Mourning Wyrm
The Mourning Wyrm is a parasitic, translucent insect that emerges only during Drift Events—cataclysmic phenomena marked by psychic instability, emotional trauma, and the spontaneous appearance of the Hollowed, dissociative victims who drift in a liminal state between life and death.
Though small in size, Mourning Wyrms are one of the most spiritually corrosive entities in the Driftlands. They implant their eggs into Hollowed hosts, consuming body and memory alike before erupting into the world in a blaze of ash, voice, and mimicry. Their presence transforms grief into a biological event.
They are the Drift’s secret, coiled in wood and dust. They wait for the world to hurt again.— Father Caldrin, Sermon on the Ash Cycle
They are memory with wings. Grief given form. And they do not forget what you try to bury.
Scientific Name
Chthonocrypta elegia
Origin/Ancestry
Ichneumonid wasps
Conservation Status
None
Geographic Distribution
Discovered by
Lifecycle Summary
| Stage | Timeframe | Behavior | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. Implantation | Day 0 | Egg placed into host | Female dies immediately |
| II. Dormant Larva | Days 1–5 | Neural tethering, mimicry begins | Host appears stable |
| III. Consumption | Days 6–20 | Devours tissue & memories | Host enters waking-coma |
| IV. Pupation | Days 21–35 | Builds chrysalis inside host | Body calcifies from within |
| V. Emergence | Day 30+ | Wasp bursts out of host | Leaves calcified statue |
| VI. Adult Wyrm | Weeks–Months | Mimics voice, seeks warmth | Dies with cold |
| VII. Final Dormancy | 3–9 years | Fertilized queens only | Hidden until next Drift Event |
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Trigger: The Drift Event
Mourning Wyrms activate only during Drift Events, heralding their arrival with psychic dissonance and the soft echoes of voices long silenced. The wasps emerge just before or during the Drift, targeting Hollowed hosts for reproduction. These hosts, emotionally shattered and spiritually porous, are ideal vessels.Implantation (Day 0)
A female Mourning Wyrm implants one egg per host, typically within 3–5 Hollowed. Implantation is quick, nearly painless, and almost tender in its execution.They go in quiet. Almost lovingly. Like slipping into bed beside a dying friend.Once her task is complete, the female dies.— Dr. Halen Mire, Tenebrologist
Dormant Larva (Days 1–5)
The egg hatches. The larva synchronizes with the host’s neural and psychic signature, avoiding immune detection by mimicking dormant brain activity. Early signs include:- Sleepwalking
- Memory-looped speech
- Echoes of the host’s own voice, or a second whisper layered beneath
Active Consumption (Days 6–20)
The larva rapidly expands, consuming muscle, organs, marrow—and memory. It feeds on emotion-laden memory clusters, tethering itself to grief and trauma. Symptoms escalate:- Waking coma: eyes open, limbs limp
- Dual-voice speech: host and wasp alternating
- The chest distends slightly, warmth pulses within
Pupation & Chrysalis (Days 21–35)
Once saturated, the larva induces a false death. Host fluids are repurposed into an internal chrysalis. Muscles calcify into spiral supports. Neural tissue is erased and overwritten by the emerging adult.Outwardly, the body becomes:
- Ash-pale
- Emaciated
- Unmoving—yet warm to the touch
She kept clutching her chest like it ached from something she couldn’t name. Said it felt like sorrow curled up behind her ribs—breathing, slow and steady. We thought it was grief. Turned out, it was growing.Recovered from the field notes of Apothecary Vrenna
Emergence (Day 30+)
At the appointed time—sooner in warm months, delayed in cold—the adult Mourning Wyrm erupts from the host’s ribcage or mouth, trailing ash, steam, and a gas laden with memory-scent pheromones.What remains is a calcified husk, eerily human-shaped but unidentifiable.
Adult Wyrm (Weeks to Months)
The adult Mourning Wyrm does not feed or reproduce. It is a ghost-insect, compelled only by memory and temperature:- Mimics the host’s voice, sometimes entire conversations
- Projects emotional memories into the minds of nearby people
- Drawn to familiar places from the host’s life
- Dies quietly when cold sets in—mid-flight or curled in hidden corners
It didn’t scream when it came out. Neither did she. It was quiet—like the moment between the last breath and the first snowfall. The kind of silence that remembers you.Watch Officer Ellion Rask
Final Dormancy (3–9 Years)
Only fertilized queens survive the seasonal die-off. After a ritual mating flight, they seek dark, quiet places: beneath bark, inside ruined homes, in crawlspaces of forgotten grief.The queen enters diapause, her body curling inward, wings falling away, metabolism slowing to nearly nothing. Inside her are 3–5 fertilized eggs, held in perfect stillness.
She will remain this way for years—until warmth and psychic trauma return with the next Drift Event.
If you hear wings in the attic, don’t go looking. If it remembers your voice, it will find you. — Watch Officer Greda Law
Host Selection
The Hollowed: Preferred Hosts
The Hollowed are emotionally shattered survivors of Drift Events—vacant-eyed, nonverbal, and often motionless. They are not dead, but they are not fully alive either.The Mourning Wyrm prefers Hollowed because:
- Their immune systems are suppressed by psychic trauma
- Their minds are passive, open, and slow to resist
- Their bodies remain viable without active defense
Aberrant Implantation Events
In rare cases, when Hollowed are scarce, Wyrms may turn to:- Humans — Resistance results in stunted larvae or hosts surviving into pupation, resulting in symbiosis or deformity
- Others — Spiritual incompatibility leads to grotesque mutations: exposed wings, mimicry loops, or psychic seizures
- Awakened — Some wasps inherit traits like reactive camouflage, telekinesis, or altered Drift-sense
Every Drift Event teaches them something. It’s not just survival—it’s learning.— Dr. Mire
Implications for Defense
Caution during and after Drift Events is critical. Citizens should avoid the Hollowed and report comatose individuals showing the following signs:- Ash-colored discharge (tears or nasal)
- Murmuring in multiple voices
- Sudden warmth-seeking behavior
- Rapid or jerky eye movement during unconsciousness
If they whisper with someone else’s voice—do not answer. That is how they learn the sound of yours.— Watch Officer Greda Law
Ecology and Behavior
Outside Drift Events, Mourning Wyrms remain hidden in crawlspaces, rotting vehicles, and forgotten places steeped in emotional residue. They do not build nests; instead, they haunt the grief-soaked places of the world, silently waiting. During Drift Events, they become pollinators of horror:- Distorting memory-sensitive devices
- Silencing birds and wildlife
- Drawing the Hollowed to congregate in trance-like clusters
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