Light in the Darkness

Last night we gamed our weekly game. The characters, battered and wounded, built a fire for warmth, cook their food, etc. The only problem was that they were located on a long barren ridge in easy sight of the country around them. The fire, of course, a light in the darkness, attracted creatures, great and small.

I got to thinking why. There is a process called phototaxis, an organisms automatic attraction to light. Some animals have this and some don't. Cock roaches move away from light, they have negative phototaxis. Moths have phototaxis, they are attracted to light. The reasons for this are not completely understood. There are some single cell organisms whose flagella reverse direction the moment they leave the light.

Very interesting. Though that doesn't answer my question. Unless we're hard wired in our DNA as mammals to seek light.

post script: It attracted some bat-riding xa from Classic Monsters and a wicked looking cat beast that tackled the ranger/knight and ripped him up pretty good. Then wolves came to eat all the dead creatures. They had an entertaining night.