Bloodhaze Mosquito Swarm

A high-pitched whine issues forth from the haze of this surging crimson cloud. Within, thousands of tiny forms whir in agitation, each a tiny insect with a needle-like proboscis.

Bloodhaze Mosquito Swarm (CR 6)

Fine Vermin (Swarm)
Alignment: Neutral
Initiative: +2
Senses: Darkvision 120 feet, Scent; Perception +9

Speed: 5 feet, Fly 30 feet (average)
Space: 10 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 20, touch 20, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +8 size)
Hit Points: 71 (13d8+13)
Saving Throws: Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +5
swarm traits
Immunity: weapon damage
Weaknesses: swarm traits

Offense

Melee: swarm (1 Con damage and sleeping sickness)
Reach: 0 feet

Special Attacks: cling, Con damage, Distraction (DC 17), disease

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
1 (-5)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	-	13 (+1)	2 (-4)

Base Attack Bonus: +9
CMB -
CMD -

Feats:

Skills: Fly +10, Perception +9

• Racial Modifiers: +8 Perception

Languages:

Special Abilities

Cling (Ex)

If a creature leaves a bloodhaze mosquito swarm's square, the swarm takes 1d6 points of damage as dozens of insects tenaciously cling to the victim. A creature with bloodhaze mosquitoes clinging to it takes 1 point of Constitution damage at the end of its turn for the next 1d4 rounds. As a full-round action, the creature can remove the mosquitoes with a DC 18 Reflex save or by immersing itself in water. High winds or any amount of damage from an area-affecting effect destroys all clinging mosquitoes. The save DC is Dexterity-based. Once a group of clinging mosquitoes has dealt 4 points of Constitution damage, the mosquitoes detach and disperse to digest their meal.

Disease (Ex)

Bloodhaze mosquitoes are bearers of a terrifying and deadly disease common to the jungle, known to most locals as sleeping sickness. Sleeping Sickness: Swarm-

injury;

save Fort DC 17; onset 1d2 days; frequency 1 day; effect 1d4 Wisdom damage and target is fatigued, cure 2 consecutive saves or arsenic (see page 35 for more details).

Ecology

Environment: Warm Forests or Marshes
Organization: solitary, pair, pestilence (3-6 swarms), or plague (7-12 swarms)
Treasure: none


Thousands of species of insects make their home within the shelter of the Mwangi Expanse, but few elicit as much dread as the voracious bloodhaze mosquito. Migratory in nature, these ravenous insects amass in great numbers, forming swarms capable of feasting on the blood of humanoids and beasts alike. Perhaps worse, the crimson parasites carry a debilitating disease known for sapping the vitality of its victims. Because of this potent mix of teeming esurience and virulent pestilence, bloodhaze mosquitoes panic almost any community they threaten. Legends describe crimson clouds decimating entire populations on their flight from breeding pool to jungle interior. Only high winds, drought, and torrential rain consistently keep them at bay. Thankfully, the swarms also wax and wane with fluctuations in local prey populations. In combination with the mosquitoes' relatively short lifespan, competition for food helps keep their numbers under marginal control.

A typical bloodhaze swarm contains more than 10,000 flying mosquitoes. Individually, each mosquito is smaller than a child's fingernail, yet together they form a terrifying assault. Their iridescent wings can refract light, creating a shimmering effect as they move in unison. This effect proves disconcerting to most animals, which wisely flee such clouds, their panic often alerting other jungle inhabitants to the swarm's presence.

Ecology

Bloodhaze mosquitoes always sate themselves on the blood of other animals, using their darkvision and ability to detect pheromones to track prey. They typically lie in wait near water sources where they can both breed and feed on animals that come to drink. Warm-blooded creatures draw their attention more quickly than amphibians or reptiles, though even lizards, snakes, and frogs become food sources during leaner times. Not only does blood provide sustenance to bloodhaze mosquitoes, but the females actually require it to reach egg-laying maturity. Females must also have water in which to lay their eggs, though even a sewage-filled mud puddle will suffice. A single female mosquito can lay up to 100 eggs, which hatch into larvae after 2 days. Many of these eggs suffer the predation of fish and other aquatic scavengers during this time of vulnerability. The surviving eggs hatch, releasing larvae that molt and shed their skins while feeding on organic matter and microorganisms in the water. Then they enter a pupal stage, conserving energy as they undergo a final transformation before finally emerging as fully grown adults. The entire hatching and growth process takes less than a single week.

After reaching maturity, bloodhaze mosquitoes swiftly take to the air, naturally drawn to one another through their pheromones and banding together in swarms strong enough to challenge any animal for territorial supremacy. The life of a typical bloodhaze mosquito spans only 3 months. They spend that time ravenously feeding in their swarms, consuming enough blood that their females can continue laying eggs. The mosquitoes possess no maternal or protective instincts, however, quickly abandoning their progeny before dying out to be replaced by them.

Habitat & Society

Bloodhaze mosquitoes live in tropical wetlands, only venturing farther away when hunting becomes scarce or high winds carry them into other regions. Unintelligent predators, the mosquitoes give off pheromones to maintain their swarm's cohesion. Specific scent markers for distress, mating, and food rule most of their behavior. Powerful, false odors or thick and pungent smoke can sometimes mask or disrupt this communication, as can immersion in water, leading to traditions among many native peoples of coating themselves in sulphurous mud or burning reeking torches during the height of the mosquitoes' feeding seasons.

Although bloodhaze mosquitoes don't feed on other insects, they do prove highly territorial. While swarming, a group of the mosquitoes will attack and kill any other insects they encounter. Such ferocity can wipe out whole hives or nests of insectile jungle inhabitants, potentially having farther-reaching ramifications for other creatures speedy or canny enough to escape the swarms. In more dramatic instances, swarms might fell massive jungle insects or the populations of whole areas, leaving trails of crunching insectile corpses to mark their path.

Mwangi Menaces

Deadly beasts, trackless wildernesses, and violent storms typify most explorers' visions of travel through the Mwangi Expanse. Yet however real and deadly such perils may be, they are hardly the only threats travelers through these lands face. Diseases, vermin, parasites, rot, and uncountable other hazards unite in an endless assault against those who intrude upon these wild lands. Maladies like the sleeping sickness carried by bloodhaze mosquito swarms and other insects present just one such danger. While the following details present that disease, GMs who seek to make their tropical travels feel distinct from adventures elsewhere on Golarion should check out Chapter 1 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Heart of the Jungle for details on jungle maladies and other threats.

Sleeping Sickness

Endemic throughout the Sodden Lands and the Mwangi Expanse, the parasitic affliction known as \"sleeping sickness\" is spread when flying insects inject tiny parasites into their unsuspecting victim's bloodstream, thus inducing fever, headache, joint pain, swelling of glands in the back and neck, and most notably fatigue. The disease gradually infects the brain, causing confusion, reduced coordination, difficulty keeping track of time, and insomnia. While exceedingly dangerous, even when administered by a practiced healer, the best cure for this disease is dosing the patient with the poison arsenic (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 558). If the patient survives, there's a cumulative 30% chance per dose that the disease is immediately cured.

Sleeping Sickness

Type disease (parasite), injury; Save Fortitude DC 14 Onset 1d2 days; Frequency 1/day Effect 1d4 Wis damage and target is fatigued; Cure 2 consecutive saves or arsenic (see text)