Dasimar's Louse
At first, we had no idea what was going in. Workers would be overcome by anger or hubris, some dreamt up monstrosities or beautiful women. Before long, we were seeing men die through violent rage or inexplicable hubris. Then I realized: each and everyone of them had had a bad case of the itches just a month before. It was the lice that did it. The lice killed my men.Dasimar's Louse is a yellow-and-red-striped, wingless insect that lives on the hide of large mammals near Red Rock Lake and the Furnace Mountains. The louse is known for carrying Dasimar's Curse, an affliction that can affect humans, orcs and halflings, but not elves or gnomes.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Dasimar's Louse is bright yellow insect, with a red stripe running medially along the caudo-rostral axis of both its fused thorax and segmented abdomen. Its size varies from 0.5 to 1.0 mm, the bulk of which is made up by its yellow-haired abdomen. Its head is narrow and flattened and its eyes are small and close to each other. From the head, a toothed proboscis connect to two canals: one for food intake and one for excreting saliva.
The legs of Dasimar's Louse are cricket-like protrusions from the creature's abdomen and each leg contains sharp claw which the louse uses to attach itself to the skin of hosts.
Genetics and Reproduction
Once its proboscis penetrates the skin of a host, Dasimar's Louse releases a thick, syrupy liquid from its salivary channel. The liquid focally softens the skin, so that the louse gets access to the blood of the host. When feeding, female lice also release eggs into the host's bloodstream, which adhere to the host's gut for growth. Male lice, in contrast, release sperm that fertilizes the eggs within the host's body.
Growth Rate & Stages
Once an egg has been fertilized with the host's body, the egg grows by feeding off the host's food intake and possible psionic energies. At a critical point, the eggs release and are excreted from the host's body, where the eggs hatch. young larvae grow on excrements for about a tenday before actively seeking out new hosts. On a host body, the louse can live for up to 10 months, where it steadily increases size. During this time, the louse will often skip to more sentient or intelligent hosts if the opportunity arises. Females engage in this skipping behavior more often than males.
Ecology and Habitats
The optimal environment for the louse is in the fur or hair of a warm-blooded mammal, as this environment protects it from extreme weather and offers it nourishment via blood.
For humans, orcs and halflings, Dasimar's Louse causes more hindrance than mere itches. The eggs that adhere to the gut in the louse's life cycle release psychoactive chemicals that induce a variety of effect in these species, ranging from loss of anxiety to hallucations. This is where the name of the louse comes from, as Dasimar is an ancient god of madness.
It has been hypothesized that the eggs of Dasimar's Louse benefit from the release of psionic energies and that the creatures therefore seek out psychoenergetically strong hosts. The madness-inducing chemicals may function to release psionic energies when the eggs need them the most.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The saliva of Dasimar's Louse, as well as a paste made out of freshly excremented eggs, are sought-after alchemical materials.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Dasimar's Louse senses its hosts via chemical and psionic sensing, and can perceive sounds using the antennae on its head and the hairs located on its abdomen. The louse prefers sentient and more intelligent hosts.
Lifespan
1.5 years
Average Length
0.8 mm
Geographic Distribution
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