Bookwyrm

by The Fluffy Folio (Michael Habiger)

The Bookwyrm is a much-feared but also much-valued and cherished creature to the scholars, book collectors, merchants, and students of Ostelliach.
Bookwyrms are a cousin of dragons, dragonic serpent-like creatures that when young prioritize mimicry and when older prioritize hoarding, specifically books.

Bookworm (later modeleted into miniature by Dark Sword Miniatures) by Tony DiTerlizzi

Basic Information

Growth Rate & Stages

Eggs

Bookwyrm eggs are notoriously troublesome to detect, leading the species to be labeled pests. The eggs are roughly the size of a copper coin (~1 inch) and the clutches are distributed across a space to avoid centering the entire species in one nest. The eggs are a dark blue or grey and at a glance look like an ink blot or bubble of errant ink, leading them to often be overlooked by a messy mage or scholar without time to clean his desk. This is, of course, by design, as the eggs themselves are rather soft and easily broken if disturbed. The eggs hatch within a week of being laid.

Wyrmling

The wyrmling is a master of mimicry and in this larval-like stage prioritizes stealth and distribution, seeking once hatched a safe place to hide away. They begin as scraps of paper, detritus or lost shreds in a wastebasket. Over time, they grow to resemble scrolls, loose pages.
Wyrmlings do not develop to the next stage of life through age, but instead some unknown mechanism that signals they are ready to evolve (usually hypothesized to be due to reaching a secure place to begin a hoard). In fact, wyrmlings are by far the most common and they may live decades or even centuries in this "larval" stage, being shuffled from place to place, lost in books or sent as letters, spreading in search of the right place to grow...and, of course, munching books along the way.
Wyrmlings are generally very slow moving, but in this stage they do have the ability to "fly" (drift or hover, really) in the guise of a piece of paper on the wind.

Wyrm

Once past its wyrmling stage (usually thought to be when a hoard location is secured), the bookwyrm will evolve in an origami-like transformation where they no longer become flat. They swap mimicry and a poison bite for constriction and weight, targeting intruders with crushing coils of a serpent-like body. The wyrm develops stubby wings, but they are not functional at this stage. Though wyrms don't rely on poison like their wyrmling younger stage, the bite is still poisonous and the saliva is thought to be very corrosive to books and paper.

Adult Wyrm

Adult bookwyrms resemble their draconic cousins much more closely, including evolving a pair of wings capable of supporting the serpentine body. It continues to crush with its coils but also makes use of newly-formed claws. It's not truly known what causes a wyrm to transition to this phase, but scholars generally consider it to be related to age, rather than a goal (unlike its earlier stages). Adult wyrms are always found in proximity to a sizeable hoard of knowledge and are incredibly intelligent due to consuming this knowledge (literally and through reading). They are able to communicate and be negotiated with; there are stories of scholars bartering one rare tome for another with adult bookwyrms.

Ancient Wyrm

Few reports of Ancient Bookwyrms have been recorded and none have been particularly credible, leading scholars to wonder whether they simply are that good at mimicry or if the wyrm line does not follow typical draconic aging and there is no stage beyond the established adult. Certainly, they would be feared much like any other fully-ascended draconic creature but anything beyond this is speculation or lorecasting.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Knowledge! Typically scrolls, papyrus, and paper but there are reports of watching a bookwyrm digest a stone tablet like a boa constrictor with a heavy prey lumped in its gullet.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Bookwyrm poison is being researched, including as a way to reverse-engineer better ways to protect books or break them down for reduced waste.
In addition, bookwyrmlings are known to be incredible resources of lost knowledge, with their paper-like hides often used for notes, letters, diagrams, or journals in long-lost cultures, languages, or societies. As they get older, this knowledge is not lost with their hides, though they do often distort with growth (like stretch marks on their skin) and they are known to pick up knowledge from the books in their hoards as if ink-stained or tattooed.
Finally, scholars have more than once gone on journeys to find an established bookwyrm hoard to trade them for a rare book or tome, as bookwyrms have an innate sense for the juiciest knowledge to collect.
That said, bookwyrms do eat some of the knowledge they collect, so as important as they may be, they are also often seen as pests to be gotten rid of.

Average Intelligence

Bookwyrms are clever at least (as wyrmlings seeking to survive) and extremely intelligent as they grow older. The youngest forms can understand speech (typically starting with Draconic, though they pick up others depending on where they are located and what they hear/see) and as they get older they learn to speak, write, or otherwise communicate. They are not just sentient but sapient and can be powerful allies or enemies.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Bookwyrms are able to see in the dark, develop limited blindsight as they age, and are particularly good at Perception.

The Fluffy Folio (Michael Habiger)

Book Wyrmling CR: 1/2

Tiny monstrosity, draconic, lawful neutral

Armor Class: 14

Hit Points: 10

Speed: 10 ft , fly: 5 ft

STR

1 -5

DEX

18 +4

CON

10 +0

INT

5 -3

WIS

18 +4

CHA

4 -3

Skills:

• Perception: +6

• Stealth: +6

Damage Resistances: Poison

Condition Immunities: Poisoned

Senses:

• Darkvision: 30 ft.

• Passive Perception: 14

Languages: Draconic (understands, doesn't speak)

Challenge Rating: 1/2

• Marked for Death: A creature with at least one Poison Mark must make a DC 13 Con save each hour, taking 2d4 poison damage on a failed save (halved on success). On a success, creature loses one Poison Mark. Poison Marks may also be removed by typical antidotal means. A creature with 6 or more Poison Marks falls prone at the end of each of its turns.

Actions

• Bite: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. On hit, 1 piercing dmg. Target makes DC 13 Con saving throw, taking 2d4 poison damage on a failed save, or half on a success. On failure, target gains one Poison Mark.

Bonus Actions

• Paper Shaper: As a bonus action, the book wyrm can fold or unfold its body. When folded and remaining motionless, it is indistinguishable from a piece of paper.

Usual Tactics

A stealth hunter that lies in wait for extraordinarily long periods of time before seizing an opening. Relies on pack/swarm tactics to bring down larger prey.

A tiny wurm that is able to perfectly imitate a sheet of paper. Able to remain motionless for long periods of time, many are mistaken for looseleaf paper and used for notes, letters, or other documentation. Able to live for several centuries, the oldest Bookwyrms may be covered in long-dead script or bear forgotten knowledge.

Suggested Environments

Bookstores, libraries, archives, stationary stores.

Homebrew with inspiration from Fluffy Folio and 1D6Adventurers

Book Wyrm CR: 3

Medium monstrosity, draconic, lawful neutral

Armor Class: 17 (natural armor)

Hit Points: 70 (12d8)

Speed: 30 ft , climb: 30 ft

STR

16 +3

DEX

14 +2

CON

11 +0

INT

18 +4

WIS

12 +1

CHA

13 +1

Skills:

• Perception: +4

• Stealth: +2

Damage Resistances: Poison

Condition Immunities: Poisoned

Senses:

• Blindsight: 10 ft.

• Darkvision: 60 ft.

• Passive Perception: 13

Languages: Draconic, Common

Challenge Rating: 3

3/day:

• Silence. Casting Time: 1 action, range: 120 feet. Concentration, up to 10 minutes. Target: 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range. For the duration, no sound can be created within or pass through a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range. Any creature or object entirely inside the sphere is immune to thunder damage, and creatures are deafened while entirely inside it. Casting a spell that includes a verbal component is impossible there.

Actions

• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 2d6 + 4 piercing damage.

• Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 2d8 + 4 bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the creature is restrained, and the snake can't constrict another target.

Usual Tactics

The larger bookwyrm trades a mimic's deception for environmental cunning, climbing ceilings and flattening itself atop bookcases or on empty top shelves to ambush its prey from above. In addition, it has eschewed poison in favor of constricting its prey.

Suggested Environments

Bookstores, libraries, archives.

Scientific Name

Scholastia Serpentius Minor

Lifespan

Hundreds, if not thousands of years