Bone Fleas These little bastards lay their eggs in putrid water or in the dander of common food animals.. Larvae dig into the teeth or any exposed bone; should any get eggs in their mout
Trang 1Minute Terrors
Not every desert horror comes rushing at you with
fangs bared Some are so tiny they can gnaw a man near
to death before he knows he’s been invaded
Bone Fleas
These little bastards lay their eggs in putrid water or
in the dander of common food animals Larvae dig into
the teeth or any exposed bone; should any get eggs in
their mouths for even two hours, an odyssey of pain
be-gins Teeth crumble just hours after infection, releasing
many more eggs into the mouth Left unchecked, bone
flea larvae dig deeper into the jaw and the skull The
excruciating pain is unbearable, and victims resort to
anything to stop it Common field cures include yanking
out teeth and even hacking off the mandible, though
the latter usually proves fatal
Many a toothless caravan worker testifies to the horror of
bone fleas, so their existence is widely known and
guard-ed against Newcomers think associates insane as they
scrub out their mouths with sand, but soon follow suit as
a precaution Survivors go toothless or bear replacement
teeth of bone, rock, or metal jammed awkwardly into
their gums Magical cures can halt the pain, stop the
lar-vae, and even regenerate the lost bone Cold Ones can be
similarly afflicted, and a pachyaur’s ivory tusks are
trea-sured targets of bone fleas, despite not being bone Krikis
are immune, being boneless Alchemists and assassins
value bone flea eggs greatly; tales of bone fleas sprinkled
into a target’s food are the stuff of nightmares
Sand Ticks
An annoyance to living creatures, sand ticks hunt for
moisture, pure and simple, but they carry
debilitat-ing sickness They seek any water containers and, with
enough time, burrow through leather water skins,
wood-en barrels, or evwood-en glass or ceramic jars to get at any
wa-ter within They burrow using a proboscis that produces
a mild acid, allowing the tick to dig through an inch of
most nonmetallic materials in just a few hours; caravan
children often have the task of brushing sand ticks off
water stores all night long The amount taken by any one
sand tick is miniscule—less than a mouthful—but the
tox-in they leave behtox-ind contamtox-inates the entire contatox-iner
Any person or animal directly drained by a sand tick
most likely develops the sickness; someone who drinks
tick-fouled water (whether they’re aware of it or not) is
far less likely to become sick, but it can happen
Con-taminated water is marked and generally not used, or given to animals before anyone else
Sand tick sickness only kills one in five victims The first symptoms appear within a day: a continuous shak-ing that gets progressively worse After three days, the victim cannot walk or hold objects for a further three
to ten days In addition to this incapacitation, a victim’s eyes and then fingernails or claws slowly turn black, the latter eventually falling off At the end of that time, a victim either recovers or succumbs Survivors never regain their full sight: everything seems a bit fuzzier, night vision is all but lost, and their eyes retain a gray pallor “Tick-blind” wanderers are common, at the
mer-cy of companions to supplement their diminished sight
Umber Aphids
Named for their ruddy brown coloration, these tiny bugs infest decaying plant life but can also be the bane of in-sects—including krikis The aphids multiply rapidly and ex-ude a chitin-dissolving mucous that allows them to burrow deeper into their victim Umber aphids are not particularly deadly, and can eventually be washed away by scrubbing with water or abrasive sand Lasting effects, however, can
be devastating, since chitin does not naturally regenerate Left untreated for several days, an umber aphid infestation can leave a large insect creature pocked full of holes, its en-tire exoskeleton loosened Field repairs include straps and twine, literally binding the insect’s larger pieces in place; more permanent repairs include glues, clamps, and rivets Depending on the extent of the damage, an affected crea-ture’s natural armor protection can be compromised Krikis military discipline calls for umber aphid inspec-tions whenever an army is in the field They bury garbage quickly to limit the bugs’ breeding grounds A krikis warrior found to be infested suffers ridicule at the very least, and can lose its rank or position in a legion Those who retain their positions no longer serve on the front lines and fall into menial tasks, the reduction in prestige stemming from
an associated guilt of failing to effectively serve the hive
Caravans
Enormous trains of beasts and wagons ply the Khitan trade routes among the populated regions, as they have done for centuries The parties and cargoes involved have changed subtly in the face of the world’s cataclysmic decline Still, the caravans themselves plod across the wastelands in a well-honed manner, cutting deep ruts along traditional paths Coming across or running afoul of a mighty caravan is not
at all uncommon, for they are the desert’s wandering cities