Dread Helminth

Small Magical Beast

Hit Dice: 4d10+4 (26 hp),dying/dead –2/–12 Initiative: +3 Speed: 20 feet AC: 21 (+1 size,+3 Dexterity,+6 natural,+1 dodge),touch 14, flat-footed 16 Base Attack/Grapple: +4/–1 Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d4–1 + poison) Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d4–1 + poison) Space/Reach: 5 feet/5 feet (Face/Reach:5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet) Special Attacks: Breath weapon,poison Special Qualities: Blindsight 30 feet;air,earth,fire,and water resistance 5 Saves: Fort +5,Ref+7,Will +2 Abilities: Str 8,Dex 17,Con 12,Int 8,Wis 9,Cha 7 Skills: Sneak* +7,Spot +2 Feats: Defensive,Iron Will,Weapon Finesse

Environment: Any Organization: Solitary (usually in addition to a host creature) Challenge Rating: 3 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 5–6 HD (Small);7–8 HD (Medium) Level Adjustment: —

The dread helminth presents a terrible surprise to a foe. This parasitic worm remains within its host until that creature dies,at which point it comes out,ready to hunt.Thus a character may think she has defeated her opponent,only to have a helminth burst from its corpse and attack her.

The dread helminth procreates by laying eggs in a corpse, which is then eaten by a predator or scavenger.Only one egg survives within a given host,and the larva grows quickly.If the host is Small or smaller,the helminth never grows large enough to be anything but a vicious parasite that slays the host prematurely and then dies itself.Ifthe host is at least Medium,however,the helminth can grow to become a deadly and horrible predator on its own.Within a Medium creature,the dread helminth can grow to full size,although this almost always creates a distended lump in the host’s abdomen or back.Within a Large or larger creature,the helminth’s presence causes no external change to the host.

When the host dies,the helminth bursts out ofthe corpse and attacks any and all nearby creatures.A dread helminth free ofits host must eat almost continually or die,so outside ofa host one ofthe creatures usually lives a week at most.A few, however,find enough food to continue much longer, and grow to be almost six feet long.

A full-grown dread helminth usually measures about 2 to 3 feet long,depending on the size ofits host.Its pale yellow skin glistens with a sticky moisture that coats its body.It has no eyes,and one can distinguish its head from its tail only by its large,hooked mouth.

The dread helminth is more intelligent than one would expect for a parasitic worm.Although it cannot sense what is going on outside its host,it can interpret various physical signals from the host to get a basic idea—it knows when the host is in danger,when it is moving,fighting,eating,sleeping,and so forth.Dread helminths cannot speak or understand language,and they are always Unbound.

The dread helminth is not a native ofthis world,but instead a parasite brought here within another creature.It has lived here long enough to have adapted to the realm, however,and made itselfat home.Sages speculate that such adaptability may be a special ability ofthe creature,allowing it to propagate throughout any and all environments.Dread helminths are able to live on flesh normally anathema to other creatures,such as the substance ofan ooze or meat from a demon’s corpse.

A remove disease spell cast on the host ofa dread helminth slays the parasite ifthe caster can make a caster power check (DC 10 + the helminth’s Hit Dice + its Constitution bonus,DC 15 for an average specimen).There is a 10 percent chance,however,that,rather than slaying the helminth,the spell merely forces it to burst out ofthe living host (inflicting 6d6 points ofdamage) and leave it. Ofcourse,it immediately attacks any and all nearby creatures,including even the host.

Combat

Inside a host,the dread helminth attaches itselfto an inner cavity and feeds offfood the host eats or offthe host’s own flesh,ifit must.Its poison is such that it can make the host unaware ofits presence by numbing its nerves.While in the host,the helminth suffers no damage or ill effects experienced by its host until the host is dead. Outside ofits host,the creature uses its breath weapon on the first creature(s) it sees,and then moves in to attack with its bite,relying on the surprise ofits sudden appearance as it emerges.Ifnot attacking from within its host,it attempts to hide,sometimes within corpses,sometimes simply in the mud,to attack prey.Impatient and starving, however,it doesn’t wait long before moving to a new,hopefully more fruitful location.It can control the virulence of its venom,changing its numbing bite to one that induces complete paralysis.

Extremely hardy creatures,dread helminths prove resistant to all elements (air,earth,fire,and water resistance 5).

*Skills (Ex): The dread helminth gains a special +10 racial bonus to Sneak checks for determining whether a creature spots it as it emerges from its dead host.

Breath Weapon (Ex): The dread helminth can spray a 20foot cone offoul,greenish yellow vapor three times per day. Those within the area suffer 4d6 points ofacid damage.A Fortitude saving throw (DC 13) reduces the damage by half. The saving throw DC is Constitution based.

Poison (Ex): The dread helminth’s bite injects a numbing poison that simply renders the victim (usually the host) without feeling in a very localized portion ofits body. However,with but a thought,the helminth can change the dosage so that the victim must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 13) or face complete paralysis for 10 rounds.The saving throw DC is Constitution based.

Dread Helminth Encounter (EL 6)

The characters must transport a wagon holding a captive manticore—magically sedated and in chains—to a nearby city for a mysterious employer.On the way,they are attacked by another manticore swooping out ofthe sky.The beast menaces the PCs,but then—without warning— attacks its helpless mate.It feels it would be better to kill the other manticore than to let it go into captivity.The manticore attempts to use a coup de grace attack to slay the other.Ifit succeeds,however,it simply unleashes the dread helminth within it.Ifstill alive,the remaining manticore flees at that point,leaving the characters to deal with the freed parasite.The attacking manticore had no idea the dread helminth lay within its mate,and neither,most likely, did the PCs.It should be clear by now that the characters were actually transporting the helminth,not its manticore host.But why?

Ifthe group investigates,it turns out that their employer is in fact a madman intent on spreading the dread helminths wherever he can.He has a small fortress filled with unwilling and/or unwitting hosts.