Spiderlands

The cult of the Spider-Eaters is a terrible one indeed. Despite the similarity in name to the arachnid-devouring arthropod, the cult of the Spider-Eaters has little to do with those monsters. Rather, the cult gets its name from the requirement that all humans who wish to join the cult must take an especially large, extraordinarily hairy, and utterly lethal spider before a gathering of other members of the cult, and then close his mouth completely around the spider, before releasing the still-living spider into the hand of a waiting cleric, without dying from the venomous bite of the spider. This feat is only possible for the especially hardy, the especially light of touch, or for those actually chosen by the Spider Queen herself. A human that can perform this feat, be bitten by a spider, and survive without significant negative effects, is considered chosen by the Spider Queen, and often receives training as a cleric. While the cult itself can be found almost anywhere in Heaven’s Tear, just like the yuan-ti, the Spiderlands themselves are a dangerous section of the Underdark that runs up into and beneath the Stormlords and the northern part of the Raging Jungle. It is said that the Spiderlands have webs that reach to every part of the continent, though some strands are thinner than others. The Spiderlands capital city of Zerobo is located in the warmer, less towering northern half of the Stormlords mountain range, with the city of Cilliaca located in the dusty desert on the eastern side of the range, on the far northwestern side of the Raider Steppes. The Spiderlands are ruled by a band of aranea and their arachnid cohorts, who revel in the service of the Spider Queen and spreading chaos and dissension throughout the land.

While there are no native drow on the continent of Heaven’s Tear, the dark aranea and their many servitors fill much the same role, and often have most of the same sorts of allies and servitors. The drow living in the rest of the world do, however, have an established relationship with the Spiderlands, and often make troop exchanges, so that it is not unlikely to encounter transplanted drow, who have come to learn the true ways of their dark queen-god, or to act as an honor guard for sacred artifacts or important officials.

Major Races: Intelligent Arachnids and their Kin (aranea, neogi, etcetera); Drow; Human; Other.

Government: Theocracy.

National Alignment: Neutral Evil

Major Cities
Zerobo: City of the Spider-Eaters and capital of the area, as well as its religious and military center.

Cilliaca: Site of powerful, immovable artifacts and ancient site of power.