Cursed the ground where dead thoughts live new and oddly bodied, and evil the mind that is held by no head. Wisely did Ibn Schacabao say, that happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain, and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes. For it is of old rumour that the soul of the devil-bought hastes not from his charnel clay, but fats and instructs the very worm that gnaws; till out of corruption horrid life springs, and the dull scavengers of earth wax crafty to vex it and swell monstrous to plague it. Great holes secretly are digged where earth's pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl.
H. P. Lovecraft The Festival
Basic Information
The Worm That Walks is an undead creature formed from a mass of grave worms inhabited by the spirit of a deceased wizard.
The worms form themselves into a vaguely humanoid mass that can pass itself off as human in a general way by the use of masks and loose fitting robes - speech is unlikely and other abilities will depend on the setting. Expect the undead wizard to retain the use of his magic. Other forms of vermin are a possibility, but lack the genre propriety of grave worms1.
Swarm Shifter traits are to be expected - allowing the worm to burst into its component vermin and reform at a later point. How vulnerable it is to various forms of attack will vary.
Other, less capable monstrosities may be made up from similar swarms of worms or maggots controlled by less potent spirits.
Sources
HP Lovecraft's //The Festival// - the original source of the creature.
Game and Story Use
- Good villains - and a good way to bring back an enemy the PCs thought they had already dealt with.
- Lesser forms include the simple humanoid form made from agglomerated wrigglers and the ever popular "flayed skin filled with maggots".