Larry the Wurm

Larry is a Wurm universally renowned for his vast collection of hats. He is the current King of Aquaris, and if he should one day make it there he will also be King of Wurmapalooza, the home planet of the Wurms. As Larry has not yet claimed a title of his own yet, he has the honorary title given to all Wurms without one. "The Wurm."

Background
Larry, along with his twin brother Bob, were born to their mother Gurtha over 400 years ago.

Soon after they were born they were taken from their home planet of Wurmapalooza to what would be their new home, Aquaris. It was here that Larry and Bob would be taught how to be King by their father, Garry. They were taught in such an environment so that they would not risk the safety and wellbeing of their own home planet should either of the two young Wurms have made a rather drastically poor choice in judgement while in training.

At the age of 346, Larry met his wife Terry, another Wurm who had left Wurmapalooza and found her way to Aquaris. In the time they spent together, they had one son, who they named Barry. When Barry began to learn the ways of magic and combat 6 years old, it soon became apparent that he was a true prodigy. His potential seemed endless, with his pool of magic seeming to never end and his awareness within any battle being second to none. This stirred immense jealousy within Bob, and soon the colour of his skin changed. Where once it had been a lovely tangerine in colour, it soon became closer to resembling a mix of that and brown. A dark mess resembling nothing pleasant. This only drove Bob to further anger.

On the day that would have been Barry’s 30th birthday, and the day that would have been the day that Barry would receive his own hat of the Royal family, Bob snuck into Barry’s room. While not as proficient in magic as Barry, or even Larry, Bob was still no one to be trifled with in that regard. Bob conjured a sharp blade of air and pierced Barry’s skin, ending his life before he even had a chance to open his eyes.

It was at this moment that Larry walked in, holding in his hands a hat with a star on its front. The symbol of the Royal Wurm family. He saw Barry’s lifeless body within his bed, and Bob standing just over him. Larry dropped the hat and rushed to be by his son’s side. His body was already cold. Larry began to feel something stirring inside him unlike anything he had felt previously in his life, more intense than anything he had felt before. Larry was experiencing pure, unfiltered rage to an extreme his didn’t even know existed. A light began to emanate from within Larry, growing in intensity until finally the light became blindingly bright, and there was a deafening explosion.

Larry opened his eyes. He was floating through space amidst a field of rubble and very little else. He sat there for a full minute, floating through space and now thankful that body could go without air for an hour before passing out. This was when Larry heard a familiar voice. That of Barry’s.

Barry appeared before Larry, slightly translucent and speaking directly to him.

“Father… you have done something truly terrible today. All of Aquaris is gone. Our home is destroyed.” Larry realised what he was floating through now. The remnants of Aquaris.

“I can fix this. I can restore our planet, make it as though none of this had happened. That no one had died and that none of this had happened. Sort of like a deus ex Machina. However… I will lose my life even further than I already have. The very essence of my spirit will cease to exist. Still, this sacrifice I am willing to make. Most all of the citizens of the planet did not deserve such a fate. I assume you have no objections?” Larry went to object, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. He was in space. Barry looked to where the floor would have been.

“Very well then.”

An incredibly blinding flash of light, similar to the one emitted by Larry shone from within Barry’s ghostly body, and when Larry could once more open his eyes he was met with the sight of Barry’s room, Bob standing as he had been over Barry’s bed. Barry’s body was no longer there. He truly had ceased to exist.

Larry called for the Royal guard, commanding for Bob to be captured and arrested, and sent to the dungeon of Aquaris for life.

For 10 years Bob sat in his cell, isolated from the world save for his one weekly interaction with the guard who provided him with his food. On the 10th anniversary of his capture, Bob escaped from his cell, fled the planet, and began his hunt for Wurmapalooza.

Only two weeks after Bob escaped from his cell, Gurtha killed, murdered by an assassin during a royal appearance to the public. A hooded figure was seen fleeing from the scene, large in size with a pure white beard spilling forth from his cowl. These were the only identifying features that could be made out on the assassin before he escaped.  Larry's father, Garry, died at the age of 798. He had contracted a disease unique only to the Wurms. Beginning within his tail, the disease slowly infected all of Garry’s body, slowly killing him. Despite this, his body was now also dependant on the disease. Should the disease have left his body at any point, such as through amputation, he would have died immediately. Because of Garry’s death, Larry became the King of Aquaris. While Garry’s younger sister did have hold of the title of King of Wurmapalooza given that Garry had handed it to her when he had departed so many years ago, Larry was now eligible to claim this throne as well. However, with Garry's death, the knowledge of the location of Wurmapalooza, as well as a method for getting there, were lost to Larry. And of course, if Bob managed to get to Wurmapalooza before Larry did, he would be able to claim the title of King to hold even should Larry get there after. Truly, it was a race between the two to claim the throne.

Appearance
As a Wurm, Larry has four extremely short legs (2cm) and short arms (1.5cm). Larry is always seen wearing one of the many hats that he has in his collection, however most prominent among them is his family hat, Mr Starry. The colour of Larry's skin is a nice uniform lime green. His body is also comprised of different segments. Like all Wurms, most of these segments are not necessary for Larry's survival. While standing on his feet, Larry is 6’2” however his full length from head to tail 7’4”.

Personality
In general, Larry’s attitude towards life can be seen as one of overwhelming positivity. Despite all of the hardships that Larry has been through in his life, on the surface Larry appears perfectly stable. Yet underneath this apparent façade lies Larry’s true outlook on life. In the privacy of his home he has turned to drinking and drugs in order to drown out the overwhelming sadness he feels daily over the deaths of almost all of his family.

Despite the near perfect mask that Larry wears however, it has been seen that it isn’t full proof. In the past Larry has pushed over the breaking point and how he truly feels about the world has shone through.

Bob the Bastard
 Larry’s current relationship with Bob is… not good, to say the least. While they were the best of friends whilst they were younger, recent events have caused them to drift apart quite dramatically. Now, the two can’t be near each other without being at each other’s throats, quite literally. They rarely see each other anymore, but whenever they do it never ends well. Murderous intent is generally involved.

Barry the Wurm
While growing up, the relationship Barry held with Larry was that of the picturesque father/son relationship. They rarely had arguments, if ever, and they both respected each other equally. Larry was more than just a father to Barry. He was his teacher and best friend.

Gurtha the Squint
Gurtha had always been incredibly fond of Larry. Since he was born, Larry was doted on by his mother, to the point where Gurtha would seemingly ignore her other son, Bob. The relationship between Larry and Gurtha put more strain on each of their relationships with Bob than there may have otherwise been.

Garry the King
Garry was always fair and just with Larry. When Larry would make a mistake, Garry would guide him through how to do what he was trying to correctly. Should Larry have done something irresponsible, Garry would seem to know the perfect punishment which wasn’t too harsh nor too lenient. He took the training of Larry to be King quite seriously, hoping to make him a better King than he had ever been. When Garry was overcome with his illness, Larry stayed by his bedside for 3 weeks straight, only moving when he needed to so that Garry could be medicated.

Terry the
When they first met, Larry and Terry were wary of each other, forming a small rivalry between themselves. They’d compete over anything they could. From sports to knitting to baking and anything else they could think of. This friendly rivalry soon evolved, forming the basis of their romantic relationship before they eventually married, and then had their son, Barry. With the birth of Barry, they simply became even better together, with Barry forming the missing piece to the puzzle that was their lives. Sadly, when Barry died, so did a part of Terry. She became distant, withdrawing herself to her quarters for most of the days and only emerging when absolutely necessary. She began seeing Larry as a painful reminder of what her life had been like when Barry still existed, and so eventually ran away from Aquaris, leaving Larry forever.