Favored

Eight wax candles were lit around Erastus, dyed with the blood of innocents. The ritual was perfect, the scene set. The young Leatherworker was ready to earn his way into the Webspinners.

Most webspinners were born into it, or rather abducted by the Lady of Crows, Labrae and indoctrinated as they grew. Erastus would be different, he was determined. A fair hand at bartering, persuasion, and psychology, perhaps he was exhibiting some hubris, in thinking his feeble skills would be enough to sway the Immortal of Manipulation. At the last, he had to adopt a sense of fatalism, what would happen, would happen.

I will not be turned away by my doubt. So saying this to himself, he proceeded with the ritual.

The squaling of a newborn babe issued from the dais that was encircled by those eight candles. It was a child that Erastus had abducted for just this purpose. He drove the young maggot's parents to ruin, in effect killing them. When the magistrate heard the child's case, and looked to those assembled if any would claim responsibility for the child, Erastus rose his voice. He'd already made a deal with the judge in case any others spoke for the child. There was something to be said for bribing low-level officials.

So he brought the babe here, never even bothering to give him to a wet nurse. He'd timed the ritual perfectly to the day that the parents died, and the child became his property.

In the depths of that Low-town basement, he was ready to kill a babe for Sintra's favor.

He lifted the athame in the air, chanting in a strange coded tongue only known to the Webspinners. That bit of knowledge had been difficult to extract. He didn't want to think of what he'd done to achieve it.

Taking a deep breath after the last incantation, he drove the athame down.

The tip barely nicked the child's skin before a swath of blackened webbing took hold of his arms, wrenching him backward. Erastus shouted in alarm, the child's squaling growing louder. Something was putting pressure on his chest. It was simply too dark to make out what was happening behind him, but he could see clearly the child on the dais, lit by candles. And the tall figure standing over it, gingerly picking it up and then smiling toward Erastus. In a moment, the child and Labrae were gone.

Leaving Erastus with whoever, or whatever was dragging him against the wall, toward the ceiling. His arms adhered to the ceiling, then his legs were bound. Finally, his neck was drawn backward. At the last moment, he noticed a pair of blood red eyes in the darkness.

Somehow he knew before she told him. Afterall, that was what this entire ritual had been dedicated to. But he never dared to expect...

"Sintra..." He rasped, barely breathing as the webbing dug into the skin of his neck.

She said nothing, but seemed to purr as she drew him into a kiss. He felt Lethroda on the bottom of his tongue as hers explored his mouth. He also felt a sudden sting in his lower abdomen. The rest was a haze, and he knew little apart from the fact that she was having her way with him. When he realized what that might mean, he nearly screamed into the kiss they were sharing.

She drew away from that kiss as she realized his thoughts, "Oh, don't worry Erastus. It won't be me that kills you, though we share our flesh now. But be warned, it will be your own flesh that will kill you one dark night, not unlike this. Take this as a warning and the only other boon I will ever give you, apart from my mark."

She smiled at him, and after the act was consumated, slowly drew away.

He rested then, bound to the ceiling by her darkened webbing.

When he awoke, he found himself in his own bed. A profound disappointment befell him then. Had that been a dream? He rushed to the nearest bronze mirror, and checked his tongue, the bottom of it. A sense of relief washed over him, when he spotted her mark. While the details of what had happened may have been a dream, he was most certainly alive, with Lethroda, and the ritual had been a resounding success.

Many Seasons later, he heard a knock at his shop, followed by the cawing din of a murder of crows. He opened the door to be greeted. Not by who he presumed would be there. Labrae, if she'd been there, was gone. And at the doorstep, was a young babe. Resembling the one that he'd nearly sacrificed seasons prior, only older. With a shock of dark brown, almost black hair on his head, and a sullen look. He knew then, that Labrae wanted him to raise this child as a Webspinner, perhaps as part of his initiation into their family.

So he did his best to guide the young Woe to adulthood, and at the right moment granted him a longer leash. It never occurred to him that he might have been the product of the union between himself and Sintra.

To the day he released Woe from his servitude, he never had a natural born child of his own, fearful that they would be his doom.

Ignorance: Sub-Rosa

As a result of his distinct lack of personal magnetism and general dullness, he can make a person to forget meeting him, if he chooses. He must lock eyes with them, and then speak the words "Left Hand Claw". They will forget having associated with him. In his place, they will simply remember a person whose name they failed to catch for each instance of his involvement with them. As an added bonus, once per trial Woe can force them to forget a specific piece of information, detail, object, or person that he chooses. Depending on the strength of that person's association with the said object, detail, or subject, the memory will return within a few seasons or cycles or arcs. As a negative side to this domain, every time he chooses to remove the memory of himself from another person, he also loses his memory and knowledge of them in the same way. If for any reason the other regains their memory of the other person, the recovery of that knowledge is mutual.

Promises: Geas

When Woe makes an agreement with another person, they will be compelled to hold to that agreement. The geas is stronger when the terms and conditions are easy to understand by both parties. Woe, similarly to the subject, will be held to his end of the agreement made. An agreement made with this power must be sealed with a handshake, or it is not binding. If Woe breaks the agreement, it is no longer binding on the other person. The geas cannot be broken through the use of his Ignorance domain power.

Scorpions: Sting and Claw

As the son of Sintra, Woe is the child of the queen of arachnids. This fact is made no clearer than when he is in combat and feels as though his life is threatened. The skin up to his upper arms shifts, turning a deep black and hardens, becoming like armor. It appears as though his arms have become coated in the glassy onyx chitin of a black scorpion. He becomes more resistant to damage and can tolerate heavy impact upon his freshly armored arms. Along with this transformation, his arms and hands become capable of moving much faster and his grip strength is enhanced substantially. Additionally his nails now produce a subtle venom that causes numbness to areas that are scratched. This venom lasts for three breaks before dissipating. String and Claw will last for a maximum of ten bits before the transformation begins to fade. It can be used once per trial.