Mysteries of the Phaerimm

Phaerimms, also known as magicgrubs and thornbacks, are conical in shape with ovoid heads, barbed teeth and a venomous hollow barb on the end of their tails. Their spiked, slug-shaped bodies are often a greenish color covered by rough, scaly, and leathery hides.
Phaerimms are malevolent, wholly evil and sadistic, and highly intelligent aberrations and natural spell-casters. They specialized in mind-controlling spells, which are so strong that they could control nearly any creature. They delight in bringing pain to others and would gladly erase all other beings from existence, save for the fact that they would lack slaves to torture for sport if they did so.
Their thought processes and values are wholly alien to us, however their inclination toward cruelty has the effect of making them somewhat predictable.

Biology

Phaerimms are carnivores, capturing mammals and reptiles, sentient or not, and holding them as slaves until slaughtered for consumption. Phaerimms must live in an area that has magic. This is a result of their unique digestive tract. Their stomach acid and intestines rely on the presence of magic to digest and absorb nutrients properly.
Their windbag-like bodies, do not have a skeleton and they always choose to fly unless prevented from doing so.
A phaerimm reproduces by injecting an egg into a victim with the stinger on its tail. The egg hatchs within the paralyzed victim, and the larva began consuming the host alive from the inside. The larva can be killed safely only with the casting of a cure disease spell.
Phaerimms are formidable opponents in melee combat. Their tail is strong enough to knock over most humanoids. The stinger at the end of the tail can inject a powerful venom into a target, causing paralysis. They use their four arms to great effect in combat. Each arm is able to wield a weapon independently. A common tactic used by phaerimms in combat is to simply grab an opponent to drag to their tooth-covered maws, delivering a usually fatal bite. Despite these many strengths, most phaerimms feel that physical combat is only a last resort, and to engage in it is to admit that their magic is too weak to deal with a threat.
Phaerimms are capable of seeing any astral, incorporeal, or invisible creature within 120 feet (37 meters). They are also able to see with darkvision to a distance of up to 160 feet (49 meters) away.

Magic

Phaerimm in Profile

Phaerimms are incredibly powerful spell-casters. Not only are they capable of casting far more spells than most mages, they have developed their own unique spells, which seem to be only usable by their species. They specialize in mind-controlling spells, which are so strong that they can control nearly any creature, including powerful ones such as beholders and mind flayers. A negative side-effect of phaerimm magic is that it drains moisture from the surrounding area. Extensive use of this magic leads to the creation of baren lands and deserts.
This powerful magic seems to be strictly an act of will and does not require spell components or incantations. Their magical studies focus mainly on altering spells cast by humanoids to be cast in such a way. This means silence and physical restratint is not a protection when facing them.
Phaerimms exhibit a degree of natural resistance to nearly all effects and spells. Additionally, they also have the natural ability to absorb or deflect any spell cast on them. Phaerimm have an inate sense that grants the ability to detect any magic.

Society

Phaerimms are solitary creatures but almost always live near other phaerimms. Both for protection and to gain pleasure from unleashing devious schemes on one another. They keep a enslaved creatures of all kinds.
Phaerimms communicate with one another non-verbally by varying the wind speeds around their bodies. The phaerimm language is so complex that efforts to comprehend it without complex magic have all failed. It sounds like the whispering of strange winds. They communicate with a form of telepathy when dealing with other sentients. Most no seem to understand several spoken languages.
When a group of phaerimms feel highly threatened, they form a WarGather at a strategically important location.
They do not maintain direct relations with non-phaerimm organizations or realms, but rely on magically-enslaved agents to do their bidding beyond their territory.
A new discovery is that Phaerimms have a particular hatred for tomb tappers, because of they are immune to phaerimm mind control.

Habitat

Phaerimms make their homes in fortified underground caves. These are defended by powerful magical traps, slaves, and spellfields. Strangely, they often have stored magical items and spellbooks in them. Most phaerimm live in the Buried Realms beneath Anauroch, but small groups have ben found elsewehere across the continent.

History

We have Phaerimms dated back to the Days of Thunder. The wizards of the sarrukh empire of Isstosseffifil battled the phaerimms, and although the Isstossef succeeded in driving the phaerimms deep into the Underdark, the massive ecological change resulting from their weavings of Art caused the Isstosseffifil empire to collapse.
At one point during the Founding Time, it is rumored that the Mhaurlok Expanse, an area of the Northdark where chaotic energy and primal forces ran wild, was created as a result of an ancient battle between the dwarves of Delzoun and the phaerimms.
The permanent magic drain spells began draining life energies, slowly killing everything within their sphere of effect. This is creating barren wastelands where there once were lush fields and areas of wild magic. Fortunately for us, the effects of the magic drain spell were visible. Near the largest flying cities, the land slowly began turning into a sandy desert. At first, our archwizards were unconcerned; they simply flew the city to a different place. As the “land’s plague” continued to follow the cities, however, the archwizards knew something was wrong. But in moving the cities around, the borders of the desert that would one day be known as Anauroch were established.
At first we did not realize the source of this plague. As it progressed, the archwizards slowly discerned an intelligence working against them: the phaerimm. The phaerimms had developed a powerful spell that drains the life from the land and our floating cities.
From time to time, powerful archwizards would create new, more-powerful spells, only to be suddenly attacked by a wave of magic-hurling phaerimm intent on their destruction. News of the phaerimm’s open attack against the Netherese was slow to spread, however, for the phaerimm seldom left survivors, and their magic blocked most divination attempts to discover the truth behind this or that archwizard’s disappearance.
The combined might of the magic drain and life drain spells caused quasimagical items to fail in the enclaves and tended to negate any other magical effect that wasn’t permanently imbued into an item by use of a permanency spell. Ioulaum’s longevity spell was another that frequently failed, causing the creature’s true age to rapidly catch up with it. Spells could still be cast with normal effects, however.
Some of our enclaves have been forced to flee for safer lands. These spells have brought down the floating cities of Lhaoda and Tith Tilendrothael. We have now developed wards against this type of attack and are setting them up in our other enclaves.
A few years ago, the arcanist Melathlar fled our lands to Illusk but his work in spell research to raise a great stone tower, walls, and powerful spellwards around the Netherese settlement there to protect it from the phaerimms gives us hope of combatting them. Though his particular solution required him to sacrifice his life to power it. This happened around the time the first recorded clash between the phaerimms and sharns occurred.