Dusk had almost fallen again on the Hinterlands and Pteto was already thinking about his home village. It had been three boring days but his patrol duty was almost over. His partner had been a dour pterran which had kept a stern mood throughout the days with the excuse of teaching him how to patrol the land. As if he didn't know. Had he not been chosen by the village elders, had he not found and raised his mount, had he trained from small age, had he not proven himself in battle already? His fang polearm had already been notched a few times against them insects as well. The ptop worm kept up its undulating pace trying to keep up with the other patrol team ahead.

Pteto was brought to the present by the worm's uncanny ability. The beast had soundlinked with him again; he was now able to hear through the beast's senses and this never ceased to amaze him. It took him a few moments before he was able to discern where the beast had focused his hearing. The worm usually kept its outer ears to its side to capture all surrounding sounds but it was able to move them and focus them in a certain direction. When this was done, the hearing would be magnified greatly. The worm kept its ears pointed towards the stony barrens surrounding the lush scrublands that were its master's home.

Pteto heard his captain, "Keep yer senses clear boy, it shouldn't take ye this long to start hearing through the werm." The young pterran nodded and stood up on his stirrups to try and get a better look. He chuckled softly back to his tribe's mate, "I can't see anything, my worm is linking with me for no reason at all, I think it wants to get back home." The older pterran scowled, "No it ain't doing it fer fun, boy. There is something out there in 'em rocks."

The worms slowly but swiftly meandered closer and closer to the rocks; their ears moving about trying to catch any more sounds. There it was again, a soft and barely perceptible scratching sound on the rocks as if many small legs moving about. The captain's lead worm suddenly stopped at the edge of the stony barrens, "Can't get much closer without hurting the werms, they'll go if ye press 'em but it ain't werth it. Let's turn back."

Then, everything happened at once, four scrabs appeared out of nowhere materializing themselves right in front of the pterran captain. The pterran's worm dived at them at the captain's prodding who had already pointed his fang polearm at the lead scrab. The sharp polearm struck with such force from the creature's dive that when the worm came up again, there was a squirming scrab skewered at the end of the weapon. The worm bit the insect in two and prepared for another dive at the three remaining insectmen. Pteto and his mount was still a bit far away and not able to engage yet. The young pterran warrior made sure he was tied well to his harness and urged his mount to greater speeds; he was dying to get some action and four scrabs were not dangerous when one was riding the worms.

One of the reasons that the riders strapped themselves tight onto the harness was for combat. The worm would fight alongside its rider but it thrashed about while biting with its huge maw. The captain's worm dived again but did not come up this time. The captain wanted to get into the fray himself as well as his mount. The beast bit through another scrab as upper and lower fangs pierced the chitin covered body. The beast opened up its mouth again and the scrab was left impaled in its lower fang; the insect weakly moved and soon died. The pterran had swung hard on the other scrab; his fang blade came up soiled in ichor as it cut deep into the insect's body. The melee went well with the polearm slashing and the beast's fangs biting through hard chitin and soon the warrior scrabs moved no more.

One of the scrabs had not engaged yet and actually had kept his distance from the fight. Pteto saw him gesturing but what struck his senses more was a sight not to be forgotten easily. The soft grass sprouting through the rock's cracks had shriveled and turned to ash right before his eyes; the cacti stumps had deflated and smoked leaving nothing but dead, empty husks. The circle of death expanded in concentric rings from this scrab and the defiler seemed to glow with foul energy. He ended his incantation by pointing his hand at the captain sitting on the worm's head.

Pteto heard the noise first which was followed by a bright flash and a cloud of smoke around the worm. The worm laid flat on the ground and feebly twitched while the pterran captain never moved at all. The defiler did not see Pteto and his mount much less hear the silent worm. The young pterran signaled for the worm to use its ranged attack. A quick intake of air was heard followed by a vile, green liquid issuing from the worm's snout. The sickly, green spit struck the scrab on its upper torso. The body instantly sizzled and the defiler dropped dead with half his body molten away.

The young pterran finally reached the scene while pulling forth his own weapon. He unclasped himself from his leather harness and quickly dismounted. The captain's huge worm had stopped twitching altogether by now; his white rings glistened in the moon's light. Pteto unfastened his dead comrade from the harness. The wizard's explosion had spoiled most of the mount's equipment but he salvaged a few things. He went back to his own mount, tied himself up to his seat and slowly slithered home carrying his mentor in his arms.

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Scrublands

FREQUENCY: Rare

ORGANIZATION: Solitary unless trained

ACTIVITY CYCLE: Day

DIET: Carnivore

INTELLIGENCE: Semi (2-4)

TREASURE: Nil

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1

ARMOR CLASS: 4/9 under belly

MOVEMENT: 18

HIT DICE: 6+6

THAC0: 13

NO. OF ATTACKS: 1

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10 or 6-36

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spit acid

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Enhanced hearing

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil

SIZE: L (40-60' long)

MORALE: Average (5-10)

XP VALUE: 2,500

PSIONICS: None

Ptop worms are long , semi-intelligent creatures that inhabit the Hinterlands. Some of these beasts have been domesticated by the pterran's and are used as mounts. One of the better qualities of these animals is their enhanced hearing and their ability to soundlink with their riders. The beast has two outer ears that may look like horns to some which are articulated and can move. In this way, the ptop worm can "focus" its hearing in a certain direction. Normally the beast hears extremely well but when focused their hearing range is doubled. The beast can also soundlink with its rider at will. The soundlink is not psionic in nature and the beast needs to be in direct physical contact with its rider for it to work (i.e. the rider cannot get off the mount and still hear through its ears).

The beast has a soft underbelly and is able to move very silently. Its enemies subtract 4 from their surprise roll. This soft underbelly has its drawbacks as well with the most notorious one being its low armor class. The beast has an armor class of 9 in this part of its body. The ptop worm cannot move in hard surfaces. It can move about easily in its native scrublands and even in sandy wastes and similar surfaces. The beast looses 1 hit point per mile traveled in hard ground (stony barrens, rocky badlands, etc.).

Due to its wild movements, riders have to strap themselves to a harness in order to ride the beasts effectively. Riding a tame beast is still possible but only at half their movement rate and not in a combat situation.

Combat: The beast uses its fangs to bite quite effectively. It can attack once per round with a devastating bite. The beast usually lunges in for the bite and raises its head up into the air again. The ptop worm flattens its ears against its head when in combat and their great hearing is severely impaired by this. The ptop worm's other attack is spitting acid. The worm can spit acid up to 100 feet for 6d6 hit points of damage (save vs breath for half). This breath weapon is usable at most once per day. The water requirement for this beast is remarkably low as it needs only a 1/2 gallon of water per day unless it uses its spit acid ability. Once it used its ability to spit acid, it needs a surplus (in addition to its regular daily requirement) of 2 gallons of water before it can use its ability again. The beast only eats once per week but a heavy lethargy follows its feeding and the beast cannot travel until at least 12 hours of digestion have elapsed.

Habitat/Society: The beast is native to the scrublands and has only been found in the Hinterlands as of now. There does not seem to be any reason why the worm could not be present in other soft areas but none have been found. The beast is solitary and keeps a sort of hunting grounds but it will wonder away if the hunting is not plentiful. The beast seems to pair off for mating purposes only. The ptop worms will shortly depart and the female tries to bury her eggs away from any predators. The female lays 4 to 6 eggs which are left to their destiny but the female will not bury them all in one place.

Ecology: The ptop worms lives for about 10 years in captivity forming a strong bond with its rider much like a pterrax. The pterrans have tamed and trained these beasts to serve as mounts for patrol and war. Once its rider has been killed, it takes a whole deal of time for the worm to accept a new master. The pterrans have not been able to breed them in captivity and so every potential ptop worm rider has to go out and find its own. They have, however, found a way to make their eggs hatch so an egg and great care and patience is enough to grow one of the worms. The beast's fangs are used to make excellent polearms used by the pterran riders. A ptop worm egg can fetch a hefty price if sold to a connoisseur, these eggs are sought out by many who eat them as a delicacy.