How To Marry A Spider Cultist

Correspondence between a worried youngster and Sibyl Marielle of Camlorn

Most esteemed Sibyl of Dibella,

My name is Lionel Gaerton and I am in dire need of your help. I am but the humble son of a craftsman from a village near Camlorn, and I am in love with the most beautiful, intelligent and valiant girl in all High Rock. She is my neighbors’ daughter and we have known each other for a long time. We are great together and, yes, we are more than just close friends at this point. However, we are not a couple either, at least not as the temple would dictate. For she is a Spider Cultist of Mephala and they abhor “personal entanglements”, as they call them.

Before any misconceptions take place, I should add that the local Web here is more of a debauched orgy club than a Morag Tong, if you know what I mean. No murder, no darker arts than a bit of conjuration. Most of the members are relatively nice folk. A surprising number of them are gardeners, in fact. But I digress.

The thing is, when I said “debauched orgy club”, I meant it. I have had firsthand experience in that regard, so to speak, thanks to an invitation from my dear Heloise. She wants me to join her cult, but I want to be together with her. Just being her partner in “copulation rituals” is not enough for me. Unfortunately, every time I try to bring up the subject I am told that “the threads that bind us exist only for the Spinner to unravel them” and that “the web of people’s fates is a secret map that we cannot see without going blind”. Suffice to say, I did not understand a word of it, only that I had been rejected. She still invites me to her cult’s practices, though.

I know it is hypocritical of me to turn to the Divines for aid after dealing with Daedric cultists, but I want to know: is there hope for us? Or is my dream a conventional fantasy, too naive and boorish and unworthy of my beloved?

Yours sincerely,

Lionel

If I were Father Clovis from the Grand Cathedral, I would chastise you for your Daedraphiliac dealings and threaten you with the fires of Oblivion. Fortunately (for you), I am not him. As Sibyl Augustine Viliane once said, “if your affection is pure and untainted by coercion, it is blessed in the eyes of Dibella”.

That said, the blessing of Dibella will hardly be of any value to a cultist of Mephala, for our patron and she are mirror opposites in several ways. Too close and yet too far. As a creature who finds great delight in severing connections, manipulating others and influencing outcomes, Mephala looks down on the joy of selfless love and the responsibilities of compromise. I am not surprised that your Heloise is reluctant to the idea of you two becoming a real couple. Since she still invites you to their rituals, I suspect that she is not against your advances but would prefer to keep things as they are, comfortable for her and her patron.

Entice her. Use Mephala’s philosophy to make her see that without bounds, there is no web. Like a fly who ends in the spider’s nest, tell her that you could as much avoid your love as avoid your own mortality, for it was fate that put you two together. Let Dibella’s wisdom talk through you and perhaps (only perhaps), you will find success in your romantic endeavors.

A final piece of advice: be open minded. It is likely she is against the idea of a conventional relationship because she fears she will have to abandon her cult activities. Of course, I am not saying that you should encourage a heretic to persist in her mistaken ways… but Dibella knows that it could help if you are able to look beyond the demons of jealousy. As long as the heart is sure, what the body enjoys should not be a concern.

If you happen to be successful, cherish your partner and never give her reason to break your relationship. That is true of every couple, but it is essential when a cultist of Mephala is involved. Given the nature of their patron, separations are bound to be ugly.