Haun

A haun was a large worm-like creature commanding psionic powers and dwelling on the arctic ice. Notoriously, they were parasites of the enormous slugs known as haundar, using them to travel across the ice outside their lairs.

Description
A haun resembled a giant maggot, fat and in length. It had a gray hide covered in fur with black or purple warts scattered across it. The face was small and hairless, instead being covered in a slimy substance, with two tiny black eyes and a mouth filled with serrated teeth. They considered to be filthy and foul.

To move, the haun's internal organs caused constant waves and swells, which were visible beneath the skin. These undulations and jelly-like jiggling propelled it forward at a slow slither. However, once every several minutes, it could compress its body and release it like a spring, leaping up to forward or  upward.

Abilities
Hauns could burrow through ice, which they used to make their tunnel lairs.

Uniquely, hauns possessed innate psionic powers, duplicating the effects of animate objects, inertial barrier, and telekinesis of the psychokinesis discipline and aversion (only to worms), contact, inflict pain, invisibility, mindlink, and repugnance of the telepathy discipline.

Combat
Due to their small size, a haun was unable to bite anything more than higher than it, but once in a battle they could use their springing leap to bite higher up. A favored tactic involved teamwork: one haun would creep behind a foe, and another would force them to fall backwards over it, whereupon both would bite them when they were down.

In any case, they preferred to stay out of melee combat altogether if they could help it. They used their psionics to become invisible, shielded themselves with an inertial barrier, used aversion to worms to discourage foes from attacking them, used inflict pain to harm them, and repugnance to get them to attack each other, while they tried to escape.

Most of all, they'd rather be riding inside their haundars for safety. They commanded these enormous slugs to crawl over and crush their foes.

Diet
Hauns were scavengers who fed on lichens and the decayed flesh of carcasses left by predators. They usually crawled through shallow ice tunnels in search of such carrion.

Personality
Hauns were highly intelligent, but chaotic in their habits with a tendency toward malicious evil. They planned ahead and employed cunning tactics. Each was aggressively independent, even among its own kind.

Society
Hauns lived in groups known as broods. The typical number of hauns in a brood is unknown, but two to five hauns were usually encountered at a time. Their independent natures meant they had no leaders; instead, short and sudden arguments among them produced consensus decisions about half the time.

Hauns had two means of communication. The main one was verbal, and they emitted chattering noises, clicks, faint hums, growls, pops, and snaps according to their mood. However, they could also communicate quietly via their mindlink power. They chatted among themselves constantly.

By burrowing through ice, hauns excavated networks of tunnels for their lairs. A large network could be home to several haun broods. These could sometimes link up with the lairs of haundar.

Lacking arms, hauns were unable to craft tools, goods, weapons, or armor of any form. However, they could use their psionic abilities to manipulate items and objects and even animate objects to do things for them. They could spin silk.

In particular, however, hauns parasitized the haundar. Upon locating one of these massive slugs, the haun brood got as close as possible and jumped onto its tail. Then they burrowed into its flesh and beneath its armor shell, hollowing out a chamber under the thickest part. As this area was largely fat, the haundar was little harmed. Inside, the hauns spun silk to seal openings, make cocoons for their warmth and comfort, and store food. They even cut small defensive slits into the shell and turned the haundar into a mobile fortress. Possessing such a haundar was a status symbol for a haun brood.

To control the haundar, hauns used their psionic powers to communicate with it, forcing it to understand that it must obey or suffer pain. To aid them in this, hauns sought the eggs of sha'az, as they contained a substance that deteriorated resistance to the haun's contact and mindlink powers. Once within a haundar, hauns injected the egg substance into the haundar's bloodstream, letting them easily make and maintain the necessary mindlink. One egg was effective for one week. After some years of this, the haundar became docile and fully submissive. Hauns were common parasites of haundar, and they restricted its natural migration patterns.

Naturally, the sha'az and hauns were traditional enemies. The sha'az also preyed on haundar.

When a haundar was unavailable, hauns were not above attacking humanoid settlements.

Lands
Hauns lived in the coldest and northernmost parts of the world, on the arctic glaciers and ice packs.

History
Barbarian tribes of the north and arctic dwarves both warned disgustedly of hauns, telling horror stories of the worms jumping from piles of wastes to bite the faces off their fellows.

Appearances

 * Book of Lairs