CRUSHER FANGS The very large, thick teeth located throughout the mouth of the Nydus Worm primarily serve as digging tools. Each fang is connected to a set of powerful muscles, which vibrate at hypersonic speeds in order to crush soil, rocks and everything in between. Eventually—mainly due to friction—the worm’s teeth wear down. Once a tooth becomes useless, it is ejected and a new one grows from the muscle itself in a matter of seconds. LATCHING SPIKES These gigantic spikes protract from the body of the Nydus Worm when it emerges, stabilizing the creature and supporting its weight while the Swarm advances from the depths of the Nydus Network onto its target area. CHEMICAL RECEPTORS Nydus Worms are specialized lifeforms that have no brains of their own; only a simple array of organs that react to peristaltic motion and chemical stimuli from the Nydus Network. This array allows the creature to navigate through difficult or rough terrain, and also helps regulate its biological functions. The Nydus Worm is merely an extension of the Nydus Network, and the latter is an extension of the Swarm itself. TISSUE REPLICATION To transport the Swarm’s land creatures across any battlefield or landmass, the Nydus Worm can stretch indefinitely through on-demand tissue generation. Ever-connected to the Nydus Network—a central structure that provides the required nourishment—the worm expands and replicates its cells at a simple command to cover the distance to its target. Surplus tissue is reassimilated once the worm returns to the Network. CREEP GLANDS Nydus Worms generate tons of detritus, but they dispose of them in a rather efficient way. First, the crushed rock and soil is covered with a strain of corrosive creep secreted by glands located around the creature’s large maw. Once it liquefies, the detritus trickles down into twin passages that transfer it to a specialized layer under the epidermis, improving the weight distribution of the tunnels they support with their skin and ribs.