Stirge (Dungeons & Dragons)
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| Dungeons & Dragons creature | |
|---|---|
| Stirge | |
| Alignment | |
| Type | Magical beast |
| Source books | |
| First appearance | |
| Mythological origins | Strix |
| Image | Wizards.com image |
| Stats | OGL stats |
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the stirge is a mosquito-like magical beast and a classic D&D monster.
Contents |
[edit] Ecology
The stirge, like a mosquito, needs blood to survive. It finds victims, and then desperately latches onto them with its legs and pincers before finding a weak spot and driving its deadly proboscis in. It sucks out the blood, causing a long, painful, irritating death. If the victim dies before the Stirge's hunger is quenched, it detaches and finds a new victim. Though they grip onto their victims very excruciatingly, a good blow to one can detach it.
[edit] Environment
[edit] Typical physical characteristics
A stirge resembles a giant mosquito about the size of a housecat, being one foot long and half a foot wide and tall. It has a set of four, leathery, bat-like wings with a span of two feet. It has a long, sharp proboscis, a short tail, barbed legs, and a row of short, curly hairs along the spine. Stirge coloration ranges from brown to rust-red, with the proboscis being pale pink.
[edit] Alignment
Stirges are neutral.
[edit] Society
Stirges typically organize into colonies of two to four creatures, flocks of five to eight, or "storms" of up to fourteen creatures.
[edit] Trivia
Originally presented as a more bird-like creature, the Stirge may be derived from the Roman striga, a vampiric owl-like night bird.
[edit] References
- Greenwood, Ed. "The Ecology of the Stirge" Dragon #83 (TSR, 1984).
- Richardson, Tim. "The Ecology of the Stirge" Dragon #239 (TSR, 1997).
- Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
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