| Other Names | None |
| Climate/Terrain | Desert |
| Frequency | Uncommon |
| Organization | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Diurnal |
| Diet | Omnivore |
The sand worm is a long, thick bodied worm adapted to the sands of the desert. It has a hard shell like beak which it uses to push sand out of the way. Hundreds of small fin shaped muscles protrude through the thick, wrinkled leathery tan hide of the beast. It has no visible organs at all. A typical sandworm is about 7-8 meters long, 1-2 meter in diameter and can weigh up to 2000 kilograms (4400 pounds).
The favorite tactic of this worm is to lunge out of the sand from underfoot, grab and withdraw, pulling the creature into the sand where it cannot fight. This usually only works on creatures that weight less than 50 kilograms.
In Ithria, sandworms are found only in the Baen Desert. Sand worms are solarity creatures and are only encountered in the deep desert. Sand worms and baenites often hunt each other.
The fin shaped protrusions are actually muscles with many nerves. These muscles push against the sand and allow the sand worm to tunnel underneath the dunes with great speed. It moves quickly and leaves no tunnel behind it, but when traveling near the surface, it does create a wake. The Ithrian sand worm has no sensory organs except the fins. These fins are very sensitive to vibration. It uses these fins to located movement on the surface which indicates potential prey. It can also "hear" with the fins when above ground. It is totally blind and immune to all visual attacks. The diet of the sand worm consists of desert flora and small desert animals.
There is a much larger variety of sandworm in the Great Ahtabi Desert of Qeshir. It is three meters in diameter and almost 15 meters long. The Qeshiran variety also has a distinctive head and numerous eyes on both sides of the head. Otherwise, it seems to be similar to the Ithrian variety. It is speculated that the Qeshiran sand worm has eyes because it spends much more time on the surface than its Ithria cousin.
This website was last updated February 29, 2024. Copyright 1990-2024 David M. Roomes.