A Wordspider is a Level 5 Treasure of the Sluagh.
Overview[]
Long before hackers proclaimed that information wants to be free, the underfolk had decided there should be no secrets kept from them. So they created the Wordspider: a chimerical, mechanical, methodical breaker of codes and discoverer of secrets. Small enough to fit into the average crawler's palm, a Wordspider looks like it was spun from green and gold glass. Its mandibles are unusually long and careful observation discovers wiry protrusions from each "foot."
When set upon a page containing any sort of code, hidden text, or chimerical confusion of the true words contained within, a Wordspider, fueled by a point of Glamour, instantly goes to work. To observers it will appear to be cutting, manipulating, and otherwise reordering the very letters and ink of the page, devouring the text in bitesized morsels only to regurgitate it in some new order. What is really happening is that the Wordspider is spitting out the actual words of the missive. No code, no spell, no Art, no hidden ink can protect a written secret from the all-seeing eye of the Wordspider.
In recent years, enterprising underfolk have experimented with creating on-line versions of these treasures. There is not word yet on success, but the NSA has been getting some very interesting emails lately.
References[]
- CTD. Kithbook: Sluagh, p. 68.