Dreamweavers

*"In the cold of night, I came upon something that shone like starlight amidst the Brecken wood. Had I known what it was at the time, I would have run to call for help… But at this time in my life, I was young, curious and stubborn. As I approached, I realized that what I had seen was the sack of a Dreamweaver's prey. Its silk sparkled like a diamond in the desert sun, I can only imagine this meant it was feeding. I took it upon myself to be a hero and cut the man free… I would later learn, that too, was a mistake…"*

**Excerpt From, Tycin Greymere’s guide to Magnificent and Maleficent Beasts.**

## Habitat

The Dreamweaver favors heavily wooded areas outside of large cities or by main roads. There have been occasions where it has survived in jungle areas, or even swamps.

They prefer mild temperatures rather than extreme cold or extreme heat, making their survival in desert areas or mountainous regions impossible. Some are known to migrate for no reason except they realize they have outlived their welcome. If an attempt is made on their life, or if they notice heavier foot traffic in their domain, that of search parties, sometimes they tend to up and leave - though, it usually isn't very far.

## Behavior

Any mage or biologist can tell you that the Dreamweaver comes from incredible arcane history. It is one of the only known non-sentient creatures that are capable of casting and channelling a magical ability. One of its own creation, as well. The weaver begins as a small arachnid, rarely spotted in its early life. Its immediate goal is to acquire a source of its food. Dreams.

Weavers will go unnoticed in a forest for years, simply watching for its chance. Surprisingly intelligent for its size and ancestry, this little spider watches for paths of constant use, paths people often go to and from. Once it recognizes the pattern, it spins a web as a trap for the common folk that travel that road. All it takes is the slightest touch from this silk that is covered in heavy doses of a sleeping chemical that has the ability to knock out creatures as large as a horse. The chemical takes a slow effect, causing drowsiness initially and slowly driving them into a deep sleep within five to ten minutes of contact. Once the victim is unconscious, the spider immediately embeds itself to the forehead of its victim, sinking in its fangs, it begins to channel a magic that is unbeknownst to man, which is able to induce intense lucid dreaming.

From this point on, the cycle is simple. As the weaver feeds on more dreams, it grows in size. The largest Dreamweaver in record was at least twice as large as the Gryphon. A weaver can feed from any creature that can dream, but prefers humans. In addition to this, a Dreamweaver does not kill any of its victims but eventually the lack of food and water is what leads to their demise. Even so, Dreamweavers are sometimes known to provide nourishment to victims through the web system it creates in order to keep certain victims whose dreams it enjoys alive.

Many debate if a Dreamweaver is a malicious being or a simple animal trying to survive. That being said, if a Dreamweaver is attacked it will defend itself as well as any giant spider you can imagine would. The same goes for if its food source is disturbed. The Weaver can use it’s sharp, crystalline legs to stab and impale and if it manages to sink it’s fangs into an attacker it can channel that ‘dream magic’ to knock the person out, creating an all new food source. If desperate, it can shoot ropes of webbing to slow and wrap assailants.

## Anatomy

No one knows how a Dreamweaver is born. There are no records of them mating, it appears as though they simply come into being by unknown forces. Many debates are held about this spider, but the most sensible conclusion is that it lives on its own plane of existence and the odd collision with other planes drops some off.

They begin as small spiders, no larger than a half inch in diameter, and can grow to be larger than the average Gryphon. The fangs of a weaver serve not to inject venom but instead it is used like a conduit for magical casting. Much like a wand or staff. The color of a young Dreamweaver is white with a rose-pink circle donning the back of its abdomen, resembling of how a Black Widow spider is adorned.

Once it grows, the Dreamweaver develops a fluorescent glow that shifts in sunlight as if its body was made of some sort of gemstone. Many sell the exoskeleton of the spider for high prices in hunters markets. Speaking of exoskeleton, it is almost hard as stone from an adolescent age and up.

It has a few relative chinks in the armor, on the joints if its legs and the underside of its abdomen. Its fangs can grow upwards of a foot long and are sometimes taken from dead weavers and used as wands still. Like normal spiders, the Dreameaver has six beady, black eyes. Lastly, the weavers silk is incredibly elastic and strong. It is typically covered in the weavers saliva which serves as a potent knockout drug that is absorbed through the skin.

At an early age, the Dreamweaver must use only its fangs to feed on dreams but more mature weavers tend to wrap victims completely in a cocoon and feed on them through an intricate web system that allows them to feed on multiple victims at a time. A detail of note about the silk when it is being used to feed is that it has a crystalline shimmer that illuminates the immediate area around it.

## Sociology

For survivor accounts, most hadn't even realized they'd been caught. When explaining their dream, many (if not all) said the life they lived in the weavers dreamscape was infinitely better than their own. While some were happy to return to their families, others would hate those who rescued them from a better life, some going as far to travel the world for another chance to be caught in its web again.

Other stories entail that certain triggers caused them to wake from their captivity. Now, these cases are so rare that it is hardly believed in the community of those who study creatures such as the Dreamweaver, but it is not completely out of the question. On certain accounts they say the Weaver speaks to them in their dream after completing some unknown objective and releases them. This objective, or trigger, has come in forms specific to the person. For example, a man explained that he was in love with a woman he never spoke to, but in this dream he finally went to her to proclaim such a thing and he woke up as she began to speak. Another case is a landowner who chose to free his slaves within his dream and after they had run away, he awoke from his slumber and was released. Both of these cases claim that the Dreamweaver said something to them, but in a language they could not comprehend. These testaments, while heavy outliers, could prove to be true which in turn makes this species even more fascinating.

## Trivia

Dreamweavers are quite rare, but have existed for many generations. Due to efforts in magic and science, a few have been captured and studied in various different circumstances. Not only are these odd creatures valued in the world of science, but some who had been spun in itsweb seek a way to exploit its magical ability to create an underworld of drugs. The level of success in that plan varying.

Debates still exist regarding whether or not the Dreamweaver is a malicious creature. Some believes it targets humans specifically because it carries ill-will towards them, others believe it is merely an animal trying to survive like the rest of us. Its intelligence is remarkable, though it makes no attempts to communicate. This arachnid is a curious case, but in the grand scope of its kind, people are more liable to fear its sister species…

“*There was a time where I believed that I was on the trail of a particularly old Dreamweaver, one that might have even been alive for hundreds of years. However, on this beings trail I began to realize what I was searching for was so much more sinister than the true crystalline spider. I realized where I was searching was no place for dreams…*

*Only nightmares…*”

**Excerpt from, Tycin Greymere’s guide to Magnificent and Maleficent Beasts.**