Trash Wyrm

The **Utopian Wyrm** or **Trash Wyrm** was an all consuming type of worm native to the planet Utopia.

## Biology

The trash wyrm is an unique specimen as it is one of the few worm creatures that, thanks to it's adamant food supply on Utopia, has become the planets most dominant species. The three main reasons for this are its ability to consume basically anything, its ability to keep growing to gigantic proportions and its long life span, the first feature being responsible for the latter two.

### Reproduction

Trash wyrms have two methods of reproduction, the first being similar to that of the earthworm as they also have both male and female sexual organs. Reproduction by this regular method spawns between 10 and 10.000 larvae from the resulting cocoon, depending on the stage of the parent wyrms. This first method however does require a mate while the second one does not. Once a wyrmling reaches the wyrm stage it is able to disconnect part of itself in order to create a second near identical wyrm. This process is referred to as fission and uniquely provides a wyrm that already skipped its larvae and wyrmling stages, instead creating a new fully fledged wyrm.

### Growth

The size and stage a wyrm reaches in its lifetime is directly correlated with the amount of food a wyrm is able to consume. A wyrm is in constant hunger and must eat to maintain its body's vital functions, over consumption is actually vital to the wyrms evolution and size, but is a double edged sword as the creatures body requires the wyrm to maintain this new level of consumption. This prompts the wyrm to either eat even more, die or split itself in two by means of fission. The growth isn't rapid however, and it can take over a hundred years for a wyrm to reach the length of a meter. The scary thing is however that the limit of a wyrms lifespan and size is completely determined by its ability to maintain a growing appetite, with no natural deaths of deterioration of bodily functions due to old age.

### Senses and Features

The wyrm perceives its surroundings mainly through hearing and physical tremors caused by noises, as it has no eyes or sense of smell. Wyrms seem to be attracted by loud noises, especially the largest of wyrms who associate loud noises with large prey in the form of spaceships or other wyrms. The wyrm in its later stages can bite through basically everything as it develops more and more rows of teeth over the years in combination with acidic fluid glands near the creatures maw that can dissolve objects too big for the wyrm to consume whole. The same acid is vital in the wyrms digestive track. The all consuming maw of the wyrm also allows it to literally eat itself through the trash mounds of utopia, enabling it to "dig" through anything. The largest trash wyrms also developed arthropod like legs to make it easier to maneuver through the evershifting mountains of garbage.

## History

Originally the trash wyrm was a minor species on the planet, barely reaching a length of 20 centimeters before either dying as a result of a lack of food or by being eaten by native birds. When the Lorani Imperium settled Utopia, they also conducted research on the planets specimens in order to catalogue them properly. When scientists discovered the wyrms incredible ability to sustain unlimited growth through consumption, they began looking into applications to use the creature as a possible waste disposal.

Government scientists prohibited the widespread usage of these wyrms out of fear they might ruin a planets

ecosystem as population size might get out of control, eventually even prohibiting the transport of trash wyrms off planet and putting in place severe search methods in Lorani customs. Decades later the motion was put through to repurpose the colony on Utopia as a waste disposal unit, utilizing the wyrms capabilities while still containing the population on its homeworld. The little protest from a large faction of the colonists was overruled by the High King and a few hundred years later the idyllic Utopian surface was turned into heaps and heaps of garbage and trash, the ideal environment for the trash wyrm to reign supreme.

## Behind the Scenes

Trash Wyrms are largely inspired by the Sandworms from Dune and the Thresher Maws from Mass Effect.