Known as the Wandering Wyrm for its tendency to appear every few millennia and lazily float across the Sea of Fallen Stars spreading the most horrendous plagues to all it encounters.
The first documented appearance of this “dragon” was in 75 DR; The Year of Clinging Death, where it was seen off the coast of the Vilhon Reach, Westgate, and Akanu (modern: Chessenta) where the plague took hold before spreading to the parent empire of Unther and its holdings in the Shaar.
It has been sighted along the coastlines of every major plague in coastal nations around the Sea of Fallen Stars (although some sightings were seen only by old sea dogs with drink addled wits), and sailors are as afraid of the Wandering Wyrm as they are of a Thayan slaver.
Meiandringolousaert is not a dragon at all but a huge reptilian serpent that has been heavily modified by magics of ancient origin and cruelly gifted with sentience. The quelzarn is an enormous 30 ft long sea serpent that is depicted by fishermen as devouring boats whole although it is rarely ever encountered in the Sea of Fallen Stars. In times long before the dominance of man, quelzarn were one of the many tools of the sarrukh used to dominant the seas and they altered their servants with flesh warping magics to create the legendary Greater Quelzarn; a beast of enormous size and power that could rival dragons for destructive potential. Meiandringolousaert is not one of the Greater Quelzarn but her creation is in imitation of such monstrous beings.
Ancient manuscripts; held in catacombs deep beneath the sunken city of Adanu in the Adder Swamp or inside the Citadel of Black Ash, detail magical experiments Gil-Geamesq and his chief advisor Ram-Chesq performed on a variety of creatures using a supply of limitless “dark” magic. The results were varied and ultimately resulted in Ram-Chesq becoming an invincible monster that was imprisoned on an island far out to sea.
Meiandringolousaert was one of the fruits of such experimentation; a huge, bloated, winged, serpent that resembled a dragon (at a distance). Unfortunately like most of these experiments, the “dark” magic source twisted the results and Meiandringolousaert was left in a perpetual state of regeneration and decay, causing her immense pain and also making her a reservoir for a vast and constantly mutating variety of diseases.
Meiandringolousaert fled Adanu into the sea and made her way to the island that would become her secret and permanent home; the Dragonisle. Slumbering in deep underwater caves, her infectious presence created a variety of dragon like creatures which inhabit the island to this day (and for which the island is named), the most famous of which are the “dragon turtles” of Wyrm Bay.
Over the millennia since her creation, Meiandringolousaert has been discovered and aroused from her slumber by a few individuals (even fewer of whom survived), but the most notable of these survivors was TiaMa’at; the Untheric demigod of rebellion. TiaMa’at and the Wandering Wyrm struck up an alliance of sorts and as a result many of Meiandringolousaert’s wanserings have been along the coasts of Akanu (modern: Chessenta) and Unther, bringing disease and death to many of Gil-Geamesq’s subjects.
The most recent of Meiandringolousaert’s excursions was in 1317 DR, where she visited a dozen plagues to nations around the Inner Sea. Unther suffered the most, with almost 40% of its citizenry killed or rendered incapable by disease. This has had a destabilising effect on decadent Unther and the country is going through a period of upheaval as a result. The worst effects of this “dragon plague” however are the transformations it has had on more than a few plague victims who were mutated into a variety of draconic forms and more than a few of these creatures have escaped into the wilderness and may return to plague Unther in the future.
Meiandringolousaert’s Lair
The lair of Meiandringolousaert is a vast underwater chamber beneath the Dragonisle in the Sea of Fallen Stars. It is only reachable by a single tunnel at the bottom of Wyrm Bay which is infested with aggressive dragon turtles. Meiandringolousaert very rarely leaves her home and only on misty mornings or evenings, so few have ever seen the need to go and explore a bay filled with dangerous monsters who act as very capable guardians.
The tunnel leads to a vast air filled chamber with an island in its centre, surrounded by water. Meiandringolousaert coils around a large, vaguely humanoid statue of a peculiar humanoid creature with smooth skin, an almost featureless face (like a frog or other amphibioid), and many tentacles in place of its legs.
The Dragonisle is occasionally rocked by loud rumbles that seem to shake the very ground (although the wooden shacks are undamaged), the inhabitants put these rumblings down to “magic” or a mysterious dragon that lives on the island somewhere, a few of the more knowledgeable sages recognise the rocky island is volcanic in origin and believe the rumblings are due to volcanic activity. None would suspect that the rumblings are the pain wracked roars of Meiandringolousaert, amplified by the chamber she inhabits until they are audible on the surface.
The Echo Chamber: Meiandringolousaert’s primary lair is a large magma chamber beneath the Dragonisle (which used to be a dormant volcano in ages past before it was smashed when the Inner Seas became a single, joined Sea of Fallen Stars). The magma chamber had long been modified for ritual use by the main inhabitants of the Inner Seas, and a relic remains in the form of a statue that resembles a figure of worship to the ancient batrachi. The walls of metamorphic rock have been fashioned and smoothed to allow sound to resonate of it and amplify it back towards the statue in the centre of the chamber.
Meiandringolousaert is certain the statue has some lingering enchantments that certain levels and pitch of noise may activate, but she has so far been unable to achieve anything despite millennia of sporadic experimentation.
Littered around the central island, and in the waters around it, are the remains of hundreds of creatures slain by Meiandringolousaert over the years of her habitation. Some of these creatures include the skeletal remains of large creatures like baleen whales or sharks, a variety of humanoid remains, and the occasional dragon skeleton. There are numerous coral growths in and around the chamber, often covering the humanoid (sea elven) remains that hold several, still usable items that they have grown around. It is possible that some of these items are ancient and potentially magical.
Meiandringolousaert has revealed to the Cult of the Dragon cultists that have visited her in recent years, that sea elves occupied this cavern (either as guards, or residents, or both) before she claimed it and slew them when they attacked her.
Meiandringolousaert’s Domain
Meiandringolousaert is not territorial like real dragons are. She spends most of her time in slumber in the cold and damp Echo Chamber beneath Dragonisle. When she does awaken she occasionally feels a need to see beyond her home, roaming the Sea of Fallen Stars as her whims take her.
Those that attack Meiandringolousaert are slain and often dragged back to her lair, although she rarely consumes her prey (despite a gnawing hunger) as she is sustained by the magic that infuses her and the very act of feeding is painful as her body rejects food quickly.
Those that attempt to approach the Wandering Wyrm are invariably infected by terrible diseases, and any persisting and interacting with Meiandringolousaert had best be mindful of her rages when waves of pain flow through her body, causing her to lash out and often slay those nearby.
The Deeds of Meiandringolousaert
The deeds of Meiandringolousaert are represented by the deaths of millions of people around the Sea of Fallen Stars. Meiandringolousaert may not have desired their deaths but as always is too consumed by pain and thoughts of vengeance to care overmuch about other beings.
Meiandringolousaert’s Magic
Meiandringolousaert has cares nothing for magic. Magic caused her long-standing condition and so she has a natural distrust of it and seeks it out only in the vain hopes it may ease her pain and suffering. The regular spasms of pain that consume her mind prevent her from studying or focusing on anything for more than a few minutes and so she has never had the chance to discover whether she possesses any talent for the Art or not. Magical items are usually not geared towards any of her primary interests so she discards them throughout her lair.
The only thing magical about Meiandringolousaert is her existence and as part of that the many diseases she can cause, and most importantly her breath weapon.
Disease: Meiandringolousaert is an enormous reservoir for a variety of diseases that sustain themselves on her continuously rotting and regenerating flesh, and which are mutated by the magic that infuses her. Anyone nearing the Wandering Wyrm is almost certain to contract one or more of these diseases.
Dragon Breath: Meiandringolousaert possesses a breath weapon of sorts. Her lungs are filled with the most dangerous and deadly of “diseases” (although in reality it is more akin to magical infused negative energy). When Meiandringolousaert opens her mouth and breathes, anyone caught in it’s area of effect is cursed by a magic that mutates their physical form and can be spread to those that come into close proximity to the affected. Those that survive the ravaging mutations are changed to be more draconic like (just as Meiandringolousaert was changed millennia ago).
This mutating breath was responsible for the “Dragon Plague” that afflicted Unther in 1317 DR. Although the plague slew almost 40% of the population, almost a thousand individuals survived the changes and fled into the wilderness where they are far more bestial than their original form (the breath weapon also affects animals caught in its path). Meiandringolousaert’s breath has also created the “dragon turtles” that inhabit Wyrm Bay in the Dragonisle, enough of these “dragon turtles” have been fertile to create a stable stock of this new life-form.
Meiandringolousaert’s Allies
Meiandringolousaert has long had a common ally in TiaMa’at of Unther. TiaMa’at is one of the few beings able to resist the plagues of Meiandringolousaert, that has an interest in the Wandering Wyrm and her resemblance to dragons (and her ability to mutates others into draconic like beings), and both beings have an intense and eternal hatred for Gil-Geamesq the God-King of Unther.
This alliance has seen TiaMa’at visit the Dragonisle for numerous, extended periods as she aides Meiandringolousaert in her goal (to be rid of the pain or to die), and has also resulted in the Wandering Wyrm emerging from her lair many times over several years as she visits her plagues upon the nations around the Sea of Fallen Stars, paying particular attention to Unther and Akanu (modern: Chessenta).
Meiandringolousaert has acquired new allies in the form of the Cult of the Dragon. The cult traced the Wandering Wyrm to the Dragonisle after interactions with the Cult of the Queen of Chaos. They mistakenly believe Meiandringolousaert to be a unique form of dragon and are attempting to persuade her into undergoing the transformation into dracolichdom.
Thus far cultists have attempted to bribe her with exotic slaves or delicacies, hoards of gold and jewels, and even magical items. Meiandringolousaert is interested in none of these gifts and they are scattered across the floor of her lair, she does not want to attain dracolichdom as she does not wish to live eternally with the pain she suffers. Ironically the true gift the cult could provide her is the draught that would induce dracolichdom; as Neiandringolousaert is not a true dragon such a draught would almost certainly kill her and may be one of the few things capable of doing so.
Meiandringolousaert’s Enemies
Meiandringolousaert has one true enemy. Gil-Geamesq the God-King and Tyrant of Unther. Her hatred of him is all consuming and she hopes one day to witness, if not cause, his death. She would also hate the Ulgariph of Akanu; Ram-Chesq, if she knew he still survived, but being a human she assumed he perished long ago (he survives on Ulgar’s Isle not far from her lair in the Sea of Fallen Stars).
Almost everyone in the Sea of Fallen Stars considers Meiandringolousaert to be an enemy and will flee from the merest whisper of her appearance. All nations that border the Inner Sea organise hunts and diversion parties to try and slay or drive away the Wandering Wyrm; such is the fear surrounding her appearance and the plagues that inevitably follow her.
Meiandringolousaert’s Fate
Meiandringolousaert’s fate is likely to be the death that she so desires. At some point in the future her lair will become more widely known now that the Cult of the Dragon has discovered it. Once that happens, adventurers are likely to organise and try to slay her in order to claim the 5000 gold piece bounty on her head in every nation around the Inner Sea.
Meiandringolousaert will likely welcome this death, but will still resist until she is certain of Gil-Geamesq’s death. Anyone attempting to slay her had best be prepared to cope with ravaging diseases and counter her advanced regeneration abilities.
The Alternate Forgotten Realms 