My entry for Monster Mayhem, hosted by @/catmask and @/frogcroaks!
Design notes under cut!
so to start, I looked into wisteria and will-o-wisps.
Wisteria can be in tree form and vine form! In flower language it's usually romantic, can mean longevity and luck. What stuck out to me is that it can represent a clinging desire, a desire that can persevere beyond death. It seemed to fit well with how vines grow by "clinging" to other things.
Will-O-Wisps have a few meanings in literature. I won't be going through them all, but what I wanted to focus on was how they trick wandering travelers. I like tricky, crafty creatures that seem harmless on the outside but then actually lead others to their demise hehehe
Will-o-wisps are also usually fond in swampy areas, so I wanted my creature to be one that lived in swamps. What lives in swamps? Bugs. With that, I had my bare bones for my creature.
Soughs are nocturnal bugs found in swampy areas with very short lifespans, ranging from one night to two days. They find creatures wandering alone and attach themselves to them for nourishment, usually along the spine and near the head. These creatures then experience paranoia and hallucinations. One example is a loved one moving away from reach. Another is an urge to continue forward and make progress, no matter the cost. These serve to make the creature expend more energy so that the Sough can absorb it.
Soughs will always run their host dry, causing them to collapse from exhaustion. They use this energy to transform their bodies and begin fostering offspring. When all energy has been drained, the life of the parent Sough ends, while the baby Sough all shoot out in a burst at once.
Soughs from the same "bloom" have been seen working together over an unfortunate soul, and different "blooms" will fight on sight, often leading to the demise of both fighters, as Soughs do not contain enough energy for propagation.
Young one, you must never be in a forest at night. Even if you see it glow, alight with merry, you must never set foot inside. For the following morning, the church bell will toll for a lost soul.