Wyrm (Fartherall)

Wyrms

Draagan the mighty. Draagan the invincible. Draagan the infinite. The source of all dragons is an unknowable god-being so great in scope and unfathomable in nature that even the most brilliant of its children can’t honestly claim to understand its goals, if indeed goals there be.

Just below Draagan in terms of might are the Dragon Monarchs. They are worshipped as gods and goddesses by the broods they spawn, and are powerful enough to grant the spells to back up such grand claims. Unfortunately for most everyone, the Dragon Monarchs often fancy themselves the proper god-sovereign of any land which they inhabit. Few humanoid races are willing to bend the knee of their own free will, and as powerful as the Monarchs and their lesser drakes are, they cannot be everywhere at once. Needs dictated that a lesser dragon race would be called for to keep the disparate humanoid races in check, and so were born the first wyrms.

Using their incredible magic to alter the properties of their own eggs, the Monarchs created a new form of life which would gestate quickly, be born in broods of twenty, and mature into able warriors even more quickly than orcs. Wyrms are born in clutches of ten to thirty, and are able to manage a sword by their second year. Despite this rapid rate of maturation, a wyrm has the potential to live up to 200 years.

Wyrms of different types are bred for different tasks, and are lethally effective in their destined fields of expertise. They are also pathologically incapable of pursuing any other goal, desiring only to become the greatest exemplar of their breed.

This controlled method of breeding created the perfect minions, and a Dragon Monarch’s ability to switch gender at will (coupled with the ability of their Consorts to also alter their genders accordingly) means that breeding rates and quality of stock can be monitored with incredibly scrutiny and, if needs be, adjusted with stunning speed. This perfect stock of chattel was disrupted once in the distant past when a mistake was bred. The Consort responsible for the anomaly was removed from the gene pool with all haste and prejudice, but the damage was done – free will had somehow polluted the wyrm gene pool.

Now, on rare occasion, a wyrm emerges from its egg with questions on its mind. As it grows, it will observe the brutal regime into which its been born with a growing sense of unease, for the different and impure aren’t tolerated once they make themselves known. These wyrms do what they can to keep pace with their clutch mates and not draw attention to themselves. Those who fail are either sent on suicide missions by their commanders or executed outright, but those who succeed will often be driven to escape shortly after their second birthday. The fact that this act of defiance is even possible sets their mind tumbling down even more dangerous paths, and it’s never long after that that they begin to question, doubt, and resent the claims of infallible divinity possessed by the Monarchs, as well as the absolute superiority of dragonkind.

Physical Description

A typical wyrm stands anywhere from six to eight feet tall, sports thick scales, claws, fangs, and a powerful tail. They grow no hair, but sometimes they decorate their horns and crests with various trinkets or marks of rank. In addition to these standard traits, wyrms tend to exhibit three other physical characteristics which set them apart from brood to brood.

They gain their coloration (and therefore resistance type) from their Monarch, and their build and crests from the Consort whose traits they were meant to emulate. Lastly, their coloration may take on mottling over time to match with the landscape where they primarily reside.

Wyrms have no gender, for the ability to create new life is fit only for the gods.

An exception to this rule, as ever, is the heretics. When away from wyrm society for several years, a bizarre phenomenon occurs in which they somehow develop a gender, and begin to exhibit traits, both physical and personal, that further distinguish them from their genderless clutch-mates. Furthermore, in the ultimate expression of heresy, these heretic wyrms develop and act upon the desire to breed with others of their kind, resulting in an unregulated draconic life which will share the coloration (and 1/2 of each resistance) of both parents. Any such heretic wyrm will be hunted even more zealously than their parents, as their very existence is an impossible blasphemy.

Society

Adherence to the dictates of the Monarch is the only law in Wyrm society. The only desire that they know is pleasing their progenitor, and a drastic reversal of a hundreds-year-old tradition would be received with open arms, as long as the decree came from their beloved god(dess).

A neighboring kingdom of wyrms may show up before an established kingdom of other humanoids is even fully aware of their existence, and this nightmare scenario almost always ends with a sudden and bloody war of conquest, the unfortunate survivors of which having only a short and brutal life of slavery to look forward to.

Heretic wyrms most typically resort to becoming hermits, as they are often chased far away from any established settlement of other humanoids.

Relations

Most wyrms look down on all races with equal measures of distaste, considering themselves to be the only true scions of greatness in whatever realm they happen to inhabit. This point of view only changes to hatred and furious indignation directed toward any race who successfully challenges their sense of invincibility. Anything other than absolute deference is treated as a blasphemy against the Monarch who created them, and there can be only one punishment for blasphemy.

The heretics fight against their natural draconic hubris, and do what they can to fit in among any civilized race who is willing to have them.

Alignment and Religion

Apart from the heretics, all wyrms worship the dragon monarchs as their gods, and many of the dragon monarchs in turn worship Draagan. As such their alignments tend toward NE and LE. Wyrm heretics, however, chafe under anything they perceive to be unjust or foolish, and so tend to be CG, and worship any god most closely in tune with their personal beliefs.

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