Lore:Spider Crafting

Imbuing Chamber

Spider Crafting is an art of magic involving the creation of artificial spiders imbued with magical properties. It is considered adjacent to Alchemy and Daedric magic. Practitioners of this art are sometimes referred to as Spidersmiths.

Spiders created through Spider Crafting are often referred to as Spider Scrolls, although their connection to magical scrolls and the art of enchanting is unknown.

History

Servos Rendas

Griskild

Sometime before 2E 582, a Nord priest of Sheogorath named Mad Griskild set up his workshop in the abandoned Daedric ruins of Bal Fell in the southern parts of Vvardenfell and began experimenting with Alchemy and Daedric magic to create magically enhanced spiders. An expedition to the ruins led by a famous Breton archaeologist, Lady Clarisse Laurent, fell victim to Griskild's mind-controlling spiders, who used them to abduct scholars and force them to dance in honor of his patron, the Mad God Sheogorath. The expedition members were ultimately saved by the Vestige, who killed Griskild. Lady Laurent later sent Griskild's research to a scribe living near White Ridge Barrow on Solstheim, who was known for his obsessive fascination with spiders. Neramo a scholar of the Dwemer was known to study alongside an enigmatic man referred to as a Spidersmith on a Skaal inspired construct.

This ultimately led to the creation of unique magical spiders that were later rediscovered in the same barrow at some point in the Fourth Era by the Dunmeri siblings Merilar Rendas and Servos Rendas. They were testing their creations on bandits. Eventually, Merilar, driven by ambition and paranoia killed her brother. Merilar was killed in 4E 201 by a wandering adventurer, who found the Imbuing Chamber and research notes of the Dunmeri siblings. The further fate of Spider Crafting is unknown.

Usage

Merilar Rendas using Flame Spiders in combat

Griskild forcing researchers to dance through the Mind Spiders

One of the known methods of spider crafting involves the usage of the Imbuing Chamber. This device allowed mixing ingredients put in the receptacle. Recipes for spider creation followed a simple pattern, with untarnished or damaged albino spider pods being the core components. Pods could be combined with various gems for the desired effect. Rubies imbued the created spider with the element of fire, sapphires with frost, amethysts with shock, and emeralds gave spider venomous qualities. Damaged spider pods could only be used to create a dead spider that explodes imbued with the desired element. It was theorized that the purity of the gem could enhance the imbuing process in an unforeseen way, increasing number of spiders created.

The untarnished pods, however, had more uses. Not only could they be imbued with gemstones to grant created spiders elemental qualities, but with the addition of a salt pile, they could be granted the elemental cloak. Unlike the spiders created with damaged pods, they do not explode on contact with the desired foe. Without the addition of salt, however, they were only separate from those with undamaged origins in the fact that they were alive and could be commanded to jump in the desired direction. The untarnished pods could also be combined with Dwarven oil or a soul gem. Those spiders created through the combination of pods and Dwarven oil were known as the Oil Spiders. They were known to secrete a flammable oil when threatened. Spiders created with the usage of Soul gem were known as Mind Control Spiders or Mind Spiders, and had the ability to influence and even control the minds of people.

Known Types

Flame Spiders

Flame Spiders are created by combining rubies with albino spider pods.

• Exploding Flame Spiders are created through the combination of damaged albino spider pods and rubies. They are dead and cause a flame explosion on contact with enemies.

• Jumping Flame Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods and rubies. Unlike spiders created with damaged pods they are initially alive and jump on their foes to explode in the elemental explosion.

• Flame Cloaked Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods, rubies, and salt. Unlike spiders created without salt they do not have explosive properties and instead they are cloaked in fire.

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  Exploding Flame Spider (Skyrim)

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  Jumping Flame Spider and Flame Cloaked Spider (Skyrim)

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  Jumping Flame Spider (Skyrim)

Frost Spiders

Frost Spiders are created by combining sapphires with albino spider pods.

• Exploding Flame Spiders are created through the combination of damaged albino spider pods and rubies. They are dead and cause frost explosion on contact with enemies.

• Jumping Frost Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods and sapphires. Unlike spiders created with damaged pods they are initially alive and jump on their foes to explode in the elemental explosion.

• Frost Cloaked Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods, sapphires, and salt. Unlike spiders created without salt they do not have explosive properties and instead they are cloaked in frost.

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  Exploding Frost Spider (Skyrim)

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  Jumping Frost Spider and Frost Cloaked Spider (Skyrim)

Shock Spiders

Shock Spiders are created by combining amethysts with albino spider pods.

• Exploding Shock Spiders are created through the combination of damaged albino spider pods and amethysts. They are dead and cause a lightning explosion on contact with enemies.

• Jumping Shock Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods and amethysts. Unlike spiders created with damaged pods they are initially alive and jump on their foes to explode in the elemental explosion.

• Shock Cloaked Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods, amethysts, and salt. Unlike spiders created without salt they do not have explosive properties and instead they are cloaked in lightning.

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  Exploding Shock Spider (Skyrim)

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  Jumping Shock Spider and Shock Cloaked Spider (Skyrim)

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  Shock Cloaked Spider (Skyrim)

Poison Spiders

Shock Spiders are created by combining emeralds with albino spider pods.

• Exploding Poison Spiders are created through the combination of damaged albino spider pods and emeralds. They are dead and cause poison explosion on contact with enemies.

• Jumping Poison Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods and emeralds. Unlike spiders created with damaged pods they are initially alive and jump on their foes to explode in the elemental explosion.

• Poison Cloaked Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods, emeralds, and salt. Unlike spiders created without salt they do not have explosive properties and instead they are cloaked in poison.

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  Exploding Poison Spider (Skyrim)

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  Jumping Poison Spider and Poison Cloaked Spider (Skyrim)

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  Poison Cloaked Spider (Skyrim)

Other types of Spiders

• Pack Spiders are created through combination of intact albino spider pods and bone meal. They may be used to haul items.
• Light Spiders, also known as Glowing Spiders are created through combination of intact albino spider pods and glowing mushroom. They may be used as a source of light.
• Oil Spiders are created through the combination of intact albino spider pods and Dwarven oil. They were known to secrete a flammable oil when threatened.
• Mind Control Spiders, also known as Mind Spiders, are created through combination of intact albino spider pods and soul gems. They were known to possess the ability to control minds. Those affected by them could hear voices compelling them to perform certain actions.

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  Mind Control Spider and Oil Spider (Skyrim)

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  Mind Spider (ESO)

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  Mind Control Spider (ESO)

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  Oil Spider (Skyrim)

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  Pack Spider (Skyrim)

Notable Spider Crafters

• Griskild
• Merilar Rendas
• Servos Rendas

Gallery

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  Albino Spider (Skyrim)

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  A person mind controlled by Mind Spider (Skyrim)

Notes

• ^	Two kinds of spiders: Pack Spider and Glowing Spider are present in the Dragonborn files, but are ultimately not found in game. They are mentioned in ESO, but their abilities are unclear.

See Also

• For game-specific Spider Crafting information, see the Skyrim Imbuing Chamber, Spider Scrolls and Spiders articles.
• Scrolls
• Spider

Books

• Merilar's Journal by Merilar Rendas — The journal of Merilar Rendas
• Servos' Journal by Servos Rendas — Research notes on the albino spiders of White Ridge Barrow
• Spider Experiment Notes

References

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.