This dark red, man-sized creature looks like an upright-standing earthworm with a humanoid physiognomy. Where the head ought to be is a great circular maw ringed with teeth, while the creature’s four limb-like appendages end in deadly claws and maws. A great, richly colored robe swathes the creature.

Psurlon, Athasian

The segmented, earthworm-like body of the psurlon is covered by minute claw-like bristles, called setae, set all along its segmented length. Despite being invertebrates, they are capable of standing upright due to the rigidity of their ribbed segments. Psurlons possess four cylindrical rubbery limbs, with the upper appendages ending in black, talon-like claws and the lower limbs ending in toothed maws; both sets of limbs are capable of grasping and manipulation. The most prominent feature of a psurlon’s head is the large, circular maw filled with tooth-like protrusions. Their heads are completely devoid of sensory organs in the common sense of the term. Instead, psurlons have a small bump-like lobe above the maw called prostomium. The prostomium is actually a sensory device that gathers information about their environment. Most psurlons have a dark-red or red-violet body while others are muddy-green, but other colorations are not unheard of.

A psurlon typically stands 5 feet tall and weighs 170 pounds.

Psurlons speak their own language, which consists mainly of grunts and squeals, but prefer to communicate telepathically.

Combat

Psurlons disdain the use of armor and manufactured weapons, being supremely confident in their own natural abilities and powerful psionic abilities. While they prefer to avoid direct physical combat, psurlons are not afraid of rending their victims apart using their claws and teeth if they cannot avoid it. Psurlons’ most dangerous abilities, however, are their impressive psionic powers and their domination ability, allowing them to control unwitting pawns to fight for them, turning friends against friends, causing confusion, and seeding doubts in the hearts of everyone battling them.

Blindsight (Ex): Psurlons can ascertain all objects and creatures within 200 feet by nonvisual means. Psurlons do not need to make Listen or Spot checks to notice creatures within range of their blindsight.

Closed Psyche (Ex): Psurlons, with their unusual mental processes, are hard to influence and mentally detect. They are considered to be always under the effect of the personal mind blank power and have a +4 racial bonus on their Will saves.

Domination (Ps): This psionic attack has a range of 100 ft. A humanoid targeted by this ability must succeed on a DC 16 Will save or become under the mental control of the psurlon, as if affected by psionic dominate. The psurlon must stay concentrated to control the target. Only one target may be dominated at a time using this ability. The save DC is Charisma based. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level power.

Immunities (Ex): Psurlons are immune to compulsion and charm effects.

Psionics Powers: A psurlon manifests powers as a psion (telepath) of 7th level. The save DCs are Intelligence-based.
Typical Psion Powers Known (power points 60, save DC 14 + power level): 1st ― inertial armor, mind thrust (DC 15), *mindlink (DC 15), *demoralize (DC 15); 2nd ― *brain lock (DC 16), *id insinuation (DC 16), *inflict pain (DC 16), *read thoughts (DC 16), thought shield; 3rd ― dispel psionics, mind trap, psionic blast (DC 17); 4th ― *psionic dominate (DC 18), *psionic dimension door, schism.
*Powers can be augmented.

Telepathy (Su): A psurlon can communicate telepathically with any creature within 200 feet that has a language.

Psurlon Adept

Combat

The save DC for this psurlon adept’s domination (DC 26) is adjusted for its higher Charisma score. The psurlon adept uses its psionic powers to quickly dispatch its adversaries before they can even enter melee with it.

Typical Psion Powers Known (power points 204, save DC 17 + power level): 1st ― inertial armor, mind thrust (DC 19), *mindlink (DC 19), *demoralize (DC 19); 2nd ― *brain lock (DC 20), *id insinuation (DC 20), *inflict pain (DC 20), *read thoughts (DC 20), thought shield; 3rd ― dispel psionics, mind trap, psionic blast (DC 21); 4th ― *psionic dominate (DC 22), *psionic dimension door, schism; 5th ― adapt body, metaconcert, psionic plane shift, psychic crush (DC 23); 6th ― *psionic contingency, co-opt concentration, psionic overland flight.
*Powers can be augmented.

Possessions: Metapsionic damaru (Empower), *psionatrix of telepathy, third eye concentrate, skin of the hero, torc of power preservation. (*From Athasian Emporium. Benefits of these items are included in the statistics block. Different psurlon adepts may have different possessions)

Psurlon Society

A psurlon community on the Astral Plane consists of 20-200 (2d10 x 10) psurlons, with young numbering a quarter of the population. Psurlon communities are usually led by a psurlon adept possessing much stronger psionic abilities than the average psurlon. Psurlons are hermaphroditic creatures.

The homeworld of the psurlons is unknown, but is thought to have been destroyed by the psurlons themselves thousands of years ago. At the height of their evolution, psurlons, in their eternal quest for knowledge and power, devised a means to psychically link up with all psurlons throughout their world. When the moment came, all psurlons across linked up and sent forth their psychic energy. But the psurlons did not realize that the fabric of the Prime Material Plane could not contain such a psychic force - a planar rift tore open and all the surviving psurlons were sucked into the Astral Plane. The force that pulled them into the Astral Plane was so great that each of the psurlons was knocked into a catatonic state for a period of 100 years. When the psurlons awoke from this state, the rift had long since repaired itself and the psurlons were trapped with no way back to their home world or any other place on the Prime Material Plane. The fabric of the Astral Plane seems to be much stronger than that of the Prime, for the psurlons could not conjure up another massive convergence like the one that caused their entrapment. Over the centuries, the psurlons have lost the ability to conjure up the convergence but their determination to find a world that could accept their potentially abusive use of psionics has only grown.

Some two-hundred years ago, during the year of Enemy’s Defiance in the 187th King’s Age, the first psurlon came to Athas - summoned by a psion. The psion had taken notice of the psurlon and wanted the greater psionic knowledge possessed by the creature. The infuriated psurlon quickly dispatched its summoner and set forth to explore this new, psionically-rich world. It never returned to its ancient home, and its fate is still unknown to this day. Since then, many have sought knowledge from the psurlons, but the price for it is often quite high and it often results in the death of the summoning psion. Many times after summoning a psurlon and gaining its knowledge, the summoner will attempt to slay it or send it back to the Astral Plane without paying their due. They soon learn, however, that psurlons never forget a broken deal, often tracking the summoner down and extracting their due payment. Today, psurlons having chosen to stay on Athas sometimes take on acolytes - the so-called scions of the worm - to help them achieve their dreams of conquest and subjugation. The psurlons have realized the psionic potential that Athas can attain and dream of using it to further their own agendas, perhaps even reattempting the convergence that exiled them to the Astral millenia ago.

Like most intelligent predators, psurlons are usually at the top of the food chain. Psurlons normally feed on the flesh of other creatures, preferably that of other sentient races; they especially like the flesh of halflings and humans. Psurlons seem to be something of a delicacy to Athasian rocs. This of course causes psurlons to react poorly whenever one of these great birds of prey is in the area.

Psurlons have an average life span of 1,500 years.

Psurlons as characters

Most psurlons with class levels are psions. Psurlons characters possess the following racial traits.

• +4 Constitution, +8 Intelligence, +8 Wisdom, +6 Charisma.
• A psurlon’s base speed is 20 feet.
• Blindsight out to 200 feet.
• Racial Hit Dice: A psurlon begins with seven levels of aberration, which provide 7d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +5, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +2, Ref +2, and Will +5.
• Racial Skills: A psurlon’s aberration levels give it skill points equal to 10 X (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Heal, Hide, Knowledge (the planes and psionic), Psicraft, Sense Motive, and Use Psionic Device.
• Racial Feats: A psurlon’s aberration levels give it three feats.
• +6 natural armor bonus.
• Natural Weapons: 2 claws (1d6) and bite (2d6)
• Special Attacks (see above): Domination, Psionic powers. A psurlon who takes level in psion adds its racial manifesting ability and psion levels together to determine its power points reserve, manifester level, and powers known.
• Special Qualities (see above): Closed psyche, damage reduction 5/magic, immunities, power resistance 18 + class level, telepathy 200 ft.
• Automatic Languages: Psurlon. Bonus Languages: Common
• Favored Class: Psion (telepath)
• Level adjustment: +7

Suhr-elon

This foot-long creature looks like a dark-red, bloated worm with a circular fang-filled mouth at one of its body. Suhr-elons are the ultimate expression of the psurlons’ mastery of psionics and flesh-grafting. Created as a means to covertly control and influence the inhabitants of Athas, these free-willed, parasitic creatures resemble tubular, segmented worms with round, fang-filled maws. The suhr-elons use their powerful intellects to further the goals of their foul psurlon masters, bending the minds of their hosts to their will and readying Athas for eventual conquest. A suhr-elon is about 1 foot long and weighs about 5 pounds. Suhr-elons can communicate between themselves using grunts and squeals, but they prefer communicating telepathically. They also have an innate understanding of the Psurlon language.

Combat

Suhr-elon hide and wait until they can attack their prey by surprise. Once they attach to their host, they immediately begin using their subjugate ability to influence their host and convince them of the benefits of their presence.

Attach (Ex): A suhr-elon that hits with its bite attack latches onto the opponent’s body with its powerful jaws. An attached suhr-elon loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and thus has an AC of 14. An attached suhr-elon can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached suhr-elon through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the creature.

Blindsight (Ex): Suhr-elon can ascertain all objects and creatures by nonvisual means within 50 feet. The suhr-elon do not need to make Listen or Spot checks to notice creatures within range of their blindsight.

Free Will (Ex): The suhr-elon were specially created to be able to make their own decisions in using their host to further their masters’ will. As such, even while created originally as life-shaped creatures, they have the potential to advance in a character class of their choice.

Psi-like Abilities: At will - conceal thoughts, telempathic projection (DC 13); 3/day - cloud mind (DC 13). Manifester level 2nd. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Subjugate (Ps): Once a suhr-elon attaches itself to a host, it begins to influence the host’s actions and decisions in accordance to the instructions given to it by its master. For all the time a suhr-elon is attached, the host is subject to the effect of a continual psionic suggestion. So long as the suhr-elon remains attached to its victim, the psionic suggestion cannot be resisted, even if a check would normally indicate that the effect is broken.

Telepathy (Su): A suhr-elon can communicate telepathically with any creature within 50 feet that has a language.