Gem Spider

Summary

The bane of miners and quarries across Veltrona, the so-called gem spider can be anything from a nuisance to a deadly predator. They're insidious and difficult to purge, and even a well-secured location will come to be plagued by them eventually. How they ever come to achieve this is a mystery, but most people believe mutation is the cause. Something about ordinary spiders coming into contact with mana-rich crysium or manarium triggers the emergence of a gem spider. This logic doesn't always track, as some gem spiders are noted to reproduce normally.
Generally a strongly veltron-aspected creature, some rare variants become metal-aspected instead. The gem spider actively resculpts its carapace, using local geology to blend and mask its presence. This has the effect of not only visual identity, but its ambient mana presence aligns with the environment. While they're sedentary and hate leaving an area, old and veteran gem spiders can often take on whole new looks. Accomplished killers are all the more dangerous as a result, for nothing betrays their frightening capability.
Gem spiders, generally, are omnivorous in the form of living prey and mana. They'll eat crysium or manarium to feed their mana needs, while devouring animals attracted to the crysium. Thanks to their carapace adaptation and light bending power, the gem spider can become almost completely invisible. Even the adult-sized giants become indiscernible, giving them great advantage in their ambush. They're among the spiders that don't actively use webs, but will instead manipulate the terrain itself. In essence, they make pitfalls and other traps that impede prey but not them. How much they change depends on how big they themselves are.
Their terrain sculpting is, alongside their deadly predations, one of their most problematic aspects. They can accidentally compromise quarries, pits, or mining tunnels, causing deadly chain collapses. The gem spider itself isn't bothered by that, as it can use its sculpting to burrow and dig through the veltron. They don't like doing it, but they can in a pinch. Some scholars believe that same terrain manipulation is what allows juveniles or other young to sneak into mines so well.
For as dangerous as they can be, gem spiders can have fairly exotic materials on or in their bodies. They're quite the rich bounty to harvest from, even the ones with easier-to-get metals like copper or tin. Their titular name of gem spider comes in that most of them usually have some form of mana-enriched gemstone upon them. Whether because they like them as a snack or some other occurrence, they're the prize material of the spider itself.
Based on testimonies from the gehurm and some lindwurm, the gem spider happily exists in the realms of the Underworld as well. It's likely that, because of its lack of eyes or other surface-dwelling senses, it's actually a native of the Underworld proper.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A gem spider has eight functional legs, a central body, and a slightly larger abdomen. As hunting spider that doesn't rely on web building, it's fairly bulky and 'strong' in its physique. Its true appearance is almost completely obfuscated beneath the rocks and gemstones it affixes to its chitinous exoskeleton. How that disguise manifests is different, some partially cover themselves while others are almost entirely rock. The chitin itself is usually glassy and reflective, appearing silver or white due to a lack of pigment.
They don't have eyes nor ears, instead relying on a uniquely developed mana sense to detect prey. Their fangs are, instead of piercing with venom, heavy crushing implements more like hammers. Quite literally clubbing their prey to stun, if not outright kill it, they use their bulk and veltron magic to do the work quickly.

Biological Traits

Gem Armor – The unique composition of the gem spider's stony carapace makes it resistant to various forms of magic. However, still being rock, it is susceptible to heavy kinetic attacks like hammers or pickaxes.
Optical Invisibility – By bending light around and on themselves, the gem spider distorts its appearance. Depending on factors, they can disappear completely from sight, appear as a slight shimmering, or something akin to a gas-leaking rock formation.
Mana Sense – This creature hunts through sensing the distinctive mana presence of living beings, compensating for their lack of other functional senses.
Sedentary – Gem spiders do not move homes often, if at all. They can store a great deal of energy and ride out periods of famine without too much fuss. Seeing one on the move is a rare sight, if not once-in-a-lifetime because of their natural camouflage.

Average Height

Giant

Average Weight

Enormous