Ananasi Society
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| "Have you ever heard of insect politics? Neither have I. Insects don't have politics. They're very brutal. No compassion, no compromise... we can't trust the insect. I'd like to become the first insect politician." |
| - Jeff Goldblum, The Fly |
The Laws of Ananasa
- Obey The Mother-Queen In All Things
- Her will is what has taken us this far in our sacred quest to restore the Triat. Her wisdom is what guides us in all matters. Do not feel that you, a mere stripling, have suddenly grown wiser. Do not question Her will and do not try to bend Her sacred laws to your own desires.
- Defend Your Brethren From All Who Would Do Them Harm
- As we have said before, we are all family. We might meet again in the field of combat and destroy each other, but we must never allow others to do so without fearing for their very existence. In this there can be no mercy and no quarter. If another of the Damhan is attacked while you are present, even one whom you personally hate, you must defend him. Even if the one who attacks him is your chosen mortal mate, you must obey. Failure to do so is met by the harshest of punishments. Do not think death is the worst thing that can happen to you. Rest assured there are far worse fates, and from time to time they've been experienced by our brethren who fell short on this most sacred law.
- Follow The Aspect And Faction That Ananasa Chooses For You
- I don't really give a damn if you like to hug trees in your spare time or think surfing the internet is the coolest thing since the movie Arachnophobia. When you are told by Ananasa what aspect and faction you must follow, that's the end of it. If you're meant to follow the way of the Chymos and would rather be hanging around with the Agere, that is an opinion you keep to yourself. Ananasa is wise, and she has a plan that we must carry out if she is ever to be freed and the natural order of the universe is ever to be restored. That means what I want, what you want, and what your best friend in the whole world wants is secondary. You are given a sacred task, and you are chosen by Ananasa Herself. Don't play games.
- Understand The Ways Of The Triat, Both As They Were, And As They Are. Know The Difference.
- I shouldn't have to explain this, but I will. The Triat has gone wrong. Somewhere along the way, they screwed up and threw the universe out of whack. That's where we come in. We have to fix their mistakes. That is what Ananasa wants, and what She will get from us. Am I making myself perfectly clear? If you are Hatar, you will follow the ways of the Wyrm - As the Wyrm was meant to be. You will not make a life of corrupting the world to better suit the Wyrm's needs. You will not use the ways of the Wyrm to twist the world into your own vision of a perfect hell to suit your own selfish needs. You will do what the Wyrm has forgotten to do. If you are Kumoti, you will revel in the ways of the Wyld, you will bring forth chaos and change, as that is your sacred duty. You will not make friends with the Garou and other Ovid, save as is necessary to accomplish the goals of Ananasa and the Wyld. You are part of an organized and deliberate plan created by the Mother-Queen, and damn it all, you must never forget that. If you are asked by Ananasa to follow the ways of the Tenere, then you will do so. But you must never allow yourself to forget that Grandmother Spider is a raving lunatic with designs on destroying everything. You must never forget that we are working to stop the Weaver from ending all existence. The Weaver is stark raving mad, children, She cant help that, but it's a fact. Do not, under any circumstances, forget that while she is your Grandmother, she is also wrong. She may seem soothing and loving from a distance, but up close, you'll notice that her dentures don't fit and she smells like mothballs. Don't be fooled.
- You are not serving the Wyrm, the Wyld, and the Weaver. You are taking their place and getting done what they themselves are failing to accomplish. Know them for what they were, for what they are, and for what, with Ananasa's guidance, they will be again. Any questions? No? Good!
- Know Your Enemies
- Oh, this one's simple. Everyone is your enemy. They might act like friends, but they do not serve the same goal that we do, and that makes them enemies. Do not try to convert them, they will not understand. Do not tell them your personal secrets, they will use them against you. Do not let them seduce you with their false cosmologies and their hopes for a better tomorrow. They are wrong. Seduce them? Certainly. Use them? Absolutely. Unless they are one of the Damhan, or a minion of Ananasa who actually understands what she wants, they are your enemies. When we meet in the world beyond the sacred places, we will likely be enemies. Don't forget these things. This is the will of Ananasa.
- Know The Great Web For What It Is
- The Great Web is the whole of the universe, and all things have their place in it somewhere. What do I mean? I mean that life is sacred, but so is death and so is change. All things exist for a purpose, but that purpose is not necessarily ours to divine. Understand that what you encounter exists because it was meant to exist. Do not condemn anything you meet without at least trying to understand what purpose it serves. That's the way of the Garou with their foolish War of Rage. They didn't care to learn the reasons for the other Ovid, and now the entire universe pays for their folly. Oh, I can see in your eyes that you are skeptical. How can one little world affect the universe? Well, how can the world affect one life? Everything is connected, every strand of the Great Web is there for a reason. We must first understand the purpose of a strand before we decide it serves us to alter or remove that strand. Ananasa gives us wisdom in these things. We are... unusually gifted in understanding the Great Web, but we are still only children in comparison to the Triat. Even they, who can bend the forces of Destruction, Chaos, and Order to their will, haven't always made the best decisions. That, my friends, is the reason we myst live up to the name of "The Patient Ones". Foolish, emotional reactions to the obstacles placed before us by the universe lead to devastating reactions. Do you really want that on your conscience?
- Know Your Place
- We have a purpose. We must follow that purpose. We have a creator, we must follow Her orders. These are simple rules to live by. But they get more complex. Just as we must understand the Great Web, we must understand that there are others who serve properly in their places. We respect the Mokole, because they have never fallen from their purpose. We admire the Rokea, for they have never turned from their sacred duty to survive at all costs.
- Keep Your Mouth Shut
- Our place is to fix the flaws in the Great Web by serving Ananasa. Understand that, and then forget it. You must never tell others of what we do, because they are not capable of understanding. They believe that all aspects of the Ananasi are at war, that we exist solely to destroy each other. They are right to a degree, but they don't understand what goes on behind that war, or why we continue to do battle against one another. They cannot understand the subtleties of our checks and balances. Hell, knowing the Garou, they'd feel obligated to take over for us, and if that should happen, we will surely die a pointless death.
- Worship None But Ananasa
- Let me emphasize this again. We might do the work of the Triat, but we do not follow their laws and we do not care about their minions. We do what must be done, by order of the Mother-Queen. Follow her orders. Follow her intent. Do not allow yourself to mistake your sacred mission for something other than what it is. Do not follow the "totems" of the other Ovid. They will deceive you, wittingly or not, because they are all associated with the Triat, and as we have already made abundantly clear, the Triat is askew, they lack the symmetry to handle their own tasks and will surely lead you astray. You have your god, obey Her, and allow Her to guide you, and never, under any circumstances, allow the false gods of the Ovid to sway you. The punishment for breaking this law is... unpleasant.
Ananasi Ranks and Rank Markings
Although rank among the Ananansi is significantly less formalized than among many of the other changing breeds, it does still matter. There is no law that those lower in rank must respect those higher, or vice versa, and there is no formalized command structure. That said, rank does, at least to a degree, reflect favor in the eyes of Ananasa, and as such, those Ananasi of higher rank are normally accorded a greater degree of respect and expected to lead when the Ananasi come together for common purpose, and likewise gain access to higher level gifts. The Ananasi do not have formal names for their ranks, but they do bear visible marks to show it. In human form, these marks show in the arrangement of pores on the skin, while in their nonhuman forms, it reveals itself in a pattern that is visible on the carapace and around the eyes. In all cases, the pattern is part of the texture of the skin or carapace, not merely the coloration of it.
- Tenere: The pattern resembles very fine spider webs that join together. The number of anchoring strands indicates the rank of the Damhàn. Simple lines that run together are an indication of the first rank. Dual lines that cross over each other are indicative of the second rank. Triangular markings indicate the third rank, and webs patterned with four anchoring points indicate the fourth rank. Stylized web patterns with five anchors indicate the fifth rank, and with six anchoring lines indicate the incredibly rare sixth rank.
- Hatar: For Hatar the patterns look rather like snakes slithering together in unison. The more snakes together in this pattern, the higher the rank.
- Kumoti: For Kumoti, the patterns look rather like stylized lightning bolts crossing over each other. The more 'spokes' on the lightning cluster, the higher the rank. A single bolt would indicate rank one, while a pattern with four spokes would indicate rank two, and so on.
The Forms
Ananasi generally have four forms (homid, lilian, pithus, and crawlerling). Shapeshifting into any of them requires a Stamina + Primal Urge roll vs a difficulty depending on the form; Ananasi can always assume their breed form without a roll and can spend a blood point to change to any form they wish without a roll.
- Homid: A normal human, to most respects. Unlike other shifters, however, Ananasi retain more of their spider characteristics even in their homid form. Their internal organs and blood chemistry are a blend of human and spider, with blood that can accommodate either human hemoglobin or the copper-based spider hemocyanin. They also possess vestigial fangs and pedipalps in their mouth. While they should avoid scrutiny by human doctors if they wish to maintain the Veil, they do remain inter-fertile with humans despite the changes.
- No stat modifications for this form.
- Difficulty to assume this form is six (6).
- Lilian: This is the Ananasi's primary combat form, a hybrid of human and spider. The specifics of the form can vary dramatically from individual to individual, with virtually any combination of human and spider possible. Uniformly, the form will have an exoskeleton and modified musculature and circulatory system, and can use both claw and bite attacks. The Lilian form increases in height and weight by approximately 1/3 in comparison to the human form, and invokes the Delirium.
- Str+2, Dex+3, Sta+2, Man-1, App-1
- Difficulty to assume this form is six (6).
- Pithus: The largest of an Ananasi's forms, this is a giant spider. While in this form, the werespider can use both claw and bite attacks, and may also spend blood to create webs with a tensile strength similar to steel. In comparison to the human form, weight increases by half. This form invokes the Delirium.
- Str+4, Dex+1, Sta+3, Man-3, App-2
- Difficulty to assume this form is seven (7).
- Crawlerling: Unlike other shapeshifters, the Ananasi does not transform into a single animal, but rather a swarm of hundreds of spiders equal in mass to the homid form. When breaking down in this fashion, most Ananasi will designate between one and ten spiders as leaders, focusing their memories and perception on these spiders. While the death of most individual spiders is trivial (though they may need to recover mass if enough are lost), the loss of a leader brings with it the loss of a portion of the Ananasi's self -- memories, skills, even knowledge of gifts and rites. This form is best for escape, hiding, or infiltration. In some cases, an Ananasi may choose to not designate any leaders at all, which normally results in a swarm that operates purely on instinct, and may not regain human level consciousness unless the swarm as a whole is endangered or the Ananasi has used a rite to set a predetermined awakening time -- this is frequently used as a temporary escape when the stresses of the human world become more than the Damhàn wishes to deal with. The Crawlerling form itself does not invoke the Delirium, but a human who witnesses the transformation into it does suffer the effects. Webs spun in this form do not cost blood, but are no stronger than ordinary spider webs.
- Because their Stamina is effectively zero (see below, but note that for code purposes on the MUSH it is a -5 to Str, Sta, Man, and App) Ananasi simply roll Primal Urge to shift out of this form per WhoopingCrane in a job reply (Job 4145) on 1 Nov 2020.
- Str 0, Dex+5, Sta 0, Man 0, App 0
- Difficulty to assume this form is six (6).
Umbral Travel
| Area | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Science Lab | 3 |
| Inner City | 4 |
| Mini-mall | 5 |
| Open Highway | 6 |
| Rural Countryside | 7 |
| Loney Train Track | 8 |
| Untouched Wilderness | 10 |
The Ananasi do not travel to the Umbra in the same way as other Ovid. Rather than finding a spot where the Gauntlet is weak enough and staring into their reflections, the Damhan must assume the Crawlerling form and quite literally crawl between the strands of the Great Web. Once they have entered the Umbra, the werespiders may once again assume any form they desire, but for the Ananasi there is no other way to reach the spirit realms.
The difficulty for entering the Umbra depends on the strength of the Gauntlet, but inversely so; places where the Wyld is still prevalent actually cause the werespiders more trouble than places where the Weaver is strong. The Great Web is their only way of gaining access to the Umbra, and where the strands of that Web are fewer, it is more difficult to enter the spirit world.
The exception is that places where the Wyrm is strongest, whether those of low or high Gauntlet, cause greater troubles for the Damhan. In such places, the corruption along the Great Web is sticky and difficult to navigate (except for the Hatar, who have a natural affinity for the Wyrm's places of power). In such places, non-Hatar Ananasi are at +2 difficulty to "crawl sideways."
