Spider Island Assault: A Manifesto

Manflesh

Artisan
Chicago Staff
Attention Kings and Queens, Empires and Clans, Tribes, and Commonfolk all around,

I am a humble adventurer asking for your ear. We adventurers are choosing to embark on a task of dire risk and it is important for you to know why.

There is an island off the coast of the Northlunds that is full of giant deadly spiders, ruled over by horrific powerful humanoid spider creatures called driders. This ‘Spider Island’ itself is devoid of any sustaining life outside of the countless giant spiders and driders that occupy it. These driders wield powerful magics that enable them to send their obedient enlarged spider swarms to any part of Prademar that they desire, be it land, air, or sea. No plane of existence is safe from their thousand eyes. Nothing is out of reach of their deadly webs.

As an adventurer, I have engaged with dragons and griffins that remember the earliest of time, questioned a greater fae infused with all the world’s knowledge, and sought the wisest tribe leaders. None of them know why this dangerous place should exist or how these creatures are able to sustain themselves.

This island is a threat that adventurers can no longer turn a blind eye towards.

This coming market, we will be gathering all of our resources, skills, and bravery to assault Spider Island. We have called in favors from our comrades in arms, allied nations, and creatures of power from all stretches of the world. In less than one week, these armadas, mythical creatures, and soldiers from Terna will join others from around the entire mist sphere. We will be launching, what we believe, will be the largest single assault in the history of the Prademar people.

That term, Prademar people, should carry more weight during this time in our shared history. Gone now are the days that tyrants rule these lands. Gone now are the sleepless nights that undead lords stalk our innocent. Gone now are the poisonous enslavers that had infected our nations. We can no longer be consumed by our differences anymore. We are now united in our common interests for peace and prosperity for all high races and nations across this world.

And we are almost there.

For all abled people and nations, please join us adventurers in this fight. We will be fighting, one more time, for our freedom, but not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution -- but from annihilation, by creatures that view us solely as their next meal. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist, to prosper.

When the adventurers have pierced the island and unleashed their detonated blast that can be seen miles high unto its hive of villainy, the Prademar people will assemble and rise up in one voice to tell these monsters, no more! Please, leaders of Prademar! Join us at that time!


Sam Gemclipper
 
And my skillet!

~Housemother Adlao
 
This is a call for genocide. This is hate speech. This is bigotry.

Driders may not be our allies, but they are people. They deserve to be treated as people.

Never before have I seen Wayside adventurers treat people like this. Never before has such madness prevailed.

Either the Guildmaster's mind is being controlled by an entity sworn to do harm to Prademar; or his heart and Spirit have succumbed to despair and sorrow from the years of violence intrinsic to adventuring. These are the words of a person bent on destruction and death, not one focused on peace and freedom.

I cannot condone this pogrom and the University will not affiliate with any organization that supports this genocide.

I will attend to protect my family and offer asylum to any one on the island who wish sanctuary.

I beseech you all to consider if this hate is what you stand for.


Dramthin Hartsboon
Prademar University
Keeper of the Tainted Grove
 
Uh, Driders and Spiders are NOT people! Seriously, have you ever met them, or just goin' on your imagination thinkin' that anythin' that can talk is a force of good? They are murderin', evil monsters with no redeemin' features, and the adventurers are a hundred percent justified in removin' 'em from the world!

~ Silp
 
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Dryders and some spiders are spirited and sapient beings. They speak and although we do not know their goals or motivations, they have in the past retaliated against us for prior attacks on Spider Island.

Perhaps they are enslaved or somehow subjugated by the Dusk Mother. We simply do not know. If we as a community judged an entity based only on thier race we would not have the Rock Fists Orcs, Dark Dwarves, the Twelve Mark Kobolds or various goblin tribes as allies. It would behoove us as a Nation of Good to try parlay.

Lady FallingStar
 
Gooooooood luck!

~ Silp
 
Lady Fallingstar,

If you recall, Duke Bluewater became a Lord because he wiped out 90% of the Dark Dwarves with an Order Overlord and the town vs Goren and Ironcrest. Kendra had a contest to collect the most beards off their corpses.

The Dark Dwarves are great allies now, the Spiders on Spider island have wanted nothing but to kill me and others.

Binks
 
Commodore Binks,

You are absolutely correct.

I would rather try and be rebuffed than not try at all. The spiders have been nothing but, adversaries. I am not sure if it is their nature or if they are under a mind control effect similar to Kaz'zik's effects on Echinda and the Ternian Empire. We simply do not know.

I am of the firm belief that the Dusk Mother has exerted some kind of control over the inhabitants of Spider Island. Spider Clan is renowned for the ability to tame wild spiders. I have seen animals and beasts freed from menageries and no longer be threats.

Do I have faith that we can accomplish our goal with no bloodshed? No. I think we should try.

Lady FallingStar
 
Regardless of the plan, just let me know when to start the bombardment from the sea.

If someone wants to parlay, just make sure it isnt done while we’ve started the assult.

Binks
 
Lady Fallingstar and Dramthin,

I see where you are coming from. I, too, was once in a spot where I saw the rallying for the murder of a man that was desperately in need of help, not slaughter. I wept at his death as other spit on his corpse. But from that I experience, I learned a valuable lesson. If you truly believe there is a better way, you need to show others with actions, not words, otherwise they will simply do things their own way.

This leads me to my point. I understand your hesitations, I would like to point out that I asked and offered to see this side of things and both of you fell silent. You knew this was the plan for months now and neither of you have come forward with plans or you own research. You are complaining about a plan but are not offering any other solutions besides your disapproval. Your words are not enough. You can not sit back and complain about something while those that put their sweat, blood, and tears into this have research and recon tell us that you are wrong and that destroying the Dusk Mother and her brood is our only solution. If you truly believe that you are correct, put your words to action and show us that this isn't the correct solution instead of being negative to those that are simply doing what they believe is correct.

Respectfully,
Lorelei
 
Scholar Beinae,


The Lady FallingStar has actively pursued roads to parlay, she has reached out to the Courts, attempted communications with the Island itself, pursued magical roads of conversation. In the few scant weeks since the Guildmaster announced his intentions and scouted this course into bloody madness, there has not been time to do much else.

What would you have me do to stop it? Should I attack Guildmaster Gemclipper? Perhaps I should burn the royal navy? Strike down any that oppose me? Use the strength of my training and the fury in my heart to physically enforce my will on those who are too weak to stop me? Is that your solution?

The people of Spider Island have acted as a sovereign people have a right to act: they have defended themselves when attacked, they have worked to support their own culture and traditions, they have sought to live and grow. And, to date, have never actively tried to destroy an entire race of people. Can the Kingdoms of Good say the same?

This action by the Guildmaster is an umprompted, unprovoked, pre-emptive attack with the intent to eradicate an entire culture. We are not defending ourselves, the people of the island are not attacking. We are the aggressors here.

In the end, the burden of proof and morality is on the actor. You and the Guildmaster's coalition are acting to destroy an entire people. What is your proof there is no other way? Where is your proof that you tried every single other possibility to avert this disaster?

You are the conqueror here, Scholar. How have you justified this genocide to yourself?


Dramthin Hartsboon
Prademar University
Keeper of the Tainted Grove
 
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Dramthin,

It has not been a few weeks. It's been a little less than two months. Two months of us planning and researching with no contribution to show us differently. You knew about it and even commented on it. But yet, there was no effort on your part to show us differently.

Do you mean to tell me in the hundreds of years you have existed, and the plethora of knowledge that you have access to, that you have no ability to spend your time for your own cause? You had two months to do something about this and you have never reached out to Sam or I with information against our cause. Just questioned who was leading the cause and huffed when we gave our reasons.

I am not going to repeat myself. From what I saw on the island, what I have learned from speaking with the First Tree, and what I have read in the library, this is the right thing to do if we are going to move our attention away from Pradimar. I am going to do what I feel is right unless I am given better proof of a different plan that will work better. Your name-calling isn't going to change my mind.

Truthfully, I even wonder if this is even about this and not your own bitterness about the Kingdoms of Good. I have seen you, multiple times at this point, speak so negatively about the Kingdoms of Good. You even now bring them up when I told you before that this is completely adventurer lead. I am not sure why you feel so poorly about them, but you need to stop letting that bitter old elf nature cloud your thoughts. Your age is showing.

Lorelei
 
Scholar Beinae,


This is not the first time in my years, or even my first time in Wayside, when I have spoken out against violence. This group is hardly the first set of adventurers to rationalize slaughter by deciding a group of people are "monsters" and thus their murder is justifiable.

I have consistently objected to the ethos that violence is the first and best solution. I speak out against the Kingdoms of the Good in exact proportion to their support of this ethos. I have been killed for speaking out against violence before; I expect I will die for those words again.

You feel the complete annihilation of the people on Spider Island is justifiable, so be it. I already said I will not stop you, nor will I impede any adventurer in this venture. You must always do what you feel is right. The heart of compassion and justice is open-eyed objectivity and action.

If you truly believe after "a little less than two months" of thought that genocide is the right and only proper action, then I cannot sway your Spirit. Hart guide you, sister.


Dramthin Hartsboon
Prademar University
Keeper of the Tainted Grove
 
Spider Island isn't misunderstood, sweet potential allies with a secret heart of gold! I don't even know where anyone got the idea there are "spirited spiders" or whatever on the island - they're just giant spiders, plain and simple! The Driders are just SMARTER versions of giant bugs! They think about snarin', killin', eatin', and eggin' out more snarers, killers, eaters, and eggers! "But oh man, the spiders retaliate when we go on their island!" Yeah, that's what snarin' monsters do when you enter their trap, not that they're innocent buddies just protectin' a peaceful way of life!

How evil does somethin' gotta be before you can kill it? Where's the line? Who gets to decide what's a people and what's a monster? Who do you listen to when they say "Spider Island is good to destroy"?

I really wanna know, so I can reach out and have whoever that is look at the situation and tell you that yeah, Spider Island is no good!

~ Silp
 
I have seen large spiders and Dryders resurrect from the Earth circle in Briarpass. Not circle walk, be killed, dissipate and then be resurrected. We should not judge a being by it's race but, it's actions. It strikes me that something else is going on.

I find it too conquencidental that there is an energy that imbues eggs on Spider Island is the same root source that is required to help our allies from Gavaria. That an ancient being known as the Dusk Mother has somehow obfuscated herself from many ancient creatures most of which we consider allies. An entire ecosystem has existed for millennium is at a sudden collapse. Are the spiders truly spiders? What if they were originally elves or humans or another race that was twisted and cursed? We don't know. We know that some are animals. Some are intelligent. I don't think that we will be able to parlay. We have very limited information for a very dangerous and potentially deadly encounter.

This is a fight that once we start, we must finish. If we don't the dryders will strike back; as they have in the past. They will disintegration spirits, curse those to become like they are, enslave others and rain down chaos.

Lady FallingStar
 
Really? "They're actually good guys, I swear! ...but I also think they're unparlayable, and will likely enslave people, disintegrate people, permanently curse people, and rain down chaos if left around!" Suuuuuure sound like good guys worth keepin' around to me!

I wanna make somethin' clear: I'm not against Spider Island 'cause I think they're icky - I'm against Spider Island 'cause they're a threat just waitin' to spring! And for once, the rest of the world is at peace, and we have the availability to deal with an issue BEFORE it becomes a world-ending problem rather than afterward! It's so good!

I live closer to Spider Island than almost everyone else in Prademar - right across a thin bit of water - and if they manage to ever leave that island to initiate an attack on lands beyond, they hit Ca La Dorne first - MY people first! Chaos, enslavement, cursed transformation, disintegration, on MY people, people I know, love, and trust! People we KNOW are innocent, people we KNOW stand to better the world!

You want to wait to see Spider Island declare itself a force of domination and expand outward before we start dealin' with them? You're willin' to put MY people at risk, waitin' on the deaths and misery of MY people before declarin' the Driders worth defeatin'? Tell me to my face: Are the lives of murderous giant spiders worth more than the lives of MY people? If they were on YOUR doorstep, would you be so skeptical to remove them?

Lorelei, Sam, Binks, and anyone else goin' spider huntin', in case it wasn't really clear, you have my full support in this, and I'll see about doin' what I can to help from afar!

~ Silp
 
If it would help to put minds and hearts at ease I can try to interact with the mind of a Dryder. See what is making them tick and if I can see an invading influence in its mind. Just have an enslavement antidote waiting at the ready for me.
Aramis Seablade
 
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