Kingfissure Worm¶
Named for their infamous hunting technique, kingfissure worms terraform the earth as they move, building tunnels and crevasses to accommodate their enormous form. They then lie in wait deep underground. Seasoned adventurers know to be wary when traveling past even the smallest crack in the earth. For when a worm senses the vibrations of their prey above, they shoot their multiple serpentine tongues through the crevasses, dragging prey from the surface into their cavernous maw.
Intestine Inventory¶
The kingfissure worm eats indiscriminately, swallowing creatures, structures, and precious gems alike. The wealth inside a kingfissure worm would put any dragon's hoard to shame, though the worm cares nothing for treasure and knows nothing of the spoils lodged in their labyrinthine intestines. Few people have managed to claim the treasure lost to the inside of a kingfissure worm, but stories enough have spread to draw scavengers, bandits, and even armies to the corpses of recently slain worms, all hoping to come away with a king's ransom in spoils.
Home Renovators¶
Most worms build a den of tunnels and fissures, remaining in that lair for as long as the pickings on the surface are good and they aren't disturbed. When a kingfissure worm seeks a new home, they target areas with abundant food—occasionally leading to villagers waking up to find their surrounding lands have been terraformed overnight. Residents of such lands generally have two choices: pack up and leave or prepare for battle. If a worm is somehow defeated, all manner of creatures and communities try to lay claim to the worm's underground structures. These empty dens make wonderful war bunkers, isolated workshops, and even highly defensible villages.
Unstoppable Force¶
The kingfissure worm is a species determined to outrun, outlast, and out-eat every other living creature. Though the monster might be slowed by a display of great power, only death stops them. Once they have set their sights on their prey, they single-mindedly pursue it regardless of terrain or circumstance. The only thing that gives a kingfissure worm pause are attacks on their tongues, which are left vulnerable when they are dragging creatures to their impending doom.
Unclear Origins¶
Kingfissure worms have no identifiable sexual characteristics and are extremely territorial. If two kingfissure worms encounter each other, the result is always a cataclysmic duel that ends in one devouring the other. Because of this, most scholars theorize that these creatures reproduce asexually—and that when a kingfissure worm dies, their tongues detach and grow into full-fledged worms. While this has yet to be confirmed, juvenile kingfissure worms have been seen in the wild, most often spotted following animal herds or traveling communities, feeding off of stragglers, refuse, remains, and vermin.
Swallowed Survivors¶
Kingfissure worms never stop growing, and the oldest are truly immense, easily mistaken in the distance for a strangely mobile mountain range. Deep within the bowels of these behemoths, unusual biomes and oversized gut fauna may flourish. In fact, some people who have survived their trip down the gargantuan gullet of one of the great worms have been able to eke out a life—and even form thriving communities—safe inside the spacious lower abdomen of their living quarters.
Sensitive Giant¶
For all their might and vitality, kingfissure worms are primarily ambush hunters, and like any ambush hunter, they need delicate and precise senses to detect and target their prey when it approaches. As burrowing creatures, they have a finely tuned sense of touch able to detect even the most minute vibrations while in direct contact with earth and stone. This fills the role of their primary sense, and their rudimentary eyesight leaves them dreadfully nearsighted. In combination, their poor vision and reliance on ground-conducted vibrations means that they have almost no way of pinpointing flying creatures, and many species of birds find kingfissure worm territory exceptionally safe and free from predators.
Kingfissure Worm
- Solo MonsterTrait
- Multiple TonguesTrait
- Tongue GrabMain actionSignature
- MawMain action
- ConsumeMain action2 Malice
- Tongue WhipManeuver
- Tearing RecoilTriggered action
- Seismic KingTrait
- SwallowedTrait
- Titanic TunnelerTrait
- Unstoppable CrawlerTrait
- King's FissureVillain Action 1
- Earth BreachVillain Action 2
- Better Out Than InVillain Action 3