Gore-Worms (Wermspittle)

Gore-Worms


No. Enc.: a single mass of 6d6 writhing worms
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 20'
Armor Class: 9
Hit Dice: 2 (for entire mass) [single, bloated specimens have been recorded reaching up to 8 HD...]
Attacks: 1 (blood-drain or infest) + Feeblemind effect
Damage: 2d4 blood-drain/per turn or infest
Save: F2 (+4 to Save against all non-surgical forms of removal)
Morale: 4


Thoroughly nasty things, gore-worms are prone to infesting areas around butchers, tanners, and such establishments where wholesale slaughter takes place, including some of the less reputable underground gladiatorial arenas, almshouses and hospitals. The gore-worms are not fussy about what, or whom, they infest, as long as it has plenty of blood for them to feed upon.


When a group of gore-worms bite into any sort of flesh, they either drain it of all blood until it or they are killed, or they attempt to infest the flesh, squirming deep into the tissues and going dormant (in dead flesh), and attempting to subvert the will of their host (in living flesh). Every other turn that a victim suffers blood-drain by gore-worms, they must make a Save or else fall under a Feeblemind effect and obey the worms crawling around within them. The victim gets to re-roll this Save every other turn they are being fed upon or infested. Every time the victim fails the Save, they take no damage but are urged to seek out fresh blood for the gore-worms to dine on. Anyone subjected to this sort of domination for too long runs a serious risk of slipping into permanently becoming a host for the gore-worms (called 'Worm Feeders' by the butcher-boys), and in some extreme cases, these hosts have survived the transition into undeath only to continue serving their wormy masters, which has led to the development of Writhers and Wormtongues, among other, even worse specimens.


Because of their exposure to various contaminants in the sewers, such as the decayed remains of dismembered undead, vampire ashes, and other such waste-products of an active and on-going adventurer sub-culture, there are  various sorts of sub-types and mutant varieties of gore-worms that appear from time to time. Some of these variant strains are of more or less value or interest depending upon their abilities, proclivities and overall disposition.