Animal, Domestic (Athas), Mulworm [250]

Climat/Terrain Verdant belt
Organisation Solitary
Fréquence Peu commun
Diète Herbivore
Cycle d'activité Any
Intelligence 0 - Non intelligent ou non mesurable
Trésor Nil
Alignement Neutre Absolu
Nombres 1-10x1000
Classe d'armure 10
Mouvement Au sol : 3"
Vol : 12" - Classe de vol : D
Nage :
Enfouissement :
Web :
Dés de vie 1 hp
Thac0 NA
Nbre d'attaques Nil
Dommage / attaques NA
Attaques spéciales Poison
Défenses spéciales Nil
Résistance à la magie Nil
Taille T - tiny ( 2' tall or less)
(8”)
Morale Spe - Special
Valeur en XP 35 xp/7 xp

Commentaires : The Athasian mulworm is an off-white colored caterpillar with no eyes. It has two feelers in the front of its head that are used as sensors. Its mouth makes up the rest of its bullet-shaped head. The body is segmented, tapering to a point at the rear. Adult mulworms are about 8 inches long and as much as 1 inch thick.
Combat : The mulworm has no attack. It lives only to become a butterfly. However, the mulworm secretes a poisonous fluid as it moves. This fluid sprays out of any worm whose skin is broken. Adventurers who crush, pierce, or slash the mulworm must make a successful Dexterity check with a -4 penalty to avoid being splashed with the poison. If a character fails the check, they must successfully save vs. poison. A character who fails suffers 15 points of damage and develops a rash that lasts for 1-4 (1d4) days (treat the splashed poison as Class A). If the character’s Dexterity check is successful, he will have a reduced resistance to the poison for the next 1-4 (1d4) hours. He also suffers a -4 penalty to his saving throw against the mulworm poison during that time.

If the poison is ingested or enters through an open wound, treat the poison as a class J poison. If the character fails the save vs. poison, he dies an excruciating death in 1d4 rounds unless immediately treated with a neutralize poison spell. Characters whose saving throw is successful receive 20 points of damage and have a -4 penalty to save vs. mulworm poison for 1-4 (d4) hours.

Leather or better armor protects the areas of the body it covers. The poison does not adhere well to weapons or armor and is useless within minutes after being applied.

Only fire can destroy the worm and its poison. Mulworms in the butterfly stage have no combat capability at all.
Habitat / Société : Athasian mulworms are content to live in berry trees and at leaves. They can be farmed as long as the caterpillar stage is not disturbed. The poison they secrete is food to the tree, enabling new leaf growth at an accelerated rate. In this manner, the mulworms ensure food for future generations of their voracious species.

In the caterpillar stage, mulworms live only to eat. They do not mate, nor do they have any real sense of other creatures Mulworms are immune to their own secretions.

Mulworms in the butterfly stage mate shortly after emerging from their cocoon and then die within a day.
Ecologie : The Athasian mulworm lives for 10 days as a caterpillar in huge numbers – whatever the local tree population can sustain. It then pupates for 12 days before emerging into the sun for a brief life as a butterfly. In the pupal stage, the cocoon can be carefully unwound to obtain a very fine, strong thread. It is possible to place the pupae in a container of soft material to allow it to complete its life cycle, or the silk farmer may simply dispose of the pupae and leave some cocoons on the tree to ensure a new generation of worms. The pupal stage has no poison in it.

The worm has no natural enemies, but any creature, even a drake, that eats one will probably die in agony.