UO:Spiders' Silk

1 stone

Spiders' Silk

Spiders' Silk is used by mages, mystics, and scribes for Magery and Mysticism spells, as well as by alchemists for Alchemy.

Lore

From Ultima lore:

Spider's silk is as common as spiders are, but as fine and light as air. Because of this, at least one ounce of it is required for a simple spell.The spider's silk concentrates the power to summon, conjure and bind.

- Ultima Online Renaissance Manual

The miracle of Spider Silk lies in its tensile strength. Imagine, if you will, a grown man relying on a strand of catgut to hold his weight all the days of his life. A spider relies on the finest of threads to do just that, and its silk never fails it. We should praise the first wizardling who realized the mystic secret of Spider Silk, for it is to him or her that we owe the knowledge of binding and restraining spells. The silk of the deadly Albino ghoul spider - both the miniature and the giant varieties - has been used by adepts through the years in rites of magic. The spider farms of the south produce perhaps a hundred pounds of the substance each year and sell it to the merchants of magic, where it is made available to all you ply our trade. It is said that each year we one worker dies the horrible death incurred by the bite of the Albino Ghoul spider to ensure the potency of the silk, although never has this deliberately been made to happen.

- The Book of Mystic Wisdom (Ultima IV)

The magical product of the garden spider and its relatives has no peer in its ability to bind. As a reagent mixed for magic, spider silk magnifies its binding power many times over.

- The Book of Lore (Ultima V)

It takes many spider webs to make a full ounce of spider's silk, but the binding power it adds to spells makes the effort well worthwhile. Though the web of any spider will do, one can reduce collecting time by scraping off the fine silken hairs that cover the webs of giant spiders. Rumors have been heard of a cave where spider silk can be found in abundance.

- Compendium, (Ultima VI)

While this is a common reagent, it can be very difficult to gather any significant quantity of it from any single source. Mages have been known to frequent caves and crypts and even run their own personal spider farms in order to maintain an abundant supply of spider’s silk. It usually takes at least an ounce of silk to cast a spell.

- The Book of Fellowship (Ultima VII)

Although the strands from any spider's web will suffice, it is very trying to find enough silk from any one web. Many mages raise their own spiders, hoping to gather the webs the way a farmer squeezes milk from a cow. However, I have noticed the Isle of Crypts, filled with the dead, is home to more spiders than I could ever have possibly imagined, with plenty of accompanying webs.

- Beyond the Serpent Pillars (Ultima VII Part Two)

Little in the natural world has the tensile strength of a spider's webbing. An ounce of this predator's trap, prepared by a mage, can bind spells of holding and binding. Use spider's silk that has been prepared under proper standards. Though you may find natural samples in your travels, a magic shop knows your intents better than the spider that spun it.

- Spellbook (Ultima IX)

Alchemy potions using Spiders' Silk

• Barako Draft of Might
• Elixir Of Rebirth
• Nightsight Potion

Magery spells using Spiders' Silk

• Death Ray
• Flamestrike

Mysticism spells using Spiders' Silk

• Eagle Strike
• Enchant
• Healing Stone
• Mass Sleep
• Sleep
• Spell Trigger