Wyrms (verms)
"The fairies believed that the Last Dragon died at the hand of the First Fairy.
"They were wrong."
"Wyrm" is a subterranean dragon varient living in the Hurgh.
Physical Description
The physical description of the wyrms of Sagadorm are a cross between parasitic tapeworms and dragons.
The boon of Argentric's life force is the wyrms new transformations and cause the parasites to become covered in a tubular shell of Dragon scales. There were specific segments where much thinner scales would allow the wyrms to be able to band more easily slender heads filled with venomous things warmed on each end of their bodies. Two unique and feral and instinct driven heads connected by an ever lengthening body full of segments.
Evolutionary History
These are the wyrms of Sagadorm who remained hidden until the people who started to mine the Hurgh opened up a hole where they were then rediscovered.
When the world was first formed, the Spirit of Sagadorm (Argentric) sent out the first dragons from his energy to populate the world. The first sentient species was the dragons that roamed the surface of the new world. These were dragons that were of all shapes and most sizes. The humans would eventually dig up the petrified remains would marvel at their size even though they were but specks of dust compared to their biological inspiration.
Argentric knew of other species through his travels throughout the cosmos. Other species cover the land for the dragons to hunt, consume, and rule over. These are your typical fish, mammal, avian, insects, and even humans.
Not all of Argentric's creatures were on the surface. Some dwelt within his flesh. These parasites evolved within the dragons as they lived and continued after they died.
The same energy that created the dragons on the surface transformed the parasites into monsters that were similar in scale and terror but without the intelligence. They were not sentient as their open aired siblings.
These half-dragon half-parasites evolved over eons of time in The Hurgh. Locked away by the decomposed terrain and atmosphere of the planet's surface. They remained there, breeding and growing, feasting and hunting on their own kind until one day, humans broke through the surface to the horrors and treasures of The Hurgh.
The discovery of wyrms happened long after the great decimation. The human world had not harnessed electricity nor discovered a replacement for the cores that gave fairies their power. While cores were still being discovered their potential energy could not be used until someone actually discovered it.
Human sought resources through mines. Coal and other precious minerals were dug from the earth. Trapped gases and petroleum were discovered and helped the struggling world recover economically and able to communicate and travel as they had once before.
When the mines went deep enough the dragons flesh was discovered along with the wyrms. It was as if monsters long thought dead became very real.
The discovery that their brains became cores and the cellular walls had petrified mitochondria spurred the desire to research this power without magic once more.
Reproduction
Wyrms reproduce through asexual division. Each end of a wymn has an independent instinct-driven inteligence. Cutting a wyrm in half would cause it to split into two. Heads would grow from the open wound. These children would grow as a new head and the separated has would begin their new dual lives.
If a wyrm ever received a wound on its body that it didn't believe could heal itself, it would bite added until his body was severed from the other heads.
Hunting and Harvesting
Whenever a new head formed on the open tail wound, the existing head would grow a new horn. An old wyrm who has many children severed off of them would have a crown of horns that pointed behind them. (Think slick back porcupine quills.)
It is possible for a wyrm to die if both of the heads are damaged enough to destroy the brain and heart. The brain in the skull and the heart that was in the first segment of the parasites segmented body. The horns, if is existing, circled the head first and then slowly covered the following segment. Those who are truly ancient could have a whole body covered in horns with a fresh hornless head at the end.
The horn head, if killed, would be very difficult for all harmless head to dragged away as the horns are all pointed in the "wrong" direction to drag. It would immediately try to sever itself away from the horned and. The harmless head would then afterwards try to escape.
If either escaping head is killed before a new had grows, about three quarters, the whole wyrm is then dead and slain unable to regenerate.
If the head is separated from the heart segment, the head will petrified rapidly and the brain will turn into our core filled with magical power in the same manner as a blessed animal has there cores condensed in one of their organs.
If only one had was killed the other would try to escape the harmless head, if killed, could be dragged away easily until the wyrm is in a safe location to fully remove it from itself.
Summer Camp Notes:
How does this relate to Totems of Trilenius?
The Core Renaissance as a power source came when the wyrms brains were discovered to turn into cores. Wyrm brains took over and replaced gasoline and petroleum as they could be recharged and didn't pollute the air. However gasoline and petroleum did remain viable fuel sources for specific use cases, primarily those that could not afford the steep price of wyrm brains.
Related Lore
NOTE: The following is related lore from the freewrite that should be moved to separate articles.
The Eras of Energy
The primary source of energy used by most civilizations transitioned throughout history.
- The Era of Humans was powered by wood and water.
- The Era of Fairies wase powered by Cores - Petrified Remains of Blessed Creatures.
- The Era of Steam replace that with the discovery to harness cores on the small-scale it was rare to use cores (A steam punk world where most everything is run by steam, with the fantastical steam constructs powered by cores).
- The Era of Industry was powered by gasoline and petroleum. drew people to mind the surface which led to the discovery of the dragons flesh.
- The Era of Technology was powered by "cells" mined from the walls of The Hurgh.
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