Kyriaki
Dark Phoenix
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike.
Image Credit: Here. Blood Fiends are not that big, but other than that the image is true to life.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: N/A
Links: Into Darkness, After Darkness, Tephrike, Dominion of Light, Disciples of the Vader, Republican Guard.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Name: Blood Fiends
Designation: Non-sentient.
Origins: Tephrike
Average Lifespan: Up to ten years in the wild. Their life span in captivity is a few years longer.
Estimated Population: Rare
Description: The Blood Fiends are a species of leeches - parasitical, segmented worms that dwell in the swamps and jungles of Tephrike. Their bodies are muscular and solid, and they feed by burrowing themselves inside a host and draining their blood. Under dry weather conditions, they burrow into the soil, where they are able to survive for several months.
It is fairly common on Tephrike to utilise Blood Fiends for the purpose of torture. The Republican Guard, the Dominion of Light and the Greater Sith Imperium are engaged in a bloody war of annihilation, and as such humanitarian conventions are utterly meaningless. For example, it is not uncommon to toss a captured enemy soldier into a pit with several Blood Fiends, who proceed to drain the captive dry. The mere sight of a long leech waiting to snack on you...and crawl inside...is pretty persuasive.
Once a Blood Fiend has ingested a sufficient amount of blood, it will retreat to a dark spot to digest its meal. It is able to consume a very large amount of blood within a single meal. Once it has eaten its fill, a Blood Fiend is able to survive fasting for several months. In terms of habitat, they favour the jungles, and shallow bodies of water. They are common in lakes, swamps, marshes, streams and riverbanks. Tephrike has all these in abudance. Blood Fiends who are kept in captivity can live longer, grow bigger and can over time endure light better due to exposure.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Breathes: Type 1. Leeches respire through their skin like worms, so long as there is oxygen in their environment they can breathe.
Average Height of Adults: 1-4 cm
Average Length of Adults: 5-8cm long max.
Skin color: Green, dark brown.
Hair color: N/A
Distinctions: As leeches, the Blood Fiends are segmented worms with thick muscular bodies. Their shape is bilaterally symmetrical. The body tapers towards the head and they have a powerful sucker to drain a host of blood. The sensory organs on their head and body allow them to perceive changes in light intensity, temperature and vibration. Moreover, they have a potent sense of smell due to chemical receptors on the head, and possess multiple pairs of eyes. They have suckers on both ends of their body. Blood Fiends are able to move quickly if they want to. When curled up they blend in with mud, tree branches etc.
Races: N/A.
Force Sensitivity: Non-Sensitive
Strengths:
- Can induce a toxin that induces severe drowsiness, and burrow inside the body of a victim to feed on them. Removal of a Blood Fiend is a difficult, time-consuming process that must be handled deftly...otherwise unpleasant consequences ensue. Such as infection, potentially transmission of disease or even madness.
- Easy to overlook, quiet, and very good at sneaking. When curled up they blend in with mud, tree branches etc.
- It is, at the end of the day, basically a bloodsucking worm. It can be crushed by those bigger than it, and has no weapons other than its sneakiness and its bite.
- It is also helpless against all manners of weapons. Though it is best to chop it up with a lightsabre before it has attached itself to a host. Unless one hates the host, of course.
Diet: Sanguivorous - they feed as blood sucking parasites on preferred hosts.
Communication: The creatures are highly sensitive to vibrations. They communicate with other Blood Fiends chemically, and through touch.
Technology level: N/A
Religion/Beliefs: N/A
General behavior: A Blood Fiend survives by attaching itself to a host and feeding on their blood. It can consume a truly large amount, especially given its size. Once it has fed it will digest its meal, which takes a long time. The creatures are attracted by movement, and will converge upon a host that enters their habitat. They burrow themselves inside the body of a victim to feed on them. The bite of a Blood Fiend induces a toxin that causes severe drowsiness.
Once this occurs it is not easy to dislodge them. Trying to tear them off bears the risk of some of their mouthparts remaining stuck in one's skin. Moreover, the Blood Fiends can carry diseases. An annoyed or angry leech might spill the contents of its guts into the bite, which may cause an infection. This makes removel difficult, and means that it must be handled with care because the creature is very likely to vomit bacteria into the open wound. If one tears a leech off, but the mouthparts remain lodged in one's skin, infection is a real risk. Moreover, some of the de-coagulants and enzymes in the saliva to prevent the blood clotting also have a toxic reaction in most humanoids. The effect of this is a change to the brain chemicals, which has a detrimental effect on the host's mental faculties. Thus not properly removing the creature can lead to insanity.
Blood Fiends forage, and are very sensitive to light, movement and mechanical stimulation. The creatures are hermaphrodites. Their methodology of reproduction makes them particularly feared. For in addition to being able to burrow inside a host's body to eat their fill, they can deposit eggs in there so small 'friends' can grow inside the body or corpse. Within a couple weeks or months, the young arise as small adults. Blood Fiends are capable of forming stable groups and supporting each other. A particularly unlucky individual might end up being the host for the offsprings of several leeches. It goes without saying that the young suddenly hatching is a deeply unpleasant experience for the host. Blood Fiends tend to live in shallow protected waters. Stones, logs, aquatic plants and so on provide good hideouts for them. On the whole, they are found in damp areas and watercourses, but do not like arid areas.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Blood Fiends were discovered by the first settlers who colonised Tephrike during the twilight of the Old Republic. The first colonists who founded the settlement that would one day be called Synorostad were poorly prepared for the manifold dangers of the jungle. It is said that a group of pirates who were among the early colonists were driven mad by exposure to the leeches. There was an early Golden Age drive to rid the swamps of them as they were attacking people, livestock and fish. This was eventually stopped because of protests. Then the Gulag Virus came and everything went to hell.
When Tephrike descended into a Dark Age, riven factions vied for power over the devastated planet. Warlords, the Republican Guard, the Dominion of Light and the Disciples of the Vader all recognised their potential for intimidation and interrogation. The Republican Guard draws a lot of its support from rural and aquatic areas. Many of their hideouts are located in swamps and forests. For this reason, they have tried to create countermeasures. Nonetheless, they keep some Blood Fiends as guardian beasts as well as for interrogations. Zhaelor Lah, a Yuuzhan Vong Republican Guard commander, is notorious for using them for the purpose of torture. Especially on Force-Sensitives who have been drugged sufficiently to make them unable to use the Force.
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