Bat-Fiends

Bat-Fiends are strange, abnormally ugly creatures. They share little resemblance to other bats, more akin to the Outsiders than anything worldly, though they've been around long before the Heavens Fell. They are born with round, small, sickly white bodies and long necks, making them an odd sight to see. The undersized ears, rolls of excess skin covering their eyes, and the massive red nose that covers nearly their entire face only worsen as they grow older.

Bat-Fiends mature at an abnormally fast rate, reaching adulthood within a year. During this time, they enter a state of hibernation, sleeping through the humid months, and, once they reemerge, their bodies have completed the final metamorphosis into adulthood. During this time, their joints stretch out farther, allowing for the ingrown wings to sprout, often in the first month, the second month of slumber, allowing them to dry and the body to repair itself. Upon returning, they take to the trees, inhabiting the skies. This normally marks the end of their growth, though their necks never stop. Soon after reproducing, they begin to resemble a winged snake, with their tiny, round bodies at the end. Similarly, these creatures lose their ability to fly once their necks become too large for their wings, leaving them landlocked.

It becomes a mercy, then, among the magi, who must sacrifice routinely for their magic to remain potent, for these creatures to be offered up. Should the Bat-Fiend live past it's third year, other physical ailments become common, emphasized due to its lack of balance. It is rare to find any past this age naturally. However, there are several underground breeding areas where these strange, unnatural bats are kept alive far longer than nature intended. The bodies deteriorate at a rapid pace, a welcome sight to the unethical overseers.

Most things lose their value with age, but to those that perform magic and lack morality, the elder Bat-Fiends are a useful tool, in a pinch. Their bodies have evolved. Should one of these creatures produce offspring in its prime and live past an age where it can defend itself, it will produce offspring asexually, no matter the sex. These, rightly called 'Ghoul-Bats', are like spores, using the shared DNA of previous partners and those. A small litter of underdeveloped bats burst from the stomach, eating their way out before consuming the 'mother' for the nutrients they're unable to provide. Within minutes, they take to the skies on feeble wings, their life's work to reproduce as quickly as possible.