Dirt worms

a main predator of Aisurcine

## description

Dirt worms are large, lizard-like carnivores that sort of resemble a komodo dragon on stilts by body shape. They have a flat, broad head and back as well as long legs and retractable claws. Alongside that, their entire body is covered in thick scales like armor, they have powerful jaws, and fully grown dirt worms have no visible eyes. UNDER that armor, dirt worms’ skin is completely covered (and when I say covered I mean yes, literally covered) in eyes. (once again, yes, these are literal eyes. Pretty creepy if you think about it.) Young dirt worms are born without the thick armor to protect themselves, which they grow over time, making them very vulnerable but also making it very easy for them to spot predators- because no matter where you are, they will see you.

Any sensible person would ask how being blind constantly would be useful, and why any creature would grow armor that got rid of vision. For a dirt worm that’s simple. It’s for finding lunch.

Dirt worms purposefully attract enemies towards them by pretending to be frail as well as blind, fumbling around as much as they can so they look as harmless and weak as possible. They won’t attack anything- they pretend to not have claws at all. Out on their own, dirt worms are, at first, incredibly passive.

They do this until something or someone inexperienced with dirt worms comes along and sees an easy meal. The dirt worm lets the creature strike it multiple times- a risky move, because any misstep could kill them- until any part of the armor is cracked or torn off. The moment this happens, the dirt worm can now see. If they can’t see their attacker for some reason, they’ll let them hit them a little more. But the moment the dirt worm CAN see the attacker, it jerks out towards them, usually giving the creature quite a scare, claws and teeth bared. The dirt worm mauls the creature until, well, they’re dead, and then eats them.

### coloring

dirt worms can be a dull shade of pretty much any color possible. their underbellies are slightly lighter and they have a darker stripe down their backs and snout. the eyes can also be almost any color, but they are usually yellow.

### abilities

* they have an incredible sense of smell, touch and hearing
* they have very strong jaws and claws
* eye thing 0-0
* they are very intelligent- some have been known to figure out human language and sometimes even attempt to speak with humans- for good and bad purposes

### weaknesses

* if you manage to hit in the eyes- the blood kind of makes it hard for them to see, since the eyes are so cluttered
* cold. they are not built for cold and freeze very easily.
* they are strongly-built, but not THAT strongly built. The protective armor will chip off over time, and is most fragile in the stomach area, making it so

## habitat

Dirt worms are common in Carnis, but have been known to go around Lycoda as well. They like areas with lots of trees and bushes to hide in, and rarely go out in broad daylight. wip

## trivia

* dirt worms are the first species ever created for Aisurcine, and came to life as a doodle of a weird lizard in the afternoon. Onyx thought they looked cute.
* Onyx has no idea why they are called dirt worms. She has no real reason. Maybe the first one was brown? No, it was drawn with a red pen. Maybe it lived underground? No, it was an above-ground creature. Onyx is pretty sure it just sounded funny, so that's what they're called now. \*shrugs\*
* they are huggable.