Jormungandr (Your-moon-gahn-der)
Racial Magic
First Ability
Beranok's Charge
Second Ability
Malok's Aura
or
Malok's Shadow
First Ability
Beranok's Charge
Can store up electricity inside their bodies without limit. They can convert this to magic energy, power up their muscles with it, transfer the energy to another or re-release it like an aura.
Second Ability
Malok's Aura
Can generate temporary emotions or states related to Malok in those around them by meeting their gaze. Malok consists of feelings, desire for, states of or thoughts of chaos, insanity, selfishness, 'individual over group', unpredictability, etc. Thoughts that are chaotic, unstructured, nonsensical, selfish, etc. fall under this aspect as does a desire for these things. Malok leaves a person confused and out of control.
or
Malok's Shadow
Can generate illusions or hallucinations fueled by the part of a target's mind space which is connected to Malok. These can cause or inspire chaos and insanity or tap into the repressed part of someone's mind and craft illusions related to these thoughts, emotions and memories.
These limbless dragons are considered the purest beastial expression of Beranok much as a Qinglong is for Wylrith. These creatures are rare, living only in Skaney and along the southern edges and mountains of KwaZulu. Similar cousin species are also found in Skaney but express a different aspect of Raegeric. A Nidhogg utilizes Ylixa magic while a Fafnir uses Ralgot magic. All three of these dragons are feared by those residing in the mesa and live in different regions.
Jormungandr possess a unique form of Beranok's Charge, absorbing and storing electricity within their body. Only, rather than simply storing it, their body will actually grow larger the more they store. It is only capable of taking it's true draconic form the larger it grows. Like other charge manifestations, this stored electricity can be utilized as an aura, converted into magic energy or used to strengthen it's body. It will shrink as it uses up the charge. They are able to subsist off of electricity when food is scarce, gaining their moniker of thunder wyrm due to their tendency to swim within thunderheads, absorbing lightning and growing to frightening proportions. They are also feared thanks to their second racial magic which allows them to instill or incite insanity by gazing into its eyes, driving even the most steadfast warrior to madness.
Basic Information
Anatomy
by Lee Stepp
Unlike most dragons, a wyrm has no wings or even limbs. It appears no different from a common snake without any electrical charge stored up, difficult to tell apart until it begins to grow. It in fact descends from a common grass snake, transformed into a dragon during the Era of Legends. More draconic characteristics develop as it collects electrical charges such as horns, draconic eyes, spines and even the shape of its head and teeth alter themselves as it grows. At full size, electricity arcs between its spines. It's scales are bright yellow with neon slitted eyes.
Biological Traits
by Lee Stepp
Dragons are unique creatures, often considered the king of beasts. They are divine, possessing elemental magic beyond just their individual Racial Magic. Many of their abilities are simply innate to their kind. For example, jormungandr are immune to all Raegeric magic while, like all dragon scales, energy magic such as fire and light are equally ineffective. These scales are also very hardy and difficult to damage. Additionally, this creature is able to move along electricity as if it has Beranok's Movement, slithering along electrical discharges at astonishing speeds, sliding through storm clouds and supposedly transforming into bolts of lightning! Some academics propose all dragons have Body manifestations ingrained into their very bones. In fact these bones and their scales are powerful when used in Material Magic or True Magic!
Genetics and Reproduction
These dragons have a very slow reproductive cycle, breeding only once every few hundred years. They will hatch many eggs but few survive into adulthood.
by Lee Stepp
As spring approaches, male jormungandr will begin storing up as much of a charge as they can muster in preparation and can be seen basking across Eldingfjord for weeks. This is because female jormungandr, who will emerge from brumation up to two weeks, will select only one male to mate with and males tend to outnumber them. Females choose the largest male as they believe their children will have a better chance surviving into adulthood. It is believed this is why they only appear to grow larger every generation.
by Lee Stepp
In the weeks leading up to the female jormungandr's emergence, it isn't uncommon for males to squabble over the best basking grounds or try to sabotage the other, making them expend their charge and shrink. There have even been crafty jormungandr who trick humans into attacking or harassing a rival male in exchange for treasure or favors. However, once the female(s) emerge, and unlike their predatory rivals the Kraken, she does not tolerate fights between prospects. She is uninterested in petty squabbles, only interested in finding the optimal specimen.
Growth Rate & Stages
by Lee Stepp
Female jormungandr will lay batches of eggs numbering anywhere between eight and forty, sometime mid summer. Her lair is usually at the heart of a þorreyjar island and she will stay with her eggs, guarding them over the entire ten weeks it takes for them to hatch. She subsists off of her own stored charge during this period. The hatchlings are about seven inches long and are immediately independent, dispersing into the wild on their own. However, not many survive as most other species and local humans won't hesitate to exterminate any younglings they encounter. Their growth cycle is slow and extended. They remain hatchlings for ten years. Then, they remain juveniles for over a century. They aren't considered full adults until they reach five hundred years and aren't capable of reproduction until they breach 1,000 years old.
by Lee Stepp
Ecology and Habitats
by Lee Stepp
Much like their original ancestors, the water snake, they are very strong swimmers. They often lurk within the various waterways of Skaney, extremely partial to Eldingfjord and þorreyjar. They will occasionally hunt within Fljotareyjar and compete with Kraken considerably over food. In fact, kraken are their favorite meal despite the danger they present. The only environment of the mesa they avoid are Syremyr as that is the preferred domain of their cousins, the Fafnir. They might also be found at KwaZulu in high mountains or along the coasts.
Dietary Needs and Habits
by Lee Stepp
They are able to survive by consuming electricity but many of these creatures have a taste for meat. Locals of the Fulgurant Mesa make a habit of offering them food to keep them satiated but these creatures are fickle, enjoying playing with the humans which hunted them down in their youth. Sometimes they prefer performances instead with songs or long stories rather than meat. When they do hunt, they are diurnal and they have a strong preference for amphibious and aquatic prey. Their absolute favorite is kraken, often gobbling up young and juvenile specimens. This is another reason adult kraken are particularly hostile and territorial towards jormungandr, no matter their size or age. A kraken will extirpate any and all jormungandr from their territory they come across in order to protect their offspring if not out of sheer spite.
Jormungandr have been known to eat anything they come across while young, hunting along waters edge or amid decaying plant matter. They'll eat frogs and toads but also ants, larvae, earthworms and the like. They will begin targeting larger prey as juveniles and can start using their ability to grow to take on mammalian and avian prey. The older they get, the larger they can get, but it can be difficult to judge the age of a jormungandr until be begins to grow. Adults have been known to devour entire villages when food is scarce and are among the most feared creatures of the mesa.
Biological Cycle
by Lee Stepp
Beyond their journey to adulthood, jormungandr are most vulnerable while shedding. They are unable to alter their size during this time or risk injury. Once the process begins, their old scales won't grow or shrink and the hardiness of these draconic scales can easily pinch, cut and damage their fresh molt if they try to enlarge themselves. Much like any molting snake, their eyes will haze over and appear milky, the old eye scales impeding their vision. They will not hunt during this time and they generally hide themselves away.
Despite their vulnerability, local Ostmen know better than to approach a molting jormungandr—they are far more aggressive and reactive, striking anything that moves. Eventually, they are able to shed the outer skin in one piece. These molts are actually highly valued for their hardiness and use in Material Magic. Though these beasts find the whole process personal and embarrassing, one must be careful not to be seen collecting the molt of these proud creatures. Jormungandr also tend to brumate (hibernate) over the winter, males emerging first in spring. They will either do so in small sizes, hiding underneath rocks or old leaves, or will even find old empty mines to brumate in larger sizes.
Behaviour
by Lee Stepp
They are far less hesitant to consume or attack humans than kraken and are far more fickle, demanding awe and respect once they reach 1,000 years of life. They are chaotic as one might expect of an energy dragon and far more destructive by nature than their cousin fafnir and nidhogg. Adults are also quite territorial, claiming large areas and purposely provoking kraken by doing so. They often seek entertainment, sometimes interfering with humans out of boredom rather than hunger. They enjoy battle thoroughly and some have even taken human familiars, if one can impress them. They are extremely selective. Some will instead keep humans captive as pets, demanding sacrifices or offerings from villages or make unrealistic demands just to see who their victims might react. There is reason Ostmen and Quiris both fear and admire these beasts as an ultimate symbol of power.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Jormungandr are naturally drawn to it electricity, able to subsist off of it. At its smallest, it has the ordinary senses of a snake, including acute hearing, but also possesses energy dragon eyes. This allows it to see electrical and magnetic forces by eye and even perceive the nature of chemical reactions (the domain of Ylixa).
Comments