Post by Skreeran
Alright, so as those of you participating in ReGenesis probably know, I started my first Nerubian character a few days ago. And as some of you might have expected, I took that opportunity to go completely overboard in my research, far beyond what is actually necessary for roleplaying purposes.
Exhibit AThe first thing I feel merits mentioning is that Nerubians actually have several things in common with insects. Where Spiders have two body segments and four pairs of limbs plus
pedipalps, whereas the Nerubians have three clearly defined body segments, and three pairs of ambulatory limbs and one pair of manipulative limbs (which may be homologous to pedipalps, or may not; I'll get to that later.).
The manipulative limbs have been seen to play a role in tactile manipulation as well as spellcasting, and could probably be used in feeding for small prey, or if—like
some species of spider—they crush up their prey using
teeth on their
chelicerae (the mouthparts connected to the fangs), then they could use their manipulative limbs to assist in that function.
Exhibit BNow, here's the curious part. The old Nerubian model had mouthparts that very clearly resembled chelicerae (see
here), where the manipulative limbs would be homologous to the pedipalps. The small pair of upwards pointing fangs would then be a fanglike extension of the maxillary plates, which themselves are plate-like extensions of the “hip” structure of the pedipalps (the
coxae).
The new Nerubian model, however, has replaced the same structure with a short, segmented limb (see
here) that more closely resembles the spider pedipalp. The problem, then, with the new model, is that that would require the small pair of upward pointing fangs to actually be the chelicerae, which causes a problem, because all spiders possess chelicerae that point down.
For this reason, I would like to believe that the Nerubians mouthparts are essentially organized as
such.
Another thing to note is that it is not spider venom itself that liquefies the interiors of their prey. Spider venom is simply used to kill or paralyze their prey, at which point they regurgitate and/or spit digestive juices from their mouth either onto the exterior of the prey, or force it through the hole made by the fangs, before sucking the slurry back into their mouths. Now, this might not necessarily be true for nerubians. Spiders liquefy their prey to save energy, because most of their diet includes insects whose chitinous exoskeletons cannot be digested and would have to be eliminated by the body at the cost of precious energy. By only consuming liquefied insect, they are able to ingest only the parts they can easily digest and save energy in the process. Nerubians, on the other hand, might have a different diet. We don't know what they usually eat. If it is another type of arthropod, they would probably keep their spider-type digestive process. If a soft-bodied animal was a core part of their diet, however, they might masticate it like an insect predator.
In conclusion, there is something wrong with me because I spend my time figuring out exactly how Nerubians work instead of doing something that might further my life goals.
Post by Skreeran
Interestingly enough,
there is a species of herbivorous spider.
And while plant matter may make up a part of Nerubian diets, I doubt it's the entirety.
Post by Skreeran
That was very interesting. You have a far greater attention span than I do.You don't even know the half of it. Days later and I'm still looking at
Eye Arrangements.