“I am Jormungandr, master of the ocean and poisoner of the sky. I am the World Serpent, and you now belong to me.”

Concept art by Iwo Widuliński

During the Breaking of the World, where the land cracked and splintered, and the continents were reformed, the barrier between the material world and the immateria was at its thinnest. Breaches began to appear across the globe, leaking Ether and altering reality, with one of the largest opening a great rift near Alta in northern Norway. Curiously, the vast crack that formed stopped at the base of a single ash tree, leading some to believe that the tree was actually Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

After years studying the occult and his subsequent search for power, Lee Kyong-Min was well aware of both the breach’s location, and its significance. He knew that a great destiny awaited him there, so he travelled west across what was once northern Russia, now controlled by the UNM, with a small band of elite warriors.

For the entire journey there, Kyong-Min hallucinated with visions of Ragnarök and the battles between the gods that were foreseen to take place. He felt the World Serpent calling to him in his subconscious and he followed the voice to its source. The Ether around the breach was so strong it straddled the boundaries between the physical and the immaterial, warping reality and preventing any human from approaching. Any human except for Kyong-Min. In an enraptured state, he stepped past his followers and entered the rift.

No one is sure what happened to him whilst inside but, when he emerged, he was no longer entirely just Lee Kyong-Min. His appearance had changed giving him an almost glowing quality, his outline a kind of haze and his voice cracked and much deepened. Somehow he had merged with a being from the immateria, an ancient creature of dream and thought. And it had a name: Jormungandr, the World Serpent.

Sculpting by Seth Nash

There is a certain unpredictability when using the Cult of the Dragon, and Kyong-Min himself does not have full control of his own soul. On the tabletop, he is represented by two models: one of himself, and one of the mighty serpent god Jormungandr. Throughout the game, certain rules and battlefield conditions will determine which model is in play, representing Kyong-Min’s internal struggle for control of his own mind.

When enough blood has been spilled, the World Serpent is called forth, bound to Kyong-Min’s soul and tethered to reality by his will. The beast’s jaws can rend even the thickest armour, and the ancient Norse god has an almost peerless mastery over Ether. Able to call forth a poisonous rain to weaken his enemies, Jormungandr can tear through multiple foes in a single attack.

But it is Ragnarök that gives Jormungandr his most devastating power. With enough Ether siphoned from the nearby breaches, he is able to tear apart the very fabric of reality, and destroy the minds of those caught in this fell conflagration.