Pale Worm

Allergic to Sunlight

The pale worm is a species of worm found very few places in Dysvoll. They are highly sensitive to sunlight and can only be found in dense forests. They don't live most of their life underground and as such need to live in a place where they don't get roasted by the sun when they are above ground. The place with the highest known amount of pale worms is Dunkelwood, a forest in Kanden.

These little creatures are seen as fancy food for some rich folk, I never got that.
To me, these little fellas are quite disgusting, and they're dangerous to gather! While you're out getting the worms, the Dark Entities are out to get you.

— Citizen of Elken

Small and pale

The worm looks quite plain, it's a light pale brown, which blends into the forest floor and tree bark well. It's usually around three to six centimetres long and is a bit thicker than a normal earthworm.
The pale worm has a thin layer of semi-sticky fluid that covers its outside layer. However, this fluid is not always present but is produced when the worm starts inching higher up in trees and is no longer covered by leaves and debris on the ground. A large amount of air blowing over the skin triggers the worm to produce the fluid, which helps it stick to trees extra well.

The Dark Forest Floor

These worms live in a place where many plants don't grow, and therefore, other animals don't tend to gravitate towards too much. They live primarily on the forest floor or in the trees in the lowest segment of them. They rarely inch higher than around 1,5 meters above the ground. This is because the further up they get, the higher is the chance that the trees don't catch all the sunlight.

Sleepy in winter

When the forest trees lose their leaves in the winter, the pale worms are no longer able to safely live in the forest during the day. The worms usually hibernate through all of the winter months, until the leaves grow back in. The average amount of time the worms need to sleep in the Dunkelwood forest is three months.

Lifespan

2-4 years

Average Weight

15 grams

Geographic Distribution

• Dunkelwood

A horrorhouse safehaven

These little worms blend into their surroundings quite well, however, in Dunkelwood they don't really need to. Most of their natural predators in this area are hunted by a very adept foe, the Dark Entity.
This has resulted in a stark decline in most of the predators that would usually eat the worms, and they have a much easier time thriving in this forest due to that.