Spiderlings

[Yeorl Oakenleaf]

Living within the confines of shallow caves, nestled deep in the Chavlarus mountains - one can expect to find Spiderlings. Comparable to Giant Spider beasts only by their size, however their nature and make up is quite different. Spiderlings while ferocious hunters and massive beasts who appear made to kill are actually quite tame - they are one of the few animals in the world who exhibit taste and while Spiderlings do hunt for prey; quite successfully, it is rarely if ever a Dwarf, Human or any other passer by. We are too little a portion for them to be even interested and the things which Spiderlings hunt in the darks within the depths of the mountain are best left away from our thoughts. Spiderlings have one love in life and that is mana crystal, they search for it and seek it desperately digging deeper and deeper - someone once found a Spiderling warren that ran so deep through the mountain, that the entire tunnel system was lit by hell below. Spiderlings have a tough exterior made of a semi-hardened crystal skeleton, while a few hacks from an axe will do away with their carapace, it armours them well against most predators. Another thing that sets them apart is their reproduction, Spiderlings do not lay thousands of eggs like the Giant Spiders of the Deep Woods and at most an egg sack, (Which appears as glowing blue stalagtites.) carry only one to two offspring. Unlike most Giant Spider species, the Spiderlings carry absolutely no venom but they're extremely strong and do not cocoon their food but tear it to edible strips.

The Spiderlings used to inhabit the section of the Chavlarus mountains where the Dwarves now inhabit and legend says they were fierce predatory creatures which hunted and killed all. The Dwarves fought wars against hordes of Spiderlings who would seasonally come down from their mountain caves to hunt the early Dwarven ancestors. It is said in the stories that a Dwarven noble playing a magical flute, tamed the Spiderlings one day and led them out of the Dwarven region into an uninhabited one. Since the Spiderlings are docile and tame to Dwarves and highly susceptible to any music, they're trained to be ferocious battle mounts.