Awesome. I love this. I've always felt like taking the sculpture as a literal representation of the thing is the least interesting and I love seeing alternate interpretations like this, as rare as they are.

I would like to lie down in the Zone and be absorbed into the ground

Hey. Give the man credit where credit is due. He also made the worst Quake maps.

one more thing about the Worminger Arc™ then I'll shut up I swear. It also reminds me a lot of Mines of Behemoth (one of my fave Nifft stories) in that it goes over detailed care of creatures in a fantastical trade. Obviously Nifft owes a lot to Cugel but I found this link particularly strong.

Also Cugel becoming good at being a worminger through sheer laziness is an interesting turn of events for a character who is usually willing to sabotage a situation to get out of it.

The part of the book where Cugel gets roped into being a worminger is hilarious and I assume has to be inspired by events in Vance's time in the merchant marines. Parts of it feel way too real.

I got to paint Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser once...