Steam weevils

Steam weevils are tiny flying insects that thrive on the intense heat and pressure of subterranean areas of geothermal activity. They have developed a way to turn the heat of a pool of lava directly into usable energy (much the way that plants derive energy directly from the sun), and many generations of steam weevils will live their lives without ever leaving the deep caverns that are their preferred environment. Occasionally, however, because of volcanic activity, a swarm of steam weevils may be carried to the outside world in a blast of steam or lava. They cannot live long in the relative cold of the atmosphere, but they can be a dangerous enemy in the 1-4 hours that passes before they die. Steam weevils glow underground or in shade, because of the intense heat of their bodies. A person caught in the midst of a steam weevil swarm takes four points of damage from burns if the swarm is at full strength. Damage is cut in half if the character in warding the insects away.  Smoke and fire does not bother steam weevils, but water damages them if it is splashed on the swarm (roll to hit AC 7.) Characters may scoop water from a puddle or stream with their hands, or they may uncover a water container and attempt to douse the bugs that way. For each "hit" to the swarm, the damage that the steam weevils can inflict is reduced by one. Therefore, if two splashes have hit the swarm and it is surrounding a person who is warding them off, the swarm does only one point of damage.  Note that the swarm can only attack one creature or character at a time.

• Armor Class: 6
• Hit Dice: 1d4
• Move: 30' (10') on ground / 180' (60') in flight
• Attacks: 1 bite
• Damage:  1d4
• No. Appearing: 4d6
• Treasure Type: Nil
• Alignment: Neutral