Domestic Pig Worm

Out of all of the animals used as cattle around the step, few are more ubiquitous than the **domestic pig worm**. Alongside the common varieties of chicken, cow, pig, sheep and goat, the pig worm is commonplace in most of the world’s farms, and it is especially prevalent in areas where herding has to be done underground. The pig worm is a species of domestic annelid that can reach two meters of length from head to tail once they become adults, and weight about 100kg. They are a strong but shy animal, usually preferring dark and damp places, and as such, they are perfect for underground or stabled farms. Their body is divided in ring-like segments, with only the tail and the head having different shape. They are highly muscular, though their meat has a nutritive value smaller than those from pigs or cows. Their skin is very thin, and needs moisture to be healthy, hence the need for shadow, as they dehydrate fast. They are blind, but have an incredibly developed sense of smell, which they use to search for food underground.

A pig worm will lay around a hundred eggs in perfect conditions, of which only around 20 will survive the first year of life in the wild, though in captivity they can all survive if they all receive attentive care. A pig worm will then grow very fast, feeding off practically anything organic, which makes them excellent at dealing with trash and organic waste. Around the two years of age, a pig worm will reach maturity, and begin searching for mates. Male pig worms search for pheromones in the air and the soil, looking for females. Males can fight each other to the death for the right to mate, and as such, most male pig worms are castrated during infancy, to avoid damage to the cattle. The female will spend around half a year until she lays her eggs, and she will do so on particularly humid (though clean) soil. The eggs are soft and have no shell, so they are extremely fragile, and have to be put far from other farm animals, including other pig worms, due to them being seen as food. The mother does not take care for the eggs, though, its maternal instincts being limited to recognizing the eggs and not eating them, but once they hatch, but she will not bother keeping an eye on them. A healthy pig worm can live up to ten years, but most farmers will slaughter them at the age of three, since they can reach their maximum size by that point, and their meat begins losing quality beyond that period. Female pig worms are usually left as breeders, as well as the biggest and healthiest male pig worms.

The pig worms can eat pretty much anything that is organic, allowing them to gain weight very fast. Their immune system makes them resistant to most diseases or toxins, but one must be careful to feed them stuff that could be poisonous to sentient species. Even if the pig worm is able to eat it safely, the organism of the pig worm might not be able to excrete the toxins, and could be hazardous to consume. Farmers are recommended to not just feed trash to the sacrificeable individuals, least they taint perfectly valid food. They also should not be fed chicken eggs, since they cause psychotropic effects to the pig worms, and could hurt themselves in a nervous fit. The reasons for this are not well understood, but farmers are well aware of this, and have documented that this effect is only seen with the eggs of the common chicken, and not any other species of bird.

Due to their quick spawn rate and ease to maintain, they are one of the most popular species of farm animal in the world. Not only that, but they are also used to oxygenize agricultural fields before seeding them, though one has to take precautions before using them for this, as they could end up digging so deep they become lost underground. Many specimens of pig worm have ended up in most environments around the world due to escaping by burrowing underground, even if this is only limited to the younger individuals. Once the pig worm reaches a certain size, its weight makes it incapable of becoming an effective burrower. Their ability to be bred and fed underground is also one of the key elements for its popularity, especially among underground dwelling races such as drow or dwarves. The pig worm is the main source of meat for these groups, though they have developed a taste for surface meats, since they are considered much more flavored than the comparatively tasteless pig worm meat. This makes the pig worm meat a very cheap meat, appreciated by the common folk, but rejected by the elites.