Stonespiders

A variation of the Giant Spiders common to Mirkwood can be found in the valleys and slopes of the Iron Hills. This subspecies are called Stone Spiders and are smaller cousins to the spiders found in Mirkwood, with an adult female growing up to 3' in diameter.

Detailed Description
Stone spiders have lost their ability to climb and to spin webs. In turn they have developed the ability to jump great spans and to run over ground at very fast speeds. Also adept at burrowing in the many cracks and loose rocks in the hill slopes these spiders have become masters of the ambush. Laying in wait until their prey comes within striking range these spiders leap out of hiding and pounce on their unsuspecting prey. A stone spider is able to spring up to 8’ high and 20’ long to land on its prey. Biting their prey several times it injects poison that paralyses it victim so it can drag it off to its nearby burrow. The Stone Spider does not kill its victim right away but later injects an acid that slowly turns the victim into a jelly which the spider then ingests this jellylike substance at a later time. Stone spiders are loners who only can be found in small groups during breeding season, which is late spring. The females are up to 5 times larger then the males and usually will eat the male after mating. Once mated the female will then create a burrow and lay its eggs attached to a captured prey so the young will have food upon hatching in 4 to 6 weeks. Stone spiders would probably be a dominant species in the Iron Hills were it not for the fact that Martins and fox love the taste of the spider eggs. Stone spiders will attack any small animals that happen by its ambush. Though they have been known to take on up to man sized creatures when food has been particularly scarce.