Slitherlings are a low order of su_permalink id=”31548″]Duathi[/su_permalink] that are even further devolved, and bred with animal bloodlines to produce a type of guard animal for their communities.
These creatures are covered with layers of skin for warmth, bulges of rubbery flesh, eyes embedded in them and dexterous stalks with eyes and appendages on them. Often appearing with multitudes of mouths, they yelp, drool, smack and growl but cannot communicate though obviously possess sentience beyond the primitive rough shapes they inhabit. Madness claims all of them eventually, though the normal Duathi seem to have a calming effect on their pets, and treat them as more than mere pets.
The moaning and hostile ‘dogs’ serve as a pack of animals that can be unleashed by Duathi to hunt prey and corner it. They most often corner and kill, but can be trained to run down, corner, and capture. They raise a great deal of noise, and the echoes off underground walls sound terrifying. They will have between three and six legs, and typically have a maw with teeth filed by their Duathi handlers.
The most common form of Slitherling is a worm like creature that inches or snakes along the ground. They make good sentinels, raising the alarm and capable of springing to attack nearby foes that must pass them to advance into caves and through tunnels that they guard. They mostly rely on sounds to alert other Duathi and attack to entangle around the legs or neck of targets.