Editing Aranea (section)

===Habitat/Society===
Aranea prefer to live in forests, the natural homes of their ancestors, where they can hunt and hide. The aranea are the secret rulers of the [[Magocracy]] of Herath, where they live in cities and villages that resemble those of neighboring lands, but with an apparent mixture of several different races. Otherwise, an aranea village seems very much like any other typical of the region, with stone and wood buildings built more for practicality than artistic value.

Aranea follow the mating customs of the race they emulate, and their love can be quite deep. Aranea young are born live, and parents take good care of their children, to make sure they are given a proper background. Each aranea is taught to emulate its humanoid form from infancy. They believe the form is chosen by fate, and aranea of the same family usually have similar forms (if not, an infant might be sent away to be raised by relatives).

Aranea take great pains to conceal their dual natures, partly because many other races feel animosity toward them, due to their secretive nature and their history. Aranea are taught from birth that they have two, discrete identities, one the spider form, shown only to other aranea, and the other a humanoid form, which law demands must be used to deal with outsiders. Individuals are compelled by aranea culture to keep the two identities separate, and never to reveal the aranea's existence to other races. Those who do are considered traitors, and are dealt with harshly and quickly by other aranea.

Because of old stories and legends of their purported evil, aranea are almost universally despised as a sort of "bogeyman". Aranea who reveal what they really are suffer from a +10 penalty to reaction rolls for anyone who has heard of them. A revealed aranea will often be hunted by almost everyone in the region (especially by other aranea). However, it may be possible for the character to assume the pose of a "tame" aranea, one who has "converted to the cause of good." But even these characters would suffer from prejudice and hunts by other aranea.

Most aranea feel they are superior to other races, due to their long history and special abilities. Often, they are cold, calculating, and secretive. But few are truly evil; they simply have a different outlook on things. They also tend to be suspicious of others, expecting them to have secrets as well.

Aranea usually take the acting proficiency. This allows them to blend in perfectly in another society, appearing open and honest, if they so choose. This is not to say that aranea without the acting proficiency will automatically be discovered, but they are less able to blend, in terms of personality. An aranea without the acting proficiency will often be considered strange, but since the creature looks like a member of another race, others usually simply assume the character is an odd member of the other race.