Ormr

The First

"The great Ormr, who with every step brought life to the land. Wherever their footfalls fell, a new species was born; a flower come to bloom for the first time, or an animal to take its very first breath. They wandered the length and breadth of the world, spreading colour across every inch of its surface, and in so doing birthed the world as we know it."

— Unknown

The Ormr were one of the eldest species in all of Pretheya's history. Believed within the Gauliric tradition to be the first race to walk the earth, and considered within Shahru to be the first of Rukhmar's creations; they are nevertheless agreed to have been unimaginably ancient beings.
Their most notable feature was their immortality: They are said to have originally been part of a trio of races, consisting of them, the Fyrstbairn, and Leskeln, who are said to have been immortal during the era after the dawn of creation. This immortality was eventually lost through uncertain means, and this would in time lead to the near-extermination of the entire Ormr race during the War.

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Elder Races

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1. Ormr
2. Fyrstbairn
3. Leskeln

They are believed within most cultures to be responsible for the creation of humanity; having first invented Arcana and then used it to create the Tveirfotr, as well as other humanoid species such as the Thousandforms and later the Ofirar. They played a pivotal role in humanity's early history; being responsible for the creation of the first ever human-inhabited state, known as the First Country, as well as later founding the first great Pretheyan empire: The Grannrormrlen.
Despite their immense significance, very little information is known for certain about any aspects of the Ormr's history, owing to a lack of records from the First Country or before. In the present day, the Ormr are largely considered to have been exterminated as a species; with the only two Ormr known to have survived the War, Forfir the Forty-First and Lyrielle the Thirty-Seventh both being presumed dead.

Appearances

Descriptions of the various Hundred Gods of Gaulir suggest that individual Ormr could possess radically different appearances. Most are depicted as having bodies of a similar shape to those of lizards; with most possessing four legs, an elongated neck leading up to a slender head, and a tail at the back of their body; but these similarities are superficial at best. Their defining characteristic is said to have been the great wings which they used to fly across the land; which similarly varied by the individual, with some said to have had wings akin to those of bats or moths. Most, however, are said to have favoured the wings of birds.
Beyond these foundational similarities, each of the Ormr's appearances varied enormously. They are said to have been able to modify their forms at will using Arcana, meaning that they could take a wide variety of shapes if

"And they walked with bodies which reflected the appearance of every creature that they had created; from lowly mice, to great birds, and even creatures of the sea. Wherever they stepped, plants grew, and life blossomed."

— Unknown

they so chose. Some are depicted as having additional human-like arms grafted to parts of their body - a trait shared by some of the Fyrstbairn as well, most notably the legendary blacksmith Seventine - and many are said to have added the parts of animals that they were fond of to their own forms. Most of the Ormr are said to have stood from anywhere between 40 to 50 feet in height, and are depicted in legends as having been durable enough to find being buried under a mountain only a minor inconvenience.

Biology

Most knowledge of the Ormr's biology is devised from records about Forfir the Wyrm Lord from the time of the Grannrormrlen, with his testimony being the only primary source as to their nature left to us. Aside from this, depictions of the Hundred Gods in Gaulir suggest that they all shared largely similar natures, despite differences in their appearances; and so it can be assumed that, biologically, they had roughly the same characteristics.
The Ormr are largely defined on a biological level by their lack of physiological needs. Unlike almost all other living animals, they require no food, water, or any other kind of sustenance in order to live. They similarly required no sleep, were able to continue moving and acting indefinitely without the need for rest, and are thought to have not required air to breathe; although this last point is difficult to evidence. Anecdotal evidence from assassination attempts on Forfir also suggests that they were also unaffected by poisons. Last, but far from least, they also did not grow older, and so would never perish from old age; nor could they contract diseases or any other form of illness.
The only method through which one of the Ormr could perish, therefore, was through wounds sustained from some sort of attack. Even then, this was an almost impossible feat; with hundreds of people trying over the course of the Grannrormrlen to assassinate Forfir, and none succeeding for over eight centuries. This is largely posited to have been on account of Forfir's diamond-like scales, however; and it is uncertain if other Ormr were as physically durable as he. It is plausible to assume, though, that their enormous size rendered most of them similarly resistant to most forms of weaponry.

Reproduction

The other unique feature of the Ormr's physiology, and one which would come to be the defining trait for which species which were considered to be 'Wyrm-like', was the fact that they could not reproduce. The Ormr lacked any kind of biological method of creating children, and were either incapable of or unwilling to produce more of themselves using Arcana; meaning that they were limited throughout their race's existence to the original starting number of individuals. Their inability to have children was a trait which they shared with the Fyrstbairn and later the Ofirar, but these two races were both capable of increasing in number via being created by a different race; making the Ormr the only race ever to exist in Pretheya to be truly incapable of reproducing.

Culture

According to both Gauliric legend and testimony from Forfir, the Ormr originally numbered exactly one hundred individuals at the birth of their species. This is allegedly what prompted them at some point to begin referring to themselves as the Hundred; a term that supposedly dates back to shortly after the creation of the Fyrstbairn, and predates the term 'Ormr.' They also did not originally have names; instead adopting numbers as their names in the order which they learned Arcana after its discovery. The one among them who first invented the technique was known as the First, and the first to master it after them the Second, then the one after them the Third, and so on; until the last to learn it became the Hundredth.

Perhaps the Ormr's greatest achievement was the invention of the system of techniques now known as Arcana; known to them as the Blessing of Creation, according to Forfir. According to legend, the world prior to the invention of Arcana was a barren wasteland that was devoid of any and all life, and the Hundred made use of Arcana to create the various forms of flora and fauna that can now be found on Pretheya. While this cannot be verified, what is known is that the Ormr as a whole enjoyed the act of creating greatly; having produced great architectural works all throughout their history.

"Supposedly, all of Pretheya was once bright and colourful like Belyria. Now, though, those vibrant colours remain only there; and that is why it is known as the Garden of the Gods."

— Ancient legend about Belyria's colourful flora

The Ormr are said to have been extremely fond of brightly coloured plants; such that they took the time to paint the entire surface of the world in varying colours of flora. There is also limited architectural evidence to suggest that the Ormr kept multiple enormous gardens during the First Country; some of which were as large as a hundred square kilometres in size.