So I'm pretty sure I've worked out the meaning of the feathers and spiderwebs/dreams
Long time listener, first time caller here.
As the title states, I'm almost 100% convinced I've solved the meaning of the 8 swiderwebs and feathers dotted around the map. I've deliberately stated that I've worked out the meaning, because I don't want to shoot myself in the foot and claim that I've solved the whole mystery as there may be more that follows. For me personally though, I think where I've ended it is the natural conclusion. But I am truly happy to be proven wrong of course.
I'm not going to run through the whole process of how we discover the spiderwebs as we're all familiar with them now. I'll just jump to my investigation into all of this:
For the longest time, and like many of you, I was caught up in trying to understand the now ubiquitous NW guitar pole - and like many of you, I was convinced that the image in question wasn't actually a guitar. Even after seeing the original texture pulled from the game files I was convinced it was something else. I was even working on the theory that it might have been a grid reference.
Looking at this one here, I8 (something of a guitar shape when stacked on top of each other) is almost smack bang NW of the pole, and very near spider gorge and countless hours were spent up there scouring for textures and falling under the spell of pareidolia. But, there was nothing to be found. So I returned to the webs themselves, convinced that there was more to be discovered there beyond just creating a geo-positioning map that would lead you to the central web. Because there are far easier ways to draw you from the spider engraving near Cornwall to the main/central web. Why 8? Yes, there are 8 legs on a spider, thus 8 points of contact but still. Why the particular and varied feather placement? Why 5 white feathers and 3 red?
So I was up by Emerald Station near spiderdream04 when I started to think of the feathers as compass points pointing in a certain direction. Now with a normal compass you don't follow the needle as that points magnetic north, with the opposite end by default pointing south. But for the purposes of the game maybe these feathers were acting in a similar fashion. If the white feather was in the lower left section of the web (or SW if the web was a whole image and not the "bottom half" of a full circle) then I should travel NE as that would be the "red" part of the imaginary needle was pointing. So I did... and I arrived at the grave of Susan Grimshaw.
Now as well as drawing a physical connection I was very interested now because if we start to look into the Native American lore present in the game, as well as a little IRL research, we see the parallels between death, the feathers and the spider mother. Things were making sense. So, naturally and rather excitedly I tried it on another feather... and it didn't work. So I returned to the drawing board. But I liked my idea, and thought it made sense. But it needed tweaking. So instead of acting like a compass, I started to think of the feathers more as markers indicating axis as well as direction. And tried a few variations, implementing different hypothesis. And I've settled on one.
So, as near as I can tell, the 8 spiderwebs (or spiderdreams) are markers pointing you solely in the direction of the character graves located in the game. Feel free to check, because I have double and triple checked the working out here and it holds up.
The Core Idea
Each web only shows up in its exact 1-hour nighttime window (the grey/black ones and the 3 red ones). When you stand at the base of said pole and look up, the spot where the feather is hanging tells you a direction — lower strands on the web = north/northwest/northeast, and the slight left/right offset gives you the exact bearing. You just ride straight on your compass in that direction and it lines up with a grave. No guessing, no overlays needed once you know the rule.
How Each Pole Points to Its Grave
Using the feather diagrams everyone already has:
- spiderdream01 (Ringneck, 5-6 GREY, right/lower-right feather) → northwest straight to grave 1 (Jenny)
- spiderdream02 (Oil Fields north-central, 3-4 or 5-6 GREY, lower-middle/right) → north (very slightly northwest) to grave 2 (Davey)
- spiderdream03 (Cornwall Web, 3-4 GREY, lower-middle) → north with a tiny northeast lean to grave 7 (Eagle Flies)
- spiderdream04 (Emerald Station, 4-5 GREY, right/lower-right) → northeast to grave 8 (Susan)
- spiderdream05 (Overflow/northern, 2-3 GREY, lower-left) → southeast to graves 5/6 (Hosea & Lenny)
- spiderdream06 (Scarlett/Southfield south, 2-3 RED, lower-right) → southeast to grave 4 (Kieran)
- spiderdream07 (Southfield Flats, 4-5 RED, lower-right) → northwest to grave 3 (Sean)
- spiderdream08 (Saint Denis/southeast, 3-4 RED, lower-right) → northwest to graves 5/6 (Hosea & Lenny)
Why Some Point North and Some South
It's not random. The same lower-half feather position means "north-ish" when you're at a southern or central pole (which is most of them). But when the pole itself is up north (like spiderdream02 or 05 in the Oil Fields/Overflow area), that same lower feather now points the opposite way — south or southeast. Basically the web is a fixed compass rose viewed from below: lower = forward/north from your position, upper would be south but none of the standard webs use upper strands. Pole location on the map flips the actual direction you travel. That's why you get both north and south lines from the same feather logic.
The Basic Rule (Applied to Every Web the Same Way)
When you stand at the base of any spiderdream pole and look up at the web:
- The position where the feather is attached/hanging acts like an arrowhead or pointer on a compass.
- The web is always viewed the same way (you're looking upward at it from below).
Lower positions on the web = North / Northwest direction
Upper positions on the web = South / Southwest / Southeast direction (the flip)
Why "Lower = North"?
- In your in-game view, the lower strands of the web (the ones closer to the ground / closer to you) are treated as the "forward" direction — the direction the pointer is aiming away from you.
- Therefore:
- Feather on lower-middle / bottom-center → Due North
- Feather on lower-right / bottom-right → Northwest (or north-northwest)
- Feather on lower-left → Northeast
- The upper strands are the exact opposite (180° flip):
- Feather on upper-middle → Due South
- Feather on upper-right → Southwest
- Feather on upper-left → Southeast
Now, along with all the North American mythology working in the backround here you coould get somewhat metaphorical here and think of these characters as people "caught in the web", loyal to Ducth who lost their lives as a result. And as I'm sure you've gathered, there is one grave currently unattended to. A grave belonging to one very "central" character. And, as coincidence would have it, one web left. The central one. So follow the path....
N to pole
W 5 poles
NW (is it a guitar? Again, I thought not but with the theory I'm working on I'm sharpening my blades with Occam's Razor) There is one obvious guitar NW of this pole, and it's in Fort Wallace.
Get into the fort, and find the guitar. Yes, it's not pointing to the tower. But it is very much pointing to the starirs that lead to the tower. So climb the tower. There is literally a second guitar at the top telling you to go higher. Find the birds. Yes, the birds - the ones that have been deliberately placed there. Why 2? I don't know - to symbolize Arthur and John maybe? Because one could be interpreted as a textural glitch, but 2 implies a pattern? Birds of a feather flock together? Look out where the birds are "pointing", and in a straight line (or, as the crow flies) you'll arrive at Arthur's Grave. There's even a bird that spawns there for good measure.
Is this the end of the whole mystery? I don't know. Maybe you follow the bird and it'll lead you to a cave with a jetpack in it. Or a carving that says "not cut content". If I'm right though, I'm a little disappointed. Because the graves were already "known". I was hoping for something fresh, something more but I'll admit I didn't know what I wanted. But maybe I'm wrong and there is more to come. Now that you know, maybe you shoot the feathers in a specific order and then sacdrifice the vampire with the ornate dagger at the burial site during the time frame that the butcher's creek pentagram is active and the undead will rise up and we'll have unlocked Undead Nightmare 2. But if I'm right... well, it was fun while it lasted.
Anyways, thanks for attending my TED talk. Strange Man, if you're reading this make sure you spell my name right. Peace