By Professor Lewin Gaering, 4E 233
I welcome you, dearest reader, to the seventeenth volume of my ''modern'' bestiary. To those that have closely followed my work, I am grateful for your continued support in purchasing and reading these books, and to those that are new to my scribings, I hope the knowledge sealed within these covers, will enlighten and open your eyes to the fascinating world, that is Tamriel's rich fauna. I always like to include some background on my series, so if you are so inclined; Please move along to the next page, though I welcome you to linger upon this opening for a while and learn of my motivations, for dedicating many years of my life, to this extensive research project!
It all began of course, in the days of my childhood, which I spent on the road with my parents, who were both merchants by trade. Along our travels, I always found it terribly fascinating how different the animals and plants were, in all the places we visited. During moments of leisure, I often explored the areas surrounding our camp, turning over rocks and leafs, in search of strange new critters.
My childish fascination, transformed into a genuine interest as I grew older and when I came of age, rather than pursue the merchant's trade, I chose to join the scholars of Daggerfall, where I took up studies relating to biology and botany. It was two years later, that the idea of writing my own bestiary dawned upon me. Now, of course there already existed many such works and, as loyal readers will know, I have often quoted the great minds of Vesivius, Kanto and Runaberg to name just a few, however their books- while extensive, were written many decades or even centuries ago and I often found them outdated, making claims which have since been debunkeded by the scholarly community and lacking in information, discovered since their writing.
As such, I set out to 'modernize' the existing wealth of knowledge we possess, on the subjects of the animal and floral kingdoms.
(The book goes on for nine chapters, with detailed analysis of Hammerfellian dung beetles, Morrowind's sack-ticks, the horkers and sabre cats of Skyrim, with a few chapters on general discussion about various insects across Tamriel, and a chapter regarding the toxic plants of Summerset Isle.)
Chapter Ten
Animis Vermis
The tenth and final chapter of this volume of my bestiary, concerns a more unique specimen than most; The Animis Vermis or, ''Soul Worm''. These creatures are unique in that, they have only recently been discovered and are thought to be an entirely new species. Exciting!
The Animis Vermis, is known to be a black worm, resembling the Noxis Vermis of Morrowind when full grown. An average adult Animis Vermis, can grow up to a step in length, however they remain a mere cubit in thickness. The young of Animis Vermis, have the peculiar dimensions of extreme thinness and I have personally observed a specimen, which was no thicker than the silk of a common house spider. The Animis Vermis is thought to be sexless and they do not seem to breed in the traditional sense; Instead the Animis Vermis ''grows'' within soul gems (hence their naming). When one or more specimen are introduced to a soul gem, regardless of the gem's power, the Animis Vermis quickly burrow into the crystal and within days, will have drained it of all magickal energy – As well as rendering the soul gem inert and physically frail, as weak as glass. After another period of twelve to eighteen days, dozens of young Animis Vermis burst out of the soul gem and begin their hunt, for new gems with which to further their species.
Another strange and to some, rather dangerous characteristic of this creature, is its ability to, for lack of a better term, 'feed' on magicka. When an individual, Human, Mer or Beast, of any significant magickal potential is exposed to one or several Animis Vermis, the creatures go into a frenzy and, if physical contact is allowed, they will burrow into the individual's skin. This initial breach of flesh, does not appear to cause any pain, however within minutes the more horrendous effects take hold; The two unfortunate subjects I managed to study, who erronously came into contact with Animis Vermis, suffered greatly for several days. The first symptoms were bleeding from the nose, followed by the subjects complaining about itching all over their bodies. After ten or so minutes of an itching sensation, both began screaming in agony and it seems the Animis Vermis, causes extreme internal suffering. Pain, which one of the subjects equated to, ''being stabbed by a million knivess repeatedly, from the inside''. The effect caused by the Animis Vermis, seems equal to the magickal power of the infected host.
Fortunately, the sickness caused by the Animis Vermis does not appear to be lethal, as both of the aforementioned subjects survived. As they healed, however, they discovered to have completely lost their ability to manipulate magicka and, I am told that even after months of studying and training, they have not regained their abilities. To put it bluntly, the Animis Vermis appears to consume whatever physical componets within one's body, that are required to allow an individual to successfully control magickal elements. As is suggested by the effect these creatures have on soul gems, it seems as though they consume the spiritual side as well, somehow draining their host of all magicka flowing through their bodies and severing their connection, to the Aetherius.
In the name of scientific pursuit I, being a man of no magickal potential, exposed myself to a single specimen. The Animis Vermis burrowed into my body, through the skin of my forearm, however I did not suffer the same symptoms as the aforementioned subjects, whom were both expert level mages. Though I did experience mild nausea, that may have been a side-effect of my anxiety; My fear of suffering as my colleagues had done. In the end, to my fortune, the Animis Vermis exited my body ten days later, via a nosebleed it presumably caused, for the express purpose of leaving and seeking a new host.
It is these strange characteristics, that have given cause for the origins of the Animis Vermis to be brought into question. There exists a popular hypothesis among scholars, that the Animis Vermis did not enter into this world naturally, but rather as a result of a magickal experiment, most likely performed by a mage who found themselves to lack the skill, with which to control their creation and as such it was released to breed in the wild. I would like to think this result was quite uninentional and an accident, for if someone crafted these creatures by purpose, that individual's motivations must have been most sinister.
We did find in our research, that to neutralize, or at least inhibit the Animis Vermis' abilities, they should be entirely submerged in a special solution, for which the ingredients are listed below. They do not appear to require air to breathe and as such do not suffoc...
(The rest of the page has been torn off)
...has since issued a ban on the gathering of specimen, even for research purposes, citing its inherent dangers and in order to avoid its exposure, to the general populace. As it stands, I personally agree with their decision, as the implications of a disasterous outbreak of the Animis Vermis are, terrifying.
(What follows, is a brief closing statement, thanking the reader and promising the swift appearance of an eighteenth volume of the author's series.)