Description

The term tick is a misnomer, as this creature is not an arachnid, and doesn't possess a mouth, as such. It's around 3", symetrical, and generally spherical in shape, with six legs ending in viscious looking prongs, and twelve eyes in three clumps around it's body. The prongs are the Tick's mouths, from which it excretes its digestive poisons and sucks up the slurry that is produced.

The poison is both highly necrotic and an extremely effective aensthesia, making it a popular choice of those with less than firm morals that are willing to risk their lives trying to milk one of these.

Combat

A single tick is no threat, they're not fast and can easily be crushed under the sole of your boot; the real threat is when they breed, or are used as a weapon. A single demon can be infested with as many as half a dozen of these, not a problem for the demon which is largely resistant to the ticks' poison, but when that same demon is summoned to battle by some foul mage, and it falls, the ticks will first lay their eggs in its corpse, and then move on to the other corpses, resulting a veritable apocolypse when all the eggs hatch. There are tales of small kingdoms being buried underneath a swarm of these things.

History

Native to Hell, this creature preys upon the demons that were banished here, a torment for the tormentors. They thrived just as well as everything else in that blighted realm, which is to say barely. They were just big enough to be able to prey upon the demons, but not big enough to attract their attention; it wasn't until they were introduced to the mortal realm that they really became a scourge. With no natural predators, and with the soft flesh of mortals to feast on, the Demon Tick became to the mortal realm what kudzu became to the Southeastern US.

Full Description

"Please, ma’am, I didn’t mean to!  I’ll work faster, please, don’t!"  The straps tightened on the girl’s wrists, holding her hands firmly to the table.  The woman just picked up a knife and forced one of the girl’s fists open, splaying her fingers.  "Please, ma’am, I wasn’t trying to be lazy!" 

The woman simply sighed in irritation at the girl’s hysterics.  "You’re no good to me, little one.  You work too slowly, and I can’t be bothered to coddle you.  Kindly stop shrieking."  She carefully made incisions in each of the girl’s fingers running from the tip to the palm.  Still holding the girl’s hand in an iron grip, she used tweezers to place sickly gray maggot-like creatures in each cut.  Then she quickly sewed the wounds closed, trapping the writhing little creatures inside.  The girl was still screaming as she tightly bandaged the girl’s fingers together.  "Oh, do shut up."  She reached for the other hand…

The oddly-named Solace Worms are nasty little creatures originally created from decaying tissue and necromantic magic.  When fully grown, they’re about four inches long, and about two inches thick.  They’re a nasty gray color, and are quite nasty to touch.  They are blind and mindless, concerned only with ravenously eating, and are quite carnivorous. 

However, they are extremely sensitive to light, pressure, humidity, and several other things, and their top speed is something less than slow.  They survive best in dryish, dark areas, with a ready supply of food.  The basement of the Taikan Solon Memorial Orphanage is an ideal habitat for them.

Solace Worms were created by Edrea Solon to clean up the detrius of her necromantic experiments and keep the basement tidy.  (Most undead, unfortunately, have a regretable tendency to shed.)  She feeds them the shed material, and any bits too damaged or too small to be of any use.  Naturally, since they don’t live long and are easy to kill, Edrea tends to breed these little monstrosities, in order to maintain a decent supply.

While the mature worms can easily feed on necrotic flesh, the juvenile stage thrives best on something fresher.  In fact, the best breeding ground to raise juvenile Solace Worms is inside a living human.  The easist and most efficient way Edrea has found to do this is to surgically implant them into a chosen victim’s fingers.  This protects the juveniles, and provides them a food source that will last for several months, or until she’s ready to harvest them.  Of course, the process is excruciatingly painful, and the host generally won’t survive either way. 

The most common hosts are children in the orphanage that don’t work fast enough to suit Edrea or have a useful talent, and that she doesn’t want to use in other projects.  (When she does have access to adults, it’s uncommon enough that she chooses to use them more productively.)  As long as she takes care that the host can’t damage the juvenile worms, she can breed somewhere around twenty to forty worms per host.

Additional Information

While the original habitat is the Taikan Solon Memorial Orphanage basement, concievably, Solace Worms could be found in any mostly dry, dark area where they can easily get at food (certain dungeons, perhaps), particularly if necromancy was practiced nearby. 

Though they were created with necromantic magic, they were designed to be able to breed (cheaper and less labor intensive).  It’s also possible that the worms could eat their way into someone and breed, which could lead to interesting plots if the wrong person got them.

For the Archaic Word Challenge-

Idle-Worms revolting, maggot-like, tiny worms, bred in the fingers of lazy girls.

... There’s probably something thoroughly wrong with me.

Full Description

The Spirit leech appears little different from normal leeches, though somewhat lighter in color.  One very familiar in this sort of critter, perhaps from perusing the Parasiticon will be able to pick these out from mundane leeches.

Additional Information

The Spirit leech, as its name implies, draws nourishment from its ‘host’ by drawing out small amounts of their life-force. The amount is relatively minor, and a single such leech is unlikely to cause perceptible effects, as it will drop off once sated.  A single leech will draw forth at most 1% of a host’s life-force, which is easily regenerated by the host overnight.

The danger lies if the host is infested by many, though they are solitary by nature and quite rare.  Too much life-force drawn will weaken the host spiritually, creating a vacuum that could allow hostile spirits, such as demons, to take over.

The Spirit Leeches are most easily found in the Sorcery Springs Geyser Basin, where they seem to be quite common and occasionally attach themselves to people visiting these enchanted springs.

Use

As with mundane leeches, the Spirit leeches can be used in healing. Whereas physical leeches can draw poisoned blood from a wound, the Spirit Leech can draw froth maladies infesting one’s soul.  Curses, magical poisons and diseases, and even insanities can be drawn forth, slowly, through this means. When used in this manner, the Spirit leeches are sated for several days after use, requiring a large supply on hand.  Occasionally, the spiritual toxin drawn forth will kill the leech.

It is said that consuming one of these leeches, alive of course, can impart a portion of the life force that the leech has extracted, possibly boosting health temporarily, or perhaps even extending life by a small amount. Care must of course be taken, for should one devour a leech containing toxic energies - insanities, poisons, even possession - one may visit that malady upon oneself.

Plot ideas and Campaign use

The PCs may have need of spiritual healing, and find that Gredil the Leech is their best bet for a cure.  He could be difficult to find of course.

Perhaps the Leeches are vanishingly rare, and are the subject themselves of a quest. Use 30 Legendary Antidotes-Cures for inspiration of locale if you wish.

A villain could have a pit full of these suckers to feed captured heros to.  Of course the demise is slow, so the opportunity for escape or rescue exists.

The PCs could carry of few of these along as ‘medical equipment’.

Provides an odd flavor of healing for more esoteric injuries, including that caused by undead.

Full Item Description

The Parasiticon appears as a rather large text, fully 6" thick with heavy leather binding nearly black with age. Whatever writings which were on the outside have long since worn away.  Within, however, the thick parchment paper is as clean and undamaged as when the book was first penned.

History

This work, by Melthsar the Abhorrent, represents the lump sum of his knowledge, both mundane and magical, though the latter is carefully hidden within the work. This large, lavishly illustrated tome is filled with encyclopedic articles on hundreds of parasites, mundane and mystical. The author seemed to go into great glee discussing their impacts upon their victims and many of the color plates within (hand painted) are full of very disturbing detail. Subjects include the Ahoi Worm, the Tomb Trilosydes and many others  -Parasite, each more disgusting then the next.

Being prized by only the malevolent of individuals, unconcerned with integration with society, it has been seldom mentioned in official studies of magic.  Those who have made use of it over the centuries have not left records of their works.

Magic/Cursed Properties

Buried within the massive text, detectable only by the odd phrasing or unusual word choice, are powerful enchantments and forbidden spells which cover the Domain of Parasites.

This work contains the collected spells of the Domain of Parasites as (eventually to be..) detailed in that submission.  It also can be used directly for it is heavily infested by the corrupt magic of that school.  One conversant in its powers can draw upon it to summon swarms of various parasites, though only once per week. Should an attempt be made to draw the powers more frequently, the summoned swarm will turn on the user.  One had best hope that this lesson is learned while summoning one of the less lethal alternatives.

Possession of this book will also begin to corrupt the owner.  They will begin to become infested by various small, innocuous parasites at first, but sustain no damage or illness, being but carriers.  As time goes by, they will become more and more infested, both increasing in numbers and in variety, eventually becoming a veritable zoo of the disgusting creatures. The owner, however, will be oblivious to their presence, being neither damaged nor distracted by them.  Others in their presence receive no such protection. The owner may appear visibly to be damaged by the pests, but this effect is cosmetic and again unnoticed.

Campaign Use/ Plot Hooks

This item is obviously well suited for a villain to use, even magic-weak persons could use the intrinsic powers of the book to bring pestilence on their enemies. In such a manner, the book could introduce the Domain of Parasites to a campaign.

Typical plots involve the heros being paid to obtain it, remove it from an enemy, or even perhaps destroying it. If the PC’s were to have it fall into their hands they may try and use it, but its effects will likely be disruptive to a party. It is in truth not inherently evil, just extremely loathsome.  Its nature is unlikely to appeal to any but the most depraved or unstable individuals, as its infestation effect will quickly make the user completely revulsive to others.