Prologue: Where it began…
The origin of our ancient kind stems from a unique form of symbiosis. There was a woman, abandoned by her village to avoid further spread of a fatal illness. As she lay perishing under the moonlight, a spider came slowly into her vision. She noticed it was badly injured and could barely move. In a selfless effort to help a fellow living creature in the wake of her death, the woman offered herself to the spider. Holding out her arm in its direction, the spider proceeded to bury itself under the woman's skin. She did not move for days, expecting death to have come. Instead, she noticed that she was becoming healthier and stronger, further and further away from the death she could almost touch.
She noticed the spider pulsating under her skin, alive and healed just as she was. She spoke to it, thanking it for its healing powers. She devoted herself to whatever the spider wished for giving her a new life. The spider spoke back to her, saying that she would fulfill the woman's desires as well, for if not for her body, she would not be alive either.
"What shall I call you, gracious arachnid?" The woman spoke in awe and curiosity.
"I am called Knoxian. What are you called, my savior?"
"My name...is Adrastea."
