Sandwyrms—often called Sandwraiths by the wary desert folk—are colossal, subterranean wyrms native to the arid expanses of The Sands of Serrakhan and The Barren Badlands. Towering far above beasts of burden and even some lesser dragons, these burrowing leviathans are among the most feared natural predators in Osira. Lacking wings, yet imbued with uncanny subterranean awareness, they navigate the dunes like wraiths of the earth, striking with apocalyptic force when provoked.
Driven not by malice, but by attuned instincts, Sandwyrms are as likely to swallow an entire caravan in panic as they are to hunt one deliberately. The most experienced desert guides know: in the presence of the Sandwraith, stillness and silence are your only friends.
Origins & Habitat
Long speculated to be a divergent strain of the ancient Terran Drake of the Second Age, Sandwyrms have fully adapted to life in scorching deserts and eroded sandstone valleys. Over millennia, they’ve evolved hardened, sand-colored carapaces, giving them near-perfect camouflage amidst the dunes. These massive beasts make their lairs in deep ravines, collapsed chasms, or naturally formed sinkholes, where they establish brood caverns—networked tunnel hives in which hundreds of progeny are hatched from hardened, scale-armored eggs.
While they hunt and travel in solitude, mature Sandwyrms return to these caverns to spawn or during seismic migrations triggered by long droughts or excessive tremor disruptions. When this happens, entire dunes are known to collapse, creating “Wyrm Graves”—enormous, echoing cavities filled with the discarded scales and bones of both prey and rival wyrms.
Behavior & Physiology
Sandwyrms possess hyper-attuned tremorsense, detecting even the faintest footfall or metallic clang from miles beneath the earth. What sets them apart from other wyrms is their agitation threshold—they are not merely drawn by prey, but actively repelled or enraged by loud noise, metallic vibrations, or rhythmic motion, often attacking anything that breaks the “silence of the sands.” Entire caravans have been reduced to shattered timber beneath their jaws not out of hunger, but to quell disruptive sounds.
They are covered in armored, sand-blended scales, nearly impervious to blades, fire, and even arcane force. Their maws are massive, ringed with cascading sets of jagged teeth, each row designed to grind through stone, bone, and armor alike. Consuming boulders and compacted sandstone is a known behavior—used to aid in digestion and grind prey swallowed whole.
Sandwyrms are carnivorous, feeding on Taun herds, Drakkhid broods, and unfortunate travelers. They can go months without feeding, entering a dormant state beneath the surface until disturbed. However, they remain acutely aware of the world above, like coiled thunder beneath still sand.
Relationship with Civilization
While Sandwyrms avoid dense settlements like Shariz, there are recorded incidents of starving or old Wyrm wandering perilously close to city outposts in search of Taun herds or water-rich prey. Their rare appearances near civilization spark fear, often drawing monster hunters or Sunsteel Legion deployments.
To protect Shariz, the Runewrights devised Wyrm Wards—ancient psionic runestones embedded miles around the city. These wards emit a low, inaudible vibration that mimics a natural deterrent frequency to the Sandwyrms’ tremorsense, discouraging them from approaching. While effective, the wards must be maintained carefully—any lapse could bring death from below.
Notable Events & Legends
- The Deathly Dunes: A notorious event where three trade caravans and two Sun Guard patrols vanished overnight west of The Serrakhan Scar. Later excavation revealed a collapsed hive network and three (dead) juvenile Sandwyrms, one with a partially digested brass-plated helmet in its stomach.
- The Maw of Silence: An enormous skeletal Sandwyrm corpse near Karthage, hollowed and used as a temporary shrine by wandering Kroot. Its skull alone stretches thirty feet long.
- The Wyrm Hunt: One of the few recorded successful kills of a full-grown Sandwyrm by coordinated Order of the Flaming Sun monster hunters, Talyen, and a team of Runewright specialists. The beast’s skull was repurposed into a ceremonial gate in Shariz and its ribs formed into the structure of the sandstone walls that now surround the city.
Legacy
To the peoples of the desert, Sandwyrms are more than predators—they are the soul of the dunes, the consequence of arrogance in a land meant to be treaded lightly. Hunters speak of them in whispers. Wanderers leave offerings of succulent fruit and water atop sand cairns, not to appease gods, but to beg the silence of the sand.
If dragons rule the skies, then Sandwyrms rule what lies beneath—eternal, patient, and waiting.