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Phase worms have the ability to change some solids into a special liquid state and then this liquid state into a gas state. Light will revert these states to solid upon contact.
Worm eggs are almost a meter in diameter. They are near perfect spheres and float like a balloon. Inside a baby phase worm about 8 centimeters hibernates. When light strikes the egg, it pops and the baby worm drops. Baby phase worms do much better at lower depths. When possible adult worms prefer to lay on the surface at night.
Four and a half meters wide and eighteen meters long when full grown, phase worms were a great feat of bioengineering by a brilliant alien race.
All the adult phase worms along with nearly all other life in Dross was wiped out during an ancient war. Humans stumbled upon a clutch of eggs floating at the top of a cavern. When they shined their lights upon them, the babies hatched. Stunned by the light, the humans were able to gather all of them.
After some time humans learned limited control over them using light commands. The worms became a vital part of making a home for humans.
Eventually another clutch of eggs were discovered and this time nearly half escaped into the wild. These wild ones would grow and breed, thus providing a lucrative hunting industry. No worm in captivity has ever laid an egg, even when full grown.
Their life span is unknown. They are hardy, but can be killed with lasers. In over six hundred years none of the original worms have died of natural causes, though they have slowed down this last century. It is thought that their phase crystals have a limited lifespan.
