Adult Male
Name: unnamed
Species: Voltarian Plague Wyrm
Birthday: Saturday, November 12, 2016
Owner: Ayakashi
Element: Life
Adult wyrms are difficult to train, but once a voltarian plague wyrm bonds with a magi, they will remain loyally at their side. By the time they reach their full size, voltarian plague wyrms, sometimes nicknamed vampire wyrms for their parasitic nature, can survive for longer periods without blood and only need to feed once every few days. They will take blood from a dish if it is warm, but usually prefer to hunt on their own. Despite their rarity, voltarian plague wyrms are prized by healers and the source of many important medical tools. The saliva of a voltarian plague wyrm can seal wounds or keep blood from clotting, depending on how it is prepared and applied. The wyrms have weak venom that can sterilize wounds if boiled, and the fangs themselves retain this property for long enough that shed teeth can be carved into scalpels and other useful equipment. Aside from their physical properties, a voltarian plague wyrm can sense when a person or creature is ill, and should they choose to feed on them, the patient will heal more quickly. Trained wyrms are invaluable aids in warfronts and healing wards alike.
Voltarian plague wyrms make their homes in the rocky crags of the southern Alasre Mountains where they overlap with the Etain Desert. They have long been used in Voltar and the southern cities for their healing merits, and so much has been written about them that certain healers work almost exclusively with these wyrms and can work around their handicap. The voltarian plague wyrms are exceptionally susceptible to all kinds of spells, especially harmful ones, and any magic other than their own can alter their state making them harmful instead of helpful. Until the voltarian plague wyrm has worked the magic out of its system it is best kept away from any other living creature. In the wild, these small wyrms are excellent trackers, and will pursue big game for many leagues in order to find a meal. During the seasonal migrations, the wyrms return to the mountains and position themselves in canyons and narrow valleys to wait for passing herds, then lunge at them all at once. It is a dangerous endeavor and the wyrms that survive their first attempt may have to try many more times before they can latch onto a host. The reward is well worth the effort, though, as a wyrm that manages to catch a ride with a herd will have a supply of blood for weeks to come, passing between hosts as it pleases. Voltarian plague wyrms require the warmth of the desert and the volcanic regions, and so cannot stay with their hosts indefinitely. Should the weather grow too cold or too wet, they will depart from their host herd and travel back to the desert by foot.
Sprite art: Tekla (adult) | Description: PKGriffin