Wyerm (Why-er-m)
When the great Wyrms of old died, from their corpses birthed the mighty race of dragons. Despite being some of the strongest and proudest creatures of the world, even dragons evwntually succumb to the grasp of death. When the first dragons finally perished, the cycle of rebirth continued and the wyerms were born. Crawling from the corpses of dragons, wyerms are small draconids that take great pride in their heritage. Having gone through death not once, but twice, a wyerm can stave off and resist its call with greater ease than other races, and often can recall shards of its past life as a mighty being. When a wyerm is slain, the cycle repeats once again, and a singular, earthworm-like creature will crawl out of the wyerms head.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The head of a wyerm is adorned with a set of small, crown-like spikes. When viewed from above, these spikes cause the wyerms head to resemble a gaping mouth. Wyerms also posses small, serpentine tails that slide down from their backs. These tails are used to convey emotion through their movements, as a wyerms face is not very expressive. Older wyerms often sprout draconic wings from their back, allowing them limited flight capabilities.
Biological Traits
The most notable trait of the wyerms is their ability to undergo yet another rebirth. When a wyerms dies, 24 hours later, their life essence condenses into a worm-like creature that slithers its way out of the wyerms corpse. These worms have lost all semblance of their minds, and are now simple beasts of the earth. Such worrms are treated as sacred creatures in wyerm society, a testament to the undying nature of draconic might. Particularly powerful wyerms may retain their sense of self and body through death, emerging from their own corpse as a reduced version of themselves. Such practice is viewed as dangerous, as repeated attempts at rebirth eventually leads to the wyerms complete cessation of existence, and a wyerm who falls to old age is never able retain their self when rebirthing. All wyerms also hold a resistance to death, being able to easilly recover from deadly wounds and are even able to push off the devastating effects of Negative Energy.
Some wyerms retain other abilities of the dragons, such as the ability to mimic the dragons mighty breath attacks, the ability to shapeshift, or the mighty teeth and sharp claws of the dragon.
Genetics and Reproduction
When a dragon dies, wyerms are born from the corpse of its body, birthing from it while its decays. While capable of reproducing in a normal fashion, laying eggs like true dragons, wyerms born form such eggs have a weaker connection to their past lives, and are viewed as impure by dragon-spawned wyerm.
Growth Rate & Stages
Wyerm spawn that are born from a fresh corpse are born feral, and often burrow into the ground to recuperate the energy spent emerging. They often spend the next year or so in this stasis, only to burst out of the ground in a group frenzy should something disturb their slumber. After this year, the wyerms emerge and begin to craft their nest, often utilizing the parts of their progenitor in its construction. This process often causes the wyerm to shed most of its feral-ness. For wyerms born to existing nests, the process of integration comes much faster, as older wyerms are able to guide the spawnlings much quicker. A wyerm reaches adulthood at fifty years of age.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Wyerms are strictly carnivorous, and are often ravenous after their spawn and yearlong rest. Once awakened, a new colony can have devastating consequences on the local ecology, as the spawnlings hungrily consume every creature in sight. Once the colony gains reason, they often must deal with a food shortage, usually bargaining with or overtaking other creatures in the area to help supply the colony with food.
Biological Cycle
Like most things, the cycle of a wyerm is tied to the dragon it was spawned from. Wyerms born from a dragon more associated with heat and flame, such as a red dragon, will be much more active during the warmer summer months, while the opposite would be true for those spawned from a cold-based dragon, such as a white dragon.
Additional Information
Social Structure
The oldest wyerm rules a wyerm colony, and the mannerism of the colony often depend on the type of dragon who spawned it. Wyerms spawned from a red dragon tend to have a more chaotic and brutal strength-based society, while those born from a gold dragon might have a much more ordered and religious society.
Domestication
Just like wyerms domesticate smaller, less intelligent dragons, true dragons often rule over and protect their smaller kin. The nature of such partnerships varies from dragon to dragon, with more evil dragons subjugating them as slaves while good dragons protect them as children.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
With dragon corpses being immensely valuable, many attempt to harvest parts of them as a quick way to earn coin, often coming into conflict with newly spawned, feral wyerms. Some extremely brave and/or foolish hunters attempt to takes parts from an established colony. These hunters must take great care, as taking parts from a dragon's corpse is considered an irredeemable sin to those born from that dragon, and those wyerms born from it will stop at nothing to get those parts returned to their proper resting place.
Facial characteristics
Wyerms have draconic facial features and being reptilian, lack hair. They are not emotive with their face, instead utilizing their tail movements to express emotion.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Pockets of wyerms can be found all across the world, in areas where dragons have met their end, but a large population of both draconic creatures and wyerms dwell around the ancient course of The Pale Wyrm, an area known collectively as The First.
Average Intelligence
Wyerms retain some of the knowledge and personality traits of the dragon they were spawned from, and can often recall random facts and knowledge out of nowhere. Despite this, wyerms have lost a lot of mental strength, and sometimes act as if in a haze, feeling a sense of loss and forgetfulness.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Wyerms have darkvision and the ability to see in low-light conditions. Some wyerms have a decreased range of vision, but gain the ability to sniff out precious metals and other treasure.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Wyerms often raise non or low-sapient dragonic creatures as guardians and pets, such as pseudodragons and drakes.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
Wyems view beauty through both the sheen of ones scales combined with the amount of treasure and items they have horded.
Gender Ideals
Ideals on gender differ from colony to colony, but a majority of wyerms have no strong opinion on gender; as any one draconic being is superior to other non-draconic races, regardless of gender.
Courtship Ideals
Due to their unique way of coming into being, many wyerms lack the desire or see the need for courtship. Those that do mate often do so out of curiosity or boredom, rather then a need to reproduce, although colonies with dwindling numbers might attempt to birth more bodies to defend their home. Thus, parings are usually casual in nature, and courtship is often either mandated from a leader or just a simple question asked.
Relationship Ideals
Wyerms often form close bonds with each other, as they all have a sense of familial oneness from being part of a greater being. This closness only extends to other members of their own colony, as wyerms are usually extremely territorial and aggressive to wyerms of other colonies, even if they share a color. Wyerms struggle to make friends with other races, as their innate sense of draconic superiority often leads them to look down upon any non-draconic race.
Average Technological Level
Wyerms often prefer magic to technology, with many using their innate power similar to sorcerers, but will utilize extensive architectural knowledge to fortify their nests and to craft deadly traps.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
All wyerms are born with the knowledge of how to speak Draconic, with a majority also speaking Common. Wyerms can often also be found speaking Aklo, D’ziriak, Sylvan, Terran, or Undercommon.
Common Etiquette Rules
If a city successfully fells a dragon, it is wise to quickly move its corpse to a new location, and continually bring offerings of food to leave nearby to help satiate the soon-to-be feral wyermlings. This also might help placate the wyerms internal hatred of the village, as many will suffer from the dragons lingering contempt for the area of its death.
Common Dress Code
While wyerms see little practical need for clothing to cover up their majestic dragonic form, they are compulsive hoarders, and thus often adorn themselves with fancy clothing or expensive jewelry.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Like true dragons, wyerms love shiny objects and treasure, and love to stockpile massive hordes of gold and valuable objects, despite most colonies not having much in the way of an establish economy or need for money.
Common Taboos
Falling to protect the colonies progenitor corpse or rebelling against the leader of the colony is likely to result in punishment, but rules shift from colony to colony, mostly based on the type of draconic progenitor. Banishment is a much more common punishment then death, even among more evil tribes, as they view the continuation of draconic life as a sacred duty. It is believed that when the wyerms spawn, the dragons personality is split between all of the wyerms, and even its most repressed and different belifes manifest. Thus, nearly all colonies have a few wyerms that are strange oddities, being born with dramatically different personalities and beliefs then their peers. Such wyerms are known as outliers, and are often shunned and heavily pressured to conform, with most leaving or being banished soon after reaching adulthood.
Historical Figures
One of the members of the legendary Lancrick Pirates is Daburan, a wyerm psychic.
Common Myths and Legends
A majority of wyerms continue to worship one of the Great Wyrms, despite the apparent deaths of all of them. Many also venerate The Pale Wyrm as a martyr, as she was the first Wyrm to die and spawn the first of dragonkind. All wyerms hold a burning hatred for the Brightlings, due to their believe that they and their god Fien, conspired together and assassinated the Pale Wyrm in an attempt to oust her of her rule over Usoram.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Wyerms view themselves as a divine race, born from the death of gods. This attitude tends to have them try to act superior to other races, although to most their smaller stature makes them come off as adorably annoyed rather than a true threat. A wyerms relationship mostly comes down to its tribe's views and circumstances that lead to the dragon's death. If the dragon was slain due to the Humans defense of their village, the wyerms are likely to be born with a hatred for humans and a desire to destroy that village. Regardless, a wyerm respects both physical and magical strength. They relate the easiest to the Ishka and the Orochi, as both are reptilian in nature.
Racial Table - Wyerm: Hit Dice: D12; Class Skills: Appraise, Fly, Intimidate, Perception, Use Magic Device; Skill Ranks Per Level: 6 + Intelligence modifier; Weapon Proficiency: Marital; Armor Proficiency: Light
| Level | BAB | Fort | Reflex | Will | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Deathless Spirit, Rebirth, Shards of the Past |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Natural Armor, Spell Resistance |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Flight |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Natural Armor Increase, +1 Strength, +1 Charisma |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Eternal Rebirth |
Random Starting Ages
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | +1d10 years (51 - 60) | +2d10 years (52 - 70) | +4d10 years (54 - 90) |
Random Height and Weight
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 2 ft. 10 in. | +4d4 in. (3 ft. 2 in. - 3 ft. 10 in.) | 40 lbs. | +(4d4x2 lbs.) (48 - 54 lbs.) |
| Female | 2 ft. 8 in. | +4d4 in. (3 ft. - 3 ft. 8 in.) | 35 lbs. | +(4d4x2 lbs.) (43 - 49 lbs.) |
Wyerm Aging Table
| Middle Age (-1 to Str, Dex and Con, +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Old (-2 to Str, Dex, and Con, +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Venerable (-3 to Str, Dex, and Con, +3 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Maximum Age (GM secretly decides maximum age) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 years | 425 years | 500 years | 500 + 1d% years (501 - 600 years) |
Random Wyerm Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-60 | Draconic Corpse | Draconic Pact |
| 61-70 | Mountain | Mountain Guide |
| 71-80 | Subterranean | Surface Stranger |
| 81-90 | Forest | Spiritual Forester |
| 91-96 | Non-wyerm Settlement | Adopted |
| 97-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
Random Wyerm Families (A vast majority of Wyerms are spawned rather than born)
| % Rolled | Parental Status |
|---|---|
| 01-25 | Both of your parents are dead |
| 26-50 | Both of your parents are alive |
| 51-75 | Only Mother is alive |
| 75-00 | Only Father is alive |
| % Rolled | # of Siblings |
|---|---|
| 01-60 | 1d4 Siblings |
| 61-00 | No siblings |
Lifespan
501 - 600 years; a rebirthed worm often lives for another 100 years.
Average Height
3 ft. - 3 ft. 10 in.
Average Weight
43 - 54 lbs.
Average Physique
Wyerms are tough creatures, having hard scales and retaining much strength despite their small size.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
A wyerm will always share the same coloration of the dragon of its birth, with the exception of the wyerms eyes. A wyerm will always have a eye color that more matches a dragon of the opposite color then its progenitor, such as a wyerm spawning from a red dragon having copper, gold, or silver eyes.
Geographic Distribution
Related Organizations
Wyerm
Type
Dragon (Wyerm) Dragons are immune to magical sleep effects and paralysis effects.
Ability Score Modifier
+2 Strength, +2 Charisma, -2 Wisdom. Wyerm's retain some of their draconic strength and personalities, but have lost some mental power.
Size
small
Speed
Wyerms have a base speed of 20 feet.
Language
Wyerms start speaking Common and Draconic. A Wyerm with a high Intelligence score can pick from the following languages: Aklo, D’ziriak, Sylvan, Terran, Undercommon.
- Materil: A Wyerm is tied to the Materil of the dragon it was spawned from, and thus can be tied to any of the Materils. Lightbenders and Firedancers are the most common type of Wyerm.
- Darkvision: Wyerms can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
- Low-light Vision: Wyerms can see twice as far as humans in low-light conditions.
- Deathless Spirit: A Wyerms previous transition through death makes it difficult to kill again. A Wyerm gains resistance 5 against negative energy. They do not lose hit points when they gain a negative level, and gain a +2 racial bonus against death effects, energy drain, negative energy, Fortitude saves to remove negative levels, Constitution checks to stabilize and spells or abilities of the necromancy subschool. These bonuses increase by 1 for every four hit dice beyond the 1st the wyerm possesses.
- Rebirth (Ex): If a wyerm is slain, if it is not raised from the dead within 24 hours, it is reborn as a diminutive size mindless worm-like vermin that crawls out of its body. This prevents further magic from returning it to life, as it is still technically alive. The Wyerm cannot go through it's rebirth if it's body is completely destroyed.
- Shards of the Past: A wyerm retains fragmented memories of it's past life as a mighty dragon. At character creation, pick two Knowledge skills. The wyerm gains those skills as class skills and gets a +2 racial bonus to those skills. Those bonuses increase by 1 for every two hit dice beyond the 1st the wyerm possesses.
- Natural Armor: Starting at 2nd racial level, a wyerm gains a +1 natural armor bonus. This bonus increases by 1 at 4th racial level.
- Spell Resistance (Sp): Starting at 2nd racial level, 1/day, a wyerm can cast spell resistance on itself as a spell-like ability, using its total hit dice as its caster level.
- Flight: Starting at 3rd racial level, a wyerm sprouts draconic wings, granting it a fly speed of 10 feet with poor maneuverability. For every 3 hit dice the wyerm possesses beyond 3rd, this fly speed increases by 10 feet and its maneuverability increases a step, to a maximum of 50 feet and perfect maneuverability at 15 hit dice.
- Eternal Rebirth (Ex): At 5th racial level, a wyerm gains the ability to fully rebirth itself without the loss of self. When slain, after 24 hours passed, a smaller version of the wyerm crawls out of its corpse. This imparts 1 permanent negative level to the wyerms and permanently reduces its size category by one step. If the wyerm would be reduced beyond fine, it ceases to exist and no form of magic can return it to life.
Alternate Racial Traits
- Breath Weapon (Ex): Some wyerms retain the ability to breathe like their ancestor dragon. They gain a breath weapon that they can use 1/day that deals 1d6 points of energy damage per racial level (the type of energy is determined by the type of dragon the wyerm is descended from) in either a 30 foot cone or a 50 foot line. Creatures in the area can attempt a Reflex save for half damage (DC 10 +½ the wyerms hit dice + wyerms Constitution modifier). This trait replaces the Shards of the Past trait.
- Natural Attacks: Some wyerms retain the mighty claws and teeth of their draconic ancestor. These wyerms gain a primary bite attack that deals 1d4 points of damage, and two claw secondary natural attacks that deal 1d3 points of damage. This trait replaces the Shards of the Past trait.
- Shapechanger (Su): Some wyerms can utilize magic to change their shape. They can take on the shape of a generic humanoid of any race that is its size. The wyerm gains a +10 racial bonus to Disguise checks to appear as that race. Changing its shape is a standard action. This otherwise functions as alter self, save that the wyerm doesn’t change its ability scores. This trait replaces the Deathless Spirit trait.
- Treasurescent (Ex): Some wyerms get the ability to sniff out treasure, gaining the scent ability, but only to locate precious metals and currency. A wyerm with treasurescent lacks low-light vision and only has a darkvision range of 30 feet. This trait alters a wyerms senses.
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