Scenario

Backstory (not to be included, simply useful to know; bits and pieces will be revealed as we go)
Arañala (or just Aranala, if I'm feeling lazy) is a small island located about 30 miles off the coast of South America, near Peru, which was once the site of a awesome and terrifying, but almost entirely self-contained, civilization. At first glance, this civilization might resemble other cult-sites of the area-- strange creatures, animal-human hybrids, all based around a clear worship of gods in the forms of Spiders. However, these were not just myths; the truth of Aranala is that the Spiders were its literal rulers. There is a breed of Spider on Aranala that is highly evolved, intelligent, even supernatural in the abilities which nature has gifted it. Through their venom they are able to either kill (in a matter of minutes), control (like a puppet), or alter the forms of men (i.e. turn into giant snake monsters by manipulating their DNA). Using these three powers, the spiders actually enslaved the human natives of the island to do their bidding. Ruling with an iron fist through a vicarious, puppet-like influence, they forced the humans to build monuments to their glory, to serve their every need, and to worship the leader they appointed-- the "Spider King", their nominal god-on-earth-- with all their strength. The humans themselves lived in tents, were always kept at hand, like dogs, and were punished severely for any rebellion.

The humans obviously were not very content with this setup. It was some time around 1500 AD, probably, that they began to plan their escape. It took three generations of subterfuge and under-the-radar sneakery, but they eventually managed to escape from the island on boats, and settled in an obscure area along the mountainous coast, where eventually they integrated with the native villages and only their name-- Aranalians, eventually shortened to Nalians-, and much of their mythology, endured. The location of the island was deliberately erased from all maps, and travel to it was forbidden, but spider monsters became a recurring theme of local folklore.

So the spiders had their servants taken away from them... In their absence, they largely returned to being normal arachnids; though they could still communicate with each other and develop their own little societies, they could not maintain the glory of their human civilization. The spiders' city (The Octagon, as we will know it) was largely abandoned; the spiders fled to the forest to feast on bugs and rodents and fruit. But even in this docile time, the spiders also maintained legends of their formal power and their human slaves, and even after 500 years, many would leap at the opportunity to regain it...

Modern Day: An professor named Edgar Cordell, leading an international group of students through an exchange-program tour of Peru's ancient sites, decides to deviate from the curriculum in order to go an an exploratory adventure. You see, he had spotted an island on Google Earth that he see on the map, and was eager to investigate. He, a colleague, and several bewildered students therefore stumbled onto this island, and discovered the amazing Octagon City. Interestingly, Cordell quickly died tragically of a rather nasty spider bite, but not before he was able to call in his discovery. Thus began the events that would lead to our story.

Story
An island about 30 miles off the coast of Peru is discovered by an amateur explorer. He dies due to a deadly spider bite, but news of his find still travels like wildfire. The island, called Aranala, based on local legend, is home to some amazing ruins and statues and riches rivaling those of King Tut, and seems to represent a culture never heard of before. Archeologists and treasure-hunters alike are ecstatic. There's a brief power struggle as people try to decide to whom the dig belongs (Peru says it's theirs due to pure proximity, but they have no real hold on it; the discoverer who found it was American, so the US claims a stake on it, but that discoverer is now dead; he was part of an international organization, every member of which is claiming their part... etc). In the end it's decided that a UN-appointed multi-national coalition of scientists will be the ones to study it, and all artifacts are to remain on site.

The "multi-national coalition" consists of five leading scientists, their assistants, several enthusiastic interns, a group of natives (to the Aranala area, not the island), and a small film crew. The "leading scientists" include a botanist (a well-educated native named Phillip, helping the clueless foreigners to navigate the wilderness), a zoologist (a lively, enthusiastic girl named Sasha, on the watch for new species), an anthropologist (a middle-aged and knowledgeable, but not very likeable, man called Dave), two archeologists (an upbeat, pretentious man named Matthew and a more subdued, blunt, and insightful woman, Florence). All of them represent the best and the brightest in their fields. Also noteworthy is the chief camera man and documenter, called Jem, who becomes deeply involved with the scientists.

All of these scientists arrive in Aranala and are first briefed by Phillip, who, though unfamiliar with archeology, is well acquainted with the local terrain and folklore. He tells his colleagues that the island of Aranala is mentioned in legend as being a place of fear and death. The scientists, including Phillip, are undeterred by this. They quickly make their way to the island, and to the city which lay on its northern corner, as spoken of by the original discoverer. They discover it to be even more bizarre and amazing than they imagined, and each scientist, even the botanist, finds something to be excited about. There are glorious golden monuments and sculptures, and stone reliefs line every wall. They depict the most bizarre scenes-- people with spiders for heads, monsters in chains, people bowing down in worship... but the most remarkable of all is the later-named Spider Palace, which from a distance looks like a towering metallic rectangle, but as it is approached, reveals that it's not solid, but made from layer upon layer of twisting, netted, and highly decorated gold. On the top of it, there's a slightly-larger-than-life statue of a man, seated on a throne, with a spider-mask, his empty hand outstretched and open.

For several days the scientists study this lost city with ample amounts of nerdy bliss. By studying the sculptures, they attempt to learn of the way of life of the people who lived there. But they aren't able to ascertain much; the scenes seem to depict pure fantasy, as far as they can tell-- the only thing they know for sure is that these natives clearly worshiped the spider. They assume that they associated them with the gods, but they can't actually read any of the markings, they can only speculate. But there are a noticeable number of extremely curious spiders around. No one is bit, however. The spiders seem to be, if anything, just watching their unexpected guests.

After less than a week of digging and discovering, a man suddenly arrives on the island, with a very expensive suit and a ship full of heavy machinery. He reveals that his name is Jonathan Burk, and he represents the Rotry Museum, and has been authorized by the UN to transport the entirety of the dig site to the Rotry for further in-lab study. The scientists are indignant: why did nobody tell them, nobody ask them, and why would the UN authorize such a thing? They argue extensively (some that they ought to keep the integrity of the site, some don't want it monopolized, some because it would simply be a horrible violation of history....) when suddenly Sasha (the zoologist) becomes very dead-faced and says that the Sacred Palace must not be violated. She very quickly goes back to normal, rubs her neck idly, and denies having said anything of the sort, but Phillip takes note of her peculiar behavior and is frightened, as if something has just been confirmed.

In the end, Jonathan does have documents, and, despite their enthusiasm, there's really nothing the scientists can do. So the RMAC begin to move in their equipment, while the disgruntled scientists watch and grudgingly aid them as they are ordered, since they are still under the UN's direction. This includes Phillip, a botanist, guiding them on what native plants are edible, since they didn't bring enough food, the morons. Meanwhile, he begins to make extra, more desperate efforts to persuade Jonathan and the RMAC to leave the Octagon alone. They don't listen, obviously. But suddenly, after a few days of set-up, as they're heaving away some freed reliefs and smaller statues, about a quarter of the workers suddenly collapse; they clutch at their necks and limbs in pain, they go pale, and in a matter of minutes, they are dead.

Responses to this are varied. The natives who have tagged along immediately say that it's a curse, they must run, they must leave! While the scientists, on the other hand, try to help the fallen and affirm that there must be a more logical explanation, although they, also, are in a panic and very shaken by the deaths. Even Jonathan looks a little disoriented. But then suddenly one of the interns walks up to a scientist, in the same monotonous and zombie-like disposition that Sasha had been before. He says, NO, IT IS A CURSE. LEAVE NOW, AND LEAVE THIS PLACE, OR ALL WILL DIE. Other interns and scientists attempt to drag him away, to pacify him, but, to everyone's amazement and horror... he turns into a monster.

The intern is now a giant, bright, shining, blue-green, three-eyed, reptilian-headed naga-like creature. Everybody completely panics. The monster kills a few people and injures several more. Finally, Phillip, seeing no alternative, shoots him in the head, and that's that. He promptly turns back into a (very dead) human. Everyone's a little mystified after this. They spend the next few hours recovering the dead and tending to the injured and staring into space wondering what the hell had just happened. Jem managed to get only a blur of blue on film-- no real documentation.

Jonathan very quickly recovers from the shock, and immediately searches for some logical, profitable explanation for the events. He really wants this site. So in order to keep from everyone panicking and running away from the curse, he comes up with his own version of things.

According to Jonathan, it was just some kind of wild creature-- a jaguar or something-- that killed those people. The others, who collapsed, must have eaten something toxic. In fact, he rest of us must have eaten a milder form of it, that caused hallucinations and made us think we were seeing a monster. It was the Botanist's fault. He told us the plant was safe to eat, and now a quarter of the men are dead. And, besides that, he shot that intern, which, since there was now no evidence that he was a monster at the time, made him a murderer and a conspirator. He should be locked up and the dig continued.

Jonathan's argument manages to convince a surprising number of people. So now the party is divided-- about half want to continue to tear up the Octagon, and just pretend like the incident with the monster had never happened-- and the other half are sure it was no hallucination, and they're determined to find the truth, to clear Phillip's name, or just to abandon the dig and escape from the curse.

After this initial outbreak of deaths, many things begin to happen at once. The spiders (although only a few of the people make the connection) begin to sabotage the RMAC's camp; they mess with the communications equipment, and doing so cut the island off from the outside world. Phillip, along with Sasha, Florence, and Jem, take advantage of this temporary anarchy to flee from Jonathan, in order to find evidence of the bizarre, supernatural goings-on, prove Phillip's innocence and hopefully save the Octagon from desecration. At first they are pursued, but Jonathan-- who has become the self-appointed director of the dig site, now that it has been interrupted-- very quickly decides that their absence is to his advantage. He takes the opportunity to enjoy the ancient richness of the Octagon.... and, he begins to hear voices, he thinks, calling to him...

Meanwhile, somewhere in the jungle, Phillip has his friends wear scarves and shares with them what he knows: he reveals the details of the legends of Aranala which he previously mentioned: how the island was supposed to have been run by demons, embodied as spiders; how the island was never lost or forgotten, but intentionally erased from history; how the people, his people, were said to have come from the few survivors of the arachnids' tyranny....

...Back in the camp, interns and RMACs alike continue to die, and there are two more reports of snake-monsters... Jonathan assures the people that all is well and that these are just accidents (and isn't so spectacular a thing as this worth taking risk for?) , and he becomes increasingly enchanted by the city itself. It's like a drug to him; and he doesn't want to give it up. He begins to listen to the voices-- to drink in their power....

Phillip, Sasha, Florence, and Jem continue to walk around, barely knowing what they're looking for. Suddenly Sasha sees a spider on the ground, and, cursing all them and all the evil they have caused, she crushes it with her foot. Jem has his camera at the ready, and it's a good thing-- because in the next few seconds, spiders fall from the trees like snow, and Sasha turns into a snake monster. She is actually able to fight off its control, and avoids killing her friends-- but runs into the woods wildly, and is never seen again. Jem is horrified by this, both because he watched a human mutate into a giant reptile, because he had a crush on said human, and because he knew that she was now dead. The spiders, after running of Sasha, actually depart-- they don't harm the others, because they hadn't' harmed them. Jem notices this. Suddenly, he does something rather rash.

Jem bows down to a spider, he pleads with it, and he begs it for the opportunity to talk. He offers his own neck to it in submission. The spider, after some hesitation, climbs onto it and clamps down. It uses Jem as a medium to talk to Florence and Phillip. In this way, they discover that the spiders are divided; most of them, like the one speaking, just want to the humans to go away so they can continue with their peaceful, docile lives, with their historic palace intact. However, there are others who hope to use these new humans to revive the old, violent regime. When the conversation is done, the spider goes away, leaving Jem unharmed.

Since all of this, from Sasha's transformation to Jem's spider-channeling, was caught on tape, they now have plenty of evidence to clear Phillip's name, and the three horrified survivors head back to camp. By the time they arrive, communications are still mostly down, but the workers have managed to get the other equipment up and running. They have been nearly a week without any kind of incident, and spirits are up-- however, Jonathan seems to be missing. His assistant, Rich, reveals that he hadn't seen him for two days, but he had assured him he would be back by that night. No one was particularly worried, because no one, not even Rich himself, liked Jonathan very much.

When Jonathan suddenly appears, he looks empowered, glowing with a weird mysticism that is very un-Jonathan indeed. He announces that the spider palace is to remain where it is-- he has changed his mind. In fact, they will all remain where they are. And he will rule over them as their Spider King. Throughout this brief but terrifying monologue, everyone stares at him with a mix of incredulity and horror (except Phillip, Florence, and Jem, who look on with understanding and horror)-- and out from the woods, hundreds of spiders appear, and begin making their way toward the humans. Jonathan, having finished his speech, converts into a giant snake monster (the observant will notice the spider on his neck) and damages the boats so no one can escape. The spiders begin to overtake the humans, but they don't convert them or kill them; zombie-like and fumbling from 500 years of no practice, they attempt to gain control of them.

Thus there happens the dramatic battle sequence... Eventually, through unexpected teamwork from Phillip, Matthew, and Rich, he is killed, and the spider that was on him is squashed. The other spiders-- mere directionless cowards, now that their leader is fallen-- release their human puppets and retreat. There is a reprieve.

Then... epilogue. We don't see exactly what happens to the spiders, but the implication is that, with the offensive side temporarily weakened, the peaceful party suppresses them until the humans are able to go home. The humans, now with no Jonathan to deceive them, willingly leave. Everyone agrees never to speak of this again, they make Jem destroy the tapes and they film fake footage of how they found nothing. The entire incident is publicized as a hoax, (the Octagon never actually existed, the island is erased from the map once again... The many dozens of scientists who died did so tragically of a rare, tropical disease, that has been isolated and is no longer a threat) And, well, they all go home.