Robert E.

Howard’s Worms of the Earth

The Worms of the Earth are a degenerate race, possibly devolved from the Serpent Men of Valusia,
or some other humanoid race. In the Hyborian Age they live in secluded areas in earthen domes. In
later ages they have been driven into caverns. They are the goblins, the boogeyman of Howard’s
worlds.
In general, their appearance is humanoid, around five feet tall. They appear to be partially serpent,
with mottled skin. They have shrunken, deformed bodies and large square heads with a broad face,
flat nose, slanted eyes, thin mouths, and pointed ears. Their hair is dirty and ropy. They dress in
animal hides, sometimes snake hides, and they carry flint weapons. They worship an old one and a
black stone, and they build altars of skulls or stone. Before going underground, they lived in earthen
domes with low doors, half in and half out of the ground. Tunnels connected the domes like an ant
hive​.
Particularly degenerate versions have venomous serpent fangs.

(​Note​: for human hybrids, the results of changelings, children bred from human and worm, use
the normal stats for a human of that type.)

Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower

9 7 7 9

Agility Brawn Coordination

9 7 7

Combat 1 Movement 2

Fortitude 1 Senses 1

Knowledge 0 Social 0

Stress & Soak

Attacks
• Flint Tipped Spear (M): Reach 3, 4[CD], 2H, Thrown
• Flint Mallet (M): Reach 2, 3[CD], 1H, Stun, Knockdown
• Serpent Bite (M): Range 1, 2[CD], Persistent 4, Unforgiving 1
• Gibbering Frenzy (T): Range C, 3[CD] mental, Stun

Special Abilities
• Fear 1
• Nightvision
• Frenzied swarm - If they knock an enemy prone, or Stun an enemy, they may use the Swift
Action spend for free, as long as they have not already used it.
• Children of the Night - If using darkness to stay hidden or set up an Exploit action or Ambush,
they gain 2 Bonus Momentum on movement tests.

Doom Spends
• Worms of the Earth - If they are encountered near their dome homes or a cavern system, 1
Doom can be spent to add 2 Minions to the scene, rather than the usual 1.

Sorcery
Toughened leaders may have the following spells:
• Horrific Truth - Near one of their stone or skull altars, they may cause a victim to see into the
Children’s past. This costs 4 Doom + 1 Doom per victim, and requires the victim to pass a D3
Discipline test or suffer 9 Resolve damage!
• Burrower Beneath - by spending Doom equal to the difficulty of casting Fury of the Elements
for Consequence (see Chapter 7, p.174-175) the leader may cause any of the effects desired
under the spell Fury of the Elements (p.185)
• Dead Servant - For 3 Doom the leader may raise up a Toughened Skeleton Warrior for one
day.
• Summon the God of the Black Stone - For a ritual human sacrifice and 5 Doom, the leader
may summon the God of the Black Stone. This ritual takes time, and requires the participation of
a group of the Worms of the Earth.

The Black Stone

The Black Stone is the Children of the Night’s link to their Patron. Therefore it is an idol of
worship for them, and without it they cannot use their magic. The stone takes several forms;
almost gem-like, a flat plate, a cube, and even a tall monolith. It is inscribed with characters in
the Aklo language. At times it gives off an unearthly greenish glow. They generally keep it on a
stone altar, or an altar made of human skulls, somewhere within their tunnels and caves.
If the stone is taken, the Worms of the Earth will do nearly anything to have it returned, including
making deals with the thief. Anyone making deals with them should beware treachery.

The God of the Black Stone (Horror, Nemesis)

The God of the Black Stone is a horror from the outer dark. It is an old one, worshipped by
horrid cults throughout the ages. It’s head often appears vaguely toad-like, but with draping
tentacles and an unstable, jelly-like outline. Some of it’s legs are like a toad, and some end in
hooves. It can sprout great wings. It’s large blinking eyes are horribly sinister, filled with malign
intellect.

Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower

10 9 6 10

Agility Brawn Coordination

8 14(3) 6

Combat 3 Movement 2

Fortitude 3 Senses 2

Knowledge 2 Social 0

Stress & Soak

Attack(s)
• Huge Maw (M): Reach 2, 9[CD], Vicious 2
• Tentacle (M): Reach 3, 9[CD], Knockdown
• Tittering Horror (T): Range C, 6[CD] mental, Area, Piercing 2

Special Ability(ies)
• Burrower Beneath - The creature can burrow through earth and stone with ease, creating
tunnels in the earth, or making foundations of structures unstable.
• Dread Creature 5
• Fear 3
• Flight
• Inured to Disease
• Inured to Fear
• Inured to Pain
• Inured to Poison
• Nightvision
• Unnatural Brawn 3
• Unnatural Movements - As long as it uses different attacks, Swift Action costs 0 Momentum.
• Patron - The god of the black stone will act as Patron to anyone who possesses the stone. It
can teach Atavistic Voyage, Fury of the Elements, Raise up the Dead, and Summon a Horror
(itself). The ​demand​ it requires is 5[CD] Resolve each upkeep, the horror of the sacrifices which
it requires. Also, the spell to summon it requires human sacrifice and eventual degeneration.
Summoning is a D3 Test.

Doom Spend(s)
• Elephantine Stomp - Against a prone opponent, the creature may spend 1 Doom to make the
following attack (in place of one of its other attacks). Reach 1, 9[CD], Intense, Piercing 2, Stun.
• Grasping Tentacles - The creature may spend 1 Doom to add Grappling Quality to its Huge
Maw or Tentacle attack for 1 turn.

Sorcery
The creature may cast Atavistic Voyage, Fury of the Elements, or Raise up the Dead by
spending Doom Points equal to the difficulty of the spell (it does not need to roll a test for the
casting).

Recommended Reading: ​Children of the Night, People of the Dark, Worms of the Earth, The
Valley of the Lost, The Thing on the Roof, The Black Stone, The Devil in Iron, Xuthal of the
Dusk

Blog Post #50 from my Rambling Conan Blog​ ( ​https://plus.google.com/collection/QtNwm​ )

Robert E Howard wrote several stories about degenerate snake people who lived under the earth
and were the source of the legends of goblins, dwarves, trolls, and elves. They were the little people
of legend who stole away children and sometimes adults. They are the original inhabitants of the
isles before the Picts, Celts, and Britons drove them underground.

In general, their appearance is humanoid, around five feet tall. They appear to be partially serpent,
with mottled skin. They have shrunken, deformed bodies and large square heads with a broad face,
flat nose, slanted eyes, thin mouths, and pointed ears. Their hair is dirty and ropy. They dress in
animal hides, sometimes snake hides, and they carry flint weapons. They worship an old one and a
black stone, and they build altars of skulls or stone. Before going underground, they lived in earthen
domes with low doors, half in and half out of the ground. Tunnels connected the domes like an ant
hive.

In ​Children of the Night​ we see them still living partly above ground, as the Picts and Aryans move
into their land. We also learn that there may be some of their bloodline still around, intermingled with
humans. In ​People of the Dark​ they are basically still in the same form, but now live in caves and
tunnels, and have become legend. We may also see the last of their kind in this story. Here they live
in “Dagon’s cave” and they worship a black stone on an altar. They are called Children of the Night
in this story as well, connecting them to the same beings from the story of that name (plus the
appearance is an exact match). In the Bran Mak Morn story ​Worms of the Earth​ they are firmly
planted in the Cthulhu Mythos, with mentions of R’lyeh and other Lovecraft elements. Here they also
worship a black stone, and everywhere they seem to live has the word “Dagon” as part of the title;
Dagon-Moor, Dagon’s Barrow, Dagon’s Mere, and Dagon’s Ring. They have devolved a bit more by
this point, having serpent’s venomous fangs and unwinking serpent’s eyes. There is a witch-woman
who may be part of their blood as well, as in Children of the night. There is also a story which may or
may not be connected titled ​The Valley of the Lost​ in which there is a subterranean devolved race
that is part serpent and worships a stone, although the stone is green-ish here and the things are
more devolved, having no ears, venomous fangs, and snouts. This may be another devolved step,
and if it is the same beings, then this story gives more of their background, describing a city in
prehistory that is overrun by barbarians, ultimately responsible for driving the intelligent inhabitants
to a devolved state.

Now my speculating begins. In the Conan story ​The Devil in Iron​ the city which Khosatral Khel
builds is called “Dagon”, founded on the island of Dagonia. He builds this city for the island’s original
human inhabitants, but ​” Strange and grisly were his servants, called from the dark corners of the
planet where grim survivals of forgotten ages yet lurked.”​ These servants could have been the
Children of the Night. Also, ​”His house in Dagon was connected with every other house by tunnels
through which his shaven-headed priests bore victims for the sacrifice.”​ Finally, when Conan kills
Khosatral Khel, he becomes some loathsome Lovecraftian being, and we know that the Children of
the Night worship some sort of old one, as well as the black stone.
If we want to further speculate, on a tangent, ​The Black Stone​ is a Robert E Howard story about a
black stone monolith in the mountains of Hungary. This black stone looks different than the one
worshipped in the Children of the Night tales, but this stone in Hungary was worshipped by inhuman
degenerate squat primitives, likened to a pre-Pict squat race. The original name of the site where the
village lies was Xuthltan, which is very similar to the city of Xuthal from the Conan story ​Xuthal of
the Dusk​; a city which is inhabited by a Lovecraftian toad-thing named Thog. The ancient god-thing
which was worshipped at the black stone of the story is also a toad-thing. Finally, in the story ​The
Thing on the Roof​, the Temple of the Toad is the home of the titles “Thing”, and ancient writing
there resembles writing found on a certain black stone monolith in Hungary.

It’s my opinion, or at least my fancy, that these are all interconnected. That the race of degenerate
underground dwellers (perhaps descended from the Serpent Men of Valusia) worship a black stone
and a toad-thing, and have some connection to the name Dagon, and that these at least have some
connection to the Hyborian Age.

If you have not already, do yourself a favor and read the stories mentioned in this post! Even if you
don’t agree with my speculating, you will enjoy the read.​

Blog Post #82 from my Rambling Conan Blog

Robert E Howard and HP Lovecraft were pen pals. They often argued on things like barbarism
vs civilization, etc. Robert E Howard wrote some horror stories in the shared Mythos universe of
Lovecraft, as did many other authors. Were the Conan stories part of that same Mythos
universe? Most certainly!
First, take the Conan stories themselves. _The Scarlet Citadel_ contains dungeon inhabitants
that certainly feel like Mythos beings. _The Tower of the Elephant’s_ Yag-Kosha is an alien with
a tentacle on it’s face, come from space with great “magic”. _Xuthal of the Dusk_ is a straight up
Mythos story, with a toad god thing named Thog that seems very much like an avatar of
Tsathoggua. _Pool of the Black One_ has an evil non-human race on an island, possibly
worshipping a Mythos being that lives in a pool. The title’s _The Devil in Iron_ Khosatral Khel is
some Lovecraftian horror from the void, who takes human form in iron, creates the city of
Dagon, and has “strange and grisly” servants who are called from “dark corners of the planet.”
The sorcerer’s in _The People of the Black Circle_ have tentacles for arms. In _A Witch Shall be
Born_ Salome worships a frog-like god-thing called Thaug, which she summons at the end, and
which is cut down by an army of archers. In the _Vale of Lost Women_ Conan kills a bat-thing
from the Outer Dark that he says are “thick as fleas” beyond this world.

Now, we expand out from the Conan stories to some of Howard’s other works. In the story _The
Black Stone_ the narrator learns that there is an ancient castle buried under the mountain of a
village that once worshipped a toad-thing, which was trapped and slain in a cave by Turks with
fire and blessed steel. This story contains Von Junzt’s tome Nameless Cults, which was one of
Howard’s great contributions to the Mythos. The toad-thing bears a very strong resemblance to
both Thog and Thaug.

The toad-thing and it’s black stone appear again in _The Thing on the Roof_ (one of my favorite
Howard horror stories). This story mentions both Nameless Cults and the Necronomicon, so it’s
definitely Mythos. The story is about the discovery of a Temple of the Toad in Honduras, and
the horrible toad-god-thing that still lies within. There is also mention of the same strange writing
that was found on a black stone in Hungary, which is of course from the story _The Black
Stone._

_The Children of the Night_ is a John Kirowan story by REH that features the Children of the
night, which are another of Howard’s greatest contributions to the Mythos. This Kirowan story
mentions Lovecraft’s own Call of Cthulhu, as well as Nameless Cults and the Necronomicon,
placing it firmly in the Mythos. Another great story, _People of the Dark_ , features these same
Children of the Night, who appear to be degenerate descendants of the Serpent Men of Valusia.
In this story, the Children worship a Black Stone. (Incidentally, this story also features a Dagon’s
Cave)

So, how does all this tie in to Conan’s Hyborian Age? Let me tell you…
_Worms of the Earth_ features the same Children of the Night that appear in the other two tales.
It also features the locations Dagon’s Moor, Dagon’s Barrow, Dagon’s Mere, and Dagon’s Ring.
It is a Bran Mak Morn story, which we know takes place in the same universe as Kull, because
Kull and Bran have an adventure together in one of the stories, _Kings of the Night._ It also
mentions R’lyeh, home of Cthulhu. We know Kull lived in the same universe as Conan, and this
connects all of the Children of the Night stories, which fall firmly in the Mythos, with the Hyborian
Age. The Worms of the Earth also worship a Black Stone, by the way.
Lovecraft’s own _Haunter of the Dark_ mentions the Serpent Men of Valusia, which are the
serpent men that devolve into the Children of the night, and also the serpent men from Kull’s
_The Shadow Kingdom._ Lovecraft’s _The Nameless City_ also mentions a pre-human serpent
like reptile race. All of this ties everything mentioned so far into one large connected universe.

The largest single piece of proof that all of these stories share a common universe, and that
universe is the same one which contains Lovecraft’s Mythos is the Kirowan story _The Haunter
of the Ring,_ in which Kirowan has to solve a mystery involving Thoth-Amon’s serpent ring of
Set. The ring isn’t named in the story, but it’s described, and Thoth-Amon is named. Kirowan is
directly connected to the Mythos and Thoth-Amon is directly connected to Kirowan. This ties
everything in a neat package.

These are certainly not the only evidence of Lovecraft Mythos in Conan’s world, but its the path
I chose to make my point. I’m a big fan of Howard’s Toad-god which appears in so many stories,
and The Black Stone and The Thing on the Roof are two of my favorite Howard horror stories.
They, together with my other favorites Worms of the Earth, Children of the Night, People of the
Dark, form a cycle of tales that are an awesome addition to the Mythos. (Valley of the Lost could
also be considered part of this cycle, and possibly The Little People as well.)

I personally think this grounding in the same uncaring and cosmic universe as the Mythos is part
of what set’s the Hyborian Age apart from your typical sword and sorcery setting. Most magic
feels like it contains in part some forgotten or alien technology. The demons of the world are
more like Lovecraft’s alien entities. Set, the old serpent, and the Giant and Monster-Kings are
probably the same entities that lived on pre-human earth in the Lovecraft stories. Epimetrius the
sage has probably been fighting for the very earth and humanity, just as many of Lovecraft’s
heroes, stemming the inevitable return of the old ones. Through all of this strides Conan, so
different from any of Lovecraft’s heroes. He fights a mind blasting god-thing, and comes away
with the words “You can’t fight a devil out of hell and come off with a whole skin!”