Door spiders

Door spiders (sometimes seen hyphenated as door-spiders) were stylized doorstops originally used in countries around the Shining Sea, such as Calimshan, Tharsult, Lapaliiya, and Tashalar, circa the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR. They became increasingly popular and common in many port cities around Faerûn.

Description
Door spiders were made from sturdy metal with fins that jutted out from a central hub at various angles resembling the legs of a spider. There were typically two of these "spiders" joined by a long, flexible chain.

Usage
Doors in the warmer regions of Faerûn (where insects were more pervasive) were usually designed to close by themselves after people passed thru them. They accomplished this by being weighted slightly or by being mounted in a frame that was not quite perpendicular with the ground. Door spiders were used in two different ways to hold doors open while loading and unloading cargo, and they made it relatively convenient to close the doors when finished.

A door could be propped open by placing one of the spiders on the ground with two of its "legs" straddling the edge of the open door. If the door was particularly heavy or there was too much wind, the spider could be tapped gently into the ground as needed. To release the door and allow it to close, a person could kick or pull on the second spider. The second way door spiders were used was to place one in between the door and the frame in the angle made by the hinge. The different spreads of the legs could be used to select how wide the door was held open. Double doors required the use of both spiders. When the last person came through the door, they could drag their foot to catch the chain and pop both spiders out, releasing both doors.