The Book Worms have run the libraries of the wizards for
centuries, though few outside wizard circles have seen either these fountains
of wisdom or the book keepers themselves.
Even the sites of these libraries is disputed. Many say they are within hills such as Glastonbury
Tor and Silbury Hill. Others that they
were there but were moved to earthworks below the keeps of castles such as at
Dover. Yet more believe they were always
at such strongholds, citing Tintagel while some say they are in far more out of
the way, or even abandoned, places such as Skara Brae.
And that's just in Britain.
Arguments rage throughout the world as to where these libraries are; or
were.
What it is not disputed is the existence and history of the
librarians. They were created by magic
to do the bidding of the magical world and in that sense they are very much a
slave species. And, like the
Helfenschwein and the Orks, they do not care, only knowing how to get on with
life.
It was the work of the wizarding couple, Claire and Phillip
that created the race. They were part of
a group of wizards who had set up the very first wizarding library in the early
days of magic at a location that is still, of course, a closely guarded secret. Though wizards were still in their infancy,
they had already accrued a mass of literature that desperately needed a place
to live. The purpose of it was not just
to store all wizard texts, espeicially the oldest, most rare, sacred and
dangerous, but all also to keep a record of the wizard’s history.
These purposes they felt were too time-consuming for
themselves and, at the time, beyond the Helfenschwein, whom they saw as simple
home-help. And so Phillip and Claire
came up with the idea of taking worms from the ground and transforming them
into creatures designed to do the aforementioned tasks. The reasoning being that they could live in
the ground, out of the way of all life forms the wizards felt should not know
of these book safe houses.
They took five worms, enlarged them and gave them arms and
legs. This gave them a strange and
gangly appearance, their heads able to bend either forward or right over to
look down at humans. It also gave them a
tail that follows them around, forever dragging behind.
The Book Worms live close by their libraries in tunnels that
connect to a secret underground staff entrance.
Each has its own sand nest where it retreats each night to rest and
recuperate, living off the nutrients found in the soil that is fertilised from
above by wizards.
Each morning they go to the place their life is devoted to,
here socialising with other Book Worms, helping to build a strong team. While at work, they help wizards with
enquiries, conserve the manuscripts and, of course, write the wizard
chronicles.
Every library is said to have a small, separate staff who
devote their time to this. These
tireless folk pour over the wizard press, and call out for eye witness
testimony in order to write a full and unbiased account of the goings-on
outside.
Book Worms reproduce once in their lifetime. This occurs about three quarters of the way
through their life when they will lay an egg which they also fertilise. The rest of the Book Worm's life is then
partly devoted to training their offspring to replace them. As such the Book Worm population neither
meaningfully grows or depletes.
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