Zern

A cave-dwelling race of the Abelion Hills, with an upper body like a long-armed eel and a lower body like an indigo maggot; considered demi-human but actually heteromorphic.
- They feed mainly on the bodily fluids of creatures, living or dead.
- Almost all are female, with males becoming royalty; they lay eggs, and females may change sex if the tribe's males disappear.
- Royalty (Zern Lords) look different: big maggots with parapodia.
- Because magic that only affects demi-humans works on them, both those around them and the Zern themselves mistake them for demi-humans.
- Their color perception differs from humans'; they see gold as "dusky".
- Individuals are told apart by differences in the sheen of their bodies (12-378); the Zern King appears at 13-559
- The similar-looking, moss-eating "Pandex" are also treated as demi-humans and may likewise be heteromorphs (13-413)
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