Rust Drake

Appearance

The Rust Drake of Grizburg looks less like a dragon and more like a scrap heap given wings. Its scales resemble jagged plates of oxidized steel, flaking with every movement. Each beat of its wings rains a cloud of rust, choking the air with metallic dust. Its breath reeks of corroded iron, and its eyes glow faint green, like furnace coals drowned in river sludge. ---  

Origins

Scholars argue endlessly over whether the Rust Drake descends from corrupted metallic dragons or from some vile alchemy of the Rust Barons. The most sinister theory ties them to the Whispering Depths, claiming that Zothra-Khaar’s essence warped the eggs of ancient wyrms. Others whisper that when a forge’s slag pit grows deep enough, the city itself births these drakes to protect its hunger.   ---  

Habitat

They prowl the skies above the Rustwater District, gliding between smoke stacks and shattered warehouses. Brooding pairs nest inside collapsed chimneys, where slag heaps provide both warmth and food. At night, they sweep across the Sko River, shedding corroded flakes that poison the current further, their reflections warped in the rainbow oil-slick waters.   ---  

Ecology

The Rust Drake feeds not on flesh but on metal made brittle by age and neglect. It gnaws on ship hulls, swallows shattered chains, and devours the remains of barges stripped bare by rust monsters. In turn, it spreads the lockjaw disease through spittle and breath, crippling those who dare fight it. Its excreted rust, collected by smugglers, is sold as both drug and curse.   ---  

Behavior

Rust Drakes are cruelly playful. They drop half-melted anchors on passing boats, then circle overhead as survivors scream. They relish the clamor of steel breaking, wings thrashing to scatter rust into the wounds of their prey. When sated, they sink into slag heaps like crocodiles, only their horned brows showing above the oxidized crust.   ---  

Role in Grizburg

The Rust Barons secretly cultivate them, feeding them stolen weapon shipments so they can unleash them against rivals. A single drake loosed over Greendocks can reduce an entire tier of warehouses to skeletal beams. Riverfolk claim House Ashen Chain once tried binding one with necromancy, but the beast vomited molten scrap until the deck collapsed, dragging ship and crew beneath the river.   ---  

Cultural Belief

Dockside gangs worship them as saints of corrosion. Tattoos of the drake’s jagged wings mark loyalty, and cults burn offerings of broken blades to attract its blessing. Children whisper that when a blacksmith cheats his workers, the drake will come scratching at the windows with rusted talons, hungry for retribution.   ---  

Legends

Old Muckfingers swears there is a “Rust King” sleeping beneath the Rustwater, wings spread wide enough to bridge the entire Sko. He says every lesser drake is but a flake of its scale, broken free and given life. When the King wakes, Grizburg’s forges will crumble into its belly, and the city will ring not with hammer-song, but with the sound of steel dissolving into dust.   ---  

Closing Words

In Grizburg, even dragons are made of ruin. The Rust Drake is the city’s hunger given flight—scrap metal reanimated by spite, plague, and smoke. Where it soars, chains snap, iron buckles, and men’s jaws lock tight with disease. Steel may be the Barons’ empire, but rust is its heir, and the drake its herald.