Glowworm

The species known as glowworms have traveled far and wide, and they have made a surprisingly comfortable home out of the worlds within the The Dark Realms. With colors ranging across the full rainbow spectrum, the majority of the ones found in the Dark Realms are blue, purple, or green.

Starlight Above, Starlight Below

For all its harshness, starlight is one of the few things that are strikingly breathtaking in Atrareia. Likewise, its cave systems - where most of its inhabitants scrape together a semblance of life - are graced by the presence of glowworms on its ceilings. While they're not the only things that glow in the underground territories of Atrareia, they are certainly along the lines of the most beautiful. Clusters of glowworm larvae provide soothing light that brushes gently against the rough earthen walls, winking down on passerby.

Poisonous Larvae

Adult glowworms lay their eggs in patches of moss that grow along cavern ceilings. When the larvae hatch, they crawl out of the egg shells and feed on the moss. In the larva stage, they emit a soft glow that last for several seconds and pulse into dimness, and they do not consciously control the light that emanates from their bodies. In an ecosystem that is plunged in darkness most of the time, this can often attract small predators.
Adult glowworms use this to their advantage, allowing their larvae to be bait for creatures like mice, rats, bats, and large insects. Consuming too many glowworm larvae ends up poisoning most predators, which leaves them vulnerable to the adult's attack. Some predators are equipped to prevent this. Spiders, for example, can catch a glowworm in its web before fleeing the scene, a few larvae fresh in its belly. Other creatures are either too hungry or too careless, and those are the ones that pay with their lives.

Carnivorous Adults

When a small creature consumes too many larvae, they fall unconscious from the intoxicating poison, and that is when the full-grown worms come out of hiding. No longer the peaceful, moss-eating larva, the adult resembles a small snake. They slither into the creature's unconscious body and consume it from the inside, draining all of its nutrients over the course of weeks. An infested creature can be easily spotted, as it will emit a bluish glow from within, more visible as it sheds its weight and becomes weakened.

Glowworm Harvesting

Some Atrareians -- especially those who practice magic -- have studied the behaviors of glowworms and the effects of the larvae on small creatures. Glowworm larvae are carefully harvested to make different potions, particularly sleeping draughts, and special oils to coat weapon blades.

Geographic Distribution

• Atrareia