The Velvet Worms of the Sandurban Mangroves

As there are no mammals in the southern parts of Yoon-suin, the people living there have been forced to rely on domesticated giant invertebrates. Many of the most common are varieties of the velvet worm. Three are described below.

Giant Brown Velvet Worm, also known as the Spit Worm, the Hound Worm and the Fanged Worm.

This stealthy hunter is eight to ten feet in length and a voracious hunter. Wild, it prowls the mangroves and jungle at night, searching for prey. Domesticated, it is used as a guard and war-beast. Like all velvet worms it is single-minded and brutish; it will attempt to kill and eat more or less anything it comes across. Spit worm handlers therefore raise the creatures from birth to associate certain pheremones with poison, and protect themselves from attack from their own worms by smearing those pheremones on their skin.

Like all types of velvet worm, spit worms are silent and fast, but also practically deaf and almost blind. They sense entirely by scent and touch. As they prowl, their long feelers (known as 'lips' to their handlers) move this way and that, attempting to detect prey. As soon as a potential victim is detected, the spit worm immediately raises its head and sprays two coils of a noxious glue-like substance from nozzles beneath its mouth. This glue immediately binds the prey, paralyses it, and partially digests it, and the spit worm begins to eat it alive.

Spit worms are nocturnal, and sleep during the day. They are impossible to detect at night - opponents are always surprised.

Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 6*
Move: 150' (50')
Attacks: 1 bite or 1 glue spray
Damage: 2d6 or paralysis (save vs. poison)
No. Appearing: 1
Save as: F6
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: Nil
Intelligence: 1
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 500

Blue Velvet Worm, also known as the Assassin Worm.

This tiny creature, only two inches long at most, is used by the assassins and murderers of the Yellow City to dispose of their enemies. Wild, the assassin worm hides in dark places waiting to ambush prey. As the tool of an assassin it is usually deposited inside a shoe, pocket or bed, so that it can bite an unsuspecting hand or foot. Its toxin is among the deadliest known, and there is no antidote. Victims are doomed to an hour of excruciating itching pain before death.

Armour Class: 8
Hit Dice: 1 hp
Move: 60' (20')
Attacks: 1 bite
Damage: Fatal, no save.
No. Appearing: 1
Save as: F1
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: Nil
Intelligence: 1
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 6


Giant Leopard Worm, sometimes known as the Riding Worm.

This is the largest domesticable velvet worm in the Sandurbans. The fact that it often grows larger than 12 feet in length, and the ease with which it can be manipulated by pheremones, means that it can be used as a steed in battle (though it is unsuitable for long journeys). This takes considerable skill, as leopard worms have none of the intrinsic empathy of a horse. About all a rider can hope for is to point his steed in the direction of an enemy, and then cling on.

The leopard worm does not spit, but relies on its speed and ferocity to capture prey. It therefore relies less on stealth, unlike its relatives, and is diurnal. It has rudimentary eyes which can sense movement.

Armour Class: 3
Hit Dice: 9
Move: 180' (60')
Attacks: 1 bite
Damage: 2d8
No. Appearing: 1
Save as: F9
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: Nil
Intelligence: 1
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 900