Planar Bestiary
Mileusia is an ancient, crumbling demiplane. Shattered cyclopean ruins, choked with forests of Mileusian blooms, are all this dead half-world contains.
Twisted, hood-like maroon flowers surrounded by a splash of yellowish-brown leaves grow in places where significant crossplanar activity exists, such as near a portal exit or where the veil between dimensions is thin. They produce an uncanny scent reminiscent of basil and a sharp, acrid odor that isn't quite like anything else. However, the "flower" detaches, becoming a skin-like membrane able to clumsily fly through the air like a bat or sidewind like a serpent, seeking a host.
Mileusian blooms use stealth to find hosts, either by allowing a target to brush up against the innocent flower, or by detaching and falling on sleeping prey. In either case, Mileusian blooms prefer intelligent, self.aware creatures over simple animals. Once attached, the bloom absorbs energy by contact, flattening itself out so that the host appears to have gained a splotchy birthmark. The upside of hosting a Mileusian bloom is that targets become resistant to harm coming from radiant energy. The downside is that anytime a target is teleported or attempts planar travel, there's a good chance they end up in a dead, crumbling demiplane called Mileusia.
Motive: Attach to a host, transfer host to Mileusia
Environment: Near planar portals or other locations of planar instability, alone or in pods of three
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: Minor wound (2 points)
Movement: Immediate; immediate when climbing; short when flying
Modifications: Speed defense as level 4 due to tiny size; stealth as level 5
Combat: A Mileusian bloom prefers attacking with ambush. If it hits an oblivious target, the bloom attaches itself discretely and doesn't inflict damage. If the bloom hits a resisting target, it inflicts a minor wound (2 points) from a burst of fast-acting adhesive chemicals as it attaches itself to the target's skin.
A target that succeeds on a level 4 Might task can rip the attached bloom away, inflicting 2 points of damage to themself and the bloom. However, if the bloom remains attached for more than a round, the target feels a surge of renewed health. The host gains an additional 2 points to their Might Pool and +1 to Armor. If the bloom is ever detached, the target subtracts those points from their Might Pool, and loses the bonus to Armor.
Though not immediately obvious, the host is subject to planar displacement anytime they travel through a portal, are teleported, or attempt to travel to another plane. On a failed level 4 Intellect defense task, they don't end up at the intended destination, but instead in a dead, crumbling demiplane (Mileusia). The host has one chance to use the residual magic of transfer to escape; if they succeed on a level 4 planar lore task, they appear at their intended destination a round or two late. Otherwise, they are stuck in the empty demiplane until they can find another way to depart.
Interaction: Blooms are single-minded vegetable predators seeking to bring hosts to the demiplane of Mileusia. There, the host eventually dies of exposure and serves as fresh fertilizer for other blooms.
Use: A seller of botanical delights has brought in an amazing new species that is that talk of the community. The seller claims everyone should have at least one bloom, given how they magically protect and fortify their owners.
GM Intrusion: While a character is distracted with one bloom (or something else entirely), another bloom discretely attaches itself to their skin without the character's initial realization.