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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 9261462" data-attributes="member: 6915329">Eep! I was so busy doing world-building with my friends (for a future LU game, even!) that I forgot to post this until now.We’re done with dragon-kin for now. Up next we have a monster from the works of Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936), an English writer of supernatural horror. I decided to read a couple and they were just weird to me. It seems that, in general, his stories go along the lines of people talking about whatever is going on in their lives—in a way that felt quite authentic and often kind of funny to me (one had the main character’s aunt complaining about how much money he was spending on books—£10, or in today’s money, £425), then OMG THERE’S A HORRIBLE THING! and then everyone just continues as normal, the end. It didn’t help that either Mr. James or whoever transcribed this for Project Gutenberg didn’t put paragraph breaks between different people’s dialogue, making for dense walls of text my aging eyes can’t handle.Anyway, here’s the demonic sawfly—although their description in both the article and the story it came from (“The Residence at Whitminster”) make them sound more like winged daddy longlegs, which is wonderfully creepy. [ATTACH=full]345686[/ATTACH]Demonic SawflyDragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #252Creature by Michael D. Winkle; art by Mark NelsonDemonic sawflies resemble a mundane sawfly, but tremendous in size, colored black and dull, bloody red. Their head sports four small but powerful mandibles and a mass of long, twitching antenna that writhe almost like tentacles. Their long, spindly legs let them stand six feet tall, but they have the ability to change their size until they as little more than a normal insect. In this size, they sneak into and out of houses and castles, where they seek any rarely-entered room to live in, leaving only to feed—and unlike true sawflies, who eat leaves and crops, sawflies eat meat and blood.From One, Many. Able to emerge from any hellish portal, and worse yet, able to breed with mundane insects, the introduction of a single demonic sawfly can quickly lead to a plague of them. If a sawfly finds itself without food for a long period of time, it will automatically shrink and then begin to hibernate, during which it can survive up to a century. Should a warm-blooded creature come near to a hibernating sawfly, it will awaken. Ravenously hungry, it will attack until it’s sated, then begin to reproduce.Monstrous Parasites. In Hell and the Abyss, demonic sawflies are a mild annoyance; they’re considered in the same way that humans view mosquitoes and fleas. They survive in those planes only because they are far smarter than mundane insects are and are capable of breeding. In the lower planes, they do indeed breed like flies. Fortunately, the Material Plane severely curtails their ability to reproduce, and they rarely produce more than one or two eggs a year—although unlike most fiends, they guard their eggs and young jealously.Ghost-Makers. Whenever someone dies in an area in which demonic sawflies are nesting, it’s quite likely that they will become a ghost. In many cases, these ghosts are fairly harmless, little more than echoes. But the fiendish nature of the sawfly infests the minds of the people around them. Petty grievances become constant reminders and when people die with this anger on their mind, they often rise as vengeful ghosts. The sawflies themselves don’t seem to deliberately cause vengeful ghosts to appear and have nothing to do with them—and the ghosts themselves focus their anger on the living, not their insectile makers.Climate/Terrain: any climate; Abyss, Hell, ruin, settlementLegends and LoreWith an Arcana check, the characters can learn the following:DC 10. These insects are actually fiends from the lower planes. They enter the Material world through portals accidentally or purposely created by practitioners of evil magic.DC 15. Demonic sawflies instinctively seek to swarm with others of their kind. If you see one, there are likely others nearby.DC 20. Able to shrink themselves to the size of a normal housefly, demonic sawflies typically mingle with swarms of natural insects. When this size, they easily can infiltrate buildings.Demonic Sawfly EncountersChallenge Rating 1-2 1d4+2 demonic sawflies; 1d4 demonic sawflies; 1 demonic sawfly and swarm of insectsTreasure: 200 sp, tarnished silver ring (25 gp), skeleton keySigns1. The buzzing of flies2. With a DC 15 Insight or Perception check, a sensitive character feels a weak demonic aura3. A rarely-used room, infested with insects4. The presence of ghostsBehavior1-2. Hungry; will attack on sight.3. In shrunken form, flying with a swarm of normal insects and interbreeding with them.3. Guarding its young; will attack anyone who approaches.Demonic SawflyMedium fiend; Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)AC 14HP 13 (3d8; bloodied 6)Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)STR 12 (+1) DEX 18 (+4) CON 10 (+0)INT 4 (-3) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 4 (-1)Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 14Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; damage from nonmagical weaponsDamage Immunities poisonCondition Immunities poisonedSenses blindsight 10 ft., passive Perception 11Languages —Keen Smell. The demonic sawfly has advantage on Perception checks that rely on smell.Spider Climb. The demonic sawfly can climb even on difficult surfaces and upside on ceilings.ActionsBite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4+1) piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) necrotic damage or 1 necrotic damage when shrunken. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage dealt, and the demonic sawfly regains that number of hit points. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. If the target is reduced to 0 hit points by this attack, it dies.Bonus ActionsSummon Swarm (1/day). The demonic sawfly magically calls a swarm of insects, spew out of the sawfly’s maw.Hide (Shrunken Form Only). The demonic sawfly takes the Hide action.ReactionsShrink (Only When Bloodied). The first time it is bloodied in combat, the demonic sawfly shrinks to the size of a Tiny sawfly and can move through a space of less than one inch. While this size, it has advantage on Stealth checks. It can choose when to return to its normal size.CombatThe sawfly tries to attack with surprise, attacking with a bite and then summoning a swarm. It shrinks when bloodied, then flees.Variant: Portal-GlassWhen demonic sawflies take up residence in an area, a curious change happens to the nearby glass. Panes of broken glass, glass decorations, and other, similar pieces of glasswork—but not actual windows or mirrors—become minor windows to other planes. A creature who uses its action to look through the glass will see into Hell, the Abyss, or the Bleak Gate. It’s just a tiny window, no larger than the actual piece of glass used, and the viewer has no control over what they see on the other size—but it can be quite terrifying. A creature who looks through the glass must make a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. It may make a new save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself. If the frightened creature then breaks the glass, even by accident, a shrunken demonic sawfly will emerge.</blockquote>

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