The Worms Crawl in

[jjust4me]

Here is the original nursery rhyme-still creeps me out! With a few minor changes, it is very easily adaptable to AoW. If any of you creative DM's do so, please repost it, I'd like to see it.

Warning! Not for the squeamish!

The Worms Crawl In
Did you ever think, as a hearse goes by,
That you might be the next to die?
They wrap you up in a big white sheet,
And bury you down about six feet deep

They put you in a big black box,
And cover you up with dirt and rocks,
And all goes well, for about a week,
And then the coffin begins to leak!

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout.
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.

A great big worm with rolling eyes,
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes,
Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And pus pours out like whipping cream.

You spread it on a slice of bread,
And that's what worms eat when you're dead.

Alternate / Additional Lines:

They wrap you up in a long white shirt
And cover you up with rocks and dirt

They put you in a long pine box
And cover you over with dirt and rocks

The worms that crawl in are lean and thin
The worms that crawl out are fat and stout

Your eyes fall in and your hair falls out
Your brains come pouring out your snout

They use your bones as telephones
and call you up but you're no longer at home

Your eyes pop out, your teeth decay
and that's the end of a peaceful day

You turn the color of sickening green
And pus comes out like butter and cream
You wipe it up with a piece of bread
And that's what you eat when you are dead

They eat your eyes, they eat your nose
They eat the jelly between your toes

Your stomach turns a mossy green
And pus comes out like fresh whipped cream
You wipe it up with a piece of bread
And that's what you eat when you are dead

[Demiurge 1138]

Yeah, it's a good'un. It's been brought up before - the original thread is probably somewhere in the archives. All sorts of creepy possibilities with kids singing it in the streets of the Free City or excerpts turning up in Ebon Triad texts.

[Russell Jones]

I personally think that Prince Zeech should hear some little child singing it in the streets of Alhaster. She heard it from her sailor brother, and just repeated it not knowing any better. A lover of the strange and profane, Zeech then commands all children in the city learn the poem so it can be performed.... at his upcoming banquet :)

As the players move through the city in the week before the banquet they overhear snippets of verses as children follow them ghost-like through the town.