Nitiranes (nih-TEER-uh-neez)

Lady Spider

Nitiranes is one of the legendary Celestials. She is the Celestial of spiders and is often considered a Dark Celestial. She is associated with cruelty and bad luck.

Why am I still keeping secrets for you when you should be able to keep them yourself?

— Nitiranes

History

Nitiranes is a third-generation Celestial and is believed to have become a Celestial shortly after the Celestial War. Numerous myths have circulated about her origins, as she became a Celestial rather than appearing or being born as one. When comparing stories about her origins, however, enough similarities can be found to create a decent picture.

by Lilliana Casper

All stories agree that she was badly mistreated as a child and even locked in the cellar of her family's house, although details about her family vary greatly. According to the stories, Nitiranes was locked in the cellar for about twenty years, often starved and forced to eat bugs to survive. At some point during her imprisonment, she became linked with the spiders who lived there and turned into a Celestial. After killing her family in revenge, Nitiranes remained trapped for several more years until prospectors checked the cellar. Nitiranes killed them and escaped, murdering anyone who crossed her.

After her escape, Nitiranes met other Celestials, likely ones such as Darina, Venegria, and possibly Xuena. However, Nitiranes refused to stay with any of them. While this is not uncommon for Celestials, Nitiranes also expressed a strong dislike of being deified, praised, or followed. There are very few stories about her due to this, but some scholars read deep into the subtext of each conversation to determine her allegiances.

Most of Nitiranes' legends revolve around her origin, meetings with other Celestials, and occasionally the people she kills. Her personality in every appearance is described as violent and cruel. Her penchant for killing without warning or motive is well-known and greatly feared. She uses spiders as spies, soldiers, and pets, and despite caring for them, considers every single one as expendable toys she can discard when bored. Even the most feared Celestials speak of her mood swings with hints of worry and disgust.

I heard she eats some of her spiders. You know, if her personality changes, she has one of her fits, and she refuses to eat normal food. She'll eat them rather than human food. It's disgusting. Who does that? Who just switches from eating anything one day to only spiders the next? Especially when they're hers.

— Flora, Celestial of flowers

Because Nitiranes rarely appears in legends, not much is known about her actions, only her personality. Some suspect her of working for the Commander, others believe she is a freelance assassin, and others think she is part of the elite Dark Celestial council. Occasional stories circulate about her killing people on cityscape planets or terrorizing villages on backwater worlds, but for the most part, Nitiranes is a mysterious Celestial whose only information is her unpredictable and violently twisted personality.

Magic & Powers

As a Celestial, Nitiranes can use various types of magic. While her domain deals with controlling and understanding spiders, she has many other skills related to it. One of them is her ability to create and spin spider silk from underneath her fingernails. She also has very high (some would say unnatural) flexibility, incredible pain tolerance, and enhanced senses. She can eat almost anything. When using magic, Nitiranes' aura is described as black with gray outlines and her magic manifests in similar colors.
The most well-known of her abilities is her personal spiders. Nitiranes can control any kind of spider, but these are special. They emerge from her mouth, nose, ears, and even her eyes, yet cause her no pain or discomfort. Surviving witnesses describe the experience as absolutely terrifying. These spiders cannot be influenced or controlled by anyone else, are nearly invincible, and are considered to practically be an extension of Nitiranes' own body.

Divine Classification

Celestial of spiders

Age

Unknown

Gender

Female

Eyes

Black

Hair

Curly black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale

Height

5'9"

Appearance & Renderings

Nitiranes is always described as a tall woman in her mid-twenties. She has curly black hair, usually pulled up in a bun or similar hairstyle, and deep black eyes with long lashes. Her skin is extremely pale, almost sickly, with a faint gray cast around her eyes and in the hollows between her bones. Close examination may reveal the lightest dotting of freckles on her nose, nearly invisible. Finally, although no renderings picture these, nor do any myths mention them, Nitiranes has faint but disturbingly violent scars on her back and legs. The injuries that caused them were likely from before she became a Celestial.
As a mysterious and rather unpopular Celestial, Nitiranes has very few images to her name. The ones that do exist are vague and difficult to decipher, mostly rough sketches or basic drawings. Supposedly, Venegria painted a picture of her knitting in a rare moment of peace, but the image itself disappeared. Its existence is supported by a saddening comment made by the Celestial of Compassion, stating that Nitiranes was pitiable once one saw that image.

I pity her, truly. Especially after seeing that painting. She could have been so much better. Her life, her change into a Celestial... It damaged her and no one was there to help her. And now she is feared by all yet loved by none.

— Nicole