Vortex Spider

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temporal Prime

FREQUENCY: Uncommon

ORGANIZATION: Stiiitary

ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any

DIET: Camivore

INTELLIGENCE: Average (8)

TREASURE: E

ALIGNMENT:Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1-4

ARMOR CLASS: 4

MOVEMENT: 9 (15 in web)

HIT DICE: 7+4

THAC0: 13

NO. OF ATTACKS: 1

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d4

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Poison, web

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Chameleon ability in web

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 15%

SIZE: Large {12 feet long)

MORALE: Average (10)

XP VALUE: 2,700

Vortex spiders evolved from the phase spider, and they can exist only on Temporal Prime. Some wizards have theorized that the origm of this ralher unique species is rooted in a temporal acddent in the far past. A colony of phase spiders must have been eaught up in the eye of an impending timestormwhiie phasing, trapping them in Temporal Prime. Once they found themseives on this pseudo-plane, they carved out a niche for themsdves in the loeal food chain and managed not only to adapL but to survive and thrive.

Vortex spiders have kept their ancestors' basic shape, but the simliarities between the two species end there. Vortex Spiders are covered with a thin chitin which is blue-gray in color but with several patches of a dull waxy color and texture. They are only seen in this fashion, though, when forced out of their natural habitat for some reason. Their color can change to blend with their web when they are skittering about it's edges or even resting within the central tangle of its maglcal strands.

Habitat/Society: The vortex spider can create a home for ilself anywhere on Temporal Prime, but it prefers to spin its web in a vortex. It traps other creatures such as temporal dogs, small temporai gliders, and unwary time travelers for food. While it may he slow intellectually, the spider is not stüpid, and it ignores large gliders or other crealures that are simply too big to net. If a tether beast manages to wander into a vortex spider's webbing, the splder immediately takes off for partsunknown and seeks out a new home. Finding an empty web is uncommon, though, since the enchanted strands quickly disintegrate without the vortex spider's constant upkeep.

One corner of the vortex spider's webbing contains the remains ot victims as wdl as their possessions. The spider likes to hide this section away from prying eyes. as humans who see the pile of bones and treasure should irnmediately realize just how much danger they might be in Still. The spider know's the vaiue ot these trinkets, although it has little use for them personally. It is cunning enough to sometimes place an tnterestmg-lookingitem or two in part of the web easily vtsible from the vortex’s wall. More than one unwary advenlurer has grabbed at such obvious bait, only to find hlmself outmatched by the web's devious owner.

Combat: The webbing of a vortex spider is completely invisible amomg the mist-smoke of Temporal Prime, and it is made resilient with pure temporal energy; spun from the mist-smoke that permeates the entire pseudo-plane. As such, it is detectable by a detect temporal anomaly spell, and to the casler of such a spell, tt stands out sharply, even against the considerable background turbulence of a vortex.

The web is usually up to 50 feet in diameter, making it too small to fit entirely across any but the smaliesl vortices. Most often it can be found spread acruss a section of the vortex’s wall. Once the web has been spun, the spider hides in one corner of it, its chameleonlike abilily to alter its coloration to that of the mist-smoke surrounding it making it invisible to anyone who fails to save vs. rod/staff/wand.

While a vortex is the most common place to find a vortex spider (thus the obvious source of the name) they can sometimes be found stringing their web among the lifelines as well. They are less commonly encountered here, though, due to the vastness of the timestream. One reason the spiders tend to stick to the vortices is that these are so heavily traveled. Another is that the swirling mist-smoke makes it even harder for a traveler to spot the spider's web. If the web is spun within a vortex, the save needed to spot it Is made at -4. Another reason for the spider to make its home in a vnrtex is its ability to travel straight up and down the vortex sides, an option most creatures do not have.

The webbing is not adhesive in the way normal spider webs are, but any creature which touches it suffers trom an effect similar to a spell, since time has been warped around them to move slower. Since this is dsfferent from a normal slow speli, the chronomancer's immunity to chronomantic spells does not apply here. A bite from the spider causes only a small amount of damage, but the poison must be saved against at a -2. The poison causes instant death, and those that save against this still take 20 points of damage