Despite its low (-1) level and its extremely simple tactics, i actually kinda love using these little things, especially if the players haven't encountered them before. Keep in mind that your players have next to no idea what happens when the critters feed, and describing them as changing colour and becoming bloated can get their creative juices flowing enough to scare them more then they really should be.
The coachman and his illusionist partner have a trick they like to pull on their passengers - as they enter the western swamplands, the coachman loudly exclaims "we can't stop here, this is stirge country" and the illusionist then conjures an image of several of the critters flying in to attack the carriage. Unfortunately, one of the trick's victims really took it to heart, and has now ambushed the carriage, releasing an actual clot of stirges at the two tricksters and their unsuspecting passengers, who may need to take up arms.
In a weird twist of fate, a hive of bloodseekers ended up feeding on a blood ooze. The insectile creatures have apparently since mutated, with reports coming in about them growing clots at an incredible speed to stop their own bleeding, attacking with bloody tentacle-like growths, and even sucking blood from afar, without attaching to the victim. As more and more sheep and cattle end up drained each day, a group of young volunteers heads into the marshes to burn them out.
While a single bloodseeker is no problem, it is often their sheer number that is scary. Tangulin's Wrath (Tangulin being the god of pestilence) is the name given to the largest known flock of the things, estimated at around a thousand individuals. The flock usually migrates between the duchies of Marneeya and Barathorn, but has been known to take many different routes, leading the local population to think it has a will of its own, or even that it is the avatar of the mad god. Those traveling in the region would do well to get informed about the flock's latest motion, or if they are brave or insane, prepare for an encounter with it.
The coachman and his illusionist partner have a trick they like to pull on their passengers - as they enter the western swamplands, the coachman loudly exclaims "we can't stop here, this is stirge country" and the illusionist then conjures an image of several of the critters flying in to attack the carriage. Unfortunately, one of the trick's victims really took it to heart, and has now ambushed the carriage, releasing an actual clot of stirges at the two tricksters and their unsuspecting passengers, who may need to take up arms.
In a weird twist of fate, a hive of bloodseekers ended up feeding on a blood ooze. The insectile creatures have apparently since mutated, with reports coming in about them growing clots at an incredible speed to stop their own bleeding, attacking with bloody tentacle-like growths, and even sucking blood from afar, without attaching to the victim. As more and more sheep and cattle end up drained each day, a group of young volunteers heads into the marshes to burn them out.
While a single bloodseeker is no problem, it is often their sheer number that is scary. Tangulin's Wrath (Tangulin being the god of pestilence) is the name given to the largest known flock of the things, estimated at around a thousand individuals. The flock usually migrates between the duchies of Marneeya and Barathorn, but has been known to take many different routes, leading the local population to think it has a will of its own, or even that it is the avatar of the mad god. Those traveling in the region would do well to get informed about the flock's latest motion, or if they are brave or insane, prepare for an encounter with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment