Giant Spiders

Giant spiders are abnormally large arachnids that inhabit the dungeons and wastelands of Sosaria, Britannia, and the Serpent Isle. These creatures have exhibited numerous predatory behaviors similar to their smaller cousins, including jumping attacks and the projection of silk and venomous spittle.

Description
The giant spiders of Sosaria and later Britannia are almost universally venomous to mankind, although it is unclear if any of these creatures actively hunt humans as their prey of choice. While such arachnids have certainly killed numerous unfortunate adventurers, it seems that such beasts largely attack defensively when their nests are disturbed or that men are simply victims of happenstance, used as food or hatching fodder in lieu of more common prey.

The giant Britannian spider is also a source, along with its smaller cousins, of the valuable reagent, spider silk, a commodity prized among mages. While the webbing of the albino ghoul spider (which appears in both gargantuan and miniaturized forms) was once particularly held in esteem, the silk of any spider is sufficient to create the binding property needed for magical work. To this end, some entrepreneurial magicians have taken to domesticating giant spiders, harvesting their silk on farms.

Common Giant Spiders
Most giant spiders encountered on the Britannian surface are blackish to gray in coloration and are somewhere between a large dog and a small horse in size. These beasts attack their prey through a combination of leaping attacks and spittle-hurling similar to that seen within the scytodidae family of Terran arachnids. Over the centuries, these spiders further adapted their projectile techniques to include the casting of webs from a distance and could be seen exhibiting this "spray" tactic during the later Age of Armageddon during the events of Ultima IX.

While almost all giant spiders are venomous, it should be noted that there are some subterranean species whose venom is not sufficiently toxic to cause much ill effect to human beings.

Wolf Spiders
Smaller than the common giants, the wolf spiders of the Britannian underworlds are covered in a thick "fur" and are a ruddy brown in color. It is not known if these large predators bear any relation to the lycosidae of Earth, which are characterized primarily by their child-rearing habits. The wolf spiders of Britannia are universally venomous to humans, and their poison has been tentatively identified as a "red bile" by observers. While not characterized as aggressive animals, the wolf spider can be a significant threat when its ire is roused.

Dread Spiders
Monsters living within the deepest bowels of the realm's underground, dread spiders are often spoken of in fabled terms, as many believe that these beasts do not exist. Easily as strong as three of its less violent cousins, the pale dread spider injects its prey with one of the deadliest poisons known to man, causing death in a majority of cases. Its bite is said to be strong enough to penetrate even metal armor.

Phase Spiders
A bizarre aberration of the late Age of Armageddon, phase spiders are creatures capable of magical teleportation between the material and ethereal planes. It is not known if such beasts are native to Britannia, as they were only found near a Phase Gap at a farm south of Trinsic during the events of Ultima IX, which must have opened up only recently. The appearance of this Phase Gap is left unexplained and no indication is given as to why a Paladin from Trinsic, rather than the Avatar, was needed to close it.

Giant Spiders in Eodon
Current scientific research does not recognize any prehistoric species of spiders comparable to the giant spiders of Britannia, although in recent years, fossils of the sea scorpion megarachne servinei were mistaken for a large archaic spider, similar in stature to a dog. Despite this, large spiders - with leg spans approaching six feet - feature among the fauna of the mysterious Eodon valley, perhaps having originated in this mystic location through means similar to those in other lands.

Giant Spiders on Serpent Isle
The majority of giant spiders on Serpent Isle are identical to species found in old Sosaria and Britannia. However, scant evidence indicates that spiders may have had different significance to the natives of the region, with a strange temple-like structure featuring spiders appearing in the wilds of the Isle of Beyond.

Furthermore, in the archaic Ophidian-dominated Serpent Isle of old, it is known that the liche Aram-Dol fused the bodies of spiders with those of men, creating a horrific hybrid race known as the arachnians.

Lore








Notable Examples

 * Navrey Night-Eyes: A wolf spider of considerable ferocity, who terrorized the gray goblins of the abyssal colony founded by Sir Cabirus.

Trivia

 * In Ultima VI, spiders' bodies would occasionally yield meat, indicating that some species of giant spider may be edible (even if not exactly palatable) to humans.
 * In the SNES Port of Ultima VII, giant spiders could project their venomous spittle from a distance, making it difficult to engage them at a range.
 * Phase spiders are likely derived from creatures of the same name within the table-top role playing game,  Dungeons & Dragons. These spiders, who use their inter-planar travel abilities to gain an upper hand in hunting, first appeared in the Greyhawk supplement for the game in 1975.
 * Creatures known as "frost spiders" were to be included in the canceled Ultima X. See Planned Monsters for Ultima X for further details.
 * In Ultima IX, a fairly hostile and large spider is found on Earth near the Avatar's home.