Jorogumo
Jorogumo are spider-like creatures that take the form of beautiful women in order to infiltrate society and feed. Many are also capable of spinning webs. Their canines are longer than normal, even when disguised, and when not disguised they are long, horrific chelicerae that inject potent venoms into their prey in order to digest their innards. This visceral soup is then sucked from the body, leaving nothing but a dry husk behind.
Abilities & Weaknesses
Jorogumo have many unique abilities, the most (or least) obvious of which is their shape-changing. They have a potentially infinite number of forms, one of which is humanoid and female, and the others are those of an infinite array of spiders, although none of these are so large as the great Tsuchigumo that they sometimes keep. They can also allow spider attributes to manifest on their humanoid form, such as spider legs sprouting from their back or their teeth lengthening into chelicerae. They can alter their assumed appearance through a form of magical cocooning, which lasts for a day, during which time they are intensely vulnerable. Even when disguised, jorogumo can secrete silk from their fingertips. Spiders respect jorogumo almost unnaturally, and are drawn to their surroundings like moths to a flame. Jorogumo can mentally command them within a certain radius, an ability that they use to either help them feed or keep them out of sight when visitors are near. In areas with a jorogumo, swarms of spiders emerge from nowhere to carry off prey for their mistress. Many Jorogumo also have mental abilities, manipulating the minds and emotions of those near them. Jorogumo also have a plethora of weaknesses, however. They find holy magic repugnant, and it sears their flesh as if they were undead. Their fey nature also means that they are weakened by cold iron.The origin and fundamental nature of Jorogumo is a matter of great academic interest. Their weakness to cold iron leads many to believe that they are fey or otherwise tied to the feywild, while others point to their weakness to divine magic, their feeding habits, and their abilities, concluding that they are a type of vampire. If they are a vampire, they lack many of its traditional weaknesses, while gaining those of the fey. The dominant theory is that Jorogumo are, in effect, the feywild's equivalent to a vampire, filling the same niche and the same role.
As Jorogumo do not have a true form as other creatures would understand it, they are particularly hard to discover if they have managed to infiltrate a society. Magic designed to uncover polymorph or illusion spells fails to reveal their true nature, as their true nature is whatever it is at the moment.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Jorogumo do not reproduce as other races would understand it. While they can mate with any species and produce viable offspring, these offspring are always spiders. Jorogumo lay eggs and weave sacs for them just like any other spider. However, they produce both larger spiders and more spiders than normal due to the increased size of these sacs. When a spider reaches 64 years of age it becomes either a Jorogumo or a Tsuchigumo depending on its size. This is obviously incredibly rare, and only happens with any frequency in places like the feywild. Male spiders, even there, almost never live long enough; they starve to death after mating, even if they survive. Thus, almost all Jorogumo are female.
Jorogumo sometimes intentionally attempt to create others of their kind, and although this is rare it is the dominant way that Jorogumo form. Jorogumo normally cannot stand eachother, and attempt to eat or drive off other Jorogumo, since they might be competitors for food, territory, and mates. However, like all sentient races, there is an instinctive desire to create a legacy, and many Jorogumo make the mistake of believing that even though they themselves were driven away by their mothers (or forced to eat them in self-defence) that their children will be more filial. Sometimes this is even true, and Jorogumo can form societies of their own, particularly to protect their hunting grounds from rivals. This, strangely enough, happens most often when food is scarcest; the Jorogumo will attempt to band together to ward off outsiders and expand their shared hunting grounds. Thus why it is most common in the feywild, where the viscera of humans and other denizens of the material plane is particularly hard to come by. More often than not, however, Jorogumo will either be eaten by their children, eat their children, or one or the other will be forced to leave their home.
Ecology and Habitats
Jorogumo dislike truly open spaces, and wherever possible seek forested areas or dense urban environments to make their lairs. They rarely build their own structures, usually either killing the occupant and taking their place or seeking out abandoned ruins or structures. They then modify this place to be as homely as possible; all jorogumo keep a room of webbing where they spend most of their time. This web room always has a central cacoon in which she sleeps, and this functions for her much as a vampire's coffin.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Jorogumo feed on predigested viscera, which they suck out of their victims with their chelicerae. They can subsist on animals and fey, but find two sources particularly exquisite; viscera of humanoids, and that of their own kind. These sources are far more nourishing and delectable to them than any other sort. Jorogumo need to feed often, and so will attempt to create stockpiles of webbed and enchanted victims, kept alive but unconscious, who can be eaten later if starvation threatens. Jorogumo "realms" in the feywild often sponsor expeditions of kidnappers and raiders into the material world, in order to bring back humanoids for consumption.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Most jorogumo are native to the feywild rather than the material plane; those who dwell here are often outcasts or their descendants, and many attempt to create some semblance of the beautiful world that they were forced from. They are often solitary creatures, living deep in the woods or mountains and preying on passing travelers, whom they lure to their deaths with the promise of hospitality. Others, however, are of a more ambitious bent, and create "hunting reserves", a group of subjugated humanoids whom they subsist off of, or attempt to create their own polities.
In the feywild, however, the Jorogumo are far more common. While the creatures are still solitary, it is not uncommon to find that they congregate in small cabals that work to further each individual spider's goals. Some parts of the feywild have become entirely taken over by the jorogumo, who live in opulent luxury in web-covered palaces, waited on hand and foot by a civilization of slaves.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Jorogumo are notable for having exceptionally poor eyesight, and while this is not a telltale sign that someone is a jorogumo it can be helpful. If local technology allows it, Jorogumo will often wear glasses to attempt to counter this weakness somewhat, but no matter what they will not be able to see to the degree that other races can. They rely instead on their sense of touch; the thin (or less thin) strands of webbing that they lay throughout their lairs allow them to detect the presence of intruders.
jorogumo
Geographic Distribution
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