustle of the crowd returns.

• A series of clicks and snaps can be heard in the distance, growing louder and then trailing off, causing fellow shoppers and clerks to cock their heads as they try and follow the sound. After a moment, everyone gives up and the hustle and bustle of the crowd returns.

• With a loud hiss, a noxious green gas flows along the ground, filling the area with the scent of rotting meat and rust. Gagging and holding their noses, fellow shoppers and clerks begin fanning the gas, causing it to disperse after a few moments. With exaggerated coughs and nervous glances, the hustle and bustle of the crowd returns.

• A din of skittering can be heard beneath the floor, an army of legs rushing through the area. After a moment, the sound ceases, and fellow shoppers and clerks look at one another nervously a moment before returning to the normal hustle and bustle of the crowd.

• With a deafening crack, the surrounding surfaces split and rend as fractures radiate along the floor, walls, and ceiling. Oozing epidermal layers pulsate and bleed pale blue, which quickly coagulates and forms thick black scabs that plug the weeping cracks. Glancing around, you see other shoppers and clerks staring wide eyed at one another, nervously returning to the hustle and bustle of crowd after a long awkward moment.

• With a whirl of chaotic energies, you feel an immense pressure behind your eyes, and your vision stretches madly as you see a multitude of perspectives before you. Your insides fill with fire, and you suppress the urge to vomit, seeing the cold waters of the ocean to the distant east, a promise of safety and respite. You lunge forward, and suddenly find yourself back in your own body, surrounded by confused shoppers and clerks all staring wide eyed at one another, nervously giggling a moment before returning to the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

• With a loud crash, a nearby clerk screams and dives headfirst out of his shop. Scrambling to his feet, he points wildly at the abandoned shop, screaming something about spiderlings, though nothing appears out of the ordinary. After a moment, he dusts himself off and nervously returns to his wares.

• A wide eyed shop keep stumbles by, covered head-to-toe in a blueish goo and reeking of decay. She pauses a moment and looks around, before spitting out a mouthful of gunk and shouting, "What in the...?!" A fellow merchant approaches with a clean towel and an expression of shock, and together they walk away muttering about the strange events.

• A seam in the wall suddenly shifts, exposing pink flesh beneath! The gap fills with a thick oily substance, which hardens, leaving behind a perfectly smooth surface.

• In a nearby wall, a perfect circle is outlined in rippling metal, and suddenly irises open, the open metallic orifice revealing a tunnel undulating with peristaltic movement. A mangled pile of twisted metal appears lodged a few dozen feet down the tunnel, tightly crushed, and suddenly, a wave of ooze comes roaring down around the impaction. Before the ooze can spill into the area, the orifice contracts, leaving the wall intact.

The Spider's Death Throes Sheds the Festival

• Everything tilts wildly causing loud crashes from various shops and an impressive chain of cursing from the shop owners. Along with patrons and wares you go careening across the area, slamming into various surfaces along the way! With a steady rumble, the ground slowly returns to level. You regain your footing and see several other shoppers angrily mumbling as they help one another to their feet.

• Everything tilts wildly causing loud crashes from various shops and an impressive din of beasts of burden yowling in terror. Along with patrons and wares you go careening across the area, slamming into various surfaces along the way! With a steady rumble, the ground slowly returns to level. You regain your footing and see several other shoppers angrily mumbling as they help one another to their feet, chasing down escaped and panicking pack mules.

• Everything tilts wildly causing loud crashes from various shops, an appalling end to an endless medley of beautiful wares. Along with patrons and shopkeeps you go careening across the area, slamming into various surfaces along the way! With a steady rumble, the ground slowly returns to level. You regain your footing and see several other shoppers angrily mumbling as they help one another to their feet, some consoling already weeping merchants cradling shattered objects.

• Everything tilts wildly causing loud crashes from various shops, and several patrons dive to fixed surfaces, clinging to one another for safety! With a steady rumble, the ground slowly returns to level. You regain your footing and see several other people angrily mumbling as they help one another to their feet, swearing about the spider and disruptions to their shopping.

• Everything tilts wildly causing loud crashes from various shops, and several patrons roll their eyes as they link arms and crouch, some grasping fixed surfaces. The ground heaves and lurches for a long moment, and with a steady rumble, slowly returns to level. You regain your footing and see several other people angrily mumbling as they help one another to their feet, swearing about the times and how Kurmin better get things under control.

• Everything tilts wildly causing loud crashes from various shops, and several patrons groan with a dramatic, "Again?!", rushing to grab one another and fixed surfaces. The ground heaves and lurches for a long moment, and with a steady rumble, slowly returns to level. You regain your footing and see several other people start shouting in anger as they help one another to their feet, yelling about Kurmin and his idiotic contraption!

• Suddenly a powerful vibration rips through the area and the floor drops several feet! You land hard on your back, the air knocked from your lungs and surrounded by scattered people and several shops worth of wares strewn everywhere! The sound of people groaning in pain and confusion begins to fill the area as people find their bearings.

• A long, low groan echoes through the area and everyone glances around in fear! The ground shudders slightly, but then the loud hiss of venting gas can be heard in the distance, while the ground stills and the groan recedes. The crowd of shoppers and shop keeps alike glance around in fear, though all is quiet.

• Suddenly, a deafening series of snaps and cracks fill the air! The ground, walls, and ceiling splinters and shatters, revealing thick gaps of oozing flesh and machinery beneath! Everything violently heaves and shakes, twisting and tossing as utter chaos reigns, causing you to lose all track of up or down! Tossed about, you slam into various surfaces, people, and wares, and all you can do is scream!

• Eventually, the spiderquake begins to calm, and you are able catch your breath and look around. Other shoppers and merchants are all scattered around, bearing scrapes and bruises, though none seriously wounded. Wares are scattered across the area. Investigating the suppurating, oil leaking wounds on the surfaces all around, everyone seems to be in shock. Tangled pistons and pulleys can be seen between the cracks.

• As the thick gaps begin to fill with oil, it appears to clot and heal. Another shudder begins to build, though gradually quiets and recedes. A cry goes out through the shop grounds, and one by one, merchant's crate whatever remaining wares they can, load them onto beasts of burden, and begin to shutter their storefronts! Amidst the mass exodus of terrified people, animals, and wares, you can make out the sound of skittering legs in the floor, walls, and ceiling.

• You hear a throaty, malicious laughter, and feel the pressure of a cruel gaze from all around you. The air feels charged with ozone, flickering sparks crackling from exposed metallic surfaces and tickling at your flesh. You glance around in confusion, and the laughter intensifies, rising to a mad cackle, without source and dripping with cruelty.

• The laughter suddenly ceases and an old woman snarls, "Oh yes, little fool, you remain. Shall we watch the final weft and marvel at what has become?" You feel the twin prick of fangs at the nape of your neck, and your body goes limp. You catch fleeting glimpses of a spiderling, which rapidly binds you in a cocoon of spidersilk!

• Work complete, the spiderling begins to drag you along with little regard for surfaces or corners as you bump and pivot along, eventually you find yourself dumped unceremoniously in the clearing. The spiderling scurries over your body, chewing at the cocoon, and you find yourself surrounded by a crowd of people lying limp!

• With a wild cackle, an old woman laughs with an utterly maniacal lack of control, and you can feel chaotic energies begin to build all around you!

• A low groan of twisting metal cuts through the din of the area. Venting steam geysers in thick plumes across the spider's body and at various joints. An old woman's laughter can be heard in the distance and the spider slowly begins to rise. You are able to make out the small figure of a Gnome with too many legs falling from a hatch beneath the spider's head, landing in a disheveled heap and slowly half-staggering, half-skittering to his feet. The spider shudders to a jerking stop and stands perfectly still as the geysers of steam diminish to a soft whistle, trailing off to a gentle hiss. All is silent.

• The spider suddenly rears up and lurches forward! Lifting one massive leg, a shower of gears, girders, struts and fraying cables fall to the ground, revealing thick tomiek chitin. The leg slams down onto the Gnome, then rises again, revealing nothing more than a thin paste of gore. The leg swings out into the forest beyond your view and the spider shifts and twists amidst the scream of tortured metal. The ground explodes with debris and legs, and a swarm of spiderlings skitter up the legs of the spider, tearing and rending the remaining mechanical components, crawling between gaps in the carapace and forcefully yanking out embedded parts.

• With a prolonged body shake starting at the spider's head and rolling down its thorax, abdomen, and finally the spinneret, hundreds of people and beasts of burden are flung from various openings and platforms. Some appear to be on fire, and others are wrestling with, or being eaten by spiderlings! The spider turns its head and slams its fangs into the side of its abdomen and clasps an old woman with very long and curly hair a long moment, before the fangs scissor shut, cutting the screaming woman in half. Throwing its head back, the spider tosses her in the air, and she vanishes into its open maw.

• A luminous coruscating rainbowed light begins to shine from the spider's eyes, and shaking its head -- causing a deluge of rivets, plates, and pistons to rain down -- the spider begins to examine its legs and torso. As it sweeps its illuminating gaze across its body, the remaining exposed metal glows red hot and begins to sag and drip! With another shuddering lurch forward, the spider lifts a second massive leg, dribbling molten steel down its tomiek carapace as it positions itself to face northeast.

• Rocking its abdomen side to side, the spider breaks free of the metal framework and walkways lining its massive body, revealing an army of spiderlings clinging to its carapace. Chewing through the thick metal plating, they scurry along the spider's body, continuing their labor and revealing the living spider beneath.

• The spider begins to clean itself, running its fangs along its body and scraping off remaining metal components. Suddenly staggering, one of the spider's legs gives out, bending with a screech of metal, and the spider stumbles precipitously before catching its weight. Lowering its head to the failing leg, the spider clamps down with powerful chelicerae and rips the lower half of its leg clean off! Amidst a geyser of oil, blood, and rent pistons and pulleys, it throws the wreckage far to the distant east where it sails over the horizon.

• An old woman begins to laugh. The spider appears less solid for a long moment and then the strange effect passes. One of the spider's eyes bursts in a shower of glass and evaporating light! Bucking in pain, the spider rubs its head against a foreleg, cleaning debris, and smearing oil and blood across its face. The spiderlings swarm to the wounded eye and quickly covers it in spidersilk, and the spider shakes as it vomits an acidic goo, melting a large swath of the forest. A great sucking woosh builds in intensity as the spiracles begin to pull in air, the upper sternum expanding as the spider begins to breathe.

• Taking an enormous step to the northeast, the spider pivots and tilts its head, almost curiously, scanning the horizon. The spiderlings continue their efforts, ripping metal works from the spider's body and spinning webbing over the oozing wounds, as oil and blood run in thick rivulets down the spider's legs, dripping from its abdomen. Taking a second step, the spider stretches itself tall, straining to get a better look in the distance. Metal screeches in protest, shedding sparks as the spider lifts its body higher and higher, and suddenly, with a soft rush of air, green and purple flames blossom along the spider's underside, scattering the spiderlings!

• The spider does not seem to notice the expanding flames, taking another step to the northeast. In an effort to avoid the flames, the spiderlings skitter down the spider's legs or extend long trails of fine silk and leap into the air, drifting away to safety. The spider takes another step to the northeast and the flames continue to spread, now covering most of its body and legs. With a start, the spider slaps at the flames with alternating legs, though it only succeeds in spreading the flames further. You hear an old woman begin to scream and with a bellowing roar, the spider begins to writhe and shake, and rapidly galloping on its seven remaining legs, picking up speed as it begins to race to the east. Flames lick the sky, outlining the spider's body, and for a brief moment, you are able to make out a pair of eyes with vertical slit pupils staring down in the haze.

• Passing over the horizon, the spider continues northeast, heading towards Acenamacra!

End of Festival & the Death of the Spider

This is what people in Acenamacra Village saw after the initial disgorge from the spider:

• In the distant west, a plume of smoke diffuses across the sky. Suddenly cresting a hillock, a gigantic spider can be seen galloping across the marsh, writhing in green and purple chemical flames! It is limping along quickly despite a severed leg, and casts a luminous rainbow light from its remaining eyes! The spider's missing leg sprays a mixture of blood and oil, dripping flames pouring from the open wound, casting flaming globs as the spider swings the stump back and forth. As each glob hits the marsh, it spreads into a thin film of faintly smoking fluid, staining the foliage and waters with pitch.
• The spider roars in pain, and continues to the east, stomping across the meadow. Leaving behind a trail of smoking oval footprints, the spider continues towards the beachside cliff, gaining in speed as it catches sight of the ocean. As the flames engulf the spider's spinneret, a long line of silk sprays forth, which immediately ignites and casts a ribbon of flame, billowing in the air before breaking apart and falling to the ground. The spider's carapace cracks and sizzles, oozing wounds further fueling the dancing fires.
• Without slowing, the spider heedlessly races over the cliff, tumbling with a ground shaking tangle of flames and legs! Three more legs bend backwards with a shattering of tomiek and screaming of metal, and uttering a pitiful series of wet, agonized clicks, the spider begins to desperately pull itself along the wide beach, striving for the waters. Pulling its remaining legs beneath its flaming body, the spider leaps forward, casting itself a hundred yards offshore, the ocean steaming and roiling as the spider lowers itself beneath the waves, the cold waters soothing its burnt body and limbs.
• Stumbling to its feet, the spider rolls its burnt body side to side, water cascading down to the turbulent waves. For a long moment, the spider appears calm, eventually bending down to drink from the ocean. Waves surge against the beach, reeking of burnt oil and bearing scattered blobs of goo, and the spider's abdomen expands and contracts, shedding melted metal bits into the sea.
• Scraping its abdomen with long fangs, causing more warped metal and blasted tomiek scaling off into the ocean, the spider seems to heave, struggling to fill its lungs. A loud *thud* can be heard from the thorax, and the spider's legs flail a moment, causing it to stagger. Bending its head slightly, it sucks in a massive spout of water, steam erupting from scalding hot chelicerae.
• Regaining its footing, the spider stretches its fangs and legs, heat visibly streaming from its carapace in waves, distorting the air. Regions of the spider's abdomen begin to glow red hot, the tomiek sparking white as scale sloughs off, flakes of crackling metal raining to the sea below. Dropping its body to the ocean to try and cool itself, the spider vanishes for a moment in a cloud of steam.
• Suddenly jerking up, the spider begins to quiver, and a series of explosions can be heard from inside its body. As large portions of the thorax and abdomen burst outward, the spider bucks and begins to race further out to sea. The waters quickly deepen, and with one final mighty leap, the spider bounds towards the horizon, sinking beneath the waves. The ocean churns angrily, and a series of brilliant flashes illuminate the depths as blood and oil blobs erupt on the surface leaving a strange sheen.
• The water begins to bubble and roil as a slowly growing sphere of churning steam and fire begins to rise, growing, growing until it explodes upward and outward, a raging column of water crowned with crackling lightning, chunks of tomiek, and twisted metal parts within an expanding pressure front of null color. The colorless energy blossoms with blinding intensity, and everything goes dark.

• It is with great sadness that we report the apparent passing of Kurmin and his Spider. Those who attended the final HE at the Spider, be sure to CLAIM your prize if you weren't present!

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