Heresy 150 and more fallout from that letter

[Black Crow]

Welcome to Heresy 150, and a rather exciting look at the Song of Ice and Fire.

So what’s it all about about - and why has it been running for so long?

Well the short answer is that it is a free-flowing discussion, or argument if you will, largely concerned with the Wall, the Heart of Darkness which lies beyond it, and the Stark connection to it. But It’s also a matter of looking at the broader story holistically and in the context of what else is happening in Martin’s world. The Heresy itself, if there is one, is simply a way of thinking that challenges those easy assumptions that the Others are the ultimate enemy and that it only awaits the unmasking of Jon Snow as Azor Ahai and the rightful heir to the Iron Throne [or the other way around] for the story to reach its epic conclusion in a great battle pitting Dany’s amazing dragons and three dragonriders against the icy hordes.

Rather fittingly for our 150th edition [since 2011] we’re rather encouraged in this by the release of GRRM’s original synopsis from 1993 which does indeed offer not only confirmation of the walkers being created rather than born – hence the Craster’s sons business, but also a story which isn’t obsessed with prophecy, or dragons.

Beyond that, read on.

If new to Heresy you may also want to refer to to Wolfmaid's essential guide to Heresy: http://asoiaf.wester...uide-to-heresy/, which provides annotated links to all the previous editions of Heresy, latterly identified by topic.

Don’t be intimidated by the size and scope of Heresy, or by some of the ideas we’ve discussed over the years. We’re very good at talking in circles and we don’t mind going over old ground again, especially with a fresh pair of eyes, so just ask, but be patient and observe the local house rules that the debate be conducted by reference to the text, with respect for the ideas of others, and above all with great good humour.

[Voice]

Here it be again...

Unfortunately, the most telling passage as to our tormented wait might be this one:

I find that if I know exactly where a book is going, I lose all interest in writing it.

Full letter:

October 1993

Dear Ralph,

Here are the first thirteen chapters (170 pages) of the high fantasy novel I promised you, which I'm calling A Game of Thrones. When completed, this will be the first volume in what I see as an epic trilogy with the overall title, A Song of Ice and Fire.

As you know, I don't outline my novels. I find that if I know exactly where a book is going, I lose all interest in writing it. I do, however, have some strong notions as to the overall structure of the story I'm telling, and the eventual fate of many of the principle [sic] characters in the drama.

Roughly speaking, there are three major conflicts set in motion in the chapters enclosed. These will form the major plot threads of the trilogy, intertwining with each other in what should be a complex but exciting (I hope) narrative tapestry. Each of the conflicts presents a major threat to the peace of my imaginary realm, the Seven Kingdoms, and to the lives of the principal characters.

The first threat grows from the enmity between the great houses of Lannister and Stark as it plays out in a cycle of plot, counterplot, ambition, murder, and revenge, with the iron throne of the Seven Kingdoms as the ultimate prize. This will form the backbone of the first volume of the trilogy, A Game of Thrones.

While the lion of Lannister and the direwolf of Stark snarl and scrap, however, a second and greater threat takes shape across the narrow sea, where the Dothraki horselords mass their barbarians hordes for a great invasion of the Seven Kingdoms, led by the fierce and beautiful Daenerys Stormborn, the last of the Targaryen dragonlords. The Dothraki invasion will be the central story of my second volume, A Dance with Dragons.

The greatest danger of all, however, comes from the north, from the icy wastes beyond the Wall, where half-forgotten demons out of legend, the inhuman others, raise cold legions of the undead and the neverborn and prepare to ride down on the winds of winter to extinguish everything that we would call "life." The only thing that stands between the Seven Kingdoms and an endless night is the Wall, and a handful of men in black called the Night's Watch. Their story will be the heart of my third volume, The Winds of Winter. The final battle will also draw together characters and plot threads left from the first two books and resolve all in one huge climax.

The thirteen chapters on hand should give you a notion as to my narrative strategy. All three books will feature a complex mosaic of intercutting points-of-view among various of my large and diverse cast of players. The cast will not always remains the same. Old characters will die, and new ones will be introduced. Some of the fatalities will include sympathetic viewpoint characters. I want the reader to feel that no one is ever completely safe, not even the characters who seem to be the heroes. The suspense always ratchets up a notch when you know that any character can die at any time.

Five central characters will make it through all three volumes, however, growing from children to adults and changing the world and themselves in the process. In a sense, my trilogy is almost a generational saga, telling the life stories of these five characters, three men and two women. The five key players are Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and three of the children of Winterfell, Arya, Bran, and the bastard Jon Snow. All of them are introduced at some length in the chapters you have to hand.

This is going to be (I hope) quite an epic. Epic in its scale, epic in its action, and epic in its length. I see all three volumes as big books, running about 700 to 800 manuscript pages, so things are just barely getting underway in the thirteen chapters I've sent you.

I have quite a clear notion of how the story is going to unfold in the first volume, A Game of Thrones. Things will get a lot worse for the poor Starks before they get better, I'm afraid. Lord Eddard Stark and his wife Catelyn Tully are both doomed, and will perish at the hands of their enemies. Ned will discover what happened to his friend Jon Arryn, but before he can act on his knowledge, King Robert will have an unfortunate accident, and the throne will pass to his sullen and brutal son Joffrey, still a minor. Joffrey will not be sympathetic and Ned will be accused of treason, but before he is taken he will help his wife and his daughter escape back to Winterfell.

Each of the contending families will learn it has a member of dubious loyalty in its midst. Sansa Stark, wed to Joffrey Baratheon, will bear him a son, the heir to the throne, and when the crunch comes she will choose her husband and child over her parents and siblings, a choice she will later bitterly rue. Tyrion Lannister, meanwhile, befriend both Sansa and her sister Arya, while growing more and more disenchanted with his own family.

Young Bran will come out of his coma, after a strange prophetic dream, only to discover that he will never walk again. He will turn to magic, at first in the hope of restoring his legs, but later for its own sake. When his father Eddard Stark is executed, Bran will see the shape of doom descending on all of them, but nothing he can say will stop his brother Robb from calling the banners in rebellion. All the north will be inflamed by war. Robb will win several splendid victories, and maim Joffrey Baratheon on the battlefield, but in the end he will not be able to stand against Jaime and Tyrion Lannister and their allies. Robb Stark will die in battle, and Tyrion Lannister will besiege and burn Winterfell.

Jon Snow, the bastard, will remain in the far north. He will mature into a ranger of great daring, and ultimately will succeed his uncle as the commander of the Night's Watch. When Winterfell burns, Catelyn Stark will be forced to flee north with her son Bran and her daughter Arya. Hounded by Lannister riders, they will seek refuge at the Wall, but the men of the Night's Watch give up their families when they take the black, and Jon and Benjen will not be able to help, to Jon's anguish. It will lead to a bitter estrangement between Jon and Bran. Arya will be more forgiving... until she realizes, with terror, that she has fallen in love with Jon, who is not only her half-brother but a man of the Night's Watch, sworn to celibacy. Their passion will continue to torment Jon and Arya throughout the trilogy, until the secret of Jon's true parentage is finally revealed in the last book.

Abandoned by the Night's Watch, Catelyn and her children will find their only hope of safety lies even further north, beyond the Wall, where they fall into the hands of Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, and get a dreadful glimpse of the inhuman others as they attack the wildling encampment. Bran's magic, Arya's sword Needle, and the savagery of their direwolves will help them survive, but their mother Catelyn will die at the hands of the others.

Over across the narrow sea, Daenerys Targaryen will discover that her new husband, the Dothraki Khal Drogo, has little interest in invading the Seven Kingdoms, much to her brother's frustration. When Viserys presses his claims past the point of tact or wisdom, Khal Drogo will finally grow annoyed and kill him out of hand, eliminating the Targaryen pretender and leaving Daenerys as the last of her line. Daenerys will bide her time, but she will not forget. When the moment is right, she will kill her husband to avenge her brother, and then flee with a trusted friend into the wilderness beyond Vaes Dothrak. There, hunted by Dothraki bloodriders [?] of her life, she stumbles on a cache of dragon's eggs [?] of a young dragon will give Daenerys the power to bend the Dothraki to her will. Then she begins to plan for her invasion of the Seven Kingdoms.

Tyrion Lannister will continue to travel, to plot, and to play the game of thrones, finally removing his nephew Joffrey in disgust at the boy king's brutality. Jaime Lannister will follow Joffrey on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms, by the simple expedient of killing everyone ahead of him in the line of succession and blaming his brother Tyrion for the murders. Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in love with Arya Stark while he's at it. His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Snow.

[7 Lines Redacted]

But that's the second book...

I hope you'll find some editors who are as excited about all of this as I am. Feel free to share this letter with anyone who wants to know how the story will go.

All best,

George R.R. Martin

[Black Crow]

What’s in that redacted passage we don’t know but intriguingly, as I recalled, there was a passage written in very similar style which appeared a couple of years ago purporting to be a publisher’s synopsis for Winds of Winter and which Redrose has very helpfully dug out of the ether. As you can see its both very similar in style and entirely consistent, so if it isn’t the redacted passage its something very similar.

Continuing the most imaginative and ambitious epic fantasy since The Lord of the Rings Winter has come at last and no man can say whether it will ever go again. The Wall is broken, the cold dead legions are coming south, and the people of the Seven Kingdoms turn to their queen to protect them. But Daenerys Targaryen is learning what Robert Baratheon learned before her; that it is one thing to win a throne and quite another to sit on one. Before she can hope to defeat the Others, Dany knows she must unite the broken realm behind her. Wolf and lion must hunt together, maester and greenseer work as one, all the blood feuds must be put aside, the bitter rivals and sworn enemies join hands. The Winds of Winter tells the story of Dany’s fight to save her new-won kingdom, of two desperate journeys beyond the known world in to the very hearts of ice and fire, and of the final climactic battle at Winterfell, with life itself in the balance.

[Voice]

Makes perfect sense as the second book in a trilogy.

[Black Crow]

So what to make of it all?

As I say, even if not the redacted passage itself that second one is so similar in style and also in content that I think we can be confident that it too does come from GRRM and goes all the way back to 1993 and his original vision for the story.

Taking them together it looks as if the redacted passage related to the proposed volume 2 centering around Danaerys' conquest of Westeros, while the second one is from a different letter outlining not the present Winds of Winter [which of course isn't to be the last one] but the proposed third volume of the original trilogy.

While its rather stating the obvious to say that things have changed since 1993 we do know that the core elements are still there. Danaerys Targaryen is still intent on invading Westeros with a Dothraki horde and at the end of Dance GRRM did write that all his characters would be back and shivering in Westeros in Winds

In the second passage we're told of a climactic battle at Winterfell with all united against the Others, but given the business of those desperate journeys to the hearts of ice and fire [and we've certainly been promised the former] I'm rather inclined to suggest, especially given the confirmation that the walkers are made not born, whether we are dealing with a truly external threat or a Frankenstein's monster, ie; the struggle between Ice and Fire [and the political ones] is not a conflict between walkers and dragons with man caught in the middle, but rather that the protagonists have in the course of their struggle unleashed something uncontrollable which they must combine against and destroy.

[Voice]

Here's what I make of that 6th paragraph . . .

1. The greatest danger of all, however, comes from the north, from the icy wastes beyond the Wall, where half-forgotten demons out of legend,

"Half-forgotten" is a perfect term for the dilemma I've been describing in terms of people re-learning the Other hierarchy as the threat from the North becomes real again. I think "the greatest danger of all" wording speaks to them not being red herrings.

2. the inhuman others, raise cold legions of the undead and the neverborn

Here we have confirmation that we have three types of cold blue-eyed inhumans:

I. The Others

II. wights: the undead

III. white walkers: the neverborn

And, the Others make the other two . . .

3. and prepare to ride down on the winds of winter to extinguish everything that we would call "life."

This seems to set us up for the next book, and speaks to our ideas of cold and wind being necessary for, or connected to, their advancement. I said last thread that I think the Cold is like their mother's milk. But perhaps the cold icy fingers of winter -- snow, frost, and Ice -- are more like the strands of a web. The web of winter growing from the far north, clutching further and further southward. Upon that web, the Original Others ride down upon their ice spiders.

4. The only thing that stands between the Seven Kingdoms and an endless night is the Wall, and a handful of men in black called the Night's Watch. Their story will be the heart of my third volume, The Winds of Winter.

This supports the idea of the Wall as a border fence. I know it isn't a popular idea with some Heretics, but this seems pretty clear, not that it wasn't already :)

That their story will be the heart of the third volume also sounds, to me, like the Others are indeed not a red herring. While other elements have been altered dramatically over the years, I think this sixth paragraph rings true today.

5. The final battle will also draw together characters and plot threads left from the first two books and resolve all in one huge climax.

I know the big shabamb, the epic Battle for the Dawn, isn't a popular motif with some folks, but this line sure sounds like something big and climactic will indeed take place.

[Han Snow]

What’s in that redacted passage we don’t know but intriguingly, as I recalled, there was a passage written in very similar style which appeared a couple of years ago purporting to be a publisher’s synopsis for Winds of Winter and which Redrose has very helpfully dug out of the ether. As you can see its both very similar in style and entirely consistent, so if it isn’t the redacted passage its something very similar.

Continuing the most imaginative and ambitious epic fantasy since The Lord of the Rings Winter has come at last and no man can say whether it will ever go again. The Wall is broken, the cold dead legions are coming south, and the people of the Seven Kingdoms turn to their queen to protect them. But Daenerys Targaryen is learning what Robert Baratheon learned before her; that it is one thing to win a throne and quite another to sit on one. Before she can hope to defeat the Others, Dany knows she must unite the broken realm behind her. Wolf and lion must hunt together, maester and greenseer work as one, all the blood feuds must be put aside, the bitter rivals and sworn enemies join hands. The Winds of Winter tells the story of Dany’s fight to save her new-won kingdom, of two desperate journeys beyond the known world in to the very hearts of ice and fire, and of the final climactic battle at Winterfell, with life itself in the balance.

I'm buying this. The legitimacy of it. And the book of course, if it ever comes out. It makes sense.

Edit: May I inquire about the original source of this summary?

[Voice]

So what to make of it all?

As I say, even if not the redacted passage itself that second one is so similar in style and also in content that I think we can be confident that it too does come from GRRM and goes all the way back to 1993 and his original vision for the story.

Taking them together it looks as if the redacted passage related to the proposed volume 2 centering around Danaerys' conquest of Westeros, while the second one is from a different letter outlining not the present Winds of Winter [which of course isn't to be the last one] but the proposed third volume of the original trilogy.

While its rather stating the obvious to say that things have changed since 1993 we do know that the core elements are still there. Danaerys Targaryen is still intent on invading Westeros with a Dothraki horde and at the end of Dance GRRM did write that all his characters would be back and shivering in Westeros in Winds

In the second passage we're told of a climactic battle at Winterfell with all united against the Others, but given the business of those desperate journeys to the hearts of ice and fire [and we've certainly been promised the former] I'm rather inclined to suggest, especially given the confirmation that the walkers are made not born, whether we are dealing with a truly external threat or a Frankenstein's monster, ie; the struggle between Ice and Fire [and the political ones] is not a conflict between walkers and dragons with man caught in the middle, but rather that the protagonists have in the course of their struggle unleashed something uncontrollable which they must combine against and destroy.

Continuing the most imaginative and ambitious epic fantasy since The Lord of the Rings Winter has come at last and no man can say whether it will ever go again. The Wall is broken, the cold dead legions are coming south, and the people of the Seven Kingdoms turn to their queen to protect them. But Daenerys Targaryen is learning what Robert Baratheon learned before her; that it is one thing to win a throne and quite another to sit on one. Before she can hope to defeat the Others, Dany knows she must unite the broken realm behind her. Wolf and lion must hunt together, maester and greenseer work as one, all the blood feuds must be put aside, the bitter rivals and sworn enemies join hands. The Winds of Winter tells the story of Dany’s fight to save her new-won kingdom, of two desperate journeys beyond the known world in to the very hearts of ice and fire, and of the final climactic battle at Winterfell, with life itself in the balance.

I agree the style fits, and may very well be the redacted portion. And if not, I agree it must come from GRRM simply because there was no one else alive who could have formulated those conclusions so early on.

If this is indeed the redacted portion, it also makes sense that the final battle is, as suspected, Winterfell. The center of the storm. There are many peripheral conflicts taking place now to distract us from the snowdrifts, but I've always said the snow will help the Others as much as it will hurt the armies of Men. They can hide wights beneath it, walk upon the surface without leaving tracks, and require no bodily nourishment (except maybe blood...maybe).

What is really interesting is the unification he mentions. Wolf and Lion hunting together is hard to imagine. Maester and Greenseer working as one is even harder to picture. I can see Dany fighting to save her new-won kingdom though. And I can see her dying in the effort.

[Black Crow]

I'm buying this. The legitimacy of it. And the book of course, if it ever comes out. It makes sense.

Edit: May I inquire about the original source of this summary?

My recollection is that it was a publisher's blurb, but while as I say I remember seeing it some time back it was Redrose who dug it up again, so we'll have to wait.

[Black Crow]

I agree the style fits, and may very well be the redacted portion. And if not, I agree it must come from GRRM simply because there was no one else alive who could have formulated those conclusions so early on.

If this is indeed the redacted portion, it also makes sense that the final battle is, as suspected, Winterfell. The center of the storm. There are many peripheral conflicts taking place now to distract us from the snowdrifts, but I've always said the snow will help the Others as much as it will hurt the armies of Men. They can hide wights beneath it, walk upon the surface without leaving tracks, and require no bodily nourishment (except maybe blood...maybe).

What is really interesting is the unification he mentions. Wolf and Lion hunting together is hard to imagine. Maester and Greenseer working as one is even harder to picture. I can see Dany fighting to save her new-won kingdom though. And I can see her dying in the effort.

I'm not sure about some of this. If it goes back to 1993 then some things have obviously changed in the meantime and that may include GRRM's original concept of the ending. As the story has grown larger and more complex a climactic battle to end it all might be too easy and too cheesy. The other problem I have is that it appears that Winds of Winter is going to open with the battle of Winterfell. That being so are we to have another or if the resolution doesn't lie here is the eventual resolution going to be more complex.

Might it be the case that having set up a "Dark Lord/ Ultimate Evil" scenario in the initial synopsis GRRM has since decided to subvert it [in line with his stated views] and produce a more complex ending.

[redrose]

My recollection is that it was a publisher's blurb, but while as I say I remember seeing it some time back it was Redrose who dug it up again, so we'll have to wait.

Yeah it was publisher blurb.

[Joe Pine]

A heresy blurb for TWOW could be fun.

"Jon, as Ghost, the big dog, ranges far beyond the wall and realises The Others are ancient men exiled long ago by the Starks and forced to adapt to the Lands of Always Winter and that they seek to restore.."

Could redact it badly to keep people busy..

[Black Crow]

Yeah it was publisher blurb.

Link: http://www.amazon.in/The-Winds-Winter-Book-Song/dp/0002247410

This is interesting because although its the "new" version which came up and promptly got squashed the other day, it is the same text and I think the same source from a couple of years back, which suggests that the publishers still have the original synopsis.

[Summer Is Coming!]

I believe that some people yesterday requested a link to the reddit attempts to uncover the redacted passage. The folks there are assuming it involves the plot and story not financial information as some had suggested. As BC pointed out, there have been some very divergent suggestions for what could be within it, but they have been updating it every day, trying to uncover more. I haven't seen anything on it yet that is a spoiler, certainly nothing quite as suggestive as the preceding three pages.

http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/2usz8v/spoilers_all_uncovering_the_blanked_text_in_grrms/

[Black Crow]

I'm not sure about some of this. If it goes back to 1993 then some things have obviously changed in the meantime and that may include GRRM's original concept of the ending. As the story has grown larger and more complex a climactic battle to end it all might be too easy and too cheesy. The other problem I have is that it appears that Winds of Winter is going to open with the battle of Winterfell. That being so are we to have another or if the resolution doesn't lie here is the eventual resolution going to be more complex.

Might it be the case that having set up a "Dark Lord/ Ultimate Evil" scenario in the initial synopsis GRRM has since decided to subvert it [in line with his stated views] and produce a more complex ending.

Just to take this a little further, once again something which is conspicuous by its absence in all of this is the mystery of Jon Snow [other than the removal of a barrier between him and Arya], of Azor Ahai, the Prince that was Promised or any other return of a prophesied hero, and no union of Ice and Fire. Rather its Stark and Lannister who combine, maester and greenseer. Apart from the mad queen the Targaryens don't get a look in.

Now once again things have changed. The bit about winning a kingdom being easier than ruling it sounds like Dany in Mereen rather than a possible Dany in Westeros and perhaps her decision to stay and try make something of Mereen may represent a radical shift, but notwithstanding the absence of Jon Snow as the Prince that was Promised [by whatever name] is significant.

We and others have argued before that the uncovering of the secret king is way too much of a cheesy cliche. What we find in both passages is that there is no such cliche but that the story is to be brought to a resolution without recourse to the cheese-board. I'm happy to acknowledge that the present story is working out differently in some respects and I'm more than happy to speculate as to the new directions, but, and its a very big BUT. I find it very difficult to believe that having sketched out a story which successfully avoids one of the biggest and most cheesy of all cliches, he should then turn around to subvert and indeed cheapen his vision by putting it in later.

[Black Crow]

I believe that some people yesterday requested a link to the reddit attempts to uncover the redacted passage. The folks there are assuming it involves the plot and story not financial information as some had suggested. As BC pointed out, there have been some very divergent suggestions for what could be within it, but they have been updating it every day, trying to uncover more. I haven't seen anything on it yet that is a spoiler, certainly nothing quite as suggestive as the preceding three pages.

http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/2usz8v/spoilers_all_uncovering_the_blanked_text_in_grrms/

Scary. Try this one http://imgur.com/eI20VPo,tfYjW4N#0

And yes we appear to be way ahead of the game here on Heresy

[Summer Is Coming!]

A heresy blurb for TWOW could be fun.

"Jon, as Ghost, the big dog, ranges far beyond the wall and realises The Others are ancient men exiled long ago by the Starks and forced to adapt to the Lands of Always Winter and that they seek to restore.."

Could redact it badly to keep people busy..

Just do what the World Book did for the tragedy at Summerhall, scattered words and partial words.

[Urrax2]

Link: http://www.amazon.in/The-Winds-Winter-Book-Song/dp/0002247410

This is interesting because although its the "new" version which came up and promptly got squashed the other day, it is the same text and I think the same source from a couple of years back, which suggests that the publishers still have the original synopsis.

What kind of address is "amazon.in"?

ETA: Corrected ".ln" to ".in". India?

[Eira Seren]

So what to make of it all?

As I say, even if not the redacted passage itself that second one is so similar in style and also in content that I think we can be confident that it too does come from GRRM and goes all the way back to 1993 and his original vision for the story.

Taking them together it looks as if the redacted passage related to the proposed volume 2 centering around Danaerys' conquest of Westeros, while the second one is from a different letter outlining not the present Winds of Winter [which of course isn't to be the last one] but the proposed third volume of the original trilogy.

While its rather stating the obvious to say that things have changed since 1993 we do know that the core elements are still there. Danaerys Targaryen is still intent on invading Westeros with a Dothraki horde and at the end of Dance GRRM did write that all his characters would be back and shivering in Westeros in Winds

In the second passage we're told of a climactic battle at Winterfell with all united against the Others, but given the business of those desperate journeys to the hearts of ice and fire [and we've certainly been promised the former] I'm rather inclined to suggest, especially given the confirmation that the walkers are made not born, whether we are dealing with a truly external threat or a Frankenstein's monster, ie; the struggle between Ice and Fire [and the political ones] is not a conflict between walkers and dragons with man caught in the middle, but rather that the protagonists have in the course of their struggle unleashed something uncontrollable which they must combine against and destroy.

With you there. The threat has always been internal, I think. There are problems with that obviously, as well as things that will need to be overcome,

potentially, with things like maybe Jon having conversations with the others... It's not set in stone, but might be an example, should he live. Though look at how it went over with letting the wildlings in... So perhaps something like that will fall to dany, or to bran...

[Eira Seren]

3. and prepare to ride down on the winds of winter to extinguish everything that we would call "life."

This seems to set us up for the next book, and speaks to our ideas of cold and wind being necessary for, or connected to, their advancement. I said last thread that I think the Cold is like their mother's milk. But perhaps the cold icy fingers of winter -- snow, frost, and Ice -- are more like the strands of a web. The web of winter growing from the far north, clutching further and further southward. Upon that web, the Original Others ride down upon their ice spiders.

These are some very chilling particulars. It's an interesting concept (chilling as I myself am terrified of spiders)