Guest
10/21/2018
|
Alright, this has been a lore gripe of mine ever since I got reasonably well acquainted with the lore between finishing Sunless Seas and getting through the majority of the storylets in Fallen London. There are many supernatural beings that a Londoner can choose to truck with: fingerkings, rubbery men, lorn flukes, drownies, the people of Anthe, the Pentecost apes, the Uttershroom, the Banded Prince, the Principals of Coral, the Masters, the Bazaar, Mr Eaten, Nook, Salt, Stone, Storm, actual devils- the list goes on. But why, why, *WHY* in pluperfect hell would *anyone* *anywhere* *ever* willingly have dealings with the sorrow spiders?
First and foremost, it doesn't seem like they have anything to offer. The most extraordinary/interesting thing they're capable of doing (apart from their grotesque means of reproduction and *possibly* traveling through mirrors) is amalgamating into ever larger and more horrifying councils- which isn't exactly much of a bargaining chip to offer unless you have *profoundly* disturbing sexual proclivities.
Secondly, even assuming they have anything meaningful to offer you, it's almost certainly going to be the case that any of the beings I mentioned above can offer you significantly more.
Thirdly, they're the most overtly menacing and grotesque creatures in the entire neath- how would anyone even get the idea to try and strike a bargain with them? There's literally a whole section of the city's infrastructure dedicated to exterminating them because they're (rightly) viewed as dangerous pests.
And finally, the clincher: ...they literally feed off of betrayal. Their driving motivation in life is to seek out new beings to enter into bargains with and subsequently double cross. At least devils & fingerkings will fulfill the letter of an agreement- even if they pervert its intent or go out of their way to find a loophole in it. But the spiders have nothing to offer you *and won't make good on any offers anyways*. So shy of sheer stupidity or arachnophilia... why???
edited by Isaac Gates on 10/21/2018
|
|
|
+4
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Guest
10/21/2018
|
Teaspoon wrote:
Some people are fond of spiders!
No accounting for taste, you know.
Normal spiders? Sure, they're a free form of pest control that stay out of your way 90% of the time. *Sorrow Spiders* though? They're like an amalgamation of every horrifying urban legend about bugs and arachnids come to life.
|
|
|
+3
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
The Curious Watcher
Posts: 263
10/21/2018
|
They come from the Far Wilderness, so they have much to offer in the ways of knowledge and power. The Blind Bruiser sold his eye off for knowledge, and the Borough Council help the spiders for London's freedom. Besides, the Neath is covered in darkness and if the Liberation happens, sight will be mostly useless anyway.
It's a case-by-case basis for me. Losing an eye isn't so bad if you can create your own personal spider council and curry favor with some of the powers that be.
--
The Thirteenth Master of the Bazaar:
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/The%20Thirteenth%20Master%20of%20the%20Bazaar
The Silent Vake Hunter: GONE NORTH
The Ravenous Wanderer:
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/The%20Ravenous%20Wanderer
The Melancholic End-Bringer:
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/The%20Melancholic%20End-Bringer
The Lethal Nightmare:
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/The%20Lethal%20Nightmare
|
|
|
+3
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Guest
10/21/2018
|
The Curious Watcher wrote:
They come from the Far Wilderness, so they have much to offer in the ways of knowledge and power. The Blind Bruiser sold his eye off for knowledge, and the Borough Council help the spiders for London's freedom. Besides, the Neath is covered in darkness and if the Liberation happens, sight will be mostly useless anyway.
It's a case-by-case basis for me. Losing an eye isn't so bad if you can create your own personal spider council and curry favor with some of the powers that be.
A third of all the beings I mentioned above come from the high wilderness, and they don't want your eyes in exchange for knowledge- and I repeat point four one more time just to drive it home: Sorrow Spiders are literally the most treacherous creatures in existence. See Saviour's Rocks for details.
(Also in Sunless Skies the liberation actually happened and sight is still as useful as its ever been.)
edited by Isaac Gates on 10/21/2018
|
|
|
+2
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Catherine Raymond
Posts: 2518
10/21/2018
|
Isaac Gates wrote:
Alright, this has been a lore gripe of mine ever since I got reasonably well acquainted with the lore between finishing Sunless Seas and getting through the majority of the storylets in Fallen London. There are many supernatural beings that a Londoner can choose to truck with: fingerkings, rubbery men, lorn flukes, drownies, the people of Anthe, the Pentecost apes, the Uttershroom, the Banded Prince, the Principals of Coral, the Masters, the Bazaar, Mr Eaten, Nook, Salt, Stone, Storm, actual devils- the list goes on. But why, why, *WHY* in pluperfect hell would *anyone* *anywhere* *ever* willingly have dealings with the sorrow spiders?
First and foremost, it doesn't seem like they have anything to offer. The most extraordinary/interesting thing they're capable of doing (apart from their grotesque means of reproduction and *possibly* traveling through mirrors) is amalgamating into ever larger and more horrifying councils- which isn't exactly much of a bargaining chip to offer unless you have *profoundly* disturbing sexual proclivities.
Secondly, even assuming they have anything meaningful to offer you, it's almost certainly going to be the case that any of the beings I mentioned above can offer you significantly more.
Thirdly, they're the most overtly menacing and grotesque creatures in the entire neath- how would anyone even get the idea to try and strike a bargain with them? There's literally a whole section of the city's infrastructure dedicated to exterminating them because they're (rightly) viewed as dangerous pests.
And finally, the clincher: ...they literally feed off of betrayal. Their driving motivation in life is to seek out new beings to enter into bargains with and subsequently double cross. At least devils & fingerkings will fulfill the letter of an agreement- even if they pervert its intent or go out of their way to find a loophole in it. But the spiders have nothing to offer you *and won't make good on any offers anyways*. So shy of sheer stupidity or arachnophilia... why???
edited by Isaac Gates on 10/21/2018
It depends on what you consider "dealings." The mostly-tamed Spiders you can buy at the Bazaar are great snacks for your Plant, for example.
--
Cathy Raymond
http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/cathyr19355
Catherine Raymond aka Mrs. Rykar Malkus http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/Catherine%20Raymond (Gone NORTH)
|
|
|
+2
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Greg M
Posts: 197
10/21/2018
|
Ha! I agree, though I still have a soft spot for them.
For at least one Ambition (Nemesis!), you don't have a choice: you have to communicate with Sorrow-Spiders. But you do end up killing most of them.,
--
Profile: GregM.
http://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/GregM
Available for any non-harmful social interactions.
|
|
|
+2
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Guest
10/21/2018
|
Catherine Raymond wrote:
It depends on what you consider "dealings." The mostly-tamed Spiders you can buy at the Bazaar are great snacks for your Plant, for example.
I'm referring to the silk clad expert, and the apparent worshipers at the observatory, and the poor bastards living at Nativity who willingly give up their eyes.
(That said I do keep one reasonably tame sorrow spider named "Wiggles" just to use as a neathy cock fighting rooster.)
edited by Isaac Gates on 10/21/2018
|
|
|
+2
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Six Handed Merchant
Posts: 141
10/25/2018
|
Not all sorrow-spiders, or even councils, are evil backstabbers. You just need to be more open-minded, like the Duchess:
[spoiler]From this year's Hallowmas:You return hours later to find your Spider perched on an antimacassar sipping tea from a saucer. It occasionally licks at a sugar cube. The Duchess smiles smugly. "It merely needed to be more broad thinking. There are a great many possibilities for a spider with ambition." The spider chitters agreeably. [/spoiler]
#NotAllCouncils
.
edited by Six Handed Merchant on 10/25/2018
--
The Six Handed Merchant: If it's the truth you seek, The Six Handed Merchant is the gentlemen-, er, lady-, er, detective you need! Just pay no heed to that Eradication Officer tailing Six: that poor fellow is simply out of his mind!
Six's Mantlepiece (I am available for roleplaying and SAs. My schedule is pretty full, so please PM me first to work out the details.)
|
|
|
+2
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Teaspoon
Posts: 866
10/21/2018
|
Some people are fond of spiders!
No accounting for taste, you know.
--
Truth lies at the bottom of a well.
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Alt%20Ern
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Jolanda Swan
Posts: 1783
10/21/2018
|
I share the bafflement, but I think it is implied that the people who choose to deal with them are not exactly right in the head.
On the other hand, just because the player meets every oddity under the Neath doesn't mean the NPCs had the same opportunities, or know everything about the spiders' motives and predilections.
Still. Not right in the head is the best explanation.
--
Lover of all things beautiful, secret admirer of ugly truths, fond of the Parabola Sun... and always delighted to role play.
http://fallenlondon.com/profile/Jolanda%20Swan
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Ixc
Posts: 365
10/21/2018
|
There’s a rhyme about the Tree of Ages that says they trade their eyes for sight, so presumably the spider gives them unusual senses or knowledge? They do act as guides to some of the blind men in the Observatory.
--
Pleased to meet you. Ixc, spy and detective. Inventor of the Correspondence Cannon.
Are you a Paramount Presence? Record your name here. For posterity, of course.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
elderfleur
Posts: 77
10/21/2018
|
I still believe that the main factor is loneliness: Some Neathy folk just like the support structure and regular social contact a cult can offer them. I imagine most initiates work with friendly people for quite a while before meeting any spiders, and at that point they don't really want to ruin a good thing by suggesting they maybe wouldn't like to have a spider hatch in their eye.
--
—Elderfleur
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Guest
10/22/2018
|
Related: I missed the last season of exceptional stories and am presently waiting on them to release.
Is it true that the last one in the set "Required Repairs" gives you the option of giving up one of your eyes to the creepy crawlies?
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Azothi
Posts: 586
10/22/2018
|
Isaac Gates wrote:
Is it true that the last one in the set "Required Repairs" gives you the option of giving up one of your eyes to the creepy crawlies? Yes.
--
Azoth I, the Emissary of Cardinals - A Paramount Presence (not currently accepting new Proteges)
Away to where the Chain cannot bind us.
 Hesperidean.
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
PSGarak
Posts: 834
10/22/2018
|
Isaac Gates wrote:
Related: I missed the last season of exceptional stories and am presently waiting on them to release.
Is it true that the last one in the set "Required Repairs" gives you the option of giving up one of your eyes to the creepy crawlies?
You don't actually lose the eye. Technically.
Check my mantlepiece.
--
http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/PSGarak
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Guest
10/22/2018
|
Good lord *why*? I mean it's fantastic and creepy and an interesting but... in character though? The offer better have been *fantastic*. XD
(Wouldn't you *see* the little things scuttling around inside your vitreous jelly?)
edited by Isaac Gates on 10/22/2018
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Six Handed Merchant
Posts: 141
10/23/2018
|
Sorrow-spiders don't just live to betray people. Canon says they also like to collect and hoard secrets.
Also, sorrow-spiders share a wonderfully egalitarian sense of community. During famines, sorrow-spiders will give up their own flesh to ensure the survival of their community, and even share that bounty with their human allies.
Also, it's not fair to paint an entire species with one brushstroke. Just like how not all clay men are alike (or even men, for that matter), not all sorrow-spiders are eye-eating betrayal mongers. Some just want to enjoy the more physical pleasures of London while fighting crime in their spare time....
.
edited by Six Handed Merchant on 10/23/2018
--
The Six Handed Merchant: If it's the truth you seek, The Six Handed Merchant is the gentlemen-, er, lady-, er, detective you need! Just pay no heed to that Eradication Officer tailing Six: that poor fellow is simply out of his mind!
Six's Mantlepiece (I am available for roleplaying and SAs. My schedule is pretty full, so please PM me first to work out the details.)
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Guest
10/23/2018
|
Six Handed Merchant wrote:
Sorrow-spiders don't just live to betray people. Canon says they also like to collect and hoard secrets.
Also, sorrow-spiders share a wonderfully egalitarian sense of community. During famines, sorrow-spiders will give up their own flesh to ensure the survival of their community, and even share that bounty with their human allies.
Also, it's not fair to paint an entire species with one brushstroke. Just like how not all clay men are alike (or even men, for that matter), not all sorrow-spiders are eye-eating betrayal mongers. Some just want to enjoy the more physical pleasures of London while fighting crime in their spare time....
edited by Six Handed Merchant on 10/23/2018
If there's *anything* that it's fair to judge someone by, it's their species. Because that's the chief and principle thing that determines something's nature. It's not bigotry to assume a mosquito will bite you, nor is it unfair to assume that a creature whose primary motivations are *backstabbing and secret keeping* will screw you over. Again, ask all those people stitched together into a tower of human misery at Savior's Rocks for details.
Y'know that parable about the scorpion and the frog? The neathy equivalent would be about a sorrow spider and a society lady.
edited by Isaac Gates on 10/23/2018
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Azothi
Posts: 586
10/23/2018
|
Horror and wonder are two sides of the same coin. That's the nature of the Neath.
--
Azoth I, the Emissary of Cardinals - A Paramount Presence (not currently accepting new Proteges)
Away to where the Chain cannot bind us.
Hesperidean.
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|
Guest
10/23/2018
|
Don't the judgements hate them just as much as every other faction? I seem to recall that the end of the Tomb of the Silken Thread expedition implied as much.
|
|
|
+1
mark as "accepted answer"
link
|