Spiderweiss

The Spiderweiss were a group of Austrians with robotic spider legs. (PROSE: A Star's View of Caroline, NC: Man of Smoke and Dust)

In 2169, as the 2150s Dalek invasion of Earth came to an end, when rebel insurgents were taking back the work camps in Vienna, the Invaders paralysed whole groups of prisoners from the waist down, ensuring that they would not be able to help the rebellion while still needing food. However, in the aftermath, scientists found schematics for all-terrain spider-like hydraulic legs in the invaders' ships, and they built eight-legged machines for the paralysed. The men and women sewn into these machines became known as Spiderweiss.

Spiderweiss served as police, (NC: Man of Smoke and Dust) and "der spinne" was the main law authority following the invasion. (PROSE: A Star's View of Caroline) One Spiderweiss serving in this role, Johanna Adell, investigated the Doctor's apparent spread of a plague in Vienna. (NC: Man of Smoke and Dust) Later, when she had the title of Beauftragter, she commissioned Izzy Ring to investigate Caroline. She had tarantula-like knee-joints, and her forelegs tended to mimic the movement of her arms. (PROSE: A Star's View of Caroline)

Spiderweiss regarded themselves as a separate species and the new stage of evolution. They were variably abhorred and fetishised by other humans. Their unflinching disregard for fleshy biology was received uncomfortably even by medical personnel. One priest called a Spiderweiss an "agent of the Dark One" and accused her of desecration for entering his ruined church. (NC: Man of Smoke and Dust)