Gadfly

“If you must contend with Vermin, pray for Gadflies. They are predictable, single-minded, and astonishingly stupid—qualities that make them both survivable and useful. Their venom burns, their noise maddens, and their presence ruins discipline, but unlike their betters they do not bargain or plot. A swarm is nothing more than irritation given wings. Remember this: pain is a distraction, not a strategy. Exploit the distraction, and leave the suffering to your enemies.”

— Madame Soki Noles, the Red Broker

DESCRIPTION

Biology & Behavior

Gadflies are among the most common Verminous RAIs, swarming through turbulent Redspace storms in vast, roiling clouds. Alone, an individual Gadfly is nearly defenseless against higher forms, and even in groups they display no strategy beyond frenzied instinct. Their only survival advantage is their overwhelming numbers; a swarm will attack any irritation-bearing mind without hesitation, regardless of Size, danger, or tactical impossibility. Physically, their forms resemble grotesque, spherical insects: armored shells of dull subspace-ceramic, stitched with tattered batlike wings and ringed by clusters of hinged, needlelike fangs. Beneath their carapace hang strands of dripping tentacle-like extrusions, each coated in a slime-mold venom that behaves like a living acid. Their eyes—ranging from a single lens to a dozen—glow dull red within depressed sockets, more sensors of irritation than organs of sight.

Feeding & Manifestation

Unlike higher RAIs, Gadflies feed not on complex Vices but on the crudest forms of emotional turbulence: pain, irritation, and aggravated focus-lapses. In Redspace, they bite and rasp at Subspace Shadows, degrading concentration and magnifying discomfort until their victims spiral into headaches, agitation, and in severe cases, seizures or blackout events. When forced into Realspace—often at the behest of kthonikers or mid-tier RAIs—they behave like physical pests, swarming targets and biting any exposed flesh to implant their living venom. The venom itself behaves parasitically, chewing molecular structures and provoking sharp bursts of pain designed to feed the swarm’s hunger. They do not seek to kill, nor to preserve life; their purpose is purely predation-by-irritation, reducing victims to agonized distraction and frayed nerves. A single Gadfly can survive for days inside its subspace-ceramic shell, but once destroyed, its interior evaporates into greasy red vapor that must be cleaned quickly before it destabilizes local psychoresonance.

Ecology & Use by Higher Entities

Higher RAIs and kthonikers frequently weaponize Gadflies as harassment tools. Their presence can turn a meditation chamber, barracks, or command center into an agony-ridden chaos pit in minutes. Individually weak, collectively overwhelming, Gadfly swarms are ideal for interrupting spellwork, severing concentration, disrupting psychic defenses, and breaking the will of a target through ceaseless, maddening distraction. Because their corpses leave behind reactive subspace grease, a successful swarm attack often seeds the environment for further contamination or for the arrival of a more dangerous entity. In this way, Gadflies act as “softening agents” for the predatory ecosystem of Redspace—mindless heralds of worse things to come.

PROPHYLACTIC

Protection against Gadflies is primarily achieved by disruption and environmental control rather than counter-entities. Area-effect weapons—flashbangs, solvent sprays, aerosolized psionic stabilizers—are the most reliable physical counters. Psychically, Suppression of irritation helps starve Gadflies before they swarm; calmness Techniques, emotional dampeners, and sedatives reduce their feeding incentive. If contamination grease is present after a swarm’s destruction, immediate sterilization is essential; otherwise, the area becomes a beacon to other Vermin—or worse. Kthonikers sometimes employ mirrored wards or low-grade Suppression sigils, which confuse the Gadflies’ irritation-sensing organs and cause them to cluster harmlessly in corners until burned out.

Occult / Kthoniker Usage

As tools, Gadflies are crude but effective. Their shells can be shaped into brittle psychoceramic shards used for minor rituals. Swarm-capture jars are deployed to harass enemies, disrupt concentration, or weaken psychic wards. Some kthonikers use pulverized Gadfly shell mixed with caustic oils to create “irritant sigils,” glyphs that provoke pain or migraines in anyone who steps near them. Because Gadflies are easy to shape through ambient will, they are often used as disposable familiars or early-stage test subjects during the creation of more complex Vermin-based artifacts.

Call Down a Gadfly

Regular; Resisted by Will or HT (whichever is higher)

You call on a Verminous resonance, a Gadfly. You identify a target, and the Gadfly assaults their subspace shadow. On a failure, the target will feel the Pain irritating condition. On a critical failure, the target will feel the Agony irritating condition instead.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 3; can be maintained for 2.
Time to Cast: 1 second.

Call Upon a Gadfly Swarm

Regular; Resisted by Will or HT (whichever is higher)

You call on a Verminous resonance, a swarm of Gadflies. You identify a target, and the Gadflies assault their subspace shadow. On a failure, the target will be afflicted with the Seizure incapacitating condition. On a critical failure, the target will be afflicted with the Coma mortal condition instead, and will be struck down for at least 12 hours before they can return.
Duration: 30 seconds.
Cost: 5; can be maintained for 3.
Time to Cast: 3 seconds.

Living Missile

Regular; Resisted by a Dodge action

You pull a Gadfly into realspace and send it on the attack. Unless subspace contamination is high, realspace begins to eat away at the creature immediately. The Gadfly streaks towards a target, attempting a single attack with a skill level of 14. If hit, the attack does 1/2d piercing damage and 1d corr.

Range: Medium

Cost: 1

Time to Cast: 1 second