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ruthlesslistener · 2 years

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Wyrm defense mechanisms

(yo @ganymedesclock, I heard you were wondering about what a wyrm's defensive behaviors would look like, so I decided to just write up my thoughts on that in a separate post rather than a simple reply)

To be a wyrm is to demand a great territory lush with enough foliage and animal life to sustain the ever-growing body of a massive magical organism, and to be ever-growing is to eventually demand the ascension into godhood so that an individual’s power and life is not wholly dependant upon the land for its continued survival. As such, an adult wyrm would not just demand a territory that can reach hundreds of miles in length (be it across the surface or underneath the earth), but would also require territory suitable enough to fit both its needs, and the needs of sapient bugs capable of worshiping it. I personally view wyrms as being well suited for going long periods of time without food or water, being able to sustain themselves on the raw magical energy of the Wastelands, but the fluctuating currents of said magic are not dependable enough for continuous survival, so claiming a territory and eventually ascending into godhood is an inevitable necessity in the life of a wyrm. This, of course, means that resource scarcity is always a threat, and that competition is extremely high. As such, wyrms are highly territorial, aggressive creatures that have no qualms to resorting to cannibalism and very little problems with hounding out anything that dares to threaten their status as the top god of the region, which in turn means that their defensive behaviors are highly varied to match different levels of aggression, and to potentially neutralize dangerous situations if they know that they do not have the chance to survive.

(The claiming of such lands and the continuous aggressive drive to maintain territory also serves to create small, magic-calmed oasis-like areas of safety on the Wasteland’s perimeter, preventing its growth and encouraging an abundance of biodiversity within the pocket that are capable of retaining minds not scoured away by the wild magic of the Wastes. This in turn allows for smaller Higher Beings to propagate in addition to the wyrm’s own young, but that whole cycle between a large, powerful Higher Being magically terraforming a pocket of land to be more suitable to civilian growth is an entirely different topic from wyrm defensiveness altogether. It more just shows how wyrms offset the massive calorie count they require.)

Common wyrm defensive traits:

-All wyrms regardless of age are equipped with naturally bioluminescent scales. While the amount and colour varies due to hormones*, the bioluminescence serves the same purpose: to blind/disorient their enemies, and to help display size among other wyrms. Wyrms themselves generally are born without true eyes, but almost all of them have some form of primal eyespot that allows them to detect light and dark, so in territory fights, it is often useful to use said bioluminescence to try to make oneself appear larger in combination with other defensive displays

*(Gravid wyrms have much darker, duller scales to blend in with the earth, and broken-up stripes or other patterns of bioluminescent scales to make their outline hard to pick up. While this might not be very useful against another wyrm, pretty much all other wyrms know that a gravid individual is large enough to be a significant threat and would fight to the death with no compromise, so picking up on those pheromones deters others well enough)

-Arching. Whether this is a back arch or rearing up to strike varies between individuals, but arching the back up in loops is often a purely defensive display while rearing is far more aggressive. Arching the back presses the slightly softer belly scutes to the earth, providing extra defense, but rearing is an act of confidence and aggression that can easily make another wyrm or Higher Being decide to book it if they weren’t certain on starting a fight. Often accompanied by bioluminescence flares

-Plate spreading. The backs of wyrms are covered in thick, overlapping plates that run down the entire length of their body, guarding their spine during battles + mating and allowing themselves good traction on the roofs of their tunnels as well as the floors. These plates are locked down on the back by default, but any sort of fear response or anger will push them into an angled state that essentially turns them into a larger-looking, prickly pinecone. Completely reflexive, and usually used against other Higher Beings rather than wyrms, which merit other defenses. Often accompanied by bioluminescence flares, mouse-drawn mspaint example below

-While it does not contribute to wyrm-on-wyrm violence, I also hc that a good deal of wyrms have some sort of frill running along their backs that also puffs up to REALLY drive home the ‘I am big and scary, leave me alone) thing

-Growling. Many wyrms will growl if they smell or sense another close to their territory, as the vibrations from such a deep noise create tremors of a certain frequency that are easily picked up on by other wyrms. While those multi-segmented jaws are covered in chitin stronger than pale ore, they have a tendency to rattle against each other when vibrated, which gives them good sensitivity to ground tremors. Growling is often used against other wyrms, as growling loudly (aka deeper/more intense) can make an individual seem larger than they actually are, and very few species can fully hear a wyrm-growl

-A hiss is a more upset noise, and pretty much always precedes a bite. Compared to the extremely low, pulsing rumbles that vibrate the whole earth around them, hisses are long, high-pitched, and piercingly loud. Often accompanied by mandible snapping or chattering to illustrate the point

-Scent marking is a purely territorial thing, but if a wyrm is defending their territory they might move their head back and forth over the ground to activate the scent glands under their chin

-Acid spit: more of a baby thing than an adult. Wyrms have a semi-complex digestive system composed of a ‘crop’ (more of an acid bag than what we know with birds) and two stomachs to help break down all the weird shit they eat, with the crop being used to liquify as much stuff as possible in their very concentrated stomach acid before passing it on to the stomach to grind to bits. All wyrms are capable of spitting out a fresh stream of this acid spitting-cobra style, but it’s pretty much always regulated to babies because spells are better for ranged damage, and adults tend to eat tougher foods that require the extra spitting acid to properly digest it. It also works particularly well for infants because the acid is capable of eating through wyrm scales, which can sometimes deter unrelated adults from eating them. Fresh meat and a future rival lost is not worth raw chemical burns all over the face.

(Fun fact this means that they can get reverse acid reflux if something goes wrong during digestion, which can cause some severe ulcers and requires a lot of chalk-chewing + a long period without food to neutralize said ulcers. Being able to eat anything can be kind of a bitch sometimes)

-And last, and most rare of a maneuver: complete submission. This is pretty much always a last-ditch resort because it almost never works, but sometimes if a young or severely outclassed wyrm finds themselves in the territory of a much older, larger individual, they’ll freeze, and press themselves as flat to the ground as possible in order to appear small as possible. Not only does this reduce the chance of the other wyrm going straight into a fight to chase them out of their territory, it also makes them look less appealing of a potential meal if the other wyrm decides to just eat them instead. Often used by teenagers that stumble stupidly into the nesting-grounds of an already-bred wyrm during their first few breeding seasons, though cowardly adults will resort to it as well.

So, what would a defensive PK look like? Pretty stupid, honestly. If severely startled (or broody), he’d likely drop to all sixes, puff up his plates, flare his wings, and hiss, all while giving off a strong enough glow to blind everyone in the nearest vicinity. Think of an owl defense mechanism paired with that of a cat, and throw in some snake striking poses as well. It would be rare to see him in such a state, as his self-control is exemplary, but the puff, glow, and wing flare are all reflexes that he has no control over, much to his chagrin.

An aggressive/assertive PK, on the other hand, would be terrifying- his wings would be fully spread, angled towards his opposition to give off the maximum amount of light possible, his back spines would be half-bristled, and he would be standing as tall as he possibly could, periodically flexing his jaws during speech to show off the sharp, bladelike fang at the tip of each mandible + the double rows of teeth lining each of them. While it is somewhat of a defense tactic, as persuading an opponent to back down from a fight is always better than engaging in one, a PK who had the time to be slowly riled up to that state would look more like a cold, wrathful ruler instead of a blindingly shiny pinecone. I can see this being something that he pulled a lot more when he was younger, and then considered cringeworthy when he was older, as it pretty much boils down to a lot of posturing for a fight he’d do his best to avoid anyways vs just…fixing the damn problem.

#hollow knight #pale king #the pale king #pale wyrm #wyrmbology #speculative biology #hollow knight headcanons #I've drawn PK in aggressive postures before but never a defensive one #i gotta change that at some point

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