The Rock Biters: The March of the Arcwyrm
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THE ROCK BITERS
When mist gathers about the cave mouths of Mildaark, travellers sometimes glimpse a long, luminous shape winding between the trees. They call it the Arcwyrm and tell tales of an Arcane Dragon descending upon their camps. By morning, their food, Arcanite and anything else worth carrying have vanished. The ‘creature’ was a procession of painted Gremlins, though the Rock Biters see no reason to correct the story.
Biters of the Rocks
The Rock Biters range through the tunnels of the Netherregions, opening new burrows wherever the prospect of a good raid takes them. Their name arose from a misunderstanding involving Snagla Stone-Tongue, the oldest and most respected of their Shamans.
Searching for Arcanite, Snagla would chip at promising stones and test them between his teeth. Younger Gremlins watched him and concluded that he was demonstrating the strength of his jaws. Soon they were biting every rock they could lift, competing to see who could leave the deepest marks while losing the least teeth. Snagla tried to explain what he was actually looking for, but found it easier to tell them, “Any rocks that glow like the mean day star and taste like they bite your tongue, bring them to me.”
The habit spread. Some Rock Biters now recognise Arcanite well enough; others still think that the object is to prove they can chew stone. Either way, they bring Snagla useful finds. Much of the Arcanite is ground into a brilliant blue paint. The Rock Biters are never seen without its markings on their skin or their carved masks. Applied fresh before any raid, the paint is held to protect its wearers from dangers above and below ground. The expressions on the painted masks seem to change with every Gremlin triumph, fright and indignity.
Snagla leads the painting with the help of other Shamans. He takes the protective rites seriously, even when their participants are jostling to have the fiercest face or arguing over whose markings glow the brightest. The Carvenheads, sacred images of the spirits of the Netherregions, receive offerings before they are carried out among the raiders. The Rock Biters enjoy terrifying surface folk, but take sincere comfort from their painted masks and their spirits.
The Great Arcwyrm
The first tales of the Arcwyrm came from those who saw torchlight behind a long line of glowing masks advancing through the night mist. Their lights wound between rocks and tree trunks, vanishing and reappearing as though one enormous creature were swimming through the dark. To watchers familiar with stories of Arcane Dragons, it looked like a creature coming to claim a hoard.
No two Rock Biters agree who first thought to march this way. It may originally have been nothing more than a painted clan leaving its burrows together. An earlier Great Gremlin may have noticed what the procession looked like from a distance and arranged the following raids accordingly. Whoever currently holds the title of Great Gremlin claims to have invented the Arcwyrm personally. The clan has learned to receive each new account with admiration, particularly if the speaker is holding a stone hammer, a joint of meat or the reins of a Death Kiwi.
Snagla organises what the Rock Biters call the summoning of the Great Arcwyrm. When the paint and offerings are ready, the Gremlins set out in a winding column. Once close enough to strike, the single shape breaks into a multitude. Scamps with spears and blades spill from cover as archers loose their arrows. Burrowers open new ways into and out of the fighting, while Pterra-winged Gremlins flap frantically overhead on contraptions of wood and hide. A conch sounds the ‘cry of the dragon’ as the raiders close in. Spitlizards and their handlers drive defenders from shelter with poisonous spit.
The clan’s Trophy Hunters, heavy blades of black glass in hand, seek the fiercest opposition and the best trophies. Death Kiwis hunt down those who flee. On some raids the Gremlins even bring Jungle Trolls, roused from their usually milder temper by persistent poking that only a host of Gremlins can manage. The Carvenheads travel among the Rock Biters when the Shamans judge that the spirits should accompany them. With supplies hidden below ground and burrows close at hand, the Gremlins may vanish from one part of the battle only to emerge elsewhere, refreshed and laughing.
Gromp, Skarrit & Nippa
Almost every sizeable Rock Biter has claimed to be the obvious choice for Great Gremlin. The clan is easily impressed by a bold feat and just as quick to laugh at an undignified tumble. Leadership can change with startling speed, and there are always several hopeful challengers waiting for their chance. Two Gremlins, however, have held the position more often than any of their rivals.
Large and powerful, by Gremlin standards at any rate, Gromp favours the weight of numbers. Armed with a great stone-headed hammer and carrying a half-eaten joint of meat, he leads as many Scamps as he can muster and as many Trophy Hunters as he can trust. His intention is always to crush resistance and carry everything useful back to the burrows. He likes to be at the centre of the attack, where the others can see him land a mighty blow and be reminded just why He is the Great Gremlin.
Skarrit favours speed and agility. Mounted on Nippa, the Alpha of a Death Kiwi pack, Skarrit strikes before a target has recovered from the sight of the glowing procession. Crazed Scamps equipped with Pterra Wings signal from above, directing his next lightning assault. He maintains that Gromp wastes the Arcwyrm’s reputation by giving its victims time to prepare. Gromp replies that arriving first is little use without enough hands to carry the plunder home. Both have won enough raids to make their arguments difficult to dismiss. Nippa, for his part, is inclined to peck anyone who comes too close to settling them.
Snagla has watched Great Gremlins come and go. Whichever Gremlin holds the title of ‘Greatest’, Snagla prepares the markings. For Snagla, the important thing is that the clan returns with enough Arcanite to paint the next procession. The Rock Biters will choose another Great Gremlin soon enough. There are always plenty who believe they could do better.
