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Many claim tales of the Aurivorous Worm to be mere myth and fabrication but my eyes have seen its sand-scoured scales gleaming in the harsh desert sun and my face has felt the heat of the nuclear fires which power its metabolism. Among the reasons the aurivorous worm often passes unseen, the chief is perhaps its size: tales in bars and taverns on the edge of the Forgotten Wastes tell of a beast the size of Windschooner. In reality, they seem to average a little over a foot in length with the females being slightly larger. Then of course, there is also their habitat. They dwell only near the atom-blasted wastes where the weapons of the ancients have left plentiful supplies of radioactive dust (consisting primarily of gold, uranium and other heavy elements) which is the worms' only form of sustenance. Given their remarkable diet, it is unsuprising that they need feed only once or twice each year. At these times small herds head deep into the impenetrable heart of the wastes, where presumably they also breed since when they emerge a few weeks later they are often accompanied by young. The scales of the aurivorous worm are plated with heavy metal alloys which serve both to protect worm from the harsh conditions of the deep waste and as a sort of plumage for attracting mates. In the youngest worms, the plating is little more than a sheet of gold leaf but it accrues throughout the worm's life, as used radioactive metals are secreted through the scales, reaching a thickness of some 3-4mm in the typical adult. Viewing a cross-section of a plate beneath a microscope reveals a fine ring structure, much like the rings of a tree. My hypothesis is that these correspond to successive feedings, with the slight variations in colour reflecting the different mixtures of metals present in the dust at the time. Recently the renowned Blatherskite Collection is said to have acquired a breeding pair. It remains to be seen how these remarkable beasts will fare in capitivity.
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