The Apstrae

 The apstrae haunts wetlands and damp forests, the wooded edges of freshwater bodies, river crossings. They can sometimes be heard singing from teh shadows, especially at dusk, but if the otherworldly humming that accompanies that almost-human voice dulls your senses and lulls you into a docile state, be warned: you may not be long for this world.

The apstrae may look human at first glance, as it peers from the darkness btween the trees, with its near-human face and near-feminine features, but it is not. Those eyes you cannot quite see the whites of, have none and the twinkle that may appear to glitter there is but the dying light catching the multi-faceted surface of insect eyes. That hair is long and wild and may appear bushy and unkempt, but in truth is the wiry bristle of insect, flat against which lie a pair of downy antennae, that have sensed your warmth, your breath, your blood.

The apstrae creeps from cover on six legs and even if they appear at first to be pale, human limbs, protruding from its odd, segmented body, with its leaf-litter wings, they are nothing of the sort. Those pale hands with their long fingers will not caress, but grasp and tear, the toes of those four feet will claw and scratch and cling to your back while the apstrae seeks a kiss. 

The kiss of the apstrae though, is not kind; the nose that may seem a little long in the dim twilight is monstrous when it unfurls, a probiscus that seeks a vein, that punctures flesh and drinks deep of its ruby treasure. When the apstrae bites, it costs its victim dearly...

The apstrae are like a hybrid of mosquito and human. Like an insectile harpy, they sing to their victims from the shadows as if courting them, when in truth they seek their blood. And when they have supped their fill, they momentarily gain sentient, awareness of the cost to their victim of what they have done. With it, they gain certain fleeting fragments of memory and knowledge of any languages their victim spoke. And any spells. Now articulate, they spend the next hur muttering regretful thoughts about the life they have taken, which they are cursed now to appreciate. It is at these moments that the watchful traveller might have most to gainfrom an apstrae encounter, hearing perhaps enough of their confused chatter to extract knowledge of a spell or magic charm. An apstrae engaged thus and treated sympathetically will indulge a curious stranger in the repetition of a charm or spell, knowledge of the life their victime lived, a few arbitrary facts.

Apstrae evolved to hunt large mammals and are used to puncturing thick hide; their armour-piercing bite reduces all armours by -1. They drain a d8 hp per turn once they have bitten and unless they are wrested free, drain such damage each round without needing to attack again. Pulling an apstrae free requires an opposed Str test. Apstrae have a Str of 10 but attack with Advantage when in flight. 

 

AC 11 (leathery hide) HD 1 Blood Drain1d6+1, Nat 19 Blade Trauma (1d10) 

S10 D14 C11 I10 P10 W10 Ch10 L4. Reac 2-6 Ravenous 7-8 Sorrowful 9-10 Confused 11-12 Chatty