Trial of Ink - Day 15 - Endothermic (Patreon)

Lantern Tick

Furicalores lanternarius

Lantern Tick or Crawling Lantern a spider-like creature that has a magical ability to absorb heat from its surrounding. Lantern Tick live in the high altitude area of Latani Mountain and is typically found in a cave or pine forest area. Its diet normally consists of tree saps from specific plants and sometimes blood.

It has a unique ability that allows it to absorb heat from its surroundings and store it inside its abdomen which will glow bright orange when it opens the exoskeleton cover. It uses the heat to keep itself warm during the night when the temperature in Latani Mountain drops unnaturally. But, during a mating season, it becomes very aggressive and begins to actively seek out heat sources even during the night in order to keep its sensitive eggs at a stable temperature. It also adds blood and fat to their necessary diet to use as fuel and use its saliva which has anesthetic properties to keep its prey from noticing it. Travelers are warned to always keep watch when camping around their habitat because Lantern Tick is often attracted to fire. There are several cases of travelers who died from hypothermia and anemia caused by a swarm of Lantern Tick.

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This creature is one of my attempt to throw some hazard during my player long rest when they begin to drop their guard too much in the wild. First they need to notice this ticks (tick's stealth vs passive perception) when they get close to them then they have make constitution saving throw or they'll suffer from exhaustion and/or reduced maximum hit point~  XD