Wyrmkin — The Dreamers Beneath
The Still. The Dreaming. The Unchanging.
“In the breath between sleep and waking, something ancient listens.”
The Wyrmkin are the most mysterious of dragonkind — serpentine, limbless, and utterly silent, with no wings to spread and no mouths to roar. They are not creatures of the sky or sea, but of the deep, dark underplaces of the world, where stone remembers and silence dreams.
Born not of blood, but of raw magic, Wyrmkin have no gender, no need for mates, and no concept of physical pleasure or adornment. They dwell alone, unseen in lightless chasms and subterranean hollows, their massive coils nestled into the earth like roots of forgotten gods. They do not hunt. They do not war. They sleep — and dream.
Not all dragons rise to claim power or evolve limbs and wings. Some choose instead to remain exactly as they were born — wyrmlings in form, but profound in mind and magic.
These dragons are known as Wyrmkin, or by the old name iMoogi — a sacred word whispered by the first flamecallers and preserved in myth.
They are serpentine, wingless, and limbless.
Their scales remain soft, untouched by the world.
They do not breathe fire.
They do not war.
Instead, they dream.
Appearance
Wyrmkin resemble massive, serpentine dragons with no limbs or wings. Their elongated bodies are covered in broad, ancient-looking scales, rich with natural texture. The belly scales form thick, overlapping armor-plates that ripple like the spine of a buried titan.
Their coloration is that of earth and shadow — deep greens, stony browns, mossy blacks — designed for perfect camouflage in the dirt and stone of the deep places. They do not shine or gleam; they absorb light.
Their eyes remain closed, even in waking, and when they open (a rare and terrible event), it is said to unravel sanity.
Wyrmkin Physical Traits (Quick Reference):
- Limbless, wingless, serpentine dragons
- Broad natural scales; plated bellies
- Camouflaged colors: dark greens, browns, blacks
- Eyes always closed during slumber
- Surrounded by glowing dream orbs while asleep
- No clothing, adornments, or visible gender traits
- Never seen in humanoid or bipedal form
Dreamfed Existence
Wyrmkin feed on dreams.
They do not consume the dreams themselves, but the resonance of emotion and imagination that dreams create. A vivid nightmare, a joyful memory re-lived, or a surreal journey through the mind — all nourish the Wyrmkin like sunlight feeds a tree.
- Passive feeding is effortless: when mortals dream nearby, the Wyrmkin taste those dreams from afar, gently and without harm.
- Active interference, however — reshaping dreams, planting visions, or influencing fate — costs energy. Doing so too often can drain a Wyrmkin and force them into deep dormancy.
- Some mortals unknowingly become bonded Dreamers, whose minds are so rich and luminous that a Wyrmkin may remain coiled near them for a lifetime.
Dream Orbs
While they sleep, glowing orbs of soft light float around their heads — pale violet, green, or blue — each one a representation of a nearby dream they are feeding from. These orbs flicker with strange images, shifting colors, or phantom faces.
- The more orbs, the more minds they are tasting.
- Orbs pulse gently when a dream is particularly vivid.
- If the Wyrmkin awakens, the orbs vanish instantly.
Life in Silence
Wyrmkin dwell deep beneath the earth, the sea, or forgotten places where even leylines sleep. They are rarely, if ever, seen. Most dragons and mortals never encounter a Wyrmkin in physical form.
Their bodies remain hidden.
Their minds do not.
Wyrmkin navigate the world through dreamwalking, telepathic projection, and out-of-body travel. They observe. They guide. They learn without touching. Their presence in a dream may come as a whisper, a serpent of light, a ripple in starlight, or simply a presence that changes nothing — and everything.
Story Seeds & Future Hooks
- The Deep Calls Back: Seismic tremors reveal a long-buried Wyrmkin temple, sealed since before the last Sundering. The local earth begins to crack, and whispers rise from the chasm. A Wyrmkin elder says something inside was never meant to be found.
- Blood of the Old Stone: A rare mineral is discovered that reacts violently to draconic presence — and Wyrmkin blood opens it like a key. Now hunted for their marrow, Wyrmkin must choose: hide deeper, or go to war for their right to exist.
- Stonebound Pact Broken: A sacred accord between Wyrmkin and Stoneborn is violated when a dwarven warlord tries to mine into a dormant Wyrmkin nesting ground. The resulting clash threatens to collapse trade tunnels across the continent.
- Echoes of the First Molt: A rogue scholar uncovers an ancient Wyrmkin prophecy about the “Final Molt” — a transformation where a Wyrmkin’s soul becomes part of the world’s tectonic memory. One young Wyrmkin begins showing signs… but too early.
- The Sleeping One Stirs: Deep beneath the Rootglass Mountains, an enormous Wyrmkin — once believed dead — begins to stir. Forests quake. Mountains weep. All tremble as the Wyrmkin speak a single word: “Return.”
The Wyrmkin Bond
Dreambound, Not Earthbound
Wyrmkin — also known in older myth as iMoogi — do not bond like other dragons. They do not breathe fire, do not walk the world, and are never seen in their physical form. Hidden deep beneath earth or sea, they exist in slumbering awareness, exploring the world through dreamwalking, thought, and spirit alone.
And yet, among all dragonkind, their bonds are perhaps the most profound.
Bonding & Risk
Chosen by Stillness, Not by Deed
Wyrmkin almost never bond to mortals. When they do, it is not with warriors or lovers — but with seers, priests, dreamwalkers, or memory-bearers.
Their bond is not born of fire or flight, but of reverence. Of vision. Of calling.
They do not choose based on valor or reputation.
They choose based on presence — a resonance of soul across time, silence, and thought.
Those chosen by a Wyrmkin are often unaware of it at first. The connection forms slowly: through dreams, meditations, unexplained symbols, or moments of inexplicable stillness.
- Some are marked at birth
- Some are drawn across continents by whispers
- Some meet their Wyrmkin only once — in the space between sleep and waking — and carry that breathless presence the rest of their lives
Nature of the Bond
The Dreambound
The Wyrmkin bond is not physical — it is wholly spiritual and metaphysical. No Wyrmkin has ever taken a humanoid form, nor do they shift or speak aloud.
Instead, they bond through:
- Layered dreams, symbolic and mythic
- Telepathic visions, often wordless
- Emotional resonance, triggered by ritual, sleep, or devotion
- Sudden insight or memory, as if whispered by the world itself
To those bonded, the Wyrmkin is not a creature but a presence — felt in the pause before prayer, the hush before dawn, the silence between stars.
This bond is called being Dreambound. It may last a lifetime or a single season — but it never requires, or allows, physical contact.
Gifts of the Dreambound
Those bound to Wyrmkin may gain:
- Prophetic dreams that pierce time, revealing echoes of what was or what might be
- Resistance to illusion and mental tampering, their thoughts protected by ancient stillness
- Silent knowing — truth without source
- The Breath of Vision — in rare cases, the ability to speak or write Wyrmkin insight into others through word, ink, or ritual
Some claim their Wyrmkin taught them to write prophecy through breath alone.
These are not magic spells. They are reverberations of an ancient dreaming mind.
The Hollowing
Wyrmkin are painfully selective. But even they can be deceived.
If they bond to one who seeks power over purpose — a priest corrupted by ego, a dreamwalker who twists truth into control — the bond may be severed.
When that happens, the result is devastating.
The Hollowing is the name given to the rupture of a Wyrmkin bond.
Survivors describe it as losing one’s name, one’s light, or one’s breath.
Many do not survive it. Those who do are never the same.
Redemption
Unlike other dragon bonds, which may snap with finality, a Dreambound soul may return to the Wyrmkin path — if they walk it with humility, patience, and devotion.
Even the most lost may one day feel the Wyrmkin’s breath once more — if they dare enter the stillness again.
Role in the World
Wyrmkin do not appear in cities, courts, or tales of war. They are rarely seen, never spoken to, and only whispered of in myth.
But their influence stretches farther than any dragon’s fire.
They are the sleeping architects of fate, shaping dreams and nudging mortals toward unknowable destinies. They are the watchers, the weavers, the ancient ones who listen in the quiet places beneath the world.
And now… some of them are beginning to stir.
Stigmatized by Evolution
Among other dragons, Wyrmkin are often viewed as failures — mocked or pitied for never having grown wings, horns, or hardened scales. They are called “The Unchanged”, a derogatory term used by more warlike dragon paths to shame them.
Some see them as cowards, afraid to face the world.
Others dismiss them as abandoned children, left behind by Namsae.
Only a few recognize the truth:
The Wyrmkin are not unevolved. They are unmoved.
They chose to remain in Namsae’s original form — to embody her patience, her quiet observation, and her refusal to dominate. Their strength is subtle, sacred, and terrifying in its own way.
The Irreversible Choice
A dragon may remain Wyrmkin for centuries before choosing to evolve — to walk, to fly, to burn. But once they do, the dreamwalking ends.
To step away from Namsae’s path is to lose her gift.
Those who evolve into Skyclads, Emberwyrms, or others forfeit the powers of dream and spirit. They can no longer reach minds across great distances, walk invisibly through dreams, or traverse the spirit plane unbidden.
Redemption and Regret
Some dragons come to regret their divergence — especially those who evolved into violent or corrupted forms. In rare cases, dragons who seek redemption may slowly regain slivers of Namsae’s gift — though never as fully as the Wyrmkin.
To regain even a fragment of dreamwalking or astral travel requires:
- Centuries of humility and stillness
- Acts of selflessness and wisdom-sharing
- Complete nonviolence for extended periods
- Reestablishing a connection to prophecy, memory, or place
Even then, their powers are fragile and partial — and some say that Namsae tests them constantly.
A fallen dragon cannot become Wyrmkin again.
But they may, in time, become Touched by the Dream.
Why This Matters
The Wyrmkin are not a race of passive watchers. They are the memory of dragonkind. When others forget who they were… the Wyrmkin still remember.
And sometimes… they whisper.