Domesticated Carrion Crawler

Once, when Thrangor had drunk a whole bottle of elvish wine he had bought in the city we had just visited, he started to tell strange tales about the goblins that had invaded the dwarven lands centuries ago. I particularly remember one tale about the goblins having tamed some kind of giant pale worm with tentacles that could paralyze a man. They would supposedly ride them into battle sometimes attacking from the ceiling. If even half the story is true, I'm glad the goblins stay far underground.

— from "Memories of a Caravan Guard" by Clais Hiltprandt

In some distant era the first clan of goblins managed to tame a carrion crawler and use it as a beast of burden. Over time more of them were tamed and the goblins started to breed them. At first they were simply used to draw carts and carry heavy loads, but at some point a saddle was placed on one and goblins have been riding them since.

Not all goblin tribes use domesticated carrion crawlers, but those that do use them extensively. Some are used to pull carts and sleds around but most are used as cavalry. Each carrion crawler carries two goblins, one who controls the creature and one who is armed with a spear and a bow. The keen senses of the beast make them excellent at tracking prey in both the tunnels of the underdark and above ground, and their ability to crawl on ceilings allow for deadly ambushes. The riders and breeders of carrion crawlers are afforded a high status in the clans that use them on par with the elite warriors.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The domesticated carrion crawler looks almost identical to the wild version. A long, pale, worm like body with numerous small legs. The head, segmented slightly from the body, is covered in a chitin like material and has a tooth filled mouth with short mandibles. Tentacles coated in paralytic poison surround the mouth and two insectoid eyes are found above it. Centuries of breeding have given the domesticated variant one feature not found in the wild; tiger like stripes of red, brown, or dark green that start along the top of the body and extend down to where the legs start. The tentacles around the mouth of these carrion crawlers are most often the same color as the stripes.

Genetics and Reproduction

The breeding of carrion crawlers is surprisingly difficult. The creatures are hermaphrodites and will only mate when there is a sufficient supply of food available as well as requiring other conditions to be satisfied. When they are ready, one of the creatures lays a batch of between 8 and 14 eggs that are then fertilized by the other carrion crawler. Incubation takes two weeks before the eggs hatch to reveal the new carrion crawlers.