Water Strider

 W 

''Water Striders are roughly wolf-sized, aquatic arachnids with the disturbing ability to breath air. They have deadly stingers and large maws on the underside of their cephalothoraxes, and prefer fresh meat.''

from the Journal of Bubble Blossomlake, de facto leader of the Yesteroaf expedition.

''...heard Lake screaming earlier. Can't see him from the hole. Assuming the worst. Guess it's just me and Desert left, probably just me soon since Desert's too much of an ass to limp over here to safety. Guess he prefers cursing at those monsters to living a long life without a leg. Mayor Dirt's delirious - demanded I make him an armor rack. An armor rack! For him! The poor fool's neck the only thing that isn't broken. He ordered me to do it...three days ago? He's been unconscious since. Guess I'll be the only one left lucid enough to write soon enough.''

''The monsters hit us on day one. Baggins parked the wagon next to the river - too close. The first we knew of the attack was when that giant bug pulled Fido underwater and ripped his head off. Eight of them leapt out next. Killed Baggins. Rest of us ran, but those things worked like a pack of hounds. Vole died next after getting separated. Lull tried to help and got stung in the head, dead instantly. Only reason Dirt lived was because the rest of us rallied and charged the two striders that were stinging at him, but he got perforated pretty badly. Desert got stung in the leg when we ran, but we killed both the bastards. He's been hurling rocks and insults ever since, bought me and Lake some time to dig in. Got us a nice cave down here, couple of beds, carpenter shop, all the food we brought. No water. I'll have to head up outside to the river for a drink soon, but the banks are still slick with blood.''

''This whole expedition was a bad idea. Something's not right about this place - the trees seem fine, but there's no birds. Only things flying around are the trilobites, and our limbs. The water striders...damn them.''

''Ah, I should have carved myself a crutch. I hear scratching up above. Hope it's Lake. Probably a bug. All I've got's a shovel and my wits, but I don't think that'll be enough.''

I'm so thirsty...

Water Striders are pack-hunting aquatic river predators with venomous stings. The symptoms of said sting include sudden bleeding from the huge hole it just punched in you, followed by death from blood loss. Secondary symptoms include severe numbness, followed by extreme pain (not directly related to the hole), and the functional impairment of whatever part of the damaged organ wasn't destroyed by the initial stab.

Halflings can like Water Striders for their "gaping maw". This affinity will do absolutely nothing to deter a strider attack, and may increase the likelihood as the hafling attempts to feed the object of its admiration by hand.

One notable bug related to them that you may encounter: Occasionally, Water Striders will spawn at start in obscenely large numbers, far in excess of what is intended. The reason for this remains unknown, but it does give an interesting starting challenge. See the above story for an example of how such challenges may be coped with.