Fireworm Abilities
Regular Fireworms
Fireworms are well-adapted for life on their volcanic island home. They are able to breathe in thick clouds of ash and toxic smoke without ill effect and are immune to all but the most intense heat - they can’t swim in lava, of course, but they can get very close to active eruptions without getting scorched. Although physically capable of swimming, most fireworms have an aversion to water and don’t like to be wet, and are often afraid of deep water.
The more notable ability of a fireworm is their ability to spit streams of “lava”, of varying colours depending on their diet and the chemicals they inhale in the air - by default, fireworm lava is usually orange, yellow, or red. This burning liquid is extremely painful on contact (with non-Fireworms) and dries into thin, glassy layers of an obsidian-like substance. When they use this ability, the gill-like vents that run along their nose and neck glow, allowing heat to vent out. A fireworm with blocked ‘fire gills’ or born without them runs the risk of cooking themself from the inside out if they overuse their abilities.
A fireworm’s vents run along their nose and down their throat. It exists as a way to vent out extra heat from use of their lava-spit abilities, and doesn’t serve as an offensive weapon; they cannot shoot lava or flame from them, and in cases where it does ‘leak’, it’s a sign of significant internal damage in the fireworm and impending death.
The more notable ability of a fireworm is their ability to spit streams of “lava”, of varying colours depending on their diet and the chemicals they inhale in the air - by default, fireworm lava is usually orange, yellow, or red. This burning liquid is extremely painful on contact (with non-Fireworms) and dries into thin, glassy layers of an obsidian-like substance. When they use this ability, the gill-like vents that run along their nose and neck glow, allowing heat to vent out. A fireworm with blocked ‘fire gills’ or born without them runs the risk of cooking themself from the inside out if they overuse their abilities.
A fireworm’s vents run along their nose and down their throat. It exists as a way to vent out extra heat from use of their lava-spit abilities, and doesn’t serve as an offensive weapon; they cannot shoot lava or flame from them, and in cases where it does ‘leak’, it’s a sign of significant internal damage in the fireworm and impending death.
Iceworms
Very rarely, a Fireworm hatches... different from its parents and clan. These 'Iceworms' are pale and cold, often sickly, and their parents abandon them at birth. It is hard for them to survive to adulthood; they are not suited to the heat of the tropical, volcanic island and are treated with hostility by most other fireworms. Some clans are more accepting, such as the Basalt Clan and Viper Clan, but generally speaking, most iceworms will live longer, happier lives away from the island of their birth.
Instead of spitting lava, iceworms are capable of exhaling gouts of icy mist that freezes everything it touches. They're capable of surviving almost impossibly cold temperatures and thrive in snowy places.
As with regular fireworms, iceworms are born with gill-like vents along their nose and down their necks to allow excess cold air and moisture to escape. These also face the same limitations and cannot spray out cold mist, although frost may form along the edges of their scales if they overuse their abilities.
Instead of spitting lava, iceworms are capable of exhaling gouts of icy mist that freezes everything it touches. They're capable of surviving almost impossibly cold temperatures and thrive in snowy places.
As with regular fireworms, iceworms are born with gill-like vents along their nose and down their necks to allow excess cold air and moisture to escape. These also face the same limitations and cannot spray out cold mist, although frost may form along the edges of their scales if they overuse their abilities.