#deadclinger

[wickedsrest-rp]

NAME: Clinger

ALSO KNOWN AS: Hugger, Ticktack

RARITY: ★☆☆☆☆

THREAT LEVEL: ★★☆☆☆ | Variable; some can kill, others cause illness. Commonplace, but readily dealt with by anyone.

HABITAT: Typically found in heavily wooded environments, like the forests around Wicked’s Rest, but can also be found in wetland areas, on farms, or even just in the Common.

DESCRIPTION: It isn’t just the regular ticks you need to watch out for in Wicked’s Rest. The area has a species called, aptly, clingers. And while normal ticks are content taking a little blood and being on their merry way (while possibly transmitting disease), clingers can cause bigger problems. They slightly resemble larger-than-average normal ticks. However, when engorged, they balloon to the size of a tennis ball and must be manually removed. This is quite painful. Beyond what clingers subsist on and the infections they spread, they don’t have any supernatural abilities and weaknesses. By most accounts, they’re similar to ordinary ticks. 

There are a few different subspecies to watch out for, only distinguishable via dissection and examination from an expert unless they’re on their specific and chosen food source.

OTHER VARIANTS:

Bloodclinger: Your classic blood-feeding tick, with a side of additional unpleasantness. Those who are fed on by bloodclingers develop an appetite for blood themselves, which can last a few weeks. This usually goes beyond just developing a taste for it – once symptoms fully set in, those affected can be stirred into a frenzy at the sight of blood, only calming down once they’re drinking it.

Dearclinger: Rather than blood, dearclingers engorge themselves on any supernatural abilities someone has. Though these abilities will eventually return, it can take a few weeks. In rare cases, a person might not get all of their supernatural skills back, or they might work slightly differently than before which can be difficult to adjust to. Some assume people simply mean “deer tick” when they say dearclinger.

Deadclinger: And the existence of deadclingers further confuses things. These clingers latch on to the undead, drinking the blood, flesh, or other source of nutrition that the undead themselves feed on. This causes the undead to become starved. Deadclingers can be removed by passing them on to another undead – spawn and reanimated corpses can work if you can manage to get close enough. They’ll make the jump without prompting.

Faeclinger: A subspecies that evolved to feed on the iron-less blood of fae; these ticks aren’t able to feed on any other species. Those bitten often lose control of their natural abilities and glamours for a few weeks, though in rare cases it can be prolonged. Faeclingers can also cause fevers of variable intensity. They need to be burned off the fae with iron, which is obviously painful for the fae too. Fortunately, not a lot of it is needed.

WEAKNESS: Bug spray, especially sprays with a high percentage of DEET, usually do a good job of keeping clingers away. When they’re not clinging and engorged, they can be squashed, burned, or killed any way that a mundane tick would be.

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