Sea of Nightmares Creatures Guide - Basic Annelids

The Many is a massive hive mind entity plaguing the multiverse, from the depths of the ocean to the depths of outer space. What makes these beings especially dangerous is their ability to infect humans and other animals and transform them into part of their own being. While they have great psychic ability to hook up others to themselves, the usual way The Many multiply is with their Annelids.

Annelids are an artificial lifeform created by The Many and they come in several variants. Such Annelids are spawned from eggs made of organic matter converted into The Many's biomass. Some eggs are in fact not eggs at all, but traps designed to bait and kill enemies; these eggs explode into a mass of deadly toxic gas when approached or attacked.

Apart from these eggs, there are two basic types of Annelids spawned from eggs. The first type of Annelids are known as Grubs, and they are The Many's main method of infecting humans. True to their nickname, Grubs appear to be oversized worms with large maws. They're rather strong for a worm and can leap several meters into the air. Their strong teeth can tear flesh and bone, and they use these to bore into a human's body and connect to their brain, hooking it into The Many's hive mind and transforming it into a Hybrid.

The Many's other base Annelid, and a lesser known one, is the Swarm. This Annelid is considered a mass of flying, insect-like Annelids that mostly serve as the defenders for eggs. The "insects" in the Swarm in fact share a single mind, and they possess sharp teeth and legs that can easily tear flesh. The Swarms are also responsible for laying the eggs from which the Annelids hatch; they do so by converting excess flesh from corpses into biomass shaped into eggs.

While Annelids and their eggs are not a very big threat, The Many have over the years developed a much stronger form of their Annelid eggs, signatured by their red and black, volcanic-like texture, and nicknamed "Vulcanized eggs". These eggs are in fact variants of the three basic eggs, with the toxic ones releasing spores that hook their victims into The Many, rather than a toxin.  The hybrids born from these spores are much more powerful due to having their bodies pushed beyond their limit, are virtually invulnerable to conventional weaponry and have access to several plasmids. They are also able to regenerate at a rapid rate and can regrow limbs and even their head.

Vulcanized Grubs are longer, bigger Grubs with horns that are much stronger and more resilient than normal Grubs; they are also able to emit lava-hot poison into puddles, gas, sprays, streams, explosive bubbles, projectile needles or beams from above, which can phase through objects and teleport from one end of a room to the other, and they can burrow underground as well as swim in water and fly. Destroying a Vulcanized Grub is difficult due to their regeneration, which allows a Grub that was cut in two to turn into two whole Grubs. Through the same mechanism a Vulcanized Grub, rather than having to connect directly into a subject's brain, are able to inject part of itself into their brain, have it merge with the host by itself, and go on to infect more people. Once they grow large enough, Vulcanized Grubs can even store Hybrids and smaller Annelids inside their bodies.

Vulcanized Swarms contain larger quantities of insects that are also larger and more powerful, and even have the ability to assemble into formations such as large humanoids that can wield weapons and push back or pulverize organic matter with a shout. The insects have poison stingers that damage and weaken their victims and can use their Psionic powers to summon Hybrids. Like the Grubs, the insects in Vulcanized Swarms are able to project and fire poison, and individual insects can go far from the swarm and explode. They are also capable of rapidly multiplying and laying Vulcanized eggs.

While none of these Annelids are a matched foe with a sufficiently experienced Splicer, those basic creatures of The Many are among their weakest. The Hybrids spawned by the Annelids, along with other creatures they have hold of, are a much greater threat to anyone involved. However, Annelids, especially Vulcanized Annelids, can be and are a major threat to anyone who does not know enough about them. Those who proceed without caution may meet with a fate worse than death.