World: Any
Diet: Brains
Height: 30’4″
Lifespan: 500 years
Habitat: Mostly Erebus
Activity Cycle: Do not Sleep
Silently gliding through caverns and tunnels under our feet, gloombirds are only seen by those on the surface when they wish to be, and those who do catch a glimpse are rarely the same after. Locking eyes with a gloombird connects any sapient being’s mind to that of the dragon, and while the results may take years to fully take effect, they are rarely benign.
Of all dragons, the gloombird may be the pickiest when it comes to a lair. The sun causes their smooth skin to blister, so it should ideally be underground, but they also desire enough room to open their wings and fly in at least part of their lair. This typically forbids natural caverns, traditionally tight spaces unsuited to such massive wingspans, but they are not made for burrowing either. This is somewhat ameliorated by two unique abilities. A gloombird can walk on walls and ceilings like a spider, and can pass through up to five feet of solid material horizontally or 15 vertically. They can thus make use of spaces nothing else their size could.
Gloombirds also desire nearby settlements, which they observe and sometimes manipulate for reasons that are often inscrutable. Some seem to guide their chosen towns or villages away from foreseen disasters. Others twist societies into cruel parodies of themselves, places of such utter evil that they are unable to sustain themselves. Most have no tangible goals at all, simply showing themselves to individuals once in a while and gazing into their eyes. The immediate effect is usually paralysis as the unfortunate creature’s mind contacts the alien abyss within the dragon’s skull. Those thus exposed often fall unconscious for several hours, but upon awakening, they usually show no symptoms and sometimes don’t even remember the event. Only a small fraction will, perhaps years in the future, understand what they were shown and disappear into the night to join the dragon, slowly being shaped into a mothman.
