Spellgaunt

Spellgaunts were magical spiders capable of feeding on arcane energy. Despite their magical abilities, they were only animals, although as all spiders, they were associated with Lolth.

Description
They were large spiders, with multifaceted eyes and golden skin covered in hair. Its legs were twice as long as a fully grown human. It could distend its mouth in a scissors-like fashion, and it was filled with long fangs that dripped with golden saliva. Its abdomen had spinnerets capable of producing large quantities of golden silk. When wounded, it bled a light blue ichor.

Abilities
Spellgaunts were capable predators. They were drawn by arcane energy, which they fed on, and could bite and eat magical items. Said items could be irreparably damaged in a few bites or stripped of their magic.

Despite its size, it was a very agile creature, capable of leaping on its prey and even contorting mid-leap in order to avoid dangerous weapons or threats. It was also capable of shooting large streams and swaths of golden silk from its spinnerets in order to entangle its opponents.

Despite its rare abilities, it wasn't very intelligent, as it would try to feed on magical energy that might be too dangerous, a decoy, or a trap.

History
Cavatina Xarann faced one of these creatures on her own. She dispelled its invisibility and fought with it, realizing its magic-consuming nature when she noticed that her sword had been dented and had bite marks, which wouldn't be possible to do for a mundane spider. Cavatina ended up conjuring a swarm of magical blades—the spellgaunt tried eating them for their arcane energy, but ended up cut to shreds. However, her sword Demonbane was completely voided of its magic.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Sacrifice of the Widow