Silkspinner Dragon

**Silkspinners** are a Vodros Insect Dragon subspecies created by Catperson. A highly generalized subspecies of Insect Dragon that have, over time and hybridization, become more akin to their full-blooded draconian cousins. Peculiar and highly reclusive, these dragons are rarely seen, but often not due to their rarity- they will often live together in clusters or alone. They are easily adapted to new environments thanks to their webbing abilities, which allows them to retain moisture and stable body heat.

Nearly every lineage of Silkspinner has come from a common Insect Dragon ancestor, and as a result, carry some of their old traits, such as great strength, dexterity, and specialized senses (e.g., smell, touch.) While some lineages are similar in behavior, others can be varied, determined on their chosen environment. Over the years as the individual grows, their body will adapt to their environment until they move. As a general rule of thumb however, ***every*** Silkspinner will have the ability to manipulate silk webbing and have a degree of venomousness.

## Community

Nearly all lineages of Silkspinner are communal, and live in impressive, webbed colonies. They prefer jungles and towering forests to anchor their webbed structures but will happily colonize the earth by digging extensive burrows, especially when the outside environment conditions are more unfavorable.

Strangely, many Silkspinner lineages have evolved a peculiar trait about them due to a mutation in their genes that results in sterile males, or little to no males at all. Through their Insect Dragon ancestry, those same lineages adapted to being parthenogenetic- and thus, every single dragon from these lineages are born female and reproduce via cloning. But this has its own downsides, one including a poor genetic diversity. Diseases and infections that infect one will more than likely infect all in a lineage, and so, mating with dragons of other species is imperative to bolster the gene pool. But these outside dragons tend to be cast out afterwards.

There are often no ranks in a Silkspinner colony, as all dragons live with one another in a content, equal manner. They are sisters, mothers, grandmothers, and all pitch in to help raise young and teach them their customs. They may be open to outsiders or may be suspicious and untrustworthy of them.

However, it is not unheard of for some Silkspinner colonies to adopt a system of Matriarchy, similar to a colony of ants, where there is one Queen, a sect of workers, a sect of soldiers and defenders, and a sect of caretakers. Or perhaps, there are multiple Matriarchs, banding together to help each other raise their respective lineages. They can often be mates with each other, but due to parthenogenesis, they can raise multiple different lineages!

Multi-Matriarch colonies often span into the hundreds after several generations, especially if these same Matriarchs allow their daughters to lay their clutches too. Rapidly, a population can get out of control, so many experienced Matriarchs will only allow close daughters to lay fertile clutches. In doing this, many of the other dragonesses will be able to work and live without worrying about raising young!

Colony structures and sizes will vary. Some colonies can span into the hundreds or thousands depending on how they are handled, built, and how they utilize the environment. Or they can be a singular lineage; a small family with one Matriarch. It varies as much as the Silkspinners themselves do.

## Faith

Faith depends entirely on the Matriarch which starts the colony. Some have no faith. Generally, their faiths range from more down-to-earth to spiritual, in that they believe the world they live in breathes alongside them, and those dragonesses will be highly attuned to nature and its balance. Balance can entail many things; some dragonesses will be cannibalistic towards non-Silkspinners OR Silkspinners alike in trying to ensure their territory stays healthy.

Lone Silkspinners can have highly variable faiths as they’re likely to encounter foreign dragons more frequently, and ideas can be easily shared that way.

Festivals in colonies can include a “Hatch Day” where the Matriarch(s) celebrate with their colonies with a period of silence and maternal care to all of their young before enjoying a massive feast. Colonies that have harnessed farming can celebrate a “Culling Day” of some of their livestock and can bless/thank the creature for their life before they euthanize it.

Like faith, festivals and other celebrations depend on the Matriarchs or individuals!

## Physiology

Depends on the lineage! The physiology of Mapleheart’s lineage is fairly small, designed for living in close proximity in arboreal colonial webs, but fair just fine on their own. Across the entire Silkspinner subspecies, all dragons are venomous, and all dragons have little to no scales with skin similar to that of a sphynx, a trade-off for stronger silk and larger silk glands without getting too heavy. Losing scales may seem like a strange adaptation, but it allows for their silk to remain freed from their body, allowing them to seamlessly move through their webs without getting stuck. Most of these dragons are light and efficiently built, but primary ground dwelling Silkspinners can have more robust limbs for digging and different types of silk glands for building tunnels.

Overall, these dragons are slender and long with keen senses. They often will dress themselves in silk first, then armor should they ever need to go to battle. Silk colors depend on the lineage, but many Silkspinners will have gold-tinted webs. Silver or red webs, however, are not uncommon in other lineages. Generally, these colors come from the substances that bolster certain abilities.

* Gilded webs will have stronger structures and high tensile strength. They can be spread far apart, making them perfect for arboreal living. Cocoons tend to be very strong.

* Silver webs are more versatile. They can live in the treetops, on the ground, or *in* the ground with ease. Imagine a swiss-army knife, but in silk glands.

* Red webs will have better catching capabilities, with far more stickier netting webs. Generally, these webs are very good for building underground due to how well it holds and compacts soil.

Body ornamentation is also dependent on lineage. Some dragons can be entirely devoid of quills or bristles, while others have it aplenty. Some have sprawling horns while others have small or slender horns. Generally speaking, all Silkspinners have specialized ‘scales’ that allow their own silk to adhere to them, otherwise, their silk will slide off of them.

### Colors and Patterns

As varied as their lineages are. Mapleheart’s lineage generally has dragons that are black or deep ash-gray with gold horizontal striping with black spots along their spine. Some dragons have cryptic patterning that allows them to blend in better with their surroundings, ranging from being deep gray and brown to vibrant hues to blend into flower environments.

Some lineages evolve specialized skin cells called chromatophores, which allow them to change colors to a small degree. This can range from being vibrant during stress as warning colorations, colors that blend into their environment subconsciously, to being very dark to absorb light better during basking.

In general: If there’s a spider with that coloration, there’s probably a Silkspinner who has something similar to it. Take inspiration from nature!

### Lairs

Anywhere that has live prey and isn’t a scorching desert. Due to the lack of scales, these dragons will often live in more temperate or tropical regions. They can handle some snowfall but will often hold up and hibernate in a thick cocoon to prepare for it.

Some lineages are arboreal and colonies gigantic forests and jungles, should the habitat provide, creating sprawling treehouse like buildings that utilize all of the understory of their chosen trees.

If not suitable, they are more than content enough to make their webbed world on the ground but will often construct complex structures to ensure they have proper structural support for their webs.

Some lineages will burrow and dig through the ground, forming complex passages with multiple channels and openings, lined with powerful webbing and sealed with ‘trap doors’ of compacted soil. If these burrows get too large, some dragons can create micro-tunnels using intuitive tubing systems and piping made from foliage.

If it has any humidity, it’s fine for Silkspinners.

### Behavior

Generally, highly intuitive species with hard work in mind. These dragons enjoy doing their duties and doing their part for their colonies. Lone Silkspinners are still goal-driven and will pursue their ideas and desires ceaselessly. Their web-building often makes them keen towards engineering, figuring out how to make the best structures and secure supports for their massive buildings and far-fetched ideas.

Cannibalism is not frowned upon in most colonies due to a general faith towards balancing the ecosystem. Eventually colonies will get large, and natural prey can falter, so the only other choice for these dragons is one another to keep each other in check, or to disperse the colony entirely.

Silkspinners tend to not be hoarders of all things. They will instead fixate on something particular, like a certain metal or gem and seek it out en-masse to decorate their abode. This can lead to each abode within a colony being differently colored or decorated, giving each individual their own ‘style.’ Sometimes these styles can get popular in large colonies, and fashion trends can begin!

Sometimes they will harvest their own venom to fashion into exotic drinks, mixing it into fermented juice to get a buzz.

In colonies, these dragons are amicable towards each other and work together to care for one another. They will care for each other’s youth and elders. In colonies where there are multiple lineages, some dragons will be mates with one another. This happens more so with the Matriarchs that form their respective lineages, creating a platonic- or romantic- polycule with mutual attention to one another’s hatchlings to ensure that their colony grows in a healthy way.

* The cycle repeats when the daughters of the Matriarchs leave to create their own colonies. Matriarchs will often be mates with each other for life, but romantic feelings are not needed for a lifelong allyship and friendship. Matriarchs will often live together and then die together, fighting to keep their colony safe and alive.

In that sense, these dragons are highly loyal to their friends, family, and colony. If a Silkspinner feels comfortable enough to embrace the culture of an outside clan or colony, then they will stick with it until they no longer can, or if they desire to fledge and create their own colony.

### Diet

Silkspinners are often obligate carnivores that can get some energy from sugars. Depending on the lineage, some dragons will prefer mammals, some will prefer fish, some will prefer dragons. There are some minor exceptions to this as some burrowing lineages have evolved to get a lot of nutrition from underground fungi farming but will still need some meat from time for proper hatchling development.

This is where their webs come into play. Like a spider, these dragons can create traps from their webs to catch small prey, but to catch large prey they will need to actively hunt.

* Using specialized claws, they can lasso prey to immobilize it before crawling over it or around it hastily to cocoon it- and when there is a dozen or so hunters doing this, a massive animal can be captured in mere seconds. Then, their venom will act.

Venom is HIGHLY important to this species. It not only helps in killing their prey, but it also helps in digestion. Most Silkspinners have a cocktail of myotoxic and hemotoxic venom which paralyzes their prey and then destroys their blood cells and weakens muscular walls. The innards of these dragons rely on the venom to destroy some of the tougher parts of the flesh so that they can get the nutrients from it.

* Some Silkspinners, however, have even more toxic venom depending on the prey they have adapted to. Some have venom adapted to killing other Silkspinners. Like a King Snake, these lineages will hunt large colonies and keep them in check should their populations get too large. Or if a Silkspinner lineage is adapted to eating a wide variety of dragons, they can have a more paralytic and sensory-disruptive venom to really get their prey to stop moving before harm can meet them.