Marrow Mosquito

Marrow Mosquito
An uncommon danger found mostly in the wetlands of Thistleland, the Marrow Mosquito is a torso-sized mosquito that is most often heard before seen.

Marrow Mosquitos can be anything from hand sized to torso sized, but the average person will only really need to be concerned with the latter. Attracted to body heat, and to a lesser degree an animals breath, they typically can detect prey at distances up to fifteen feet. Their large wings produce a distinctive higher pitched drone that will often alert wary persons to avoid the danger before they are detected.

On discovering a victim, a Marrow Mosquito will proceed to fly to the victim at a walking speed before grappling the victim, holding their limbs with it's surprisingly strong insect legs. It will then use it's tube-like mouthparts to drill into a victims bones rapidly, inject a liquid to melt the contents and then suck out the marrow within. Such a process is rather quick, with an arm bone being drilled and drained within twenty seconds. The Marrow Mosquito will then move on to other bones, selecting larger bones, then progressively sucking dry smaller and smaller bones until it has it's fill, flying away.

Marrow Mosquito attacks, while not immediately fatal, will usually cause the death of the victim after a prolonged and often agonising time due to the trauma, infection and lack of sufficient bone marrow. Often victims are rendered unconscious by the end of a feeding due to the agony involved.

While Marrow Mosquitos are somewhat tricky to dislodge when they start to grapple, and their bites are extremely disabling once the victim is subdued, they are considered rather weak on defence due to their fragile bodies. The Adventure Guild advises taking the initiative if hunted by a Marrow Mosquito and attacking first. Liberal application of large scale fire is an effective measure for Marrow Mosquito swarms.