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[RAM]

Did Eveline or Yunikki have any thoughts of carapace for personal armour-reinforcement or alchemical use?

And intense spider-on-spider action... Avoid the webs, look up, don't touch the webs, they like to hide and wait, so soul-sight might be handy to spot critters in crevices, The webs are probably traps in more ways than one, People who are smol should not get poisoned, and if they do they should get very urgent treatment, I wouldn't trust the webs if I could help it but they might burn but they would gum up anything you tried to cut them with and that would alert everyone... And the queen probably has super-psychic-pheromones that instantly call the whole brood, so either wipe them out first, which would probably be bad for the economy, or hit the queen quickly and hope that the defenders lose interest after that.

But that is all generic combat stuff on a non-suggestion turn. It is basically a compulsion at this point, so woo! wordspam!!!

[Liquefied Spleens]

That was... an experience. you say, as the muck and slime is still dripping off of you. You're covered head to toe in webbing, guts and blood from all sorts of spiders. You're just musing to yourself in the public bath, essentially, alongside Eveline and Yunikki. There are plenty of other people, but the steam very covering, almost supernaturally so.

As it turns out, giant spiders are very varied. You have types that spit poison, acid or just webbing, and that's not getting into all the different warrior types. The only types that seems homogeneous was the workers, and they were small enough to pass as a normal spider. Meaning they just don't get noticed at all in the cavalcade of legs. Fortunately, Yunikki is very capable now. Far more agile than her armor would suggest, and her new pieces of paper aren't just for show. They actively repel creatures away from her. She had the time of her life, really. Nothing could hurt her in that armor, although the acid made some very ugly splotches on the metal.
You weren't nearly so lucky. Fortunately, you're quite resistant to poison, and all it ended up giving you despite the massive doses is a bit of a tummy-ache. Eveline just had a counter-agent ready for herself, but she didn't get hit a lot. She spent most of the hunting trip on your back, and she made it a point to use a lot of fire. Ultimately, that's probably the only reason you could manage it with only three people, as it essentially burnt the whole cave dry first.

The workers were in a frenzy to cover the whole place up, but it certainly didn't miss the effect of confusing and killing most of the spiders ahead of time. Unfortunately, the queen was a bit more protected. Most likely because she was right at a stream deep within the caves. The fire was stopped by the stream and the general moisture. The smell was almost unbearable, and everywhere you walked there were large balls of webbing. When Yunikki made the mistake of touching one, hundreds of spiders crawled out all at once, covering the poor fighter. Stop, drop and roll has never been so crunchy and wet. Eveline also had to vomit at that, considering the smell was even worse. She was also able to point the exact way to the queen through the spiderling burrows. She knows the smell by heart, apparently it's a clear sign that she's in breeding season.
The smell made you feel kind of feverish, but not to the point of being a problem. Although the queen was more than enough of a problem.

The leathermaker didn't lie, the queen was most certainly in possession of pliable and tough skin. it made killing it kind of tedious. Fortunately, it had two weak spots. First of all, it was not resistant against a poison from Eveline. Second of all, it kept on birthing more and more workers as it twitched and morphed. Meaning there was a hole.
Needless to say, you're not using that sword again for a while. After it finally died, the spiders pretty much went berserk, attacking anything nearby. It gave you more than enough time to figure out how you're going to get the queen's valuables. You eventually discovered that you could make a starting hole around where the legs intersect with the torso. Once you had that, skinning it came easy. You're pretty glad your uncle took you hunting on some occasions, although you can't say it was expertly cut. It will do, however.
Of course, you got a very solid dousing of queen juices when you cut it open on the underside. Should have thought of that. At least it tasted nice.
You made it a point not to say that out loud.

The point is, you're now the newest owner of a drider carapace armor, and the leathermaker owes you a favor. Speaking of, he put most of the useful carapace into your armor. Double or even triple layers. It's honestly the lightest bit of plate armor you could hope for. It still doesn't compare to proper steel, at least in the defensive standpoint, but it's really good. The problem is, it'll be nearly impossible to fix any damage that appears, so it won't survive years of use.
Let's hope it lasts as long as you need it.
After the year of study, that bit of excitement also seemed to really give you a kick in the pants.

Level up!
Enhanced plating: You gain even more plating over your human pieces. It will cover your spine and your shoulders.
Thickened bones: your bones are a bit tougher, and a bit bigger.
Increase: increases your general size. You'll gain about twelve centimeters(five inches) in height alone. This adds reach, strength and what have you.
Viable Fluid: Makes it possible for creatures to survive in your poison. This is the first step towards creating tiny minions from your body alone.
Capsaicin additive: Mystery addition. Who knows what this does?
Enhanced lethality: one dose is guaranteed to kill the average man. It will still take a long while, though.
Bone Array: your carapace gains a selection of spikes that help channel magical energy. While this increases power, interrupting your magica stream is both possible and very detrimental to you.
Slugger: Gain the ability to magically enhance your punches. Will not affect claw attacks.
Soul Drain: allow you to gain mana from draining a soul. The amount varies on the toughness of the beast and the remains of the soul.
At Home: You find it easier to relax in an area you modified yourself, and you fight much, much more effectively in that area.
aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA: You suffer from horrible, horrible nightmares. Can't be good.
Soulsight+: You can gauge somebody's intentions from their soul, but it is VERY difficult to get an accurate reading. Costly mistakes are likely.

[DolosusDoleus]

Soul Drain

[crazyabe]

Capsaicin additive
Capsaicin is the stuff that makes hot peppers hot, and it also happens to cause burning pain in (Most) Mammals.

[TheBiggerFish]

Viable Fluid.
I want mini-Sydneys.  Chibi instruments of dooooooom~
(How do levelups work again?)

[RAM]

(How do levelups work again?)

We finish doing a thing. Then we sleep. Then we wake up with a new ability and better stats and a new quest to sacrifice life and limb confronting the forces of "You do make a compelling argument, but I would really rather not." in a battle to decide the fate of one-or-more worlds. Which would be a thing, that eventually is finished being done, necessitating another sleep...

So basically we choose one of the option to keep(Sydney Still doesn't know how exactly that works, but she knows that she sometimes wakes up with new features...) and become a little better at everything. The bold options are based upon recent experiences and are less likely to show up again.

[Puppyguard]

Increase.

Small question about Increase... We just had new armour custom made just for us... Umm?

Viable Fluid.

[RAM]

Small question about Increase... We just had new armour custom made just for us... Umm?

[crazyabe]

Small question about Increase... We just had new armour custom made just for us... Umm?

Yes, Yes we did.

[RAM]

Enhanced plating: You gain even more plating over your human pieces. It will cover your spine and your shoulders.
Thickened bones: your bones are a bit tougher, and a bit bigger.
Increase: increases your general size. You'll gain about twelve centimeters(five inches) in height alone. This adds reach, strength and what have you.

E.P. has been a long time coming, and it certainly would be nice to get more armour. About the first thing we experienced was being bitten from behind by a rat and it is almost a running gag by now. Levels are not that common and perhaps there are more important things than full-body armour, but this would always be nice. The first stage, our "gloves" have proven themselves.
T.B. is not exciting. No doubt helpful, and we should have a high resistance to the associated "big boned" lines of fat-jokes and innuendo, but so very very "meh" that I just can't jump on the hype-train to enthusiasm central...
I. is, well, it is very nice. Big things are always more dangerous, but there are issues with cramped spaces. Our already being large has both given us practise at dealing with such things, but also demonstrated that awkwardness exists. Truly the highlight though must be the trolling potential. Sydeny just got her shiny new armour, what if it were suddenly a bit cramped? What if Yunikki suddenly felt small all the time? Does Eveline feel intimidated by Sydney's current size? How does she feel about seeing Sydney eat people several times larger than her? Has she heard The Tragic Tale of Lady Skitty and Lord Wailord? Would giving piggy-back rides to Meandra become a regular thing? Would all that precious money that Sydney has saved up suddenly have to go on a new wardrobe that isn't too tight in all the wrong places? The Troll is so very strong with this one. Can we possibly resist?
Idleness leads to mischief.
Mischief leads to antagonism.
Antagonisms leads to The Troll Side...

Viable Fluid: Makes it possible for creatures to survive in your poison. This is the first step towards creating tiny minions from your body alone.
Capsaicin additive: Mystery addition. Who knows what this does?
Enhanced lethality: one dose is guaranteed to kill the average man. It will still take a long while, though.

V.F. is super-exciting. Really, really wonderful cute little clone-Sydneys, probably doing that "act on your subconscious to reveal all your secret inclinations" thing. Well, after some more levels maybe... But that is sort of exactly what Necromancy does. I just, ugh, I am torn between just doing it anyway and my desire to obsessively powergame...
C. is, umm, hotsauce? But it has appeared before and is always obsessively mysterious. Is the mystery just there for flavour? Is it really just "+toxin, +++++ pain"? Perhaps there is something more... Pepper Spray? New recipe's for our cookbook? Automatic upgrades to the Soylent soup we make with our acid-venom? The Mysterious Mysteries of Mystery, they call to me!
E.L. has got to be a big no, probably. One of the great things about our venom is that it is somewhat non-lethal. On the other hand, venom enough to kill a man often becomes venom enough to give an elephant mild cramps. And despite the problems it has with heavy critters, poison is still the wilderness' number one means of killing something obscenely above your pay-grade. But hopefully we won't be doing the Shadow of the Colossus thing anytime soon. That said, if you could play that game as a Drider? Easy-mode!

Bone Array: your carapace gains a selection of spikes that help channel magical energy. While this increases power, interrupting your magica stream is both possible and very detrimental to you.
Slugger: Gain the ability to magically enhance your punches. Will not affect claw attacks.
Soul Drain: allow you to gain mana from draining a soul. The amount varies on the toughness of the beast and the remains of the soul.

Power is nice, but we have a chronic issue with people biting us from behind. B.A. sounds just a bit too risky to pay off.
S. is a thing, but, ehh, punches? Meh...
S.D.... Well, we have mana shortages, so that helps. Also, eating souls... Great for intimidation, but may make Sydney sad, but would likely make Queen happy! Also a freakishly good combination with necromancy, on account of one of the times you are most likely to want a sudden influx of mana is immediately after killing some tough beast. Who wants to slay a dragon and then try to preserve it until you can gather up the energy to animate it, when there is a giant dragon soul just sitting their waiting to be spent to produce an undead of terrific power?

At Home: You find it easier to relax in an area you modified yourself, and you fight much, much more effectively in that area.
aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA: You suffer from horrible, horrible nightmares. Can't be good.
Soulsight+: You can gauge somebody's intentions from their soul, but it is VERY difficult to get an accurate reading. Costly mistakes are likely.

A.H. is nice when we are stressed or imperilled at home. We often get attacked at home, like that time with the rat, no, wait, we hadn't been alive long enough to have a home... Well there WAS that time with the bandit that gutted us, but we were not a chosen-one back then, so we basically lived at home. Would our first meeting with Vvulf count? That was our own village but not so much home base... That one time with that one guy who fancied our maybe-mother? When we were enslaved? No, we had stepped out of our house for a moment for that... There was the time with the Mimics, but that was just a rest-stop and was more of a mental puzzle than a proper brawl. We TRIED to do that at the Crimson Curse's Cabaret, which really didn't turn out so well... I really really love the idea of being more spidery and setting up nice spider-homes for ourselves on a regular basis, but past experience suggests that it is a buff to the occasions that we least need one. No doubt we will immediately be beset by assassins coming after us in our home and horrific night-terrors that require voluminous happy-fun to manage, but just at the moment it sees sadly inopportune.
a.A. sounds terrible. Properly Terrible. And we were warned that not all level-up options were created equal. Then again, this is how you get prophetic visions and cutscenes of the villains monologuing....
S.+ sounds good. It helps with lies, which is something that is really difficult to deal with otherwise, and makes it easy to spot the assassin in a crowd, or the murderrat under the busy streets. Being unreliable hurts, but it is still better than nothing.

*Sighs* this is just a bit too close for me to call... Everything is just so wonderfully useful and/or toxic...

[Liquefied Spleens]

Viable Fluid chosen
Poison has been severely weakened.

So explain to me again how, exactly, my poison lost all lethality?
It's not that difficult, Sydney. You had another mutation, as driders in your lifestyle are want to do. This time, it came out bad.
How does that even make sense? No other drider I met had this sort of problem!
Do you know any other driders that go around having adventures as you do? Not to mention, you mentioned fighting a giant spider queen?
Yes? What does that have to do with anything?
Did you ingest anything?
What?
Did you eat or drink something from that queen?
...Some of it got in my mouth, I suppose. But it was hardly anything, and that was days ago! Shouldn't I have noticed an effect a bit sooner?
Well, usually, queen-flesh is incredibly nutritious and even healthy. I'm afraid, however, it gave you and "imprint" of sorts. You may have noticed some of your mutations seem directly related to recent events? That's a part of how the mutations work. It's a reaction to recent events. I'm willing to bet the upper body carapace appeared after something traumatic?
I... I can't talk about it. But maybe.
Well, it goes on. In this case, I suspect your poison is quite livable now. A few more changes like that, and your poison sacs will be egg sacs.
FUCKING WHAT?!
Spiderites, if I'd have to guess. It's a rare sort of injection that leads to spiderites being born from the victim. With varying levels of lethality. It's a bit disgusting, but I suppose the effectiveness can't be denied.
But i... Does that make me a mother or something?
Technical term is broodmother, and not really. Spiderites die after a couple of hours, assuming it works like the Black Arachnia. I've treated enough of her stings...
The Black Arachnia?
Nevermind that. Please, forget I said that.
Sydney pauses for a few more moments, before finally leaving the healer's abode without another word. The doctor merely nods, she understands the frustration of suddenly losing something that's such a part of you.

It was damned awkward when that tiger didn't care about the poison. Now the drider has a set of three deep wounds on her shoulder, that will likely scar.
Again.

[crazyabe]

Dammet people. We lost one of our best Weapons, because ya all didn't read it well enough.

[DolosusDoleus]

*Insert sad trombone sound effect here*

[RAM]

I believe that people bought it for the baby spiders. Thus setting us up for the perfect opportunity to ignore the further stages of the mutation because we like something else more. And completely freaking Sydney out over the whole "good parent" thing... It is normal to use newborn babies as components in bolas, right? Gotta be better than abandoning them, right? Surely?

[DolosusDoleus]

Please tell me we're not honestly considering using our own children as bola counterweights.