Spiders!
A spider is an air-breathing chelicerate arthropod. Spiders are found all over Faerûn. They are arachnids that come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and coloration. Spiders are characterized by two body segments, eight legs, and no chewing mouth parts and the ability to spin webs of silk in which they capture their prey and feed upon their still-living bodies.[citation needed]
In a fantasy world, spiders can reach impossibly massive sizes, being larger than human and sometimes even bigger than whales. These monstrous spiders retain the characteristics and mannerisms of their smaller cousins, but are far more dangerous in that they can feed upon much larger prey.[citation needed]
Some spiders build giant webs to capture their prey. These creatures lie in wait for food to come to them. Other spiders are active hunters, stalking their territory for any living creature within the area. There are even breeds of spiders that live within small burrows and grab prey as it walk near the trapdoor entrances of the spider’s lair.[citation needed]
A large number of hand-sized venomous spiders would sometimes group themselves into a swarm.[1]
Species
- Giant spider
- Any spider of a giant size. Also known as "monstrous spiders", they are found in a variety of appearances and sizes and come in hunter or web-spinner varieties. Goblins use giant spiders as mounts.[2]
- Guardian spider
- A huge black spider that could be summoned by the drow matron mothers of Ched Nasad.[3]
- Hairy spider
- A variety of small, web-less, hairy subterranean spider.[4]
- Phase spider
- Aggressive predators that can move between the Ethereal Plane and the Prime Material Plane.[5]
- Sword spider
- A variety of subterranean spider with razor-sharp tips on its legs.[4]
- Wraith spider
- Undead giant spider.[6]
Related Creatures
- Aranea
- The aranea is an intelligent, shape-shifting spider thought to have been created by a Calishite wizard to infiltrate drow armies.[7]
- Drider
- The drider is a drow aberration whose lower half is that of a spider. They inhabit the Underdark and require blood for sustenance. Driders are created from drow who fail a loyalty test to Lolth.[8]
- Ettercap
- The ettercap is an aberration between a humanoid and a spider. They have gray or purple bodies with white underbellies and sharp, chitinous claws. They often keep spiders as pets.[9]
- Jade spider
- Jade constructs in the shape of a spider used by the drow to protect Menzoberranzan and other drow locations.[10]
- Snow spider
- A warm-blooded mammal with eight legs and an arachnid form.[11]
Locations
Spiders inhabit the forest known as the Neth Stand.[12]
Spiders were common in the Underdark, particularly in drow settlements, where they were revered by worshipers of Lolth.[13]
Cultural
Drow often made objects and buildings in the shape of spiders.[14][15] In cultures that venerated Lolth, it was forbidden to kill a spider; those who did so were punishable by death.[16]
Appendix
See Also
Appearances
Novels
- Daughter of the Drow
- Dissolution
- Insurrection
- Condemnation
- Extinction
- Annihilation
- Resurrection
- Night of the Hunter
Games
- Baldur's Gate
- Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
- Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
- Neverwinter Nights
- Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
- Neverwinter Nights 2
External Link
References
- ↑ Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 239–240. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 288–289. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ Thomas M. Reid (December 2003). Insurrection. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 307–308. ISBN 0-7869-3033-0.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 James Wyatt, Rob Heinsoo (February 2001). Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn. Edited by Duane Maxwell. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-7869-1832-2.
- ↑ Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 207–208. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ James Wyatt (September 2002). City of the Spider Queen. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 124. ISBN 0-7869-1212-X.
- ↑ Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 69–70. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ David "Zeb" Cook, et al. (1989). Monstrous Compendium Volume Two. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 0-8803-8753-X.
- ↑ James Wyatt (September 2002). City of the Spider Queen. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 121. ISBN 0-7869-1212-X.
- ↑ Belinda G. Ashley (1997). “The Dragon's Bestiary: Arctic Monsters”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon Annual #2 (TSR, Inc.) (2)., p. 33.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd (March 2006). Power of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 146. ISBN 0-7869-3910-9.
- ↑ James Wyatt (September 2002). City of the Spider Queen. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-1212-X.
- ↑ R.A. Salvatore (August 2012). Charon's Claw. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 296, 299. ISBN 0-7869-6223-2.
- ↑ Richard Lee Byers (August 2003). Dissolution. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-7869-2944-8.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (July 2003). Daughter of the Drow (Mass Market Paperback). (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-0786929290.