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<blockquote data-quote="QuietBrowser" data-source="post: 6940964" data-attributes="member: 6855057"><p>Alright, so, folks, I started working on the Aranea's racial gazetteer. I'm just starting into the Courtship section, work's proceeding apace and I'm liking how it's going, but I could really use feedback on it. In particular, I could use some contemplation of the Physiology segment of the gazetteer.</p><p></p><p>Aranea have long been described as being very "mutable" in terms of what their hybrid form looks like, beyond being a melding of human and spider. Their Red Steel bestiary art basically was a rather doofy four-eyed vampire squirting goo out of her hands, whilst their Monstrous Compendium art was essentially a multi-eyed drider type creature. With that in mind, I found a fan artwork of a humanoid spider - actually based on the D&D Ettercap - that I thought was a nice blending of human and spider. I can post a link to view it online, but I don't know if I'm allowed, as it's a rather non-work-safe image; female nudity with exposed, non-realistic nipples and genitalia.</p><p></p><p>But, anyway, I used what I found online as a basis, and I could really use feedback on how the resultant textual description looks. Fun fact: Araneas actually DO canonically give live birth and even implicitly nurse their young, and have done since the days of Red Steel.</p><p></p><p><em><u><strong>Aranea Gazetteer (Partial)</strong></u></em></p><p><u>Who Are They?</u></p><p>Originally a species of giant spider cultivated to serve as guardians and custodians of elven libraries, the aranea found themselves liberated in more ways than one by the Black Dawn. Simultaneously freed of their former masters and mutated into a more humanoid state, the aranea have since sought to continue the process of uplifting themselves, pursuing the restoration of the lost arts of magic with a fanatic's zeal.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><u>Physiology</u></p><p>Distinctive even amongst their kindred "beastman" races, aranea have perhaps the most exotic of all bodies of any stable, true-breeding humanoids in Malebolge. Resembling a surprisingly harmonious melding of human and spider, even without meaning to, an aranea is quite imposing; only the more deformed and unsightly calibans tend to have greater difficulties with not accidentally terrorizing those unfamiliar with their species.</p><p></p><p></p><p>At its basis, the aranea frame is the standard for a humanoid; standing upright with a distinctive head, upper torso, and lower torso. However, the aranea form incorporate many arachnid traits, and the overall result is very much like a giant spider emulating the human form.</p><p></p><p></p><p>An aranea's head is fundamentally human. Many aranea are naturally bald, though some family lines do grow hair like humans. All aranea have at least four eyes, which tend to be slightly larger than a human's and oval shaped; they can have up to nine eyes, though this is a somewhat random trait. Aranea eyes are "eerily" human-like, with visible pupil, iris and sclera. An aranea's mouth contains teeth orientated for a carnivorous diet, with four pairs of incisors, both upper and lower; these are particularly long, slender and wickedly pointed, making their nature as venom-delivering tools quite obvious. An areanea's tongue is slightly longer than a human's, and also somewhat pointed.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It is at the upper torso that perhaps the first and most obviously inhuman trait appears. Aranea have four arms, arranged in vertical pairs on the sides of the shoulderblade, roughly where a humanoid would have only one arm. Their arms are elongated and more slenderly built than a human's, which, combined with the delicately elongated and claw-tipped fingers on each hand, gives them a subtle "spidery" build.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The lower torso, however, is the most extreme divergence from the humanoid, and more closely resembles a spider's abdomen. At roughly the same pount as a human's pelvis, an aranea sports four legs, arranged in a horizontal pair. Each leg is long and slender, consisting of three increasingly slim segments that ends in a small, dainty foot comprised of two prehensile, claw-tipped toes. Back from the pelvis, where a human would have buttocks, an aranea has a short abdomen, roughly shaped like an inverted teardrop, with spinnerets, genitalia and excretory organs placed on the underside of the abdomen's far tip.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Aranea are usually completely hairless, with slightly stiff, tough skin that isn't true chitin, but looks more "solid" than human skin. Some aranea do possess partial or total coverings of fur, much like some spiders do. Skin and fur color come in a wide variety of forms; various shades of black with hourglass markings of crimson on the upper and/or lower side of the abdomen make up perhaps the most iconic "color scheme" for these spidery humanoids, but other colors and patterns are very much possible.</p><p></p><p></p><p>What many consider the most disturbing aspect of aranea physiology is that they combine both spider and humanoid sexual dimorphism. Like spiders, female aranea are much larger than males; males average 5' to 5'6" tall, whilst females average 5'3" to 6'6" tall. However, female aranea also have distinctly wider "hips", a larger abdomen, and, perhaps their most alien feature to some, human-like breasts on their upper torso. Though perfectly justified by the fact that infant aranea are actually born live and nursed on milk like humans, this does not stop the sight of "<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> on a spider" being quite a shock to the unfamiliar.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><u>Personality</u></p><p>The three words that most readily sum up the typical aranea's attitude are Intellectual, Inscrutable and Inquisitive. Shaped by their origins, aranea mentalities blend the patience of their trap-weaving arachnid ancestors, a natural fascination with knowledge, and lingering remnants of their original racial duty to guard knowledge to produce a race of natural scholars.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Aranea, as a whole, love to learn. They enjoy finding things out, and dislike ignorance; an aranea is the kind of person who will always ask himself "why?" and will not stop until he has an answer that satisfies him. Any aranea worth her salt can read and write, has a basic understanding of mathematics, and probably has at least two fields of interest that she has devoted herself to mastering, as much out of the sheer delight of knowing things as for any practical benefits to such things. In most aranea settlements, ignorance is held up as the most grievously offensive sin and knowledge prized as almost sacred.</p><p></p><p></p><p>But even this pales in comparison to their racial fixation upon magic. Maybe it's because magic created them, first by uplifing humble spiders, and then by transforming those guardians into aranea. Maybe it's because they were used to guard libraries of magical texts, wizard's labs, and similar locales before their ascension. Maybe it's simply because magic is the deepest and most absorbing form of knowledge one can pursue. For whatever reason, aranea are fixated upon magic as a racial pursuit; though arcanists are most common, psionic magic is also quite respected, and those who avoid anything to do with magic are extremely rare amongst their people.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Despite scurrilous stories painting them as cold-hearted and amoral, or vicious and sadistic, aranea are no more inclined to evil than any human is. Indeed, as the typical aranea wants little out of life beyond the freedom to learn, study and experiment in peace, one could argue that aranea are generally less likely to be evil.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It is true, however, that amongst strangers, aranea can be a cool and aloof people, keeping their emotions in reserve and focusing on logic. And, truthfully, aranea as a people are usually very quiet and emotionally introverted.</p><p></p><p></p><p>But that does not make them emotionless drones, and in fact aranea emotions run quiet but deep. An aranea may not make the grandiose displays "expected" of a typical human in love, but his devotion and passion cannot be questioned, nor can his loyalty to his mate.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Pragmatic is perhaps another defining trait of aranea. Though not usually ruthless, they are a practical species, who enjoy solving puzzles from the hypothetical to the very real, and consider it a matter of pride to ensure than once something is fixed, it stays fixed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="QuietBrowser, post: 6940964, member: 6855057"] Alright, so, folks, I started working on the Aranea's racial gazetteer. I'm just starting into the Courtship section, work's proceeding apace and I'm liking how it's going, but I could really use feedback on it. In particular, I could use some contemplation of the Physiology segment of the gazetteer. Aranea have long been described as being very "mutable" in terms of what their hybrid form looks like, beyond being a melding of human and spider. Their Red Steel bestiary art basically was a rather doofy four-eyed vampire squirting goo out of her hands, whilst their Monstrous Compendium art was essentially a multi-eyed drider type creature. With that in mind, I found a fan artwork of a humanoid spider - actually based on the D&D Ettercap - that I thought was a nice blending of human and spider. I can post a link to view it online, but I don't know if I'm allowed, as it's a rather non-work-safe image; female nudity with exposed, non-realistic nipples and genitalia. But, anyway, I used what I found online as a basis, and I could really use feedback on how the resultant textual description looks. Fun fact: Araneas actually DO canonically give live birth and even implicitly nurse their young, and have done since the days of Red Steel. [I][U][B]Aranea Gazetteer (Partial)[/B][/U][/I] [U]Who Are They?[/U] Originally a species of giant spider cultivated to serve as guardians and custodians of elven libraries, the aranea found themselves liberated in more ways than one by the Black Dawn. Simultaneously freed of their former masters and mutated into a more humanoid state, the aranea have since sought to continue the process of uplifting themselves, pursuing the restoration of the lost arts of magic with a fanatic's zeal. [U]Physiology[/U] Distinctive even amongst their kindred "beastman" races, aranea have perhaps the most exotic of all bodies of any stable, true-breeding humanoids in Malebolge. Resembling a surprisingly harmonious melding of human and spider, even without meaning to, an aranea is quite imposing; only the more deformed and unsightly calibans tend to have greater difficulties with not accidentally terrorizing those unfamiliar with their species. At its basis, the aranea frame is the standard for a humanoid; standing upright with a distinctive head, upper torso, and lower torso. However, the aranea form incorporate many arachnid traits, and the overall result is very much like a giant spider emulating the human form. An aranea's head is fundamentally human. Many aranea are naturally bald, though some family lines do grow hair like humans. All aranea have at least four eyes, which tend to be slightly larger than a human's and oval shaped; they can have up to nine eyes, though this is a somewhat random trait. Aranea eyes are "eerily" human-like, with visible pupil, iris and sclera. An aranea's mouth contains teeth orientated for a carnivorous diet, with four pairs of incisors, both upper and lower; these are particularly long, slender and wickedly pointed, making their nature as venom-delivering tools quite obvious. An areanea's tongue is slightly longer than a human's, and also somewhat pointed. It is at the upper torso that perhaps the first and most obviously inhuman trait appears. Aranea have four arms, arranged in vertical pairs on the sides of the shoulderblade, roughly where a humanoid would have only one arm. Their arms are elongated and more slenderly built than a human's, which, combined with the delicately elongated and claw-tipped fingers on each hand, gives them a subtle "spidery" build. The lower torso, however, is the most extreme divergence from the humanoid, and more closely resembles a spider's abdomen. At roughly the same pount as a human's pelvis, an aranea sports four legs, arranged in a horizontal pair. Each leg is long and slender, consisting of three increasingly slim segments that ends in a small, dainty foot comprised of two prehensile, claw-tipped toes. Back from the pelvis, where a human would have buttocks, an aranea has a short abdomen, roughly shaped like an inverted teardrop, with spinnerets, genitalia and excretory organs placed on the underside of the abdomen's far tip. Aranea are usually completely hairless, with slightly stiff, tough skin that isn't true chitin, but looks more "solid" than human skin. Some aranea do possess partial or total coverings of fur, much like some spiders do. Skin and fur color come in a wide variety of forms; various shades of black with hourglass markings of crimson on the upper and/or lower side of the abdomen make up perhaps the most iconic "color scheme" for these spidery humanoids, but other colors and patterns are very much possible. What many consider the most disturbing aspect of aranea physiology is that they combine both spider and humanoid sexual dimorphism. Like spiders, female aranea are much larger than males; males average 5' to 5'6" tall, whilst females average 5'3" to 6'6" tall. However, female aranea also have distinctly wider "hips", a larger abdomen, and, perhaps their most alien feature to some, human-like breasts on their upper torso. Though perfectly justified by the fact that infant aranea are actually born live and nursed on milk like humans, this does not stop the sight of ":):):):) on a spider" being quite a shock to the unfamiliar. [U]Personality[/U] The three words that most readily sum up the typical aranea's attitude are Intellectual, Inscrutable and Inquisitive. Shaped by their origins, aranea mentalities blend the patience of their trap-weaving arachnid ancestors, a natural fascination with knowledge, and lingering remnants of their original racial duty to guard knowledge to produce a race of natural scholars. Aranea, as a whole, love to learn. They enjoy finding things out, and dislike ignorance; an aranea is the kind of person who will always ask himself "why?" and will not stop until he has an answer that satisfies him. Any aranea worth her salt can read and write, has a basic understanding of mathematics, and probably has at least two fields of interest that she has devoted herself to mastering, as much out of the sheer delight of knowing things as for any practical benefits to such things. In most aranea settlements, ignorance is held up as the most grievously offensive sin and knowledge prized as almost sacred. But even this pales in comparison to their racial fixation upon magic. Maybe it's because magic created them, first by uplifing humble spiders, and then by transforming those guardians into aranea. Maybe it's because they were used to guard libraries of magical texts, wizard's labs, and similar locales before their ascension. Maybe it's simply because magic is the deepest and most absorbing form of knowledge one can pursue. For whatever reason, aranea are fixated upon magic as a racial pursuit; though arcanists are most common, psionic magic is also quite respected, and those who avoid anything to do with magic are extremely rare amongst their people. Despite scurrilous stories painting them as cold-hearted and amoral, or vicious and sadistic, aranea are no more inclined to evil than any human is. Indeed, as the typical aranea wants little out of life beyond the freedom to learn, study and experiment in peace, one could argue that aranea are generally less likely to be evil. It is true, however, that amongst strangers, aranea can be a cool and aloof people, keeping their emotions in reserve and focusing on logic. And, truthfully, aranea as a people are usually very quiet and emotionally introverted. But that does not make them emotionless drones, and in fact aranea emotions run quiet but deep. An aranea may not make the grandiose displays "expected" of a typical human in love, but his devotion and passion cannot be questioned, nor can his loyalty to his mate. Pragmatic is perhaps another defining trait of aranea. Though not usually ruthless, they are a practical species, who enjoy solving puzzles from the hypothetical to the very real, and consider it a matter of pride to ensure than once something is fixed, it stays fixed. [/QUOTE]
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