Wurms
Wurms are essentially giant burrowing snakes that breath fire. They bear a striking resemblance to dragons, too much of a resemblance for it to be it to be coincidental.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Wurms are as large as the largest dragons, or even bigger, at least in length and mass.
Biological Traits
Wurms have the heads of dragons and the bodies of giant snakes. Some wurms have very weak vestigial limbs and others have no limbs.
Wurms do not have wings and cannot fly but they can burrow underground and tunnel with supernatural ease. Note, some dragons have a similar burrowing ability but not many, and none of them are as fast and efficient at tunneling as wurms.
A few witnesses of wurms familiar with the Draconic language claim to have heard barely intelligible words in their bestial roars. Never full sentences though. Wurms commonly roar something that vaguely sounds like "FOOOOOODDDD!!!!" before attacking.
Some surviving witnesses to a particularly violent pair of wurms claim to have heard "MAAAATTEEEEE!" and "NEEEEESSSSTTT".
Genetics and Reproduction
There have been reports of adventurers claiming to witness wurms protecting nests that look like dragon nests but these reports are sketchy at best.
Growth Rate & Stages
Smaller wurms have been witnessed but the growth rate and maximum life expecatancy of wurms is unknown.
Ecology and Habitats
Wurms are very much burrowers and tunnelers.
Some wurms live exclusively in Scarnoctis while others burrow relatively close to the surface to hunt prey on Scarterra.
Wurms can tunnel through solid stone, but not very fast. Most seem to prefer to dwell in areas with relatively soft soil. In the Great Colassian Tundra, wurms seem to have no problems at all tunneling in and through deep snow.
Dietary Needs and Habits
The second theory is that wurms can derive sustenance from the earth and only need periodicThe first theory is that wurms exclusively eat meat, but they have relatively low metabolisms plus a strong hibernation cycle, so they don't have to eat often. The second theory is that wurms derive sustenance from the earth. Like the common earth worms, worms tunnel through the earth by eating the earth and excrete broken down soil behind them. It's possible they derive some nutrients from the soil when they do this. To be healthy, they need to supplement their daily earthen diet with meat periodically. Both theories are compatible with the idea that they need lots of fresh meat to reproduce. Usually wurms are spotted singly, but when two wurms are witnessed in the same place, the pair will eat far more than twice as much as a single wurm. Wurms seemingly reproduce sexually, but whether they reproduce in the same manner as true dragons with males and females laying eggs or if they reproduce in the manner of worms or snails instead remains unknown. As dangerous as it is to study a single wurm, no sane naturalist would get near a pair of wurms."-Blaprur, gnome sageby me with Hero Forge"We don't know a lot of details about the digestive systems of wurms because studying them closely is obviously dangerous. Most of our information about wurms comes from ancient legends and the startled testimony of terrified survivors. Wurms have prodigous appetites and been known to eat whole herds of livestock (plus the shepherds) but they can seemingly fast a long time between meals. There are two theories as to the dietary needs of wurms.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The teeth of a wurm are just as sharp as dragon teeth and they are more durable, a neccessity for creatures that chew on rocks..
The teeth of wurms are valued for trophies and ceremonial spear heads.
Average Intelligence
Wurms look like dragons but they lack a dragon's intellect.
Scholars disagree on whether wurms are on the extremely low end of mortal intelligence or on the extreme high end of beasts.
The debate between "clever beasts" or "dim mortals" will not likely be resolved soon because getting close to a wurm to study it's behavior is difficult and extremely dangerous.
They are certainly smart enough to create and navigate complex webs of tunnels to speed up their travel, protect their nests, and ambush prey.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Wurms have weak eyes compared to dragons but reasonably sharp eyes compared to most other living creatures.
Their olfactory capabilities seem to be on par with dragons or even slightly better.
Their primary senses is hearing and touch which are linked to them. They can sense obstacles, threats, and prey by feeling tremors in the soil.
Civilization and Culture
History
The first is that the goddess Greymoria created wurms to fight and kill dragons (like she has done with many other creatures) and she made them physically resemble dragons in order to add insult to injury, like with kobolds. If this is the case, like most of Greymoria's so-called dragon killers, they had a low success rate. Wurms have the raw physical might to defeat a dragon, but very few dragons have died at the teeth of wurms. A dragon that finds himself in a losing fight with a wurm can usually fly away. And wurms cannot beat a dragon in a battle of wits, but they can surprise a dragon by dumb luck. If a dragon ventures into Scarnoctis for whatever reason, wurms are probably one of few things that can seriously threaten a dragon because our wings do very little good underground and underground, wurms are the faster ones. The second theory is that wurms are the descendants of a fallen kingdom of dragons. Much like how human degeneracy has led to some humans becoming ogres and elven degeneracy has led to some elves becoming skopen. In other words, it believed that a kingdom of dragons got lost in gluttony, perversion, and sloth that they devolved into a lower being and passed their lowly state to their descendants. I believe the second theory is truthful but not accurate. In other words, I think dragons turning into wurms is a metaphor, not an historical account. I believe the ancient dragons of the First Age in their greed and hubris brought their mighty kingdoms low and ultimately paved the way for the First Unmaking. Along similar lines, many powerful humans have been brought low by their own vices without morphing into degenerate mutants. Speaking of vices, as much as I hate to give credit to Fremiss, he has an intriguing idea. He once said that the two theories for the origins of wurms are not mutually exclusive. The first wurms could have been degenerate dragons that were altered by Greymoria out of spite"-Gorisonad the Wise, famous dragonKovenoth AI Headshot by me with Midjourney"Anyone who has had a good look at dragon and a wurm will state that they look similar, especially in how their heads look. We dragons are of noble bearing and wurms are abhorrent in appearance and deed. We dragons graceful flyers and wurms crawl on their bellies like a snake and eat dirt like a worm. We dragons are wise and clever beyond all but the Nine themselves and wurms are snarling beasts. Wurms are mockeries of what dragons are, and this has led to two theories for how wurms have come to be.
An entry for Spooktober 2024
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
A few brightly colored wurms have been witnessed but the majority of wurms have scale patterns that help blend in with their predominant environments. Some are reputed to be able to change color with the seasons, turning white in the winter, green in the spring, and brown in the autumn.
Curiously, the brighter colored wurms are more likely to have vestigial limbs than the more earth toned wurms.
Geographic Distribution
Comments