Arashan
The arashan is a demon archetype which originates from the Shien'tyr valence. It is not known to have any subtypes. It is classified as a minor demon, and as such, can be summoned through the use of Minor Summoning (725). The arashan was first summoned by Allereli Lissina Faendryl in prime, and Caden in plat.
Physical Description
The arashan, while vaguely similar to Elanthian spiders in appearance, has many peculiar differences. Its body consists of an abdomen, thorax and a distinct head, which is typically fused to the thorax on traditional spiders. The head bears no eyes, a likely result of Shien'tyr's absolute darkness. Long, wiry hair covers its body and legs, which the demon twitches constantly in an attempt to feel its surroundings. The hair can vary in hue, usually being black, brown, grey or a deep blue. It has eight three-segmented legs sprouting from its thorax that each end in three toes splayed 120 degrees apart. A fully upright arashan can almost rival the height of a halfling, but they rarely extend themselves far off the ground.
The face of the arashan bears only three tentacles circling its mouth. The tentacles are about a hand's length long, black, ridged and wet. They usually hang motionless from the face, but when the creature gets excited they will flare up and thrash wildly about. In foggy environments, the arashan can be seen undulating its tentacles while orally emitting some form of black thread.
Society and Behavior
The arashan call Shien'Tyr home. There appears to be no hierarchy established between the arashan and the other inhabitants of Shien'Tyr, the aishan and the shien. When summoned, the demons ignore the presence of each other. Unfortunately, this conclusion cannot be verified on their natural valence.
A peculiar habit of the arashan is its tendency to talk to itself. The arashan speak their own cryptic language, but have never been seen to speak to each other, only when alone. It is theorized that the creatures are attempting to contact other arashan over long distances, since sound potentially travels very far on Shien'Tyr, but this theory has not been proven. The voice of the arashan is hauntingly deep and raspy.
A skittish coppery brown arashan slowly approaches a capricious geyser spirit with its wiry hairs twitching wildly. Satisfied, it backs away and speaks to itself in a hollow, raspy voice, "Lthyrth oun quorlthlyl."
Light makes the arashan uncomfortable. It is unknown how exactly the demon is capable of knowing an area is lit when it lacks any eyes. Even when not in warm sunlight, but in a magically lit room, the arashan will sulk and become lazy. Due to its photophobia, the arashan is usually rather upset with being pulled away from its perpetually dark home. It has been known to not take kindly to commands and occasionally even refuse them, if it requires the arashan to do a substantial amount of work.
Mechanical Benefits and Flaws
The arashan has equal odds of being summoned as the other two demon types from shien'tyr, the aishan and the shien (darklings and shadowlings), when using a shien'tyr runestone. The arashan may be cloaked with an illusion by Sorcerers with 60 ranks or more in the Illusions skill.
The arashan possesses a unique ability amongst demonkind; they are capable of taking control of the minor spirits that make up an area web summoned by the Web (118) spell. Controlling a web yields two major results: the web is strengthened (gains an additional snare charge and the duration is refreshed), and the web comes under the control of the arashan's summoner. Controlling a web takes 18 mana from the Sorcerer. Controlling a web is very taxing on the arashan, thus they may only do so once every five minutes. The syntax is: TELL MDEMON TO CONTROL [WEB].
Roleplaying Verbs
SNAP - You snap your fingers at a lazy shadowy black arashan beckoning it. The arashan grudgingly crawls to your side and stares at you with an eyeless face.
PET/TOUCH - You move your hand to touch the arashan's wiry shadowy black hair, but as your fingertips approach it, the hairs begin to twitch and feel around, lightly scratching against your hand.
EXHALE - You slowly and deliberately empty your filled lungs in the direction of a jittery coppery brown arashan. Its wiry coppery brown hair becomes a flurry of movement as it detects your breath.
Only the SNAP verb works with an illusioned Arashan.
Possible Adjectives
Arashan summoned by Minor Summoning may have the following appearances. The description of each will follow this format: "a/an {descriptor} {color} arashan," with the options possible displayed in the following table.
| Descriptor | Color |
|---|---|
| listless | jet black |
| jittery | coppery brown |
| lazy | shadowy black |
| smokey grey |
Illusion Possibilities
| Illusions |
|---|
| a tethered hairy black tarantula |
| a bound large brown arachnid |
| a restrained enormous web weaver |
| a harnessed huge grey spinner |
| a shackled vast grey-blue spider |