Manaweaver

Cryptologic Name: Mageistos s.
Planar Origin: Fae
Habitat: Temperate forests
Diet: Manavore

Appearance & Morphology
Manaweavers are a genus of fae creatures that resemble brilliantly-colored spiders with glowing abdomens. This genus varies greatly in both size and appearance between its many species, with individuals small enough to barely be visible to the naked eye, to giant creatures with legs over a meter long. While these creatures do look very similar to nonmagical spiders, they have a distinct morphological difference from them. Manaweavers have distinct head and thorax sections, rather than a single cephalothorax as nonmagical spiders do, meaning an individual can mover its head around while keeping the rest of its bodies still.

Magical Abilities
These unique arachniforms weave webs much like their nonmagical kin, but these webs have very special properties. Manaweaver webs consist of a special silk that exists as a part of the veil, meaning that it exists both on the material and ethereal plane simultaneously [for more info on planar theory, you can look at my primer here…. which I haven’t finished writing yet but I’ll link it once it’s posted]. As such, these webs cause ambient mana to condense and “stick” to them, so to speak, which the manaweaver will then consume. Each species feeds on a particular type of mana, and as such each web is woven into particular shapes and patterns which attract the desired type. This mana can be used in a variety of ways after it is consumed, but is primarily used to sustain the creature’s life force.

Behavior
Because these creatures subsist on condensed mana and not physical sustenance, they are not predators like their nonmagical kin. However, because they absorb pure mana, they are prey for other fae creatures on their home planes, and can defend themselves using the mana they’ve absorbed in a variety of ways, depending on what type of mana they specialize in. For example M. mandigni, which consumes fire mana, will generally create small explosions in an attempt to scare away predators, or breathe fire on would-be attackers who get too close. Each variety of manaweaver has common tactics across a species, but we also see innovation among individuals, meaning they are highly intelligent creatures who can craft magic much like mages can.

Field Notes

• The individual pictured above is from my own collection, and is an M. lumanducar, which traps and consumes mana associated with light and illusion magic. As such, components of this species are sometimes used in potions that produce mirages. Naturally their defense mechanisms revolve around distracting predators with illusions, though my particular manaweaver has a penchant for creating bright flashes of light that are temporarily blinding. While I’ve never startled him intentionally, it does happen every once in a while, and I’m hoping it doesn’t cause any long-term damage to my retinas.