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Philement Butterfly

Name: Philement Butterfly

Category: Monsters

Type: Ethereal, Avians

Size: Tiny

Region: Desert

Rarity: Uncommon

Lifespan: Unknown

Appearance

Philement butterflies are small creatures that take on the vague form of a delicate, two-winged butterfly. They exist in varying states of corporeality, depending on the strength of the creature (but they are never fully corporeal). Given their habitat and transparency, they are frequently mistaken for mirages.

Philement butterflies come in a variety of colours, and each butterfly is made up of one colour and tone. They tend to trail “threads of light” behind them as they fly, which will be the same colour as the butterfly and will eventually fade. The philement butterfly also has the ability to glitter and glow, which it will use to attract the attention of its prey.

Behaviour

The philement butterfly needs to absorb the life force of other creatures to survive, but they can only do this when the creature is weakened. Its behaviour reflects this need to feed, and so it will attempt to lure any creature it comes across into the more dangerous parts of the desert. When its prey is sufficiently vulnerable, the philement butterfly settles on the body of the creature and absorbs its life force. The philement butterfly is a clever predator, and mostly seeks creatures who are alone and vulnerable.

Diet: The philement butterfly is sustained by draining the life force from any creature it makes direct contact with. It is important to note that should the philement butterfly touch a creature who is not sufficiently weakened, the energy of the creature will cause the butterfly to “overload”, killing the philement butterfly before it can completely drain its target. For this reason the philement butterfly will avoid contact with a creature until the creature is either severely injured, starving, drastically dehydrated or feeling faint. The philement butterfly will eventually die without nourishment, but it only needs to feed once every three months - it is a greedy creature, however, and will endeavour to feed as often as it can.

Habitat: The philement butterfly can only be found in desert landscapes. Given its (mostly) incorporeal state, it cannot be captured and taken out of its desert habitat, nor do they ever fly outside the borders of the desert in which they hunt.

Breeding: The philement butterfly (as far as it is known) does not breed. It is a creature that is thought to live forever, unless destroyed by starvation or overloading on energy.

Special Information

Strengths/Abilities:

• It takes on a form considered alluring and innocent by many people. This form also takes advantage of Xanth’s butterfly motif, causing people to place trust in the philement butterfly to guide them to safety.
• It can glitter and glow to increase its beauty and attract attention, as well as trailing filaments of light for the same purpose.
• It can drain the life force from a weak creature upon touching it. This process lasts only a few seconds and will kill the target.

Weaknesses:

• Should it touch a creature that is not weakened, the philement butterfly will die. Those who have survived contact with the creature say that it feels like a cool and gentle breeze.

Origin: Similarities between the Zayrn and the Philement Butterfly have been noted, leading to speculation that the philement butterfly was also one of Xanth’s experiments (with the elements of Light and Air). The creature was created to aid those dying in the desert, giving them a quick and easy death when all hope of survival was lost. The predatory nature of the creature seems to have developed over time.

Creator: Hollie