Re: Wyrms (was Dragonewt Leather)

From: Richard Hayes <richard_hayes29_at_ypNrnlbN0bOAOk_jNA-UIYknZ4IvUKqmIOKWY5y2Cvk_kS14kRMhKhLP-taK>
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:34:49 +0100 (BST)

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I half-remember a further possibility in relation to Wyrms, mentioned on this forum (I think) by Peter Metcalfe. This idea is that there once was a time at which being reincarnated as a Wyrm was part of Dragonewt development, but not any more. This is such a fascinating idea that I would like someone to say a bit more about it. It doesn't have to be incompatible with the old RQ II account of where Wyrms come from either.  If Wyrms are a stage of Drgonewt development, where do they come in the cycle? Or is it a stage that Dragonewts only end up in if things go wrong (like becoming a Magisaur), but as a result of a particular kind of draconic bad karma  
I don't know if the revised edition of MRQ II changed this, but the MRQ I Rules write-up of Wyrms (p. 333 of MRQ Deluxe) says:  
    "Wyrms resemble nothing so much as snakes with wings. Utterly limbless they have draconc heads and thick scaly armour that betrays their relationship to dragons"  
Which doesn't explain how Wyrms are related to dragons.  
There are few references to Wyrms in the index of the MRQ book on Dragonewts. Maybe there are some buried deeper in the text?  
In the MRQ book on EWF magic, there is a spell/feat (what is the right term for advanced EWF magic?) which allows an EWF cultist temporarily to become a Wyrm, although using this magic is damaging to one's progress towards Draconic Illumination. This is not a new idea though -- the old RQ II write-up of the Sun Dragon cult strongly hinted at the existence of such magic during the Second Age.  
Do any Dragonewts know this magical technique too? Is it possible that some knew it in the Second Age, but it is no longer thought of as Right Action in any circumstances in the Third Age?  
Richard Hayes
 

From: jorganos <joe_at_RqPrxytQ59iGM-XrXqu1HJ7uQWGPFT51smmUPcA0glbyrypNtKKum-w9Smvb-ucH1Rfwtzcf8djD.yahoo.invalid> To: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, 27 August 2011, 13:33
Subject: Re: Dragonewt Leather

Richard Crawley
>> Further, is the only reference to "Dragonewt" leather armour in  >> Plunder.

> Isn't there an NPC Dragonewt in Griffin Mountain who's tracking a 
> human who killed him and made a suit of armour out of his skin?

Inoi Sessela, yes.

> In light of more recent information of Dragonewts and draconic 
> philosophy from the Second Age material I wonder if the Dragonewt in 
> question isn't demonstrating an unhealthy attachment to things of
> the mundane world...?

I suppose that the armor draws upon its magical abilities, so it is a tie to the mundane world it had best overcome. Eating it is one way to overcome it...

While speaking of draconic magic, I have been wondering about wyrms and their way to true dragonhood. In the Golden Dragon Cult description in Pavis and Big Rubble, the successor to the Dragon Sun Emperor as the leader of the Golden Dragon Society is the Golden Wyrm.

There are two slightly different explanations for wyrms in the Gloranthan sources.

Elder Secrets: Secrets Book  18
"Wyrms are distantly related to dragons, probably through some sort of ancient mutation which is unrecorded to human annals."

RuneQuest 2 Rules    90
"The result of a misguided attempt by the Second Council to create new dragons after the ancestral dragons either went away or went to sleep. The result was much less than hoped for, and rapidly went its own way."

If we reread "Second Council" as EWF and Second Age, I can see EWF schools teaching aspiring humans how to become a full wyrm and then progress to dragonhood the wyrmish way.

Is there anything in the MRQ books about the EWF and Wyrms?

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