Minhocão
Image © Traci Shepard, accessed at Arcane Beasts and Critters here
[By the standards of cryptids, the minhocão has a pedigree in legitimate science, first reported in Europe by famed botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire and later discussed in Nature Magazine. It was Saint-Hilaire’s opinion that the minhocão was a large undescribed species of lungfish, although not nearly as large as the 20-50 meter claims that sometimes get thrown around. Since then, different cryptozoologists have played pin the character on the animal, with Bernard Heuvelmans claiming it was a giant burrowing glyptodont (!) and Karl Shuker giving it a caecelian identity. It’s this latter one that shapes most existing artistic representations, and what I went with for my version.
What do I think? I think that there may well have been a lungfish at the heart of some of the reports, but it’s probably just misidentifications and folklore surrounding the anaconda.]
Minhocão CR 10 N Animal This creature looks something like an immense earthworm, except that earthworms do not have fang filled jaws, or short tentacles on the upper jaw. Its skin is leathery, and small scales are visible beneath the surface.
The minhocão, or giant caecilian, is an enormous burrowing amphibian found in poorly drained soils in warm environments. They are ambush hunters, preying on creatures both above and below the surface. Giant vermin are a favored prey, but if these are scarce, they will grab livestock, megafauna or even giants in their jaws and drag them below ground to devour. They are sometimes hunted by purple worms and other even stronger predators, but defend themselves with a hemolytic toxin in their skin. A creature that touches a minhocão with its bare hands (or worse, mouth) have their blood cells die, fluid accumulate under their skin, and eventually die of liver and kidney failure.
A minhocão is completely blind. Its eyes are covered by skin, and it senses the world with nostrils set on short tentacles and a powerful sense of vibration. They are typically solitary, but females are attentive parents. They grow extra layers of fatty skin along their bodies, which the juveniles eat, regrowing it and repeating the process several times before the young minhocãos are strong enough to hunt on their own. They prefer subtropical climes to tropical ones.
Minhocão as Animal Companions Starting Statistics: Size Medium; Speed 20 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 20 ft.; AC +3 natural armor; Attack bite (1d8); Ability Scores Str 12, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 13, Cha 8; Special Qualities blind, blindsight 7th-Level Advancement: Size Large; AC +3 natural armor; Attack bite (2d6); Ability Scores Str +8, Dex -2, Con +4; Special Qualities grab, toxic skin (Con based DC)
