Well played, tick.

[i-Jinx]

I got ganked by ticks in a narrow mine tunnel, including two 2-Stars. Died with the last of them on me. When I did my corpse run it was nowhere to be found so I cleared the rest of the mine. Then, just as I was exiting, it jumped on my back! Where had it been hiding? Had no room to roll, was fenced in with my pocket portal so I took it. Seemed all clear when I arrived, but then it started knocking at the door! It had spawned on the other side of the portal. Little ******* really creeped me out. I took it for a run to my local greydwarf nest where it nibbled a good few of them before the end.

[God's Drunkest Driver™]

Just the other day I was on a small island that was 80% swamp with a small patch of meadows on it. Had probably six crypts, so that was my current iron source.
No mistlands for miles, the closest patch was probably four large islands away- and yet, I saw a one-star tick fighting a group of leeches and draugr!
It was a very strange sight to behold. Once it cleared everything out, I finished it off with my ice staff. I have no idea how the hell that tick got into the swamp, but I sure as hell don't want it wandering around either.

[i-Jinx]

Maybe a gjall dropped it off there? I think the game remembers where they are and respawns them if player returns to the area. Yesterday a soldier and gjall chased me way up into the mountains, dropping ticks all the way. Saw some good aerial combat with gjall and drakes. Today I killed a gjall from a coastal clifftop, then jumped into the sea for goodies and got swarmed by swimming ticks. Costly error, horrific way to go. Think I'm developing a phobia.