Tenebrous Worm

Edit: For some reason this didn't post on Wednesday when it was written, but merely saved as a draft instead.  Apologies for the confusion/any alphabetical headaches.

Typically it’s the adult form of a creature you need to fear.  But that’s not necessarily so with insects—or their extraplanar analogues.  While the enticing, egg-implanting CR 4 gloomwings are dangerous enough in and of themselves, it is their spawn, the CR 8 tenebrous worms, that terrify experienced adventurers.

Why?  Well, do you think an acid attack is bad?  How about an acid attack that dissolves flesh into shadow?  And which is stronger in area of darkness (up to 8d6)?  And did I mention that they’re native to the Plane of Shadow, where darkness is…how do I put this…kind of a thing?  So yeah, beware.

Tenebrous worms are a staple in umbral dragon lairs.  They are typically used in hatched pits or lobster-trap-like shunts—an arrangement that allows unwary robbers to enter without letting the troublesome worms escape.

The transmuter Horace Steeple wants to shed the constraints of the Material Plane…and his Material body.  He has been carefully exposing himself to the acid of captured tenebrous worms, dissolving bits of his flesh at a time and then regenerating it.  The result has slowly turned him into a fetchling.  Meanwhile the worms remain a threat should they ever escape…as some already have, in gloomwing form.

A shae emissary delivers a gift of finely painted eggs to the High Doge.  The shae is actually an assassin and the eggs were carefully harvested from a gloomwing victim.  The tenebrous worms will hatch at nightfall.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 2 260

I’ve said this before, but for new readers, the Gloomwing entry is as close to an FAQ as this blog has so far.

Also, while I can’t seem to reblog it…grrr…the third episode of Welcome to Maryland is up.  Enjoy!