Cave worm

Cave worm

(Creature)

Common

N

Gargantuan

Level

Varies

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Adjective

Cave worm

Images of cave worms

Source: Bestiary, pg(s). 56–59

Cave worms are a family of massive worm-like scavengers that can burrow through the ground. The many kinds of cave worm are distinguished primarily by their color and the types of regions where they are most common, such as the purple worms of the Darklands, white worms in glaciers, gray worms in ruins, azure worms of flooded caverns, and crimson worms in volcanic regions.

Appearance

Cave worms resemble smaller worms at tremendous scales, with thick hide-like armor on top, a wide maw capable of efficiently chewing through rock, and in many cases a venomous stinger. Purple worms, for example, are typically 80 feet long and 5 feet in diameter, and weigh 40,000 pounds.

Abilities

Cave worms all share a penchant for chewing tunnels through the earth. They are nearly mindless in their pursuit of food and reproduction, and can sense movement, often up to 100 feet away. Different species have additional adaptations for their environments; for example, crimson worms are accustomed enough to fire that being exposed to tremendous heat or magical flames is restorative rather than harmful. In many cases, the prey they consume is small enough for them to swallow whole.

Cave worms can be manipulated and trained to an extent, though not fully domesticated.

Ecology

Cave worms are among the favored prey items of the rodent-like shulns, whose paralytic saliva is powerful enough to overcome cave worms' normal resistance to paralysis.

Types

See also: Category:Cave worm

• Azure worm
• Crimson worm
• Purple worm and its own variants