These flying insects are coated in a thick layer of dust and cover the walls, ceiling and floor of a room, completely motionless in the dark. The stray light from a lantern falls one of them, awakening the swarm, which takes to the air in an angry fury._ **Awakened by Light.** The pestilence swarm is a massive group of tiny flying insects resembling enormous, fat houseflies. The smell of carrion often lures them underground or into shallow caves, though they also dig burrows. As long as they are in darkness, they are immobile, appearing almost dead. When hit by light, however, they awake and swarm any creatures in the area. **Destroyer of Crops.** Although fortunately rare, when a cloud of these insects descends on a field, it takes mere hours for them to completely devour everything that might have been worth harvesting. They eat fruits, grains, and even the livestock, leaving a decimated field in their wake. **Bringer of Plagues.** Pestilence swarms often carry and transmit disease as they move from area to area. They descend on populated areas, eat any food that is left out, bite the people who live there, and eventually move to the next area. Diseases from one area spread to another, festering in the bite wounds left by the swarm. The suffering they bring to small villages and towns is legendary.