Bore Worm Swarm

A single finger-length bore worm is unpleasant but mostly innocuous. Ten thousand bore worms, on the other hand, pose a formidable threat to even seasoned adventurers. The countless worms form a roiling, rancid mass of acid and pain, capable of delivering a hideous death to any person or beast unable to escape them. Unfortunately for any creature other than a bore worm, most encounters involve swarms.

These Darklands vermin produce corrosive, noxious slime and deliver agonizing bites, whether as a revolting, wriggling swarm of finger-length worms or a single massive, lurching beast. Among Darklands communities, most inhabitants regard bore worms much in the same way surface cultures speak of maggots or cockroaches-with general disdain and revulsion. Children consider catching a single bore worm and using it to torment others a rite of passage, albeit a dangerous one.

The humble bore worm is a small and simple creature, both biologically and magically. These qualities allow it to adapt rapidly to different environments, some of them quite extreme, and also makes it susceptible to magical radiation and experimentation. Many a Darklands apprentice takes their first steps in the school of transmutation by practicing on these worms, while variations-both natural and cultivated-are scattered about beneath Golarion's surface.