Books - Wyrms

	Books - Wyrms

:This article is about the novel. For the legendary creature, see Wyrm.

Wyrms published in 1987 by TOR books is a novel by Orson Scott Card. The story examines desire, wisdom, and human will.

Plot

The setting for the story is a planet where ore for producing hard metal is rare, most of the ore having been destroyed by the madness of the starship captain ages ago while his ship was in orbit. The world is inhabited by humans as well as geblings, dwelfs and gaunts. Geblings are an intelligent apelike species, who have the ability to communicate with each other telepathically. Dwelfs haven't the capacity to remember anything, and gaunts haven't any free will of their own. They can however (through unknown means) read the will or desires of those around them and always act on the impulses they read. There is one other life form that preceded all the others on the planet. They are called Wyrms. They disappeared from the planet shortly after the humans landed. Nobody on the planet is certain where the other species originated from.

Patience, a 13-year-old girl who is descended from the captain, is the only daughter of the rightful heir, called Heptarch, of the planet's ruling class. Her father, Peace, willingly lives as a slave (or servant) to the usurper King Orec. Peace acts the part of a diplomat (as well as assassin) who serves King Orec well in public, but secretly teaches Patience who the rightful heir is. Patience at a very young age becomes very skilled in the arts of her father, and is also employed by the king as both diplomat and assassin. Her tutor, Angel, spends the most time with Patience as she grows up, her father being away on official business most of the time. King Orec, paranoid about his reign, never allows both Peace and Patience outside of the castle grounds at the same time. This hostage situation satisfies him that Peace is kept in check, while away. Even when Patience and her father are together, their speech must be guarded due to the spies Orec employs everywhere. Because of this isolation, Angel has become Patience's father figure as well as tutor and best friend.

Patience soon learns of an ancient prophecy that when the seventh seventh seventh human heptarch is crowned he will be the Kristos and bring eternal salvation or eternal destruction to the world. Patience learns that it is her son who would be the seventh seventh seventh Heptarch. While a sceptic herself, a whole religion exists built around the legends of the starship captain and his descendants. Thousands of people, called vigilants, stand ready to aid patience in reclaiming the Heptarchy and fulfilling the prophecy at the center of their religion.

Other mysteries unfold through the story, such as why did all the wise men of the land suddenly forsake everything and go on a pilgrimage to Cranwater, never to be seen or heard from again. Called "the Cranning Call," it leaves the world destitute of its greatest thinkers and achievers.

When Patience's father dies, he asks her at his bedside to cut into his shoulder with a knife and retrieve a crystal that is hidden there. It is the scepter of the Heptarchy, he tells her, and admonishes her to keep it secret and safe. Then he dies, and Patience must escape the castle before she too is assassinated. Before leaving, however, she sneaks into Slave's Hall, where the heads of the wisest people are preserved and kept alive by headworms. The head's memories are intact, and are coerced by the headworms to only speak the truth when addressed. Patience seeks out her father's head, and uses the opportunity to learn all she can about prophecies and the Cranning Call. She forces her father to tell her his darkest secrets, and begins to formulates her plans when she meets up with Angel.

Outside of the castle, she too hears the Cranning Call and knows she must go there to meet her fate. Angel and Patience set out for Cranwater together. Along the way the Cranning call got stronger and stronger. Patience fought back the urgency to get their and chose her own routes in defiance, yet still travelled toward Cranwater. Along the way, Sken, a massive river woman, joined their party. Later 3 others joined the group. Ruin and Reck, twin brother and sister geblings, who are exiled from their homeland of Cranwater. Also Will who is the silent, but strong human friend who lives with Reck. Reck and Ruin are together the king of the geblings, but are repelled from Cranwater by a force which makes them not desire to go back. When Patience arrives the Cranning Call cancels the same call that repels Reck and Ruin and they are able to travel with her.

At one point Angel explains to Patience what the scepter is and how to use it. It is to be placed in the skull surgically, and it melds with the brain. The scepter than transfers all the memories of the previous users of the crystal to the current user. The scepter was stolen long a go from the Gebling king by the Heptarch. It has been worn by all the human Heptarchs since. Since the crystal sometimes caused insanity it was sometimes worn under the skin away from the brain, but still melded with the user, in a safer manner.

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