Aranea

Secretive Crafter and Trader Treasure: Individual

Araneas are reclusive shape-shifters. An aranea's natural form resembles a bulky, humpbacked spider with two short arms beneath its head. An aranea can shape-shift into a humanoid form or into a multiarmed humanoid-spider hybrid. Araneas live in insular communities, such as the Spider Swamp in Calimshan, where they create beautiful objects that express their artistry and which are sometimes traded to other communities. Most araneas prefer to avoid combat, befuddling their foes long enough to skitter to safety. Roll or choose a result from the Aranea Crafts table as inspiration for an aranea's crafting talent.

Aranea Crafts:

The araneas (sometimes called "werespiders"; pl: araneas or: aranea) are a magical race of sentient, shape-changing spider-like creatures inhabiting the Spider Swamp in Calimshan.

Description: While they are not true lycanthropes, aranea can transform between the appearance of a humanoid and a giant monstrous spider. Their humanoid form is that of a Calishite human, a Calishite half-elf, or, in some rare cases, a drow. The form and gender they can take is fixed at birth. In their natural form, these creatures appear to be giant humpbacked spiders with some subtle differences. In this form they also have a pair of short arms ending in many-jointed fingers and double-jointed thumbs, which extend from below their mandibles. Oddly, their brain is not located in their head segment but in a large hump on their back. Aranea also can take on a third, hybrid form. This form is humanoid, but the aranea bears sharp fangs, has spinnerets in his or her hands, and has four eyes instead of two. On occasion, the hybrid form also includes additional arms, but never more than eight in total.

Abilities: An aranea in spider-like form. Aranea are inherently magical beings and can cast a certain number of spells much like a sorcerer or dragon can. They prefer illusion, enchantment, and charm spells and avoid ever casting fire spells. In hybrid or natural forms, aranea have poisonous bites and can throw webs.

Combat: Aranea try to avoid combat, but if pressed into it, they take advantage of their webs and spells, immobilizing or distracting the most powerful opponents first. They take prisoners and exchange them for ransom rather than killing them.

Trade: The aranea, in the disguise of human forms, trade silk, herbs, and poisons with nearby settlements, such as Almraiven and Volothamp. In 1370 DR, a group of them worked secretly for the Silverstars Trading Coster of Saradush.

Society: Aranea usually live alone within temperate forests or in small colonies of three to six individuals.

History: According to legend, the aranea were created by Calishite wizards during the Night Wars to infiltrate the ranks of the drow armies. When the wars ended, the "werespiders" were hunted down and killed or driven into the Spider Swamp. They became a neutral, pacifistic people. Originally, they were only able to change into drow, but after a while, some gained the ability to change into Calishite human or half-elf forms and returned to the human cities incognito as well as spreading out from Calimshan into the wider world. This allowed them to trade their silks, herbs, and poisons with the coastal city of Volothamp. For a brief time during the Eye Tyrant Wars of the Fifth Age of Calimshan, the aranea ceased their pacifism and joined in the fight against the beholder armies from the Alimir Mountains who were seeking to take over the entire Forest of Mir. The aranea only allied with the Calishite forces long enough to repel the eye tyrants, before the two "allies" turned on each other. Over 800 years after their banishment, in 290 DR, Qysara Shoon V blamed them for a plague that was ravaging Almraiven. As a result, they were nearly wiped out by Volothamp's military. During this time, some adopted the worship of Zanassu, a demon lord of spiders, for protection and came to inhabit a city that was once called Ajhuutal somewhere in the swamp. The Qysara banished their god back to the Abyss two years later, which led to a gradual degradation of their society while the priests of Zanassu desperately awaited their god's return for the next 1000 years. Unbeknownst to them, Selvetarm had defeated Zanassu and stolen his divine essence, though the aranea remained relatively peaceful.

Rumors & Legends: Some drow believe that araneas were transformed from drow for failing Lolth, the Spider Queen. Others maintain that araneas were Lolth's first creation before she perfected the drow.