The Wyrm is one of the three incalculably powerful spirits comprising the Triat.
Overview[]
Garou glyph for the Wyrm.
In the theology of the Garou, the Wyrm is one of the higher Celestines. The Wyrm's purpose was to cleanse and rectify all of Creation, furthering its descent into Entropy. It achieved this by eliminating that which the Wyld creates and the Weaver structures, completing the eternal cycle of birth to death.
According to general consensus among Garou theologians, the Wyrm was the second member of the Triat to go insane. When the Weaver went mad and began encasing everything in Webs to prevent the destruction of its creations, the Wyrm was progressively constrained until it could no longer fulfill its purpose as it wished. Denied the opportunity to do as it had been created to do, it was driven into a state of pure rage and madness, hellbent on destroying everything regardless of whether it’s appointed time had come or not.
Consequently, the Wyrm now exists as a Dark God of destruction, chaos, darkness, and corruption; the very essence of everything the Garou oppose. Most Tribes have their own myths that describe the Wyrm in their own specific cultural nomenclature.
Triatic Wyrm[]
As part of a resultant dissociative identity disorder on a universal scale, the Wyrm has split itself into three main "heads,” each representing a different part of its dark personality. As mentioned in the Book of the Wyrm, the three heads also represent the Triat and the original balance of creation, as they are little more than the Wyrm attempting to figure out what went wrong, and as such the main three heads are called the Triatic Wyrm.
- Beast-of-War, the Wyrm of Calamity, a monster of senseless rage, eager to destroy anything in its path. It is said by some that Frenzy and Rage are this Wyrm's blessings. This Triatic Wyrm is analogous to the Wyld's love of chaos, but here it is a chaos achieved through destructive terror.
- Eater-of-Souls, the Wyrm of Consumption, embodiment of the gnawing hungers of greed, lust, and gluttony. Vampires are said to be under the sway of Eater-of-Souls. Eater very nearly manifested in North America when the walls of the Gauntlet grew weak, but it was banished by the sacrifice of an entire tribe of Garou. This Triatic Wyrm is analogous to the Weaver's desire to unify, but that which is done here is little more than unification through consumption and eventual digestion.
- Defiler Wyrm, the Wyrm of Corruption, a scheming entity of corruption, perversion and decay. Most Pentex operations are likely under the sway of the Defiler Wyrm. This Triatic Wyrm is analogous to the original Wyrm's purgative function, but in the mortal world it is a being that is restricted to only being able to eat away at its victims intangibly, (usually) subtly, and from within, until all that remains is a darkened husk too corrupted to live.
Other Fera know different Aspects of the Wyrm: The Rokea know of Qyrl, while the Bastet speak of Cahlash and Asura. It is not known if these are separate aspects of the Wyrm or simply other names that are used within cultural context. It should be noted that the Bastet can take Cahlash as a jamak in the form of the King of Cats without registering as Wyrm-tainted, and the Bastet conception of Cahlash is quite close to the Balance Wyrm.
The base desires of the Wyrm are so potent that they often manifest in the Umbra as spirits, becoming the powerful Urge Wyrms of Hate, Lust, Fear, and other dread sentiments, as well as the Elemental Wyrms who represent perversions of the classical elements. With so many heads, the Wyrm is more Hydra than serpent - and each head is all but impossible to sever.
Wyrm Ascendant (W5)[]
In the re-imagined cosmology of Werewolf 5th Edition, the form that the Wyrm takes in its aspect as harbinger of the Apocalypse is often called the 'Wyrm ascendant', or more generically the 'Apocalypse Wyrm', rather than the Triatic Wyrm. Never imprisoned and maddened by the Weaver, the Wyrm was instead driven to uncontainable hunger by the rampant greed and defilement that humanity enacted upon itself and Gaia of its own volition, rather than the other way around as presented in older editions. Human greed has upset the cosmological balance, and now the spirit world reflects the physical world’s trends of destruction, extraction and ruin — so long as profit can be derived from it.[1]
In the Era of Apocalypse more so than any other time in history, the Triat is imbalanced, with the Wyrm now ascendant, emboldened and empowered by consumption and exploitation, and thus fueling the cycle. Their Rage incited, Garou despise the fact that rampant, unmoderated consumption “feeds the Wyrm,” forcing the world into an ever-greater despair, which drives humans to seek more comfort via consumption, changing the Triatic cycle instead into a downward spiral with only one logical conclusion. To many Garou, that conclusion is inevitable. What they must not do, though, is simply accept it.
The Wyrm doesn’t itself cause exploitation or turn people to greed. The Wyrm ascendant is a manifestation of greed, not the origin of it. Humans are responsible for their own actions and choices. But, certainly, greed and exploitation strengthen the Wyrm, and the fundamental insatiability of greed means that once the Wyrm strengthens, it continues to strengthen.
Creatures of the Wyrm[]
The Wyrm counts many among its servants. Some serve knowingly, some unknowingly. But their actions all serve the Wyrm's greater purpose of bringing about the Apocalypse; the end of Gaia. As such, all creatures who cause misery, indulge in depravity and/or partake in destruction, either willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly, are servants of the Wyrm and are considered deserving of death and damnation by the Fera.
Deliberate servants[]
- Banes: These foul spirits of the Wyrm are, thankfully, usually confined to the Umbra, as they are unable to breach the Gauntlet on their own. Unfortunately, some of the strongest can “slip through” the cracks to possess mortal hosts, using their bodies to affect changes on the material world that would best please their master. Even strong willed men can be overwhelmed and made the puppet of a Bane, given time. No man or beast is safe from these spirits of evil and corruption. When confronted, however, Banes will frequently give up their mortal shells and burst forth in their full horrifying glory, displaying razor-sharp fangs, tentacles, hundreds of faceted eyes, or a thousand other horrors, each worse than the last.
- Black Spiral Dancers: The Wyrm's greatest triumph, the Dancers are foul twisted reflections of the Garou. Just like the Garou, they consort with spirits and can gain gifts from them, except they gain their gifts from Banes, and revere the Wyrm itself rather than Gaia. Everything the Garou do, they do-- in service to the Wyrm. They are fond of capturing normal Garou and torturing them until they, too, become Black Spiral Dancers. Most Fera have similar corrupted counterparts, but the Black Spiral Dancers are the most numerous among them.
- Fomori: Binding a bane into a mortal host, either human or animal, can create what is known as a Fomor. However, the Banes used -less powerful than most, as to wrestle a powerful Bane from the Umbra is often a suicidal undertaking- are more firmly bound to the flesh of their hosts, resulting in many more obvious deformities. Fomori are usually created by Pentex.
- Malfean Nephandi: A specific subgroup of evil Mages who consciously venerate the Wyrm. Whilst other Nephandi and indeed all Awakened may empower, invoke or otherwise interact with its aspects, these are generally actions that unconsciously benefit the Wyrm, but the Malfeans are very much aware of its nature and choose to direct their venerations and supplications to it specifically.
- Pentex is a shadow corporation with its fingers in every pie one can think of. It taints everything it touches, all beneath a veneer of "business as usual.” Oil spills are just a "part of business,” not part of a master plan to corrupt the world. Violent video games and movies are there just to satisfy the demands of customers, not to corrupt the hearts and minds of the young. Pharmaceuticals with soul-crushing side-effects are hailed as miracle cures, not snake oil to attract the unwitting. Pentex has only one true purpose: to bring about the Apocalypse and then step in as the savior of all mankind; to be church and corporation all in one. Little do they realize that the Wyrm will have them too, in the end…
- Cults of mortals dedicated to the Wyrm. Their influences range from those isolated to a single town to global conspiracies. One of the most prominent and vile cults was the Seventh Generation, a cult of child abusers who defiled children in order to fuel cycles of abuse, but others like the Enlightened Society of the Weeping Moon, the Pretanic Order, the Mouth of Vorax, the Free Earth Armed Resistance and several others have risen and fallen throughout history.
Unwitting servants[]
- The Yama Kings: The Yama Kings are a spiritual phenomenon of the Middle Kingdom. Rogue elements of the Celestial Bureaucracy, the Yama Kings seem to overlap with the Wyrm (they are certainly in a close alliance); however, their actual goals differ. While the "Centipede" strives to undo the Wheel of Ages, the Yama Kings want to trap it in stasis during the Sixth Age. Their methods often reek of Wyrm-taint, but the exact relation is often dependent on the Yama King in question.
- Vampires: The descendants of Caine are creatures of the Wyrm in that they are creatures of darkness, cursed by God(Gaia) to feed on the blood of humans. Regardless of a vampire's Path of Enlightenment, the Garou will always sense the taint of the Wyrm within their blood, save for the most humane (Humanity 7+). Of course, a lack of Wyrm taint is not going to give the Garou any reason to be friendly toward a leech.
- Demons: The Fallen are creatures of the Wyrm in that they are creatures, condemned by God(Gaia), who now hail from the Abyss.
- Mummies: The Reborn see themselves as striving toward the cosmic balance Ma'at, but they're unholy creatures that have cheated death through a foul ritual that tricked the Wyrm of Balance into allowing them to exist in their accursed state. The Undying may be the most unwitting servants of the Wyrm, even lacking Wyrm-taint, but they exist outside of the natural order of Gaia and serve as minions of powerful entities dwelling deep within the Dark Umbra.
- Humans: Many mortal humans aid the Wyrm through their everyday actions in furthering the destruction, corruption, or perversion of human society and the natural world. The vast majority of these Wyrm agents have no idea that any such spiritual principle exists.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ WTA: 5th Edition Core Book, p. 21, 26
