Fireworm Appearance
Physical Features
A typical fireworm. Art by J-Haskell.
Basic Traits
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Fireworms are one of two dragon species with a wyvern-like body, possessing a single pair of wings and a single pair of legs. Their most notable features are the rows of long spikes running down their necks and tails, and their strangely-shaped wing edges that resemble tongues of flame. No one is sure quite what advantage the shape provides, but it is rather striking.
They have large, armour-plated horns and rows of spikes that they can raise and flatten at will running down their back. Their jaws are tipped with a sharp protobeak, perfect for tearing into prey. The average fireworm is 6’ at the withers, and reaches adult height at age sixteen. Fireworm teeth are D-shaped, with serrated edges, getting narrower, shorter, and more curved towards the back of their mouth. The upper row of their teeth is exposed, extending from their upper jaw over their lower jaw. Throughout their life, fireworms will shed and regrow their teeth many times, and will only go a week at most without a tooth before a new one comes in. It’s not uncommon for them to sell their shed teeth to traders. Their tongues are bright, neon-coloured and glow faintly, with slight armoured plating and fleshy prongs on either side that gives it the look of a stylized tongue of flame. They have gill-like 'fire vents' along their snout and neck; these do not actually expel flame but rather glow whenever a fireworm is about to spit lava, allowing excess heat to escape. Fireworm hybrids or those hatched without this adaptation must be wary when using their ‘lava spit’, as without their fire vents a dragon can accidentally cook themselves from the inside out. |
Eggs & Hatchlings
Fireworm eggs are large - about 2’ in diameter - bulbous orbs, with warty knobs and colouration somewhat similar to that of a knucklehead pumpkin in shape. They are extremely durable and could be used, in theory, for a ball game without doing any harm to the hatchling developing within. They require a constant source of heat and are usually left deep within a Clan’s den, in a chamber near underground hot springs to incubate. Fireworm clutches usually consist of a single egg, up to two at most, and twins are considered highly auspicious.
Newly-hatched fireworms are about 2’ at the shoulder, with large eyes, blunt spikes, and an overall rounder body. They crave heat for the first year of their life, curling up near anything warm (usually their parents or any clanmates that get close enough) and throwing tantrums whenever they’re forced to move away. They grow ~3” taller each year and usually reach their adult height by age sixteen, though they’ll often be stuck in a stick bug lanky phase until they fill out between eighteen and twenty years old. |
Colours & PatternsFireworms are said to come in all the same hues as flame and ash. They have been known to be red, orange, yellow, brown, blue, purple, white, black and grey, although always have warm colours somewhere on their bodies. This gives them a veritable rainbow of possibilities; a few examples of this variety can be seen to the left.
Their tongues and the insides of their mouths tend to be brightly coloured and glow faintly. Their markings are just as varied; they may be quite plain or covered in an array of spots and stripes. |
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Iceworms
Very rarely fireworms are born sickly and pale, breathing intense bursts of cold rather than spitting lava; they are known as iceworms and are abandoned at hatching by their parents. Should they survive this brutal tradition they still face a life of hardship; no Clan will accept an iceworm and most others will attack them on sight, and the heat of the tropical island the fireworms call home is unpleasant. Due to the intense, tropical heat and ashy skies, iceworms cannot thrive on the Island of Fire, and most who survive their childhood leave to cooler, more comfortable climates to live out their lives.
Iceworms range from grey, white and are mostly cold colours, sometimes with touches of pink, black and red. They may be iridescent and faintly translucent, like layers of ice, and are often covered in more spikes than regular Fireworms.
What causes iceworms to be born is unknown; some say that an egg was not kept warm enough or hatched too early, and others that it is the result of a curse or punishment for misdeeds. There’s no way to know that an egg is incubating an iceworm until it hatches, cold air spreading out into the area like a pestilence. Iceworm hatchlings are usually very sickly, and rarely survive their first year of life; it’s seen both as a mercy to the hatchling and to their Clan to abandon it to the elements, rather than have to watch it slowly waste away.
Iceworms range from grey, white and are mostly cold colours, sometimes with touches of pink, black and red. They may be iridescent and faintly translucent, like layers of ice, and are often covered in more spikes than regular Fireworms.
What causes iceworms to be born is unknown; some say that an egg was not kept warm enough or hatched too early, and others that it is the result of a curse or punishment for misdeeds. There’s no way to know that an egg is incubating an iceworm until it hatches, cold air spreading out into the area like a pestilence. Iceworm hatchlings are usually very sickly, and rarely survive their first year of life; it’s seen both as a mercy to the hatchling and to their Clan to abandon it to the elements, rather than have to watch it slowly waste away.