Phaeptrea

Phaeptrea are a type of aberration that swarms alongside other aberrations.

## Description

When viewed from afar, a swarm of phaeptrea appears as little more than flecks of fine pearlescent ash, and even when closely examined, this guise does not seem to falter. Only when presented or moved close to a source of magical energy, such as an enchanted item, or use of the arcane do the creatures seem to take a more tangible form, appearing a deep purple-hued winged beetles, a psionic haze sparking between the constituent members of the swarm. Alongside stinging bites, this psionic haze seems to grant the swarm the ability to stun a target creature by psychically assailing their mind.

After their destruction, phaeptrea dissolve into the same fine pearlescent ash, losing any lingering resonance.

## History

A swarm of phaeptrea was encountered at the Totem of the Tellurian in the Bristlebacks, the approach of Ashewan prompting their corporealisation and subsequent attack.

## Research

### Completed by Elinor

The powdered residue left by the passing of the aberrant creatures unfortunately served to provide little in the way of answers upon examination. Resembling a faintly pearlescent dust, the substance would surely be of note for decorative purposes, given its faint shimmer, but in spite of the fact that naught of the foul realities of the creatures seem to remain with their destruction, no enchantment, no magical aura, no noxious haze, it would be only the most unscrupulous individuals that would attempt to barter and sell in the ashes of an aberrant creature - and an unpredictable and rare one at that.

First and foremost, it seems that Phaeptrea are parasitical in nature, swarming like locust to areas of potent magic. Fortunately, minor magical mishaps or matters are usually beyond the mandibles of the Phaeptrea, and thus more liable to produce something like a Gremishka - particularly if the novice or otherwise ill-equipped or poorly trained spellcaster seeks to create life. Instead, more potent magics, particularly those associated with the School of Conjuration, may either draw with them a lone phaeptrea, which given enough time to feast on the peripheral magic aura, bursts into a cloud of mist, from which anywhere between two and a dozen further phaeptrea may spawn into being, thus presenting a potentially exponential risk. Most of this knowledge seems to be derived from spellcasters with skills at creating the favoured diet of the insect-like aberrations, with a need for vigilance following repeated casting or attempts for permanence for *Magnificent Mansion*, *Temple of the Gods*, *Demiplane*, *Mighty Fortress*, *Gate* and other such spells that create a physical location, lest they falter suddenly when the Phaeptrea feasting reached a critical threshold.

Artifacts likewise attract Phaeptrea from afar, although the creatures do not seem to possess the ability to traverse the lands between their origins in the Far Realm to other Planes to seek them out. Instead, it seems that Phaeptrea can also be carried by means of creatures travelling between the Planes of Existence, latching onto them in manners known or unknown, to sail across the Between and Beyond, before either attacking or fleeing upon arrival to hunt other more magical quarry, or loiter in the presence of the auras created by such forms of travel.

Fortunately, it seems that Phaeptrea can be destroyed and slain like most other creatures, though in the rare instances that they have been captured and successfully contained - a challenging prospect in itself, given the symbiotic and aberrant nature of the creatures that makes their biology and physiology unpredictable and baffling - they seem to grow and develop into Phaechrar, not by means of maturation or development akin to a child reaching adulthood, but rather a predictable and greatly accelerated form of evolution, the two creatures being as separate and distinct as locusts to a fox - both are the bane of farmers as Phaeptrea and Phaechrar are to spellcasters, but for different reasons.