Wyrdling

The Wyrding is the name given to the mysterious process or force by which sudden and unpredictable changes in geography occur. The term refers to both the general phenomenon, and to certain well known instances of its occurrence (eg. the Rovian Wyrding). The Wyrding first occurred in TD 1318 in what has come to be known as The First Great Wyrding, a catastrophic event, which plunged Torin, all of its neighboring city-states, and much of the known world into political and martial chaos.

Contents

1. Description
1. Wyrdlands
2. Accounts of Wyrdings
1. Wyrdings
2. Historical Impact
3. Explanations

Description

When a Wyrding occurs, areas of land ranging in size from a small dell to entire swaths of coastline have been known to change entirely. Sometimes land is replaced by water, or mountains are found where there were once rolling plains. This new unknown terrain is known as Wyrdlands until such a time as it has been explored and recorded on a True Map by a cartomancer.

Wyrdlands

The Wyrdlands left behind after a Wyrding are most often discovered to contain untamed wilderness. However, in some cases towns and even cities have been discovered, or the long abandoned ruins thereof. In some cases the cities are previously known cities, completely internally intact, simply located elsewhere (to the great distress and confusion of their inhabitants). There have been rare instances of previously unknown cities, home to foreign peoples with no knowledge of their new surroundings.

Accounts of Wyrdings

There are some accounts of individuals who have been present in the affected area during the course of a Wyrding. While many such people are never seen again and presumed lost, others have returned, months or even years later, often showing up on the boarders of states hundreds of miles distant. The personal accounts of these people differ as to what they experienced, although there are some common threads. Many describe an thick mist or fog that came upon them suddenly, seemingly rising out of the earth itself, leaving behind an entirely different landscape after dissipating. Others describe a sudden darkness, punctuated by what seemed like flashes for lightning, each briefly revealing a different landscape. A famous account by Marron Yilt describes being caught on the edge of a bog as a Wyrding began. According to Yilt, there was a great storm, during which rain fell upwards from the ground and each peal of thunder brought a gust of sand and dust into his eyes. Yilt took cover beneath a rocky outcropping for the night, and when he awoke, he found himself in the middle of a vast desert.

Wyrdlings

There are persistent legends and reports of strange encounters in the mists and storms that accompany Wyrdings. While the most comment term for these entities is "Wyrdling", they go by many folk names, such as Wyrdkin, Gobo, Mistwalkers and Moog Engines (pronounced "moe-g engine"). As with the Wryrdings themselves, accounts vary as to the form of Wyrdlings, with many dismissing their existence, labeling them children's bogeymen. A surprising number of accounts, from many different states, however, involve a description of "lantern eyes".

The Wyrding is sometimes referred to as "unmapping" because it causes previously mapped portions of True Maps to become blank once more. The maps are said to literally "drink" the ink from parchment, leaving blanks space where carefully drawn features once were.

Historical Impact

Explanations

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