Mutant Magic Eating Tick

The Mutant Magic Eating Tick is a massive creature that can be found in out of the way places that feeds on both the blood of magic users. Pumping out magical gasses from it's body when it feeds, hunters sometime hunt them down for body parts & chitin for various reasons.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Mutant Ticks are 6 legged monstrosities with a wide tentacled maw that opens lined with razor sharp chitin dagger like teeth. The head and thorax is smaller by far, with the abdomen two to three times larger than the others. six legs ending in razor sharp chitin sprout from it's body with three on each side. The back legs are larger& longer and the head & thorax lie closer to the ground, and armoured chitin runs top & bottom. Chimney-like chitin sprouts from the older tics that release magically infused waste gas. A proboscis is embedded in it's mouth at the back springing out when feeding on a victim.

Genetics and Reproduction

About once a year in every region they are found the ticks look to meet and breed. The females are larger choosing the most well-fed males to breed with. When they do, they lay a clutch of eggs in a spot that is well protected by undergrowth or rocky. About 3 months later the hatchlings burst out and start looking for victims.

Growth Rate & Stages

Hatchlings that have feasted on blood and magic grow at an exponential rate, shedding their exoskeletal chitin and outer skin once every year until they are 6 meters long. So far no one knows just how long one can keep growing for like this. They reach adulthood after about 4 years, and are able to breed about the same time.

Ecology and Habitats

Ticks prefer places rich in magical energy, places where prey species regularly travel through. Because of their size and voracious hunger, they are usually wiped out quickly in heavily settled areas, so they look to keep to wilderness regions with plenty of cover in which to leap out onto their victims. In many of these regions, they fulfil the role of an alpha predator and parasite in one go. They have been seen to feed for a short while on larger prey and let it live to feed on them over a course of days, especially if prey species are scarce. Creatures such as griffon, hippogriffs, manticore, wyverns and dragons feed on them in turn. They spew out gasses from their bodies that effectively irradiate an area with magic, drawing prey in looking for materials that can be used in magical items or as components for spells.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Tics are stalkers who use their hind legs to launch themselves onto prey forcing their proboscis's into their victims body. When this happens they will suck the blood and viscera out into their digestive system to feed on over a number of days. Any magic user is targeted first or magic items, which are ground up in it's gullet. t seems to be able to feed on magic and it grows larger & stronger on  diet of it along. Blood drinking seems to be a throwback to it's ancestry and can sustain it but not as long or as effectively.

Biological Cycle

Active for most of the year, especially in warmer climates, the tick will hibernate in cooler climates until it is warmer and / or prey species migrate back into the region. When younger they need less time to do this as their biology forces them to feed often until large enough and with a supply of magic & blood is built up in their bodies.

Behaviour

Aggressive hunter stalkers, the ticks will feed on larger prey where & when it can, attacking those wielding or using magic first. It can be notoriously patient and hides in rocky outcrops, or foliage until suitable prey wanders by, then it will jump on it. Pinning it down or wrapping it's tentacles round it to prevent it escaping, it will start to feed.
It is also has little fear and will rarely stop until it's prey is fed upon or it is killed. The only thing it doesn't seem to like is fire but will still attack, especially if the fire is magically created. Many a mage has fallen to one when using a fireball against it.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

The tics are prized by certain mages, weapon smiths and armourers. The body parts and gasses can be used as potent spell components in multiple spells and alchemy, and the chitin can be shaped into strange basic magic weapons. The larger chitin plates can also be turned into magical armour if treated right.
A few evil warlords and such will try to herd a few to use as mounts, though unsuccessfully, or as shock troops at the forefront of an attack. This causes terror in enemy troops, and spellcasters.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

These tics are found in regions where there is regular magic used, and in places where there is plenty of places to hide. Wooded areas, wild grasslands, and rocky regions are common. Only where there is no large enough settlements can they be found. Their size and aggressiveness leads to them being hunted down when one or more is found.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Small eyes that can see both normally and in the dark sit on it's head. The tentacles that sprout around it's mouth and the eyes can also pick up magical energy helping it to see sources of it to feed on. Vibrations caused by breathing can also alert the tic, allowing it to pounce on living creatures to drain their blood.

Civilization and Culture

History

Where the first mutant ticks came from is unknown, though seem to be recent in the last few years, at least in Europe and found in the eastern regions first. These were areas that were regularly travelled by horse tribes but barely settled. Many stories came in from the tribes to the settlements that horses & men were missing. Soon, they found what had been taking them... a massive mutant tick that was engorged on blood and the magic of a group of shamans.
Where this creature came from wasn't known at first but following it's path as best they could, they found the first place it had attacked. A small township of Slavs in grasslands near a large area of swampland with an old ruined tower at it's centre. The tower it turned out was once controlled by a wizard who specialised in Transmutation. Something went horribly wrong killing him and blasting magic outwards affecting many of the plants and animals in a 3 mile radius around the tower.
The ticks were one of them and have bred mutating to exceptionally large size. They have interbred since, ad the magic used initially has caused them to prefer to feed on it building up in their bodies. Since that time they have slowly spread, and many killed by any number of reasons, but with them breeding so much a few has still made it some distance. Also, a few others have captured others to study but some of these have escaped.
Most settlements & nations that know of them regularly hunt them down to keep their numbers in check and pushed them to the edges of more sparser areas. Some have also pushed them to the regions bordering enemy territory hoping for them to do damage to them. Other ticks have deliberately sought out areas of where magic is strongly tied to a place and basked in the ambient magic hoping that other prey come to find their magic boosted.

"We hunted one down once. Grotesque creature it was. Massive. Hand been feeding on cattle & horses. The struck a bunch of the Count's goons. Made short work of them. Then struck at a caravan with a Sorcerer. Sucked him dry over a few days. Just a withered husk. And the magic in the cloud that they belch out, you could feel it. Humming with a magical energy that seemed to power it more than blood. And then it attacked. Us Burgeaters eventually brought it down, but we were originally 80, maybe 90, men. 27 made it out before it was burned.. Never mess with magic, you may just make nature even more nastier."
A Burgeater talking to the Eschbach council.

Origin/Ancestry

A rare creature that has mutated by magic.