Wyrm

With crown of spines, breath of both life and death,
Wicked wings cast fearsome shadows of the past into the present.

— Kaskov Vrista, Ancient Scribe

A distant roar heard across the mountain gale is enough to send a shiver down even the toughest soldier's spine. With great, leathery wings and a terrible maw of razor-sharp teeth, the wyrm is a symbol of fear, death and pain for many in Isturoth, but it also represents power. It is not uncommon for a brood of wyrms to dominate an area of the mountains, fiercely territorial around their nests.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Males

Wyrms are serpent-like in appearance, with two powerful reptilian legs ending in the curved talons of an eagle. Like a bat, their front arms act as leathery wings that fold up alongside them, allowing them to use their front digits to walk on. While flying, they slither through the air as if it were water. Their streamlined heads sprout a mass of quills, many of them feathery, which flow down the length of its body, almost to the tip of the tail.

Females

Identical to the male varient, except that they can grow to three- or four-times the size. Much like the queen in a hive of insects, they remain at the nest laying eggs, while the males go out to retrieve food and bring it back to the female. They will begin life leaving the nest to search for food with the others. When females in the brood start grow to a size larger than the rest of them, they will either have to defeat the current queen, supplanting her, or take some of the males with her to start her own brood somewhere far away.
They are still capable of flight, though the need to take the skies happens much more rarely so they are seldom seen.

Perception

Based on years of conflict with the wyrms, it is common knowledge that they have exceptional hearing, sight, other sensory capabilities. Not unlike a bird of prey, the wyrms can see and smell prey for miles.

Biological Traits

As far as those of Isturoth have been able to determine, the life span of a wyrm could be anywhere between 50 - 100 years. It is suspected that female wyrms live much longer than males, potentially living through several generations of her brood.
Their average female would end up being between 15 - 30 m long and weighing 800 - 1500 kg. Males can grow to about 5 - 15 m long and weighing 200 - 450 kg.

Genetics and Reproduction

Very little is known about wyrm mating rituals, for there are few naturalists who have been able to witness such a thing and make it back to tell the story. What is known is that the males must impress the female for the chance to mate, whether it be by defeating other males or by bringing back the most food.
After mating, the queen will lay her eggs - usually in batches of 6-10 - which will incubate for approximately 3 months. Additional eggs can be laid in the nest during that time, the wyrms able to keep track of which batches were laid and when. Eggs that don't hatch are eaten by the brood.

Growth Rate & Stages

When the eggs hatch, both males and females are kept in the lair of the wyrms and the job of feeding them turns to the drones of the brood. They grow quickly, and this stage only lasts for about 6 months.
Once old enough, they will embark on hunting expeditions with the older males, to learn how to hunt and bring food back to the queen.
After about a year or two, the male wyrms will be fully grown. The females, however, will continue to grow, becoming more temperamental and aggressive. This usually culminates in one of the females killing all the others and challenging the current queen to take her spot, or taking some males with her to start her own brood in a new lair (this will often happen if the challenging female survives a failed challenge).

Ecology and Habitats

Wyrms are known for inhabiting caverns or other rocky cavities in the Ironstone Mountains. A higher altitude gives them a greater vantage point for finding food but also the open space to fly freely, but caverns provide protection from the elements. Wyrms are known to prefer those locations that are naturally warmer, such as those with volcanic activity.
It is believed, but not confirmed, that the warmth is something that is required for their biology. They have been spotted making nests in warm, volcanic soils or nearby geothermal pools. Wyrms are even known to have been seen lounging around areas adjacent to active lava flows or molten veins in the earth, areas which would be hostile to Isturians.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Wyrms are carnivorous, so hunting parties will bring back whatever meat they can find including livestock, fish, crustaceans, birds and other wildlife. They have also been known to eat civilians, or at least bringing back whatever parts they can carry in their mouth.
Very little food is stored in lairs due to the meat decomposing, but also because food doesn't tend to last long in the lair without being devoured.

Biological Cycle

Throughout the span of a year, the wyrms will have regular shedding phases where most of their scales, talons, quills and feathers become flaky and itchy, and must be scratched off. Wyrm nests (particularly the abandoned ones) are a treasure trove of all these materials which are highly valued amongst talented craftspeople.

Additional Information

Social Structure

A central queen acts as matriarch over each brood. Males that live longer are the ones that have become efficient providers and good breeders. Once a female reaches challenging age, she will either kill the other females in the brood and then fight the reigning queen, or take some of the males that will travel with her and make a new brood elsewhere. Plucky, up-and-coming females that seek to establish their own dominance in the lair are quickly cut down by the queen.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

If a wyrm can be brought down, they are a valuable prize. Their scales, hide, bones, teeth and claws can all be used to make tools, jewellery or other accessories and status symbols.
Their feathers and quills, likewise, are greatly prized. A quill made from a common bird's feather is a basic thing, but one made from the quill or feather of a wyrm is a royal gift indeed.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Wyrms have expanded their domain to cover the entirety of the Ironstone Mountains. It is possible that they have evolved to be more attuned to the high altitudes, as they are less often found in the lowlands.

Civilization and Culture

Common Myths and Legends

The wyrm has mythological origins dating back to the Isturian Creation Story. They were creations of the dark god Zurava, used to carry out his primal will.
They allegedly originate from beyond the clouds, in the divine realm of Kohra. There, the god and those that follow them keep back the tide of creatures. The ones that assault the settlements of Isturoth are the ones that made it through, escaped through some slip of cloud, to wreak havoc on the Isturian people below.

Lifespan

50 - 100 years