Wyrm (World of Darkness)
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The Wyrm is the primordial cosmic force of corruption and decay in the game known as Werewolf: The Apocalypse, from White Wolf Game Studio.
In this game, werewolves, or Garou, are heroes, fighting to save Gaia from the depredations of the Wyrm. In gameplay terms, this often translates out to protecting the Earth's environment from the depredations of agents of the Wyrm. Corrupted humans and Garou are included among these agents.
According to the cosmology of the story, the universe began with the Triat: the Wyld, the personification of chaos; the Weaver, the embodiment of order; and the Wyrm, the force of balance). For an eternity, the three existed harmoniously, with the Wyrm quietly maintaining a balance between the other two, but something went wrong.
The Weaver had gained consciousness and subsequently, gone insane after trying futily to weave an infinite Wyld into the Pattern Web (the fabric of the universe). In its desperation, the Weaver ensnared the Wyrm within the Pattern Web in its pursuit of the Wyld, in turn, driving the Wyrm insane as well. Now the Wyrm, trapped within the Pattern Web, became the force of entropy, working to devour and destroy all of creation from the inside out. The Wyrm dwells in a rotted and defiled section of the umbra known as Malfeas (Exalted). There is a tie in, through Malfeas, as in many other aspects of the World of Darkness metaplot to Exalted, another game by the same company but dealing with the setting's mythic magical past.
The Garou, as part human (Weaver-influenced) and part wolf (Wyld-influenced), instinctively understand that the universe is in need of balancing, and the minions of the Wyrm (the Pentex corporation, bane spirits, vampires, Black Spiral Dancers, etc.) stand in their way.
The Wyrm is frequently depicted as a snake as large as the planet with multiple heads; these heads representing the Triatic Wyrms ("Eater of Souls","Defiler","Beast of War") , each of which is a minor god in its own right. There are similarities with Judeo-Christian mythology; the Wyrm is sometimes identified with both the serpent in the Garden of Eden and the dragon in the Book of Revelation of John. A common symbol for the wyrm, within the setting, is the ouroboros (a serpent consuming its own tail) as a symbol of its self-destructive nature.
