To: alt.fan.dragons
From: afj0001@jove.acs.unt.edu (Aaron F Johnson)
Subject: Re: Black Dragon Magick (Was Re: Chaos Dragon!)
Date: 21 Feb 1995 15:29:52 GMT

Anu (nagasiva@yronwode.com) wrote:
> 								wurm is
> 							a compliment where
> 								I come from

	Where I am from, and where the Great Dragonmoot is held, the Wyrm 
(or Wurm) is a lowly thing.  Lacking limbs, they are craven cowards, 
attacking from ambush with venom so powerful that it would kill an 
oliphant (like an elephant, but inhabiting more temperate climes) in a 
matter of seconds.  Men die in extreme agony from but a scratch, with 
their faces so contorted in pain that their gums bleed.  These creatures, 
though intelligent, sum up everything bad in a Dragon, for they are 
Dragon-kin.  It is fortunate that they are cowards, for any being strong 
enough to hurt one will surely cause it to run in fear.  Since they are 
much smaller than most Dragons, a proficient human warrior can do so.  
This has the unfortunate result of many humans claiming to have slain a 
Dragon, when all they have slain is a Wyrm.  Most Dragons correct this 
mistake if they hear about it, and measures vary from Dragon to Dragon 
(my uncle, Vincent Sulphurous, who I may have mentioned before, had one 
such boaster serve as a test subject for some of his alchemical 
compounds.  It took the poor human three months to die, without the 
benefit of healing magic to prolong his life.  Vincent regards this as 
something of a personal record.).