Rift Plate 043 · River Veins
Bloodsiphon Lamprey
A giant lamprey feeds through allies and enemies alike, turning blood into a living current that sustains the river's worst predators.
- Plate group
- River Veins
- Classification
- Bestial
- Field account
- Recovered
Recovered natural history
Field record
Connection beneath the skiff
Our boatman went pale when the wounded Miremaw's hide began closing. Beneath the skiff, a lamprey lay wrapped like another keel. Its red mouth opened between the planks. A translucent line ran through the water from that mouth to the gator on the bank.
Each pulse tightened the torn hide. Juveniles circled the adult, fastening onto fish and rope floats to extend the current wherever blood entered the water. We spilled bitter tannin from a bark keg across the wake. Every mouth let go. The adult twisted downstream.
Host selection
The strongest bleeding creature nearby is usually chosen as host. Hiding beneath a boat or mud shelf, or under the host itself, the Lamprey joins the first available wound to that larger body. It tugs floats and sends false ripples as lures. Juveniles screen the feeding line.
An attack makes it transfer position along the red current instead of leaving the host. Bitter tannins release all the mouths. Sealed wounds and fast clean water deny it anchors. Alone, the adult becomes cautious and seeks deep mud.
Read the environment
Signs of its presence
A thin red current flows upstream between open water and a wounded animal.
Circular tooth marks appear on rope floats without blood on deck.
Fish gather under a predator instead of fleeing.
Survival doctrine
Field precautions
01
Bitterwater Release
Concentrated oak or willow tannin forces every feeding mouth to detach. Sumac tannin works too. The red current breaks.
02
Closed-Wound Starvation
Bind wounds cleanly and get away from bleeding hosts. Without that connection, the Lamprey cannot establish its sustaining line.
Continue through the folio
043 of 100 recovered plates