American Gate

Chapter 11: The Wraith And The Demon

Worldbuilding: Fauna

Sandwyrm

A large carnivorous worm-like creature that burrows through the sand of deserts. It can grow up to 1 meter in diameter and 20 meters in length. It often waits for prey to come nearby and then abushes it by swallowing it whole from below the sand.

Crawlers

Large spider-like creatures the size of a grizzly bear with eight legs, sharp pinchers, and a deadly mandible. Crawlers travel in swarms and consume any animal or person unable to outrun them.

Desert Crawlers

The desert subspecies of the crawler is much less ravenous than regular crawlers; There is not enough food or water in deserts to sustain large swarms of them. Instead, they are rather solitary creatures. Without their swarming instincts, desert crawlers are much less aggressive to intelligent life and can even be tamed.

Trolls

Big, dumb and very strong bipedal creatures capable of using logs as clubs. They are just barely intelligent enough to be given armor and follow rudimentary commands, although their discipline is nonexistent. They aren't quite smart enough to tell who is the enemy and who is not on a battlefield, especially if they are panicked. Using them in an army always carries the risk of them turning on a general's own troops.

Alpha Trolls

Bigger, dumber and stronger than their cousins, alpha trolls are nothing more than animals. They are large and tall bipedal carnivores with huge long arms and big tooth-filled mouths. When one of them stumbles upon a settlement they usually consume the inhabitants.

Scorpyons

Large scorpion-like creatures the size of a horse that can be found in arid regions. They hunt in groups of two to four but have rarely been seen in groups as large as six individuals. Their venom is a highly potent neurotoxin that can paralyze animals as large as dragons with a single sting.

Yeti

A large bipedal primate with thick white fur that lives in cold snowy forests and mountains. They are highly solitary creatures that prefer to avoid contact with people and other animals as much as possible. However, if angered, a yeti can be a fearsome opponent.

Blood worm

Blood worms are large carnivorous worms that live in swamps, bogs, and mycelial forests. They wait in muddy areas until an unfortunate animal crosses their path. Then the blood worm's mouth unfurls out of its body, shooting towards its prey, biting it, and injecting paralyzing venom. They can grow to be several meters long.

Acid worm

A relative of the blood worm, but with completely different internal biological processes. The acid worm waits in acid springs for unlucky victims. Then, it attacks its prey similar to the blood worm. However, the acid worm is not venomous. Instead, it drags its prey into its acidic home, where the unfortunate person or animal suffers a most painful death before being devoured. Their unusual variation of blood worm biology could possibly be the result of REDACTED.

Spider hog

Spider hogs have eight insect-like legs and the upper body of a warthog with large, dangerous tusks. Their preferred prey are other small creatures or occasionally a lone larger animal. Spider hogs live and hunt in groups of 8 to 15 members with behavior similar to a pack of wolves. Their abnormal biology is possibly the result of REDACTED.

Pincherpede

Pincherpedes are long and flat centipedes, up to a meter long, with two powerful pinchers at the front of their body. They primarily feed on decomposing biomass, but will occasionally attack small animals. They usually live in areas with high biodiversity.