Stirges


Stirges are magical beasts.

Magical beasts are similar to animals but can be more intelligent (in which case the magical beast knows at least one language, but can’t necessarily speak). Magical beasts usually have supernatural or extraordinary abilities, but are sometimes merely bizarre in appearance or habits.



Magical beasts have darkvision.

Magical beasts have low-light vision.

Magical beasts breathe, eat, and sleep.

Stirges are vicious, blood-drinking swamp pests that prey on wild animals, livestock, and unwary travelers. While weak individually, swarms of the creatures are capable of draining a man dry in minutes, leaving only a dessicated husk in their wake.

A stirge drains blood if it is attached to a foe. Once the stirge has drunk enough blood, it detaches and flies off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the stirge’s appetite has been sated, the stirge detaches and seeks a new target.

When a stirge hits with a touch attack, its barbed legs latch onto the target, anchoring it in place. An attached stirge is effectively grappling its prey. The stirge holds on with great tenacity and inserts its proboscis into the grappled target’s flesh. An attached stirge can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself – if its prey manages to win a grapple check or Escape Artist check against it, the stirge is removed.

Closer to mammals than insects, stirges carry their bodies through the air on four fleshy wings, searching out warm-blooded prey. They are fond of hiding near watering holes and waiting for travelers to drop their guard, then swooping down to attach and drink their fill by thrusting their long feeding tubes into unprotected veins. After feeding they flap heavily off into the mud and reeds to lay their eggs and rest until hunger drives them to hunt again.

Due to the stagnant swamps in which they live and their contact with the blood of numerous creatures, stirges are harbingers of disease. Any creature subjected to a stirge’s blood drain attack has a chance of being exposed to filth fiver, blinding sickness, or a similar disease. Attacks by different stirges may result in multiple illnesses.

Stirges are usually 1 foot long, with a wingspan of twice that, and weigh just under a pound. Their coloration is rust-red or reddish-brown with a dirty yellow underbelly, though stirges that have not fed in some time are often pale pink, their color deepening as they gorge.

Stirges can detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. They can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights. Tracking by scent ignores the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.

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