A Nerubian's Journey
Chapter 1

Sam was not quite certain what was going on, but his current leading theory was that he was waiting to hatch out of an egg after dying and reincarnating.

His evidence for this?

He had been falling in and out of consciousness for an unknown amount of time and he could feel a hard enclosure around him that grew smaller each time he awoke. His body also felt different from a human’s, and it was gradually becoming easier for him to think. Hopefully, the newly born members of his new species would be more capable than a newly born human.

Sam did not want to flop around uselessly for years.

Oh, and he also remembered his death. That was a fairly important piece of evidence.

One of the benefits of his current circumstances was that he had plenty of time to process his emotions while he was incubating. He had already cried and despaired, and even if he hadn’t fully come to terms with his death, he accepted it as something he could not change.

Now, most of his focus was on trying to move his new body and escape his prison, but he had no idea how long it would take for him to hatch. He could tell that he had extra limbs, but it was difficult for him to guess what species he had been reincarnated into.

Sam hoped he was something awesome, like a dragon. Those extra limbs could be wings, right?

While Sam found himself awake, he usually spent his time testing the confines of his prison until he ran out of energy and fell back asleep. It was during the middle of this routine that he felt something prodding at his prison from the outside, causing Sam to feel a thread of panic.

I really hope I’m not about to be eaten by some predator before I could start my dragon adventures.

As his egg was breached and he saw something aside from darkness for the first time in this life, the first thing Sam felt was disappointment that he wasn’t a dragon. He knew he was not a dragon because dragons did not have eight eyes.

The second thing Sam felt was terror because he was being stared at by the hideous face of a giant spiderlike creature.

Sam felt himself freeze in fear as he was lifted from his egg—viscous liquid still dripping from his body—and manipulated back and forth by the giant monster.

After a few moments it seemed as if the creature was satisfied, and it placed Sam down on the floor to move onto another egg. As the creature turned its attention elsewhere, Sam gradually calmed down when it became obvious the monster didn’t intend to eat him.

Looking around, he found himself in a dark cavern filled with large amber-colored eggs that looked to be covered in strange pustules and wreathed in webs. Several other small versions of the spiderlike creature were standing around and also looking around and taking in their surroundings.

Sam looked down at his hands only to have his fears confirmed when he saw that he had three scary-looking claws and an arm that was covered in chitin.

Well… this fucking sucks. Why couldn’t I have been reborn as something other than some kind of ugly spider monster?

He took note of the fact that the other newly born spider monsters seemed to be much more aware of their surroundings than a newly born human would be. Sam was also able to move around with an acceptable amount of dexterity despite not being used to having so many limbs.

Unless all of the other spiderlings were also reincarnated individuals, it seemed that the newly born of this species were intelligent and physically capable from the moment they were born.

Could be worse I guess. If these guys are intelligent then they must have developed some kind of society and I don’t feel mind controlled so they’re probably not some kind of hivemind.

Sam focused on analyzing his surrounding to the best of his ability in order to avoid thinking too hard about his death or his new body. He had done his best to come to terms with his circumstances while he was incubating, but having the harsh reality shoved into his face was not pleasant.

If he was going to reincarnate, Sam would have much preferred to be something humanoid if he couldn’t be a dragon.

Hopefully, these spider folk didn’t follow the standard tropes common to insectoid races in Earth’s fiction. Sam didn’t want to be treated like some kind of disposable cannon fodder.

Thankfully, there were some positive signs in that regard. The spider creature who was continuing to free the young spiderlings from their eggs seemed to be doing so with a significant amount of care.

If Sam was about to be sent to die like an expendable zergling, he doubted the creature would be so careful.

He could see that the adult only had a few more eggs to examine, so Sam decided to use that time to acclimate himself to his new body.

Moving each of his three digits one by one, Sam discovered that his fingers were still flexible despite being encased in chitin.

That was a bit strange, but Sam decided to ignore it. There were so many things about this situation that didn’t make sense that focusing on them would be a useless endeavor.

Sam moved all six of his legs as he walked around in a circle, marveling at how natural his movements felt. Feeling emboldened, he decided to try spinning around in circles, curious as to whether or not his new body could handle it.

A few moments later, Sam was dizzily interrupted by the sound of a skittering sound that drew his attention to the adult spider thing that was looking down at him.

Sam froze and looked back and forth between the adult and a nearby spiderling that had decided to mimic him by spinning in circles. Sam hoped he wouldn’t be eaten for being a bad influence.

He and the adult had a short staring match before the creature made some more skittering noises—noises which Sam was beginning to suspect was a language—and picked him up.

For a moment a part of him believed he was about to die, but the creature simply placed Sam gently down onto its large abdomen. Strange instincts compelled him to hold on to the creature tightly, and he somehow knew that he would have no trouble adhering to the adult.

As soon as Sam was properly situated, the adult spider turned its attention to the rest of the spiderlings. The creature moved its forearms in a strange motion and a moment later its hands seemed to glow in a strange, whitish purple color.

Sam flinched at the sudden and strange feeling of a foreign presence in his mind. The telepathic message did not come in any words that he could understand, but a clear meaning was conveyed regardless.

“Ascend my body, hatchlings.”

The other newborns seemed just as surprised as Sam, but they did not hesitate to obey the adult’s orders. Soon enough, Sam was sharing his mount with eight other baby spider monsters, although he was too busy marveling at the display of magic to notice.

If Sam was given the opportunity to learn magic, it would almost make being reborn as a spider monster worth it.

Sam was pulled out of these thoughts and he turned his focus to holding his grip as the adult suddenly started moving at speeds a giant spider monster should not be allowed to achieve. Very quickly, Sam was carried out of the caverns in which he was born, and he got his first glimpse at the society he had been born into in this life.

Sam found himself being transported through a giant cavern wreathed nearly completely in webs and filled with black and gold structures. These webs reached from the roof of the cavern to its lowest level, allowing members of his new species to quickly skitter in and out of the numerous tunnels connected to the cavern that was larger than Sam could estimate. In addition to the spider people that were skittering around, there were also strange creatures that looked like some unholy combination between a spider and a bat flying through the air in packs.

As the adult carried him through a confusing series of tunnels, Sam was looking at his surroundings, feeling both a sense of awe and growing dread.

Awe, because this completely alien society was one of the most amazing things he had ever seen. Dread, because his surroundings were starting to seem a bit familiar.

Then he was brought into a smaller cavern with what seemed to be an ornate temple built into the wall and connected to the rest of the cavern by a bridge of webs. On either side of the doorway allowing entrance to the temple were two obelisks that floated over some kind of magical rune etched into the floor.

The architecture was like nothing he had ever seen. It most resembled ancient Egyptian or Mesopotamian style architecture except visibly influenced by the presence of magic and the spider folk’s large sizes. The area was illuminated by crystals engraved into the wall that glowed an eerie blue and the structure was built wide and open to allow for the massive spider people to come and go in comfort.

A few of the spider folk were skittering in and out of the temple, but they paid no attention to Sam and his fellow hatchlings or his mount as he was carried inside. He noted with interest that the spider folk inside the temple seemed to be wearing black and red silk robes.

This was in stark contrast to all the other spider folk he had seen before who wore nothing at all.

Eventually, Sam was brought into a room occupied by a spider person with a uniquely strange appearance. While all the other spider folk he had seen before looked like some kind of six-legged spider with two arms and a spiderlike head connected to a humanoid torso, this one was completely different.

It had a spiderlike head that connected to a humanoid torso with four arms with three fingers, each that moved dexterously to cast magic as Sam and his peers were brought further into the room. Its lower half had only four legs, but where the rest of the spider folk looked like centaurs that were longer than they were tall, this one stood up straight to reach a massive height.

The adult spider person Sam was clinging to carefully lowered its body and bowed while saying something in its strange clicking language. The taller one ignored it and finished casting its magic and a violet-colored magical glyph covered the floor of the entire room.

Sam was still staring at the magic in wonder when the spider person he was riding spoke again.

“Hello, hatchlings.”

Sam nearly fell to the ground in surprise, the adhesive properties of his new body’s limbs the only thing keeping him from doing so. Even though the sounds the creature was making did not meaningfully change, this time Sam found he could understand its meaning.

With a quick glance around, he could tell his fellow newborns were similarly surprised.

The creature let out a harsh clicking sound that Sam somehow knew to interpret as laughter.

“That is always amusing. Do not be afraid, hatchlings. The magic of Seer Kuk’ir allows you to understand our language without having learned it. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Custodian Kriltes.”

Sam wasn’t sure if he should respond—or if he even could—but Kriltes continued speaking as if he was not expecting a reply.

“Welcome to Kilah’Kuk, a city belonging to Azjol-Nerub. We are Nerubians. That means little to you now, but you will be taught all of this soon enough,” said Kriltes, unknowingly causing Sam’s growing dread to reach a peak.

“I have brought you to Circle of Viziers for your Naming Ceremony. Seer Kuk’ir has cast a Glyph of Comprehension so you are able to understand the significance of this moment even if you have not yet learned to speak our people's language,” explained Kriltes as he began removing the newly born Nerubians from his body one by one. “Seer Kurk’ir cannot maintain the Glyph indefinitely, so we will begin the ceremony immediately. I have watched and guarded over your eggs, as is my duty, and now I shall name you.”

Sam could not bring himself to pay much attention to the ceremony, despite its apparent importance. The moment he had learned that his new people were called Nerubians, Sam had completely stopped paying attention.

The Nerubians were an insectoid race of sentient spider people in Warcraft, a popular high fantasy franchise created by Blizzard Entertainment. The Warcraft universe primarily focused on Azeroth—a death world that was constantly being devastated by the schemes of multiple Lovecraftian deities and an endless army of planet-destroying demons led by an insane god.

The Nerubians were a race that lived on the Azeroth’s northernmost continent of Northrend. They largely played little role in the world’s history until an orcish shaman by the name of Ner’zhul had his soul mutilated by the second in command of the demons. Ner’zhul’s mortal form was destroyed and he was bound to a cursed sword and helmet, becoming the Lich King.

The Lich King then set out to conquer Northrend and create an army of undead that he could use to attack the rest of Azeroth. The War of the Spider lasted a decade, but in the end, the Nerubians were not able to survive the Lich King's endless aggression and were almost completely slaughtered and turned into undead slaves.

A small portion of Sam’s attention managed to overcome his turmoil and focus on Kriltes as he approached Sam to give him his name.

“I have seen your inquisitive nature, hatchling. The intelligence in your eyes is obvious, even if you have not been hatched for long. Maybe one day you might grow to become a Vizier,” said Kriltes solemnly. “I name you Krivax.”

Kriltes moved on to the next hatchling, leaving the newly named Krivax to come to terms with the fact that he had been reborn into a species fated to be nearly completely destroyed.

Fuck…