Lunaiedae

Lunaiedae

Physical - Though an arachnid race, the Lunaiedae are more like elves in appearance than spider.  They are known for their long, straight hair with its texture of fine silk that matches the color of their produced silk.  They're usually quite colorful, not only in the general hue of their skin, but with the spider-like patterns that often trace over their backs, chests, or limbs like fine tattoos.  Most commonly dwelling in forests and caverns, they have a tendency for certain coloring.  (A forest clan would resemble a sylvan elf, for instance, with deep browns and verdant colors, their silk ranging from golden to deep umber hues, or even greens.  Their patterns most commonly are painted in the colors of leaves or moss. Cavern clans tend to be creatures in shades of silvers, grays, and blacks, with thread that ranges in the same.  Their patterns can range in color from deep shadows of black or the bioluminescence of cavern moss and fungi.)

	Their thread is spun from a gland that opens at the underside of their wrist, with forearms that look thick with muscle to make room for the silk glands which extend all the way up their arms, and originate in small clusters and pockets throughout their chest and abdominal cavity.  Upon their fingertips are retractable bristles, which are used to spin the thread as it comes from their wrist, and can be used to scale surfaces such as walls and ceilings if necessary.  So too, their poisonous fangs are retractable, appearing only as slightly elongated canines when in their default position.  The tops of their mouths reveal two long bumps where the soft palate conceals the rest of the tooth, the poison sacks settled beneath the lower jaw near the throat.  Though they have fangs, the race is omnivorous rather than carnivorous and have human-shaped teeth rather than a full mouth of fangs.

	Each Lunaiedae has four eyes, two in the usual humanoid range, while the other two are settled at the corners of the forehead, just near the temples.  The two sets of eyes can be controlled separately, blinking often at different times in a manner that some might find unnerving.  The irises of those eyes tend to be two-toned, with the limbal ring usually a different color than the main hue of the iris itself, often yet again having some connection with the hue of their silk.

	Though they have very delicate, chiseled features which are angular and elven in their appearance, the Lunaiedae have no protuberance to their ears, but instead small slits near the top, back of their jaw that often remain hidden by their hair.

Abilities - Though the Lunaiedae can expel thread from spinnerets on the underside of their wrists, they do not have the capacity to expend endless amounts of silk.  They use their spinning to create things such as garments, nets, blankets, and curtains rather than heavier materials that could be used to create tools or dwellings.  Their silk is often spun in such a way to make fine, diaphanous materials for clothes.  It takes very well to dyes, though the coloring which comes natural to it is often more than enough.  Though exceedingly strong - even in its diaphanous state, to the point of being resistant to small weapons in the way that leather might - it is unfortunately susceptible to flames.

	Each clan of Lunaiedae has differences in the potency of their venom.  It is a form of distinction and pride among them.  When first born, the small holes in their gums that lead to their venom glands excrete a harmless venom which stimulates their mother's milk when they nurse.  Though the Lunaiedae are born in larger groups, often numbering from five to eight children in a 'clutch', there are always some who are born unable to produce enough venom to stimulate their mother's milk to flow.  Some tribes chose to cull the children who are unable to nurse, while others borrow the venom from their siblings to allow them not to starve.  Even with the aid of a sibling's venom, those without have the tendency to begin to weaken and waste away.  Those that survive never develop the secondary venom that the race uses in mating, rendering them sterile.  Only rarely does a child improve and develop venom if they did not have it at birth.

	Lunaiedae are unable to breed with other races because of the use of venom in their mating.  A secondary venom is injected into their mate, which in females, chemically alters the male's seed to be compatible with their eggs.  For the males, their venom encourages the females to ovulate when injected in large enough doses.  Because of this, their clutches are planned and can be avoided altogether if a pair does not wish to have children.  Despite the fact that often only two or three children will survive in a clutch, their venom induced breeding helps to keep them from over-populating.  Those who grow to adulthood without developing secondary venom are rendered sterile and are often relegated to more dangerous tasks, such as hunting or guarding their tribe.

	Most Lunaiedae are not born with any sort of magic.  Though a rare healer or mage can be born, the powers have never proven to be genetic.  Though not as rare as a magically inclined individual, every few generations a tribe will produce a 'queen'.  These females naturally produce strong pheromones which cause a chemical reaction to the silk glands of the Lunaiedae around them, both male and female.  A tribe with a queen flourishes more with their tribe's individuals producing larger quantities of stronger silk, which they use as armor or in trade.  So too, a queen's presence often draws other Lunaiedae to them in an instinctual wish to serve and protect them.  Though more than one queen can be born in a generation, it is rare.  Two queens in a tribe are unlikely to co-exist easily, which would lead to one either killing the other in a territorial dispute, or one leaving to find a tribe of their own elsewhere.  Many other tribes will offer consorts in an attempt to align themselves with a tribe lead by a queen, or to attempt to have their bloodline added to those who are known to produce queens.  More aggressive tribes are likely to attack and try to take a queen by force, encouraging smaller tribes with a queen to look for others to align themselves with to make them less vulnerable to raiding.