Godherja Encyclopedia

Dreadleech (animal)

The dreadleech is a creature of the sort that only Cyrat could host, a horrifying and disturbing monstrosity, a writhing black mass within the jungle. Its prey, though oft caught unaware, will soon know what has found them, the lifeblood slowly sucked from their still-living body. Often, the beasts find sleeping victims, who awake to find themselves slowly fading from Aeras.

The dreadleech seems like something from a nightmare, a shadowy monster that will come upon its hapless victim under the cover of night, inflicting a painful and exceedingly slow death. They are large creatures, generally capable of fitting multiple adult humans within them, though they do not kill through eating. Instead, they come upon their prey in the darkness of night, and drain their blood from their body entirely. They prefer to target the sleeping, immobile, or wounded, wandering the deep jungles until they find their victim.

In order to hunt such a creature, a plan has been devised. I have prepared a trap for the creature, in the form of a pig tied beside a campfire, brought for this specific purpose. When the beast approaches, it will feast upon the pig, and we can emerge from the surrounding treetops to kill the beast. After hours of waiting, eyes watching the darkness, I see a shadowy mass moving beyond the firelight, and the pig begins squealing.

And then, a massive black shape emerges into the dim glow, and I behold a leech the size of a building, moving with suprising swiftness as it slides across the ground towards the unfotunate pig...