| Class: | Beasts, insects OR vegimals |
| Hab: | Any non-arctic |
| Fre: | Common |
| Num: | 01-10,000 |
| Lair: | 50% roosting |
| Size: | Tiny, 1-10 or 10-100 grams, or small, 1" to 2-12 inches |
| Move: | Slow flight, slower crawl |
| Def: | Fragile, but seemingly random flutterings create a high dodge + lightweight: bounce instead of breaking |
| Att: | Blood-sucking swarm |
| Int: | Negligable; driven by mechanical instinct |
| Spec: | Anesthetic / anticoagulant saliva |
| Posns: | Live, in perfect condition, are valued for potions and collections |
Blooderfly species are, by variety, either creatures of the day or creatures of the night, or are diurnal creatures of the twilight; they spend half their time roosting (hidden among tree leaves or in cracks) and most of the rest floating lazily about, decorating the landscape while waiting for the scent of blood. While waiting, the members of a "cloud" may scatter over a range miles wide. When one smells blood, it alerts the rest of its cloud, and the cloud gathers swiftly. When inactive, they seek shelter, perhaps in a hollow tree or under areas of loose bark in a grove, or flattened inside folded leaves. Others hide in plain sight, well-camouflaged to blend with their surroundings.
Mercy blooderflies, boon to the ill and fallen warriors, are drawn to the scent of blood. Alighting at the source, they probe and inject psychoactive saliva, which, while not rendering their benefactor insensible to pain, causes it to seem abstracted. In quantity, the saliva inspires visions of paradise. The ill are sometimes set out in a meadow frequented by mercy blooderflies and cut a little, that their pain may be eased and that they may enjoy visions of a better future beyond while a mercy blooderfly blushes from snowy white through pink to carmine, drawing its ounce of drink. Fallen warriors need no additional cutting to attract blooderfies. Their visit makes the wait for comrades bearable, or, if no comrades come to comfort the fallen, let the wounded ignore molestation by crows and other carrion eaters too impudent to wait for death.
Vampire blooderflies are similar to mercy blooderflies, but are more aggressive in pursuit of prey, and may drain a man dry.
Not all blooderflies are simple insects. Some are vegimals. This particular class of vegimal spends alternate generations in plant and animal form.
In late fall, the fattened blossom-flies land near fat plants such as large-rooted irises or heavy-bulbed tulips, wide-spreading magnolias or tall catalpas. In their shelter, the blossom-flies shed their wings. The wingless body, a fat and fuzzy worm, wriggles into the earth. There, it latches onto a root and actually becomes a part of the plant. In spring, those plants will have especially full and beautiful flowers. When ripe, these flowers break apart, each pair of petals becoming a pair of wings; a new flock of blossom-flies has been bloomed and taken flight.
While the blooderflies themselves live for but a single season, their parent plants are generally perennial, and give forth a fresh crop of free-flying fluttering blossoms each year.
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