Entity Number: 48
Habitat(s): Levels in constant sunlight
A Livingshed on its web atop a window of Level 36.
Description:
Entity 48, also known as Livingsheds, are a sentient species resembling shed exoskeletons of various types of orb-weaver spiders. Kept alive only by a purely anomalous process involving sunlight. Due to their reliance on sunlight, Livingsheds are usually found on levels in a constant daytime state, most commonly Level 10 and Level 11. However, Livingsheds are generally a rarity, leaving little known about them.
Despite the rarity of Livingsheds, they have garnered a large number of people interested in them due to their unique appearance and how they operate. This curiosity is by no means new, dating back to groups from the 17th century, who would depict them on shields, and sometimes even their flag. Other groups were fearful of these entities due to their zombie-like nature, viewing them as a sign of bad luck.
Biology:
Through unknown means believed to be anomalous, Livingsheds extract energy through sunlight in a process Similar to photosynthesis, thus making access to the sun vital to their survival. Without access to sunlight, a Livingshed will slowly lose energy until eventually falling unconscious, leaving them vulnerable to attacks by other entities. However, they regain consciousness mere seconds after being reintroduced to sunlight. The only exception to this is if the body was heavily damaged during its time unconscious, in which the body will not generate energy and is rendered dead. Damage to the body doesn't affect a Livingshed in sunlight, as they will slowly regenerate.
Livingsheds can live off of artificial light, though they gain much less energy off of it, leaving them much slower and making them less of a threat. Livingsheds will sometimes use artificial light to survive levels with a day-night cycle, hiding in buildings before it goes dark.
Livingsheds do not reproduce, nor do they have any other means of expanding as a species. As such, it is believed they manifest, similarly to Facelings.
Despite the venom of most Frontrooms orb-weaver spiders being considered relatively harmless, Livingshed venom is nearly identical to that of the lethal Sydney funnel-web spider. If one is bitten by a Livingshed, they should seek the nearest M.E.G. outpost immediately. Livingsheds don't have the body to create venom the same way as a Frontrooms spider. Instead, its venom will anomalously manifest within the victim upon biting them.
Behaviours:
As opposed to Frontrooms spiders, who only bite out of defence, Livingsheds are unprovokingly hostile towards humans and entities alike and will go out of their way to bite them, often attempting to sneak up on them. Thankfully, Livingsheds are only capable of reaching speeds similar to their orb weaver counterparts, making them easy to outrun.
Although Livingsheds do have webs, they do not spin them. Instead, they will stand completely still for roughly five minutes until a web manifests. However, they do not stay in their webs for long, eventually leaving them to continue wandering. This will happen roughly two days after the web is built. As such, Livingsheds are a nomadic species, and the purpose of these webs is unknown. Despite these webs ending up abandoned, they never rot, instead staying in a constant state of existence, almost comparable to the life of a Livingshed itself.
One of the only reasons we have the information about Livingsheds that we do is because of their small but notable presence on Level 11. While under the 11 Effect, Livingsheds will act closer to their orb-weaver counterparts, only attacking if provoked, in which case they are more likely to flee. However, the lethal effects of Livingshed venom are still the same, and caution is advised.
Due to this, M.E.G. Base Beta has been the main source of Livingshed research since 2019, and most of the content of this article wouldn't be known without them. However, research on Livingsheds by the M.E.G. has significantly decreased recently, as they have been focusing more on entities that follow similar biology to that of Frontrooms animals. Whereas Livingsheds share little in common with Frontrooms biology, leaving them mostly anomalous. As such, research on these entities is now mostly conducted by smaller groups, who believe that understanding the anomalous is a possible gateway to understanding the Backrooms as a whole.
Do's and Don'ts:
Do:
- Stay alert in sunlit levels if you are under the suspicion a Livingshed is nearby
- Run away if you spot a Livingshed
Don't:
- Approach a Livingshed if you spot one
- Attempt to kill a Livingshed