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A Lavaworm is an elemental creature that resides on fire-worlds in the Spelljammer campaign setting.[1]

Overview[]

Lavaworms are worm-like elemental creatures that live on various fire-type worlds and are often domesticated by helians.[2]

Description[]

A lavaworm resembles a worm-like creature seemingly made of semi-molten rock, and is typically 5-foot long and 9-inches in diameter. Its epidermis is elastic and tends to stretch as it moves or attacks, and is dull brown or reddish in color. A lavaworm moves like an inchworm, hunching its body up as it moves its backend forward, and then lowering its body as its head moves forward.

The creatures has a large maw at either end which periodically expels a noxious gas smelling strongly of sulfur, and are lined with sharp needle-like teeth. It also possesses two sets of eyes, with a pair on each end of its tubular body. This gives the impression that there is no back end to the creature; however, the creature's rear mouth is somewhat smaller that the front, and it never travels backwards.[1]

Combat[]

A lavaworm will attack anything cooler than itself that moves. It is able to move quickly in short bursts, often surprising its prey. When a lavaworm attacks, it bites with its incredibly hot maw, inflicting both physical and heat-related damage. A lavaworm can only attack using its rear-mounted mouth in conjunction with its forward-mounted mouth.

Every five minutes, a lavaworm spews a great cloud of sulfuric gas, which blinds anyone within 20-feet for up to 6 minutes. It is possible for an affected creature to be blinded for a few minutes and then be blinded again by another cloud of gas.[1]

Ecology[]

Lavaworms only prey on creatures with lower internal temperatures than their own, and will only attack fire elementals or other fire-type creatures when looking for a host for their eggs. When lavaworms mate, the female lays her eggs in the hottest location she can find. Usually this means a creature like an efreeti, a helian or even another lavaworm. The female lavaworm will lay up to 500 eggs which incubate within the extreme internal temperature of the host creature.

When the lavaworm young hatch, they immediately attack and consume the host creature, before eating everything else within reach. Once a host body has been rendered down to a husk, the lavaworms begin preying on each other. After a week, the surviving lavaworms emerge from the host creature's body and go their separate ways.

Lavaworms reach full maturity after a year, at which time they begin looking for a mate. At this point, male lavaworms attempt to mate with as many females as they can within a seven-day period, after which they become sterile and never mate again. The females, on the other hand, are able to mate every year for the rest of their lives.

Sterile males become loners, and attempt to claim territories uninhabited by other lavaworms, which they defend against all intruders. Whenever a lone lavaworm is encountered it will usually be a sterile male; there have even been reports of lone lavaworms reaching lengths of between 20 and 30 feet, with tremendous maws four feet in diameter.[1]

Domesticated lavaworms[]

Helians living on the Sun in Krynnspace[2] and the Sun in Realmspace[3] have been known to domesticate lavaworms, breeding and training them much in the same way a terrestrial farmer would handle their livestock. The helians ride their lavaworms across the Sun's blazing surface while standing on their tubular bodies.[4]

Appendix[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Dale "Slade" Henson, SJR2 Realmspace, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Lavaworm entry, page 85
  2. 2.0 2.1 Jean Rabe, SJR7 Krynnspace, 1993, (TSR Inc.), The Sun chapter, pages 9-10
  3. Dale "Slade" Henson, SJR2 Realmspace, 1991, (TSR Inc.), The Sun chapter, pages 5 and 6
  4. Jean Rabe, SJR7 Krynnspace, 1993, (TSR Inc.), The Sun chapter, page 10
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