Hookworm

A blood-feeding hookworm latched onto the neck, sapping vitality and speed for CON -1 and SPD -1. When the host takes damage, SpawnThingOnDamage propagates hookworms onto the attacker, spreading the infestation across the battlefield with each hit received. In prolonged fights where the wearer takes repeated hits, Hookworm can gradually fill the enemy team with parasites — turning the host's role as a punching bag into an ongoing biological counter-attack.

The dual penalty of CON -1 and SPD -1 represents more cost than single-penalty spawn items like Lice or Scabies. The spread mechanic is identical — each hit triggers a hookworm spawn on the attacker — but the price is higher. On a cat with high base CON and SPD, losing 1 of each is manageable. On a cat already low in those stats, it can create a dangerous fragility and turn-order vulnerability.

Hookworm fits on the same tank archetype as Lice and Scabies — high-CON frontliners who absorb multiple hits per fight and want to spread parasites to attackers. The extra SPD penalty compared to Lice means Hookworm is slightly worse on cats where turn order matters. In multi-parasite builds that stack spread-on-damage items, Hookworm contributes to the infection chain while the tank absorbs the stat costs across multiple pieces.