The Metal Drake

As of the Era of Change’s Great Disturbance, there are no formal records of the Kobold slaves of The Clansplains ever rebelling against The Hobgoblin Empire. Since the Hobgoblin Empire’s war of conquest began in the middle of the Era of Change, the general opinion on the Kobold race was that it was subservient to their Hobgoblin masters. If this is not the case, very little documentation of any sort of resistance or plot to rebel exists, but this may simply be an act of censorship, because if the Kobolds are anything, it’s underestimated.

Thanks to the successful efforts of The Hobgoblin Empire, the history, culture, and even age of the Kobold race is unknown. Along with so many aspects, the race’s very potential is a mystery, with only the apparent reality of a feral slave-race is that they are good with their hands and mentally operate much like their Lizardfolk relatives.

What is known, is that during the Era of Change, a Dwarven explorer by the name of Grokirlun Metaltoe discovered something quite new and quite unique to Dioya: A Kobold invention. Metaltoe was a standard rock merchant for most of his life, owning a shop in Korrvigsguard called Metaltoe’s finds. As with most Dwarven rock merchants, business was tough due to a clear oversaturation of the market, so when word broke of The Warforged Agreement, the secret pact that the Dwarven King Korrvigsguard and Hobgoblin Zo-Sultek forged to create an army of metal-clad golem soldiers known as ‘Warforged.’ When the city of Korrvigsguard suffered tremendous civil unrest from the reveal of The Warforged Agreement, Metaltoe capitalized and attempted to find where the soldiers were being kept. Months of searching and abandoning his own shop lead Metaltoe to find an entrance to the failed Great Tunnels. Within the Great Tunnels, Metaltoe found the Warforged he heard so much about, but he also found himself face to face with an altogether different creature.
Metaltoe described it as “A metallic beast, with eyes that shone blood red like rubies lifted to the sun. It was a dragon, I’m sure of it, but none like I had ever hear of before, with a body covered in what looked like the same armaments as the Warforged soldiers that stood around me. It was dead. If it was ever alive, but I swear to you I’ve never seen such a beast as this.” Metaltoe continued the writings he made after this encounter by illustrating that around the creature were the corpses of dwarves, a few hobgoblins in Xi-Robes (The spy and espionage caste within the Hobgoblin Empire) and Kobold slaves. Many of the standing, lifeless Warforged around them were stripped of their armor as well. Metaltoe approximated that the number of corpses that were not Kobold were 3 to 1 and they seemed to have been killed by the massive claws of the creature or burned with dragon fire. Metaltoe’s confession ends with him returning to Korrvigsguard, haunted by the sight he found.

The Tunnel Drake is a creature of mystery, with only one recorded sighting by a source that is not entirely trustworthy. Whether such a creature, or perhaps even a creation exists or ever existed, is still in the realms of mystery. But if it were to truly exist, it would most definitely be a creation not of a Hobgoblin who would surely create it in their own image, but of Kobolds. The implications of The Tunnel Drake’s very existence begs many questions, but none more than exactly what the mental and logical limits are of the Kobolds, and if the slave-race has more to offer than just their physical prowess. If Metaltoe's writings are true, then The Tunnel Drake would be a useful asset in the hands of many armies, or even an uprising.

Weapons & Armament

Claws
Tail
Fire Breath

Armor and defense

Magic Resistant Dwarven Forged Steel

Length

22"

Height

5"