GLoGtober 24: Blue Sleepers and Dream Moths
GLoGtober '24 Challenge #5: Two complimentary monsters.
Blue Sleepers
The blue sleeper (Classical: Mandragora Somniatora) is a relative of the mandrake. Unlike its kin, which has a root shaped like a human body, the blue sleeper has a bulb in the shape of a small human head (typically about 4" in diameter, but some examples have grown significantly larger). The head is complete with lifelike details - closed eyelids, ears, round noses, and notably a cotton-like hair that grows from the "scalp" of the bulb. This head emerges from a thin stalk with two rows of broad, pointed leaves that grow to about 2' in height.
Blue sleeper pollen is known to have an intense soporific effect. Walking through a field of them in mid-spring will disturb a cloud of baby blue powder (as the Sleep spell). In autumn, when the leaves begin to turn, the sleepers begin their annual march. Each plant uproots itself and migrates south. Scholars presume this is following the warm season, but no one knows where exactly they go and why they never return. Locals barricade themselves inside and travelers are frequently found sleeping by the side of the road.
Untreated pollen can be snorted to induce instant and restorative sleep under any conditions (unwilling targets get a Save). Users experience vivid dreams. Some claim they are prophetic, some that they contain the memories of the sleeper itself, and others that a sleeper that grows on top of a decaying body will contain its last memories.
Folk practitioners boil the pollen in wine, producing a gel that when consumed can be used in small doses as an anesthetic or in larger doses to induce a season-long hibernation. The leaves and stem of the blue sleeper are poisonous, causing vomiting and diarrhea, as is the bulb, though rumors circle of private chefs in the Capital who can prepare sleeper heads as a sort of hallucinogenic mash.
HD 1/4 (1), no armor or weapon
- When disturbed emits sleep pollen (Save or sleep for 8 hours. Can stack).
- Travels in groups of 20 + d20.
- Wants: To migrate south. To bob in the wind. To grow through a corpse.
Dream Moths
The dream moth (classical: Adhemarius Somnivus) is a colossal moth of nearly two feet in wingspan. They have a grey, speckled carapace with thin white wings except for band of bright pink along the inside that they flash to scare off predators. Like many moths, the dream moth is effectively a reproductive glider - by this point in their lifecycle they are seeking a place to lay their eggs, having consumed all the calories they will as larvae.
Unlike other species of moth, dream moth larvae feed on dreams. Perhaps you have experienced waking up after a deep slumber and not recalling any of your dreams? That's because a dream moth larva has eaten them.
Dream moth larvae have 10 legs, are roughly 2" in length and have a mask-like plate along the front of their head. Larvae feed for weeks at a time, before retreating into the woods to spin their cocoons. Extended exposure has been proven to result in difficulty remembering names or technical terminology, and even full amnesia in extreme cases. Dream moth silk is a rare and delicate fabric, said to be prized as a material for enchantments involving illusions or divination.
Dream moths have been known to follow marching blue sleeper colonies. While folk tales claim the moths are feeding off of the sleepers themselves, naturalists have observed that they actually wait for stray animals or travelers to succumb to the plant's pollen. The moth then descends and lays its eggs, hatching larvae that consume the dreaming animals thoughts. In exchange, the moth uses its wings to terrify potential sleep-resistant herbivores like the fearsome head badger.
Attempts to farm dream moths or harvest their silk industrially have so far been unsuccessful. It is rumored, however, that in the prisons of the Capital, dream moths are raised and used as a tool to erase the memories of political prisoners and would-be-traitors. These rumors are unconfirmed but there is a brisk gray market in live dream moth larvae nonetheless.
HD 1 (5), armor as leather, slam (1d4)
- Will fly away if attacked.
- When startled, flashes wings (Save vs Fear for any who see it directly).
- Will plant eggs in the belongings of any sleeping creatures it comes across.
- Wants: To avoid predation. To find dreamers. To follow bright lights.