Re: Wyrms (was Dragonewt Leather)

From: donald_at_wqEA_oqJHbedFC4hVN_l4_kF7xXcf_oqMiLFBakS-rYm3QieR37B2Ay2kNVy-q7UBuAl0
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:25:37 +0100

Anaxial's Roster includes the paragraph: "The wyrms say that their ancestors sought a path of draconic development other than the dragonewt way. The original way of life is lost, but the wyrms remain".

The references in the MRQ Dragonewt book seem mostly to be places like Wyrms' Foot and High Wyrm whose occupants are dragonewts. So there seems to be some sort of relationship.

A purely speculative suggestion is that wyrms are the hatching of another clutch of eggs from the Wonderous Mother of Many who is the ancestor of dragonewts.

> 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
> 

Jorganos

>> 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?