Locusts

"Never will your heart know more fear and never will more of the people weep than to the sound of the chirping of the blood swarm."

— Pero o Orastis

Locusts, also known as blood bugs, flesh bugs, blood swarms or black deaths, are small insects native to Arad. Eating both greenery and meat, they are known to devour carrion and even swarm living things, slowly consuming them and driving them mad. They hibernate for decades at a time in clusters of small, black eggs. Upon awakening, they may form into massive swarms comprised of millions of members who can cause widespread devastation to surrounding areas. Locust plagues are greatly feared and have nearly seen to the doom of Thripia on more than one occasion. Their lack of moisture when developing makes their armor particularly dry, however, and thus they are vulnerable to fire.

Apperance

Individually, locusts have square bodies, triangular wings and arched legs for jumping. Their distinctive black shells are glossy and they have earthy, red eyes. Often, however, these details are difficult to discern from a distance, however. Travelling in swarms, they appear simply as a mass of rapidly fluttering black shapes, darting in and among one another. These clouds can be spread thin or concentrated. In their greatest numbers, they are innumerable.

Properties

Locusts' food consists primarily of plants such as shrubs, trees and grasses. In particular, however, they are known for their consumption of flesh. They take advantage of carrion, numerous as it is within the Meleatte Desert, but may seek live prey should they have adequate numbers. They will swarm the skin of the target and tear as much as possible with their serrated mandibles before they are swatted away. The venom of their mouths exacerbates bleeding. As such, more often than not, they will abandon a target and wait for it to die of blood loss before continuing, but this is not always the case. Many victims will also go mad from the pain of repeated bites. Locusts bear a critical weakness, though; vulnerability to fire. The lack of moisture in Arad means that many are left with dry armor which can quickly catch flame. Swarms can be destroyed or scattered through the use of torches or flame oil as the insects may collide with one another and set each other alight. Even proximity to strong heat sources may ignite a locust. In the past, Thripia has been defended from locust plagues through the use of massive fires atop the walls and around farms, stopping the insects from settling.
The threat of locusts is not ever present. Before being born, they spend a large amount of time gestating within clusters of eggs. If never disturbed, these eggs may wither and die entirely, the locust within never being realized. However, as if often the case, through rain, sandstorms or simple collision with animals, the clusters will hatch. From there, locusts will often attempt to awaken other nests, triggering chain reactions through which massive swarms may arise. More often, however, these plagues occur as the result of an event of significant disturbance. Locust clusters are easily noticeable thanks to their large size and accumulation of clumped sand and dirt. Farmers are experts in recognizing eggs and will burn them when discovered to prevent a plague. Furthermore, ichor is often used by them to predict when plagues may occur.

Lifespan

~5 weeks