Purple worm
The purple worm is a species of gargantuan monstrosities that live underground across Holos . They are believed to be the largest animal endemic to the Material Realm and are the apex predator of their environment. Though they primarily feed on small subterranean organisms like cave plankton and amphipods, purple worms are known to actively hunt larger prey, including mortals. Many mortals rightly fear them as dangerous and unpredictable forces of nature; their mouths can swallow whole caravans in a single bite and their tunneling can devastate buildings and infrastructure. Purple worms are not closely related to any other known species of animals and are believed by some to have been created by Valdra, Papatuá, or some other chthonic entity.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Purple worms are believed to be the largest creature endemic to Holos, averaging at over 80 feet long and 12 feet in diameter, though they have been recorded as long as 140 feet. Like many other worms and worm-like species, purple worms exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan. Their bodies are made up of five foot long segments and a large, rounded head. These segments can twist up to fifty degrees in either direction. When working in tandem, this causes the body to twist or "churn," allowing the worm to burrow through solid rock. Purple worms are invertebrates and have no bones, instead supporting their primitive internal organs with a hydrostatic skeleton.
Unlike many other species of earthworms, purple worms have tough, protective skin. This skin is made out of hardened cells known as calciderms, similar to appearance to osteoderms. Most of these cells are located along the exterior of the worm's segmented body and help protect the creature as it burrows. They also appear as a dark plum or purple coloration, which gives the animal its name. However, some of these calciderms grow in rows down the length of the purple worm as jagged spikes. These spikes aid in locomotion as the worm is churning through the earth.
Other calciderms grow in the purple worm's mouth as sharp, curved structures and act like teeth. Purple worms do not have jaw bones and so have a fairly weak bite compared to their size. Instead, purple worms capture prey by snaring them in their maw and pulling their rows of teeth down their esophagus like a conveyor belt.
Though rarely used, purple worms do have a venomous stinger attached to the ends of their tails. These stingers are filled with a hemotoxin designed to damage the victim's vascular systems and cause internal bleeding. These tails help defend the worm's rear when they are dormant or not on the move. They are almost never used in hunting, except when the worm is facing off against mortals or other intelligent prey.
Genetics and Reproduction
Purple worms are hermaphrodites and carry both male and female sex organs. They are believed to be capable of asexual reproduction using both of their own sex organs. Little is known about the actual mating process of purple worms as it has never been witnessed or at least recorded by mortals. Purple worm eggs look like silvery spheres or pearls and are approximately 3 ft. in diameter. They deposited in chamber walls and protected by a sticky, viscous liquid. A single clutch can contain as many as 500 eggs.
Growth Rate & Stages
After hatching, infant purple worms, or wormlings, are fully able to fend for themselves and are immediately fearsome predators. However, they are vulnerable to predation from other subterranean creatures for the next few years, until they reach a size where they are too formidable a threat. Most wormlings reach 9 ft. long after about 6 weeks and shortly thereafter achieves sexual maturity. It is believed that purple worms grow a new segment each year, allowing one to date the specimen based on the number of segments it has.
Ecology and Habitats
Thanks to their sheer size, purple worms easily take the spot of apex predator in any environment. Though distributed worldwide, purple worms are rarely seen above ground, spending their entire lives buried within the substrate or in cave networks. Within the largest of these networks, the planet-spanning Underdark, purple worms act as a keystone species. This means that they have a disproportional impact on their environment and play a critical role in maintaining the ecological community.
Purple worms do this by continually creating and collapsing caverns and tunnels through their burrowing. They are drawn to large microfaunal environments, such as moss meadows or fungal forests, by their continual low frequency sounds. Purple worms tear through said communities, consuming vast numbers of small organisms, often leading to the near total destruction of the local ecosystem. However, as they tunnel through the ground, purple worms create new large passageways. Their unique "churning" motion actually makes these passages more structurally sound than many mortal-dug shafts and creates a varied topography ideal for moisture distribution and air flow.
Additionally, purple worms excrete large amounts of waste as they travel. Many Underdark microorganisms, such as the starlight glowworm, have evolved eggs or larvae that can endure the digestive systems of the purple worm, allowing them to quickly reestablish growth within these new environments. Purple worms also avoid returning to their own tunnels or moving through another worm's tunnel for several years, in order to steer clear of other members of their species. This ensures that these new Underdark ecosystems have time to develop and flourish before becoming once more devoured. It also contributes to the difficulty of charting the Underdark by mortals.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Though they sit at the top of the food chain, purple worms are technically omnivorous. Though they are primarily after various microfauna such as cave plankton, amphipods, and other invertebrates, their enormous, burrowing maws inevitably take in large amounts of soil, mosses, lichens, fungi, and various minerals. Purple worms digest most plant, fungal, and animal species but some species have developed ways of allowing their larvae move through the digestive tract unharmed.
Purple worms detect prey by sensing vibrations in the soil around them, using a technique known as tremorsense. When searching for large numbers of microorganisms, purple worms tune into the lower frequencies emitted by a colony. However, purple worms also supplement their diet with larger animals that wander through the Underdark, including mortals. These creatures are detected when they use higher frequencies. To catch larger prey, purple worms will generally triangulate the prey's location before bursting through the ground at high speed. This can either result in the victim being fully consumed or totally stunned by the sudden impact. The calcified teeth of a purple worm grow continuously. They point backward and are attached to muscles that can be moved down the worm's esophagus to quickly surround and consume snared prey.
Few creatures have a recourse for dealing with purple worm attacks. Much of the Underdark lacks the open space to flee, and burrowing to safety can be detected by the worm. Additionally, their tough hides are difficult to pierce or injure, making any prolonged engagement foolish.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Purple worms consume vast quantities of soil and minerals as they hunt for microorganisms. In addition to nutrient-rich waste, their tunneling also often leaves behind precious stones, ores, and other valuable minerals. The worm's digestive tract also separates debris and impurities from the surfaces of these stones, making them easy to transport and highly prized by miners and explorers.
Purple worm eggs are sometimes sought after by alchemists and arcanists for their use in enchantment and other rituals.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Purple worms have no eyes or ears and no means of olfactory detection. Instead, the purple worm relies entirely on vibrations in the ground to navigate. Though quite small for their body size, purple worms have developed a special organ instead their brains which allows them to detect a range of vibrations. This organ, known as the thumper, is tuned to both low and high frequency vibrations, allowing the worm to notice the difference between the tell-tale churning of another worm and the movement of prey. This gives the worm a full, 360° view of their surroundings when underground.
Typically, purple worms look for prey that give off low frequency vibrations or that give off ambient vibrations, as these denote the presence of large colonies of micro-organisms. They appear to be able to detect such vibrations from a kilometer away. However, large and sustained periods of vibration are often enough to draw a purple worm's attention. Purple worms are thought to be able to detect such higher vibrations from only a few hundred meters away.
Though purple worms are optimized for detecting prey while underground, they can also detect vibrations in the air using this same principle. However, it appears as though their range when above ground is far more limited. When detecting vibrations above ground, their range is limited to just within a few meters, though this is often enough given their massive size.
Origin/Ancestry
Underdark
Lifespan
80-200 years
Average Height
> ~3.65 m (~12 ft.) in diameter
Average Weight
> ~18,000 kg (~40,000 lbs.)
Average Length
> ~27.13 m (~89 ft.)
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Dark plum to deep purple
Geographic Distribution
Purple wormlings are fully capable of fending for themselves and catching prey moments after hatching
by Spiegelfeder
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