WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0139 0139
Bạn đang xem bản rút gọn của tài liệu. Xem và tải ngay bản đầy đủ của tài liệu tại đây (1.61 MB, 1 trang )
Chapter 7: BESTIarY
one burrows through the desert subsurface, it leaves
behind especially rich territory where common regelthi
find easy food. An encounter with a regelthex heralds
the proximity of many, many other worms. To penetrate
the harder stone in its path, a regelthex emits a concussive blast that pulverizes and splinters even the hardest granite. Engaged as a weapon against troublesome
enemies, the concussive effects can reduce a flesh-andblood creature to a jellied mass.
Nomads consider the regelthexa as gods and worship
them accordingly. Some seek communion with the
creatures with little success; blessed are any who survive an encounter with them and they rise in tribal status. Some claim true cooperation with the great worms,
though this is more imagined than actually achieved.
The worms have no conception of kinship with surface
life forms, no matter how persistent, any more than men
do for fleas.
Sanid
results of the digestion: the red tear stones. Regelthi can
eat more than half a ton of crystals per day. In the same
time, they produce a great deal of grey silt, mixed with over
20 pounds of red tears. Red tears are particularly coveted
gems, affordable only to the richest Khitans.
The regelth appears very slow but it has one treacherous attack: it drags the unwary into its maw by massive
amounts of suction. Regelth don’t enjoy meat, and victims soon dissolve in a system designed to break down
rock and stone. A stone worm’s hide may appear soft and
wet but is in fact tough and impermeable. If the creature is killed, very few craftsmen or armorers can transform the hide into something useful.
Regelsh warrens can reach deep beneath the desert,
sometimes as far as a mile directly into the ground. They
extend for many miles in all directions without rhyme or
reason to their design (as they are often dug in the search
for food); non-regelthi easily become lost in them. Caverns dug near the surface often are unstable, and desert
denizens often fall into them and become trapped; such
creatures, desperate for escape, can present particularly
savage encounters among the dark warrens.
No Khitan race rules the skies as the penmai do from
their high tree-top and rocky peaked villages. Without
their profound union with the powerful sanid, though,
they would be as sand-bound as all others.
Regelthex (Greater Stone Worm)
The “greater stone worm” is especially rare, but can be
four times the size and mass of its lesser kin. Wherever
137
