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fandomhigh2018-01-31 10:47 am
arboreal_priestess) wrote in fandomhigh2018-01-31 10:47 am
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The Cryptozoologist's Field Guide, Wednesday, Per 1
From the moment the class stepped into the Danger Shop, they could probably tell it wasn't going to be a fun class. Three steps into the room, they'd find themselves in a swamp, complete with squelching, sucking mud and the stink of rotting vegetation.
"Finding and working with cryptids often means going to unpleasant places and dealing with unpleasant things," Verity said, strolling up to the class in tall waders and a thick, leather apron, carrying a big jug of dark red liquid. "Take the North American bloodworm. There are eleven species that have been positively identified and there are probably more that we just haven't discovered. Bloodworms are giant terrestrial leeches, more or less, usually one to two feet long, who burrow in the ground and only come out when they sense..." She upcapped the jug and poured the liquid on the ground. A strong coppery scent rose in the air, "their main food source, blood."
The blood spattered on the ground and less than a minute later holes started appearing in the ground and large, grayish-brown worms started tunneling up to the surface. At first glance, they were more just ugly, but Verity reached down and snagged one, picking it up to show the class its mouth--a hole with rows upon rows of oversized teeth, much like a lamprey.
"The bite of a lamprey is painful, analogous to something like a hornet sting. But they're often raised by cryptozoologists, because of a quirk in their biology makes their blood--" Verity pulled out a penknife and nicked the side of the worm, bringing purple, shimmery blood to the surface "--is a powerful attractant for most known predatory cryptids. Bloodworm breeding andfarming is a fairly profitable side job, though it's not without its own dangers. Bloodworm blood never washes off and its attractive properties can be sensed up to several miles away by the more sensitive species, like maticores, questing beasts, and--"
Verity was cut off by a loud shriek and the sound of something large stampeding through the underbrush. "--lindworms," she finished calmly.
"Finding and working with cryptids often means going to unpleasant places and dealing with unpleasant things," Verity said, strolling up to the class in tall waders and a thick, leather apron, carrying a big jug of dark red liquid. "Take the North American bloodworm. There are eleven species that have been positively identified and there are probably more that we just haven't discovered. Bloodworms are giant terrestrial leeches, more or less, usually one to two feet long, who burrow in the ground and only come out when they sense..." She upcapped the jug and poured the liquid on the ground. A strong coppery scent rose in the air, "their main food source, blood."
The blood spattered on the ground and less than a minute later holes started appearing in the ground and large, grayish-brown worms started tunneling up to the surface. At first glance, they were more just ugly, but Verity reached down and snagged one, picking it up to show the class its mouth--a hole with rows upon rows of oversized teeth, much like a lamprey.
"The bite of a lamprey is painful, analogous to something like a hornet sting. But they're often raised by cryptozoologists, because of a quirk in their biology makes their blood--" Verity pulled out a penknife and nicked the side of the worm, bringing purple, shimmery blood to the surface "--is a powerful attractant for most known predatory cryptids. Bloodworm breeding andfarming is a fairly profitable side job, though it's not without its own dangers. Bloodworm blood never washes off and its attractive properties can be sensed up to several miles away by the more sensitive species, like maticores, questing beasts, and--"
Verity was cut off by a loud shriek and the sound of something large stampeding through the underbrush. "--lindworms," she finished calmly.
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