ORIGIN

They ask them: "What are you?" "Why are you in my head?"

They do not know the answer.

Perhaps we should dissect their psyche one part at a time:

What most outsiders see: A shriveled, mindless parasite. Thanks to their lack of vocal cords or any communicable features, without magic there's seemingly no thoughts behind their actions. Just a lesser following its lethal coding and nothing else. Verdant detest this.

What would have been: The rambunctious adventurer archetype to a T. Reckless. Sociable. Inquisitive of every last thing and full of a great wanderlust. They would've been awed by flora, if they could see it, but even more so by technology. The capability to invent things nature cannot reproduce and go beyond their base instincts seems like a surprising interest, but it's theirs. One day they wish to jump aboard a great ship and sail away to eternity. Verdant yearns for this.

What is: Everything above and more. Verdant dreams big but is stamped down by the fact they live in stasis. No eyes. No ears. Just a vague feeling of touch and the ability to sense chemicals. All they can do is eat, rest, and flop their body towards whatever senses more like food. Or so it seems.

Combatting this existential void is a form of synesthesia, albeit one unlike anything else. Each word, thought, and concept weaves together with touches, chemicals, and temperatures, forming a mosaic akin to the cosmos. Each host is a star, and they are the starkiller, traveling between them to eat their essence. That is their duty.

Verdant makes a game out of it sometimes. Seeing themselves as different from the "stars" they have no issue playing with their food. Perhaps they'll eat away everything from the vital bits to keep them alive as long as possible. Maybe they'll use a slurry of magic to hijack their body for their own. With enough time and practice, the worm can even masquerade as them entirely, acting a part towards other twinkling stars. They aren't evil, of course, and take no delight in suffering. They don't understand the stars suffer in the first place.

To those who somehow manage to befriend the parasite, or are perceived as "like them," the roundworm is surprisingly affable. They're friendly, adventurous, and surprisingly smart despite their 'bare-minimum' brain. They pick up spells easily and like to show their prowess off. Fungi magic's their favorite, but alas, their specialization is arcane. It's quite a surprise, then, when Verdant infects their friends or family without hesitation. What else did you expect? They are a starkiller, and always shall be. Forever.

Verdant shares a close bond with the living planet, and their anatomy makes it one of the few beings they can't infect.

Action. 'Thinking.' "Speaking, where possible."