Cave-Worms

Cave Worms are the most specialized and repellent breed of Cave Drakes. They lack any noticeable limbs and live their whole lives underground. Like most cave creatures, they have little pigmentation and even less eyesight, relying on the ability to "read" vibrations and a good sense of smell to locate the prey that they seize with their prehensile tongues. Because they have a constant need for calcium, the favorite food of Cave Worms is bones.

Cave Worms combine most of the least desirable characteristics of worms, being constantly covered with slimy mucous. They will eat almost anything, meat being a favorite, but roots and fungus are quite acceptable in a pinch. They do not, however, eat rock, despite persistent Dwarvish legends to the contrary. Rather, they use the six hard horns on their bony heads as drill bits to bore their way through soft or crumbling stone, sliding along on their mucous as they go. A bony ridge protects their jaws and narrow eyes from this boringactivity.

Cave Worms dwell in the Underdeeps. Thus, they are most common in Moria, although they may be encountered in other spots where someone has been foolish enough to dig too far beneath the earth.