I #
with thin-walled blood vessels. By flapping
The ecolo gy of the stirge
by Ed Greenwood
From an address by the naturalist Elm-
daerle to the assembled Guild of Naturalists
in Arabel:
". IJnderstandabl little research has
been done on the life and habits of that
disgusting and dangerous creature, the
stirge. I have endeavored to learn what I
ofthem, and have, as you can see,
orught along a specimen.
"No, no, it's quite dead. The
stirge, as we all know, subsists entirely on a
diet of blood, and will attack all warm-
blooded mammals, although it seems to
prefer man. Quite often, stirge swarms
follow herds of domestic or nomadic
and sheep being
animals
- cattle, caribou,
most often afflicted; and where such herds
are, one should always expect to rneet, and
be prepared for, these little fellows. Cara-
vans, traveling pilgrims, and even armed
war-bands have been harried through wil-
derness areas by large flights of stirges;
we've all heard the gruesome stories of
drained, white victims and a few lucky,
narrow escapes. I've studied these creatures
for some time, to get at the truth and the
-
tales and legends, I fear, are not far wrong.
"In flight, the stirge is highly maneuver-
able', and groups ofthem are capable of
cooperative unison attacks and mid-air
actions. As you can see, it is really little
more than an expandable blood-bag with
wings, eyes, and claws - for clinging onto
prey and a long, hollow needle-beak or
-
20 MRcx lee
proboscis, admirably suited for drawing
blood. This specimen appears to be of about
average size, measuring just under one foot
from top of head to tip of tail, and with a
wingspan of just less than three feet, The
wings may look unusually large, but if they
were smaller, the stirge would not be able to
maneuver as well as it does when its body
cavity is frlled with blood.
"The proboscis, properly treated, can
serve as a sharp but brittle stabbing
weapon, much favored, I am told, by gob-
lins and similar unpleasant creatures. When
the stirge is alive, the proboscis contains at
its tip a supply of clear liquid, produced in
the stirge's body and steadily replenished;
this is an anti-coagulant, which mixes with
a victim's blood to keep it from clotting in
the proboscis or in the stomach where it
ends up. The stirge, because of its diet, can
for instance
transmit diseases
- malaria, - vines, so that the victims cannot escape
from one victim to the next.'
"Ingested blood passes straight into the
stomach. This serves as a storage bag which
the creature always tries to keep at least
partially full. From this reservoir the crea-
ture draws small quantities into lesser cavi-
ties located just beneath its backbone.
There its body processes convert blood
sugar into body energ and ingested blood
into plasma balanced for its own bodily use,
so that it can replace its own lost blood and
hasten its recovery from wounds.'
"The interior of its wings is interlaced
its wings, the creature fans air over these
surfaces, and thus cools its body when in
hot sun or volcanic steam. Much of the
tissues of the stirge are liable to be tainted
with disease, but the knots of muscle here
and here, just behind the head and atop the
spine, at the bases ofthe wings, are hu-
manly edible. I would have liked to bring a
prepared, sample meal with me tonight, but
I was unable to procure fresh stirges and
-
once a stirge's legs have stiffened after
death, no part ofits body is safe to eat.
"The creature's claws are not strong
enough to be effective weapons for the
beast, but they are firmly embedded in its
legs and at the midpoint of the leading edge
of its wings, and they enable the creature to
maintain a tenacious hold once it has at-
tached itself to its prey. The claws serve
some cloth-makers and workers for carding
wool, brushing away hairs from garments,
and so on. They are not strong enough for
the fanciful uses attributed to them in the
far too brittle
tales of thieves
- they are
and small to serve as grappling hooks for
climbing-lines.'
"Stirges swarm to attack prey, which is
why they are so feared be a
- one can
formidable foe, but a large group can be
deadly to even well-defended creatures.
Stirges usually lair in forests, disused cas-
tles, or caverns, and may incidentally pos-
sess treasure from victims who have fallen
to them therein, o from hoards laid down
before their arrival, but they are not intelli-
gent enough to value, or bargain with,
treasure as we know it. A ranger of my
acquaintance tells me that stirges in deep
woods like to drive prey into tangled ra-
readily, or find steady footing, room, and
balance to defend themselves properly
-
and any treasure carried by these unfortu-
nates may well be found among their bones
at the bottoms of these ravines.
"Although a thirsty swarm of stirges may
seem endless when they're all swooping
down at you, typically only three to thirty
nest together in a colony, from which they
fly out in all directions to find food, usually
in groups of three. By means of wagging
their probosci, stirges can communicate that
lbod or a dangerous enemy has been found,
its clirection, size or strength, and a degree
olexcitement or urgency regarding the
dcsired reaction of the whole swarm lf a
fight oi three stirges Inds prey, they will
circle to observe it, and then two will harry,
chase, or if it is strong merely fly along
t-rbscrving it, whilc the third stirge flies [or
home. Its message will spread via all the
srirges it meets, and to all who call in home
ar the nest, and they wil gather in a group
ro seek out the prey and kill it Small prey is
merely attacked by the hunting threesome
f'or their own gain, and they give its ocation
only later, if blood yet remains for their
lllows.'
"Winter cold does not seem to affect
srirges in any way, and they breed freely
rhroughout the year. They reproduce by live
birth, in litters of one to three young, with a
gestation period of six months- Males and
females are outwardly identical in size and
appearance to our eyes. The tiny young
nnot fy properly, but only glide, and are
-rried on the mother's back for up to four
months, until their blood-drinking from
prey" provides sufficient nourishment for
rhem to grow to about half of adult size
'fhen they can maneuver on their own, and
in another three months at most they reach
full adult size.
"I suppose that most ofyou have never
scen a young stirge, and I regret that I
could not procure one to bring as a speci-
nren. The adults, however, you all should
know: pests feared by rnan and beast alike.
My coleagues Ainsbrirh and Bremaercl of
Westgate are experimenting with poisoning
stirges, but so fr re port limited success.
Just as thev are apparcntly immune to the
diseases thev transmit, so are they unaf-
lcted by the same poisons that harm us;
the cleatures seem both adaptable and of
rugged constitution.
"And that, fellow naturalists, is a brief
look at the stirge. As more inlormation
becomes available, I will share it with the
group, and I wil expect each of you to do
the same."
Noes;
1 Stirges are flight class A; if their wings
are damaged and/or they are fully bloated
with blood, and/or they have only 1 or 2 hit
points, they may be reduced to Flight Class
B or C and 16" or 12" aerial movement
rate, at the DM's option. A mother with
young on her back (see text and note 6
below) is penalized even further, dropping
down one more flight class and another 4"
in movement rate, compared to what she
would be if she were not so encumbered.
2. Diseases contracted from stirges will
almost always allect the "blood/blood-
forming organs" of the body (see DMG),
and be of the acue type. There is a 57o
t hance for any adult srirge to transmil a
disease to its victim on a successful hit.
3 Stirges can always regenerate lost body
parts (over a period of 1-3 months) or heal
even the most se!'ere wounds (replacing up
to 4 lost hit points every 24 hours), so long
as their heads and spines remain relaivelv
undamaged, and food
- i.e , fresh blood
is plentiful.
- 4. Stirge claws resemble the better types
of fish-hooks, in that they are both hooked
and barbed, curving to a point, which has a
side-fin or point projecting backward from
its tip toward its shaft, in the same way that
the edges of an arrowhead form two points
facing back toward the flight-feathers. In a
live (un-stiffened) stirge, these barbs are not
rigid, but can be reracted into the claw by
means of strong cartilage-and-muscle link-
ages thus, a stirge can hook itself into a
-
victim through gaps in metal armor or by
0uidslincs
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lighter clothing,
ee except by also
ctim's flesh (l-2
torn out, 4 claws
per stirge). In determining whether or not a
stirge's attack is successful, consider a
missed "to hit" roll as indicating that the
creature's claws failed to latch on to the
intend
If a sti
with it proboscis
in the tirge,s
proboscis can strike into or through any
surface on a victim that its claws can attach
to. Immediately after death, a stirge's mus-
cles relax, and it ceases both to drain fur-
ther blood and ro hold its barbs in
- 4-6if
bur
it is not removed from its victim within
turns, and is allowed to stiffen while at-
tached, the barbs will have been extended
again as the stirge's muscles convulse, and
the body of the stirge will then have tobe
torn free of its victim, doing damage as
recihed above. Ifit is attached to armot
rt not flesh, then the creature will be easily
shaken or pulled loose by normal
-orr.-"rr
when its muscles are relaxed.
5. As many as six stirges can comfortably
(for the stirges, that is) attach themselves ro
the body of one man or other M-sized crea-
ture at the same time. Sometimes more
than six will do so, but usually only if the
entire swarm is very thirsty, if the victim is
a solitary creature, and ifthe victim has
enough blood (i.e., hit points) so that each
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ofthe attackers can drain at least a little
blood. A charitable DM might rule that
each stirge after the third one attacking a
single target does so at a cumulative -l ,,to
hit" (-2 for the fifth, -3 for the sixth, etc.),
because the target is, in effect, smaller since
other stirges are already attach-d.
Stirges will attack the trunk oi a vicrim,s
ing/armor. body in preference to the extremities, since
giabbed on the target area is larger, and those who sink
their claws into a victim's back will be virtu-
ally immune to counterattack by the victim
himsef. A companion can try t attack the
stirges on a victim's body, but if he misses
such an attack and rolls 4 or more under the
number needed "to hit," he hits the victim
instead of the stirge, and the weapon strike
will do half normal damage (round dou.n) to
the victim. The first successful attack bv a
stirge will be upon a victim's !ack66To of
the time (4 in 6 chance), or else on the front
of the torso. If the first attack hits the front,
the second successful attack will always be
on the back. After that, other stirges will
attach themselves to the extremities but
must always hit the victim's original -armor
class (not AC 10, even ifthe arm or leg
being hit is unprotected). This ,,hit loca-
tion" determination is useful in knowing
whether a stirge's claws are embedded in
armor or flesh.
A stirge frlled with its quota ofblood can
subsist on that nourishment for as long as
72 hours, and can go another 24 hours
without food after that before starving to
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death. Howevet stirges will instinctively
seek out new prey starting 36 hours after
their last "full meal," at which time they
will have digested half of their full capacity.
6. Athough a litter of young srirges
(stirgelings) can number as many as three, a
mother can only carry two offspring on her
back while they mature. The other one
must survive on its own, or perish; other
stirges will not transport the young in place
of the mother. For every eight stirges en-
countered in a single group, whether in
their lair or otherwise, one of those crea-
tures will be a mother bearing 1 or 2 young
on her back. When a mother carrying
stirgelings scores a hit on prey, the young on
her back cn begin attacking on the round
following her initio, hit. Attacks from young
are at -2 "to hit," they do 1 point of initial
damage from the proboscis, and drain 1-2
hit points of blood per round on following
rounds, becoming sated at 6 hit points,
worth. The mother must be detached
(killed) to stop the young from draining. If
she drains her full quota of blood, she will
remove her proboscis but remain attached
to the victim until she feels her young also
pull free, signaling that they have also
drunk their fill. Stirgelings can easily be
torn free from their mother's back, and
typically have only 1-4 hit points. Stirges
who fall from their mother's back without
being slain will die unless they can find food
(usually by crawling into burrows to attack
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