Under the Dark Fist
| Space | Spinner | |
|---|---|---|
| Espace | Tisseuse | |
| Climate/Terrain: | Space (Vodoni) | Space (Vodoni) |
| Frequency: | Very rare | Very rare |
| Organization: | Cell or colony | Nest |
| Activity Cycle: | Any | Any |
| Diet: | Minerals | Minerals |
| Intelligence: | Exceptionnal (15-16) | Exceptionnal (15-16) |
| Treasure: | See below | See below |
| Alignment: | Lawful neutral | Lawful neutral |
| No. Appearing: | 1-10 or 30+ | 2-20 |
| Armor Class: | 0 | 0 |
| Movement: | 15 | 15 |
| Hit Dice: | 8 | 10 |
| THAC0: | 13 | 11 |
| No. of Attacks: | 3 | 3 |
| Damage/Attack: | 1-8/1-8/1-10 | 1-10/1-10/1-12 |
| Special Attacks: | Poison | Poison |
| Special Defenses: | Nil | Nil |
| Magic Resistance: | Nil | Nil |
| Size: | L (10’ diameter body) | L (10’ diameter body) |
| Morale: | Elite (13-14) | Elite (13-14) |
| XP Value: | 120 | 3,000 |
These large crystal spiders are very rare throughout the universe, as they are known to be both intelligent and shy. They most resemble large glass spiders, with strange, multicolored internal organs. They appear to be more mineral than organic. How they communicate is a mystery, but they occasionally produce a high-pitched tinkling sound.
Combat: The crystal pincers and razor bite of the typical space spider is enough to chew through even a metal hull, given time. Anyone bitten by the spider must save vs. poison or die in 2-5 rounds (ld4 + 1). They do take damage from the second level mage spell, shatter.
Habitat/Society: These creatures are not evil, but are generally so secretive about their lairs that anyone or anything that wanders into their lair, even accidentally, is immediately killed to protect the secret location of the nest. A typical nest will 30-180 spiders, 3-18 diamond spinners, and one master spinner.
Vulkaran has a nest of these creatures guarding the entrance to his palace, but only a few Vodoni citizens outside the palace know what lies just within the great gate. The rest of the populace knows only legends and rumors.
Ecology: Space spiders are a combination of organic and mineral life. Their origin, whether on the Elemental Plane of Earth or as the result of some ancient magical experiment, is unclear, but most scholars believe the spiders are distant relatives of the xorn, xaren, and most probably crysmals. In fact, the resemblance of the space spiders to the latter has led many to suppose that space spiders are actually a more advanced space-based form of the crysmal.
The eggs of the space spiders are known to have diamonds in them worth lo-100 gp each. It is not known whether the gems are produced naturally within the mother spider and then laid with the egg, or whether the egg-laying process requires the location of a suitable supply of diamonds. Sages tend to believe the latter is true, due the immense rarity of the creatures, and of the diamond-laden asteroids they are known to inhabit. It is known for certain, however, that the young hatchlings devour the diamond enclosed in their crystalline shell as they grow, much as a young chicken feeds off the yolk of an egg before it is ready to hatch. The young mature fully within twenty days.
These are the mother spiders of the race, and are the most able to defend the precious eggs of their young so treasured by adventurers the universe over.
In addition to the powers of the common space spider, the spinner can jump a full 150 feet horizontally or vertically. This is usually used to ambush intruders to the lair or pursue those lucky enough to have evaded the spinners on the way in.
This is simply the oldest, wisest diamond spinner of the lair. As such, it has maximum hit points and the ability to communicate telepathically with all its offspring. The master spider guides the construction of the lair, a bubble-like maze, through mental commands.
