Razor worm

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Razor worms are enormous soft-bodied worms native to the deserts of eastern Immoren. Although blind, they are extremely sensitive to vibrations in the ground and capable of sensing footsteps from far away.[1]

Physical Characteristics

The razor worm is sandy tan, tinged with red, giving it excellent camouflage in the desert. Its rubbery skin is highly resilient, and its back is covered with thick plates of chitin, providing it with surprising resistance to injury. A prominent backward-curved horn extends from its head, just above the gaping maw. Although razor worms are blind, a hidden lateral line runs just beneath the outer edge of their chitin, and thousands of sensitive cilia grow between their chitinous plates. These sensory organs allow them to pinpoint the footfall of prey from well over a hundred feet away. Dozens of short, pointed appendages run down the sides of their bodies and work in unison to propel a razor worm through the soil.[1]

Behaviour

Razor worms can go weeks without eating, living off accumulated fat. Their body shrinks somewhat as a result, but when they find a new source of prey they restore their mass quickly by gorging themselves on as many victims as they can find.[1]

A razor worm can move very quickly underground, even through dense soil. It attacks from below, erupting from the ground to catch its prey from unexpected angles. Razor worms leave long, shallow ditches in their wake as they burrow through the soil, and these trails can provide an early warning of razor worm activity in an area. Victims snared in the maw of a razor worm are dragged beneath the earth and devoured, the only trace of their demise a brief haze of blood and dust.[1]

Razor worms generally ignore each other when inhabiting the same region and move on separately when food becomes scarce. They interact with others of their kind in only one significant way: two or three times in their lives, razor worms will pair up and copulate. A day or so later, the female secretes a large sac containing dozens of embryos, which hatch after weeks. There's no parental care in razor worms, and only two or three infants typically survive to adulthood.[1]

Because they have to travel constantly for sustenance, razor worms do not generally build dens. When they sleep, they typically burrow as deep as the soil allows. Razor worms that have been attacked recently often instinctually find a pocket of deep soil near or within bedrock, which provides a better-protected resting place.[1]

Employment

Razor worms’ size and ferocity make them prized additions to skorne armies. It's impossible to train a razor worm from infancy: any deviation from a normal growth process inhibits the worm’s ferocity and renders it too docile for battle. Razor worms must be captured in the wild, an effort that typically costs the lives of the slaves used as bait. Master beast handlers then spend months toughening the flesh of the worms and conditioning them to fear and obey their masters: an unthinkably difficult task given the worms’ small brains and drive to hide beneath the earth. A beast handler who fails will likely pay for his ineptitude with death. They are sometimes sought out by particularly wealthy tyrants, who keep them as trophies in their menageries or for blood sport.[1][2]

Razor worm hide is prized by skorne leatherworkers, who can slice the thick skin into multiple layers, creating many suits of tough yet supple leather armor from a single carcass.[1]

References

Creatures
Sapient Bog trogBogrinCephalyxCroakDragonDreggDwarfEfaaritElf (IosanNyssStrider) • FarrowGatormanGiantGobberGrymkinHumanInfernalLetheanOgrun (Black ogrun) • Pygmy trollSatyxisSkorneTharnTotem hunterTrollkin
Non-sapient AnimantaraxAradusArchidonArgus (Argus moonhoundWinter argus) • BasiliskBisonBlackhideBlack tatzylwurmBletcherBrute boarBurrow-mawgCataphract beetleCeropsCrypt spiderCyclopsDeep drakeDesert hydraDevil ratDracodileDragon fishDragonspawn (Nephilim) • DrudgeDune prowlerDuskwolfFeroxFog drakeFrost drakeGallows groveGiant hogGnarlhorn satyrGoraxGorgandurGrotesqueHornbeak traskHorseHull grinderIncubusIronback spitterKaelramLemaxMammothMonstrosityPainted tatzylwurmPale tatzylwurmRaevhan buffaloRazorbatRazor boarRazor wormReptile houndRhinodonRip horn satyrRotterhorn griffonSaquScarabScarsfell griffonSea drakeShadowhorn satyrSkiggSkirovik mountain goatSludge bruteSnapperSpine ripperStorm raptorSwamp horrorThornwood maulerThroatfishThrone of EverblightThrullgTitanTroll (Dire trollEarthborn dire trollGlacier kingMountain kingNight trollPitch trollPyre trollSlag trollStorm trollSwamp trollTroll whelpWinter troll) • UlkUrthekVektissViper tatzylwurmWarpwolf (Pureblood) • Widow bear
Undead BoneswarmDeathlessDuelist wraithDreadDreadboundEldritch (Riven) • EntombedExcruciatorFeralgeistGenzoulHollowedIron lichIron maidenKovaasMachine wraithPistol wraithRevenantSand dervishScyllaSepulchral lurkerShadeShaft wightSpectreSwamp shamblerThrall (Bane thrallBile thrallBloat thrallBrute thrallMechanithrallScrap thrallSkarlock thrallSoulhunterStitch thrall) • Void spirit