Corpse Cormorant

The Corpse Cormorant or Rubblebird is a species - or possibly a group of species - of large, singularly disagreeable bird that haunts the Empty Quarter between the Sea of Jars and the northern cities of Oluz and Halumay. The few who travel through the region almost universally comment on the appearance and habits of these curious animals, which tend to leave a profoundly negative emotional impact on those who have any interaction with them.

Identification

The Corpse Cormorant is a substantial animal standing between 3 and 4 feet high. It weighs less than would be expected for such a large bird, however, given its lean, rangy physique. The animal's feathers are sparse and range from black or dark grey to a subdued shade of maroon, and these differences may connote separate species. It does vaguely resemble a common marine cormorant, though with several striking differences. One is its wings, which are proportionately far smaller than a cormorant's - the bird is flightless - and do not fold away neatly, instead jutting out at peculiar angles which give the birds a permanently awkward aspect. This apparent deformity varies widely in severity between individuals. Another is the feet, which are not webbed but rather form heavy, scaly, three-toed claws, tipped with sharp black talons, and resemble lizard feet rather more than those of any other bird. Most notable however is the bird's overlarge head. Covered with only the thinnest of dark grey skin, the skull boasts a beak almost a foot long - or longer in some individuals - sharply pointed, and lined with sharp, irregular protrusions that resemble predatory teeth. Above this long, heavy beak sits a pair of dark red eyes with no visible pupil or iris and a small brain case.
The call of the Corpse Cormorant is a grating, gravelly hiss which, although seldom very loud, appears to carry over long distances. This makes it eerily difficult to judge how far away a flock may be at night.
Given the variations in feathers, wing construction and beak size, it is theoried that there are several different species of these animals. No researcher has yet been interested enough in these ugly creatures to actually study this, however.

Habits

The Corpse Cormorant seemingly has no preferred activity cycle, with reports of the birds being seen moving and foraging at all hours of the day and night. It is omnivorous, but appears to have a distinct preference for meat. They have been observed scratching and foraging amid the thorny scrub that covers some of the Empty Quarter, apparently looking for large insects and small lizards. If the need arises they are capable of remarkable bursts of speed over short distances, which are used mostly to catch such food; their eyes, despite their weirdly elemental appearance, seem similar to those of more conventional birds of prey. They will invest considerable energy in cracking open Desert urchins for their flesh, using their long beaks to avoid injury, and have been observed using those beaks to crush up cacti, though whether this is to eat the plant or simply squeeze water from it is unclear. Scuffles between individual birds over foraging territory often end in violence, death, and cannibalism, sometimes devolving into shark-like feeding frenzies if they take place in the vicinity of large flocks.
Foremost among the singular habits of these birds is their reaction to humans. They have no evident fear of or aversion to humanity and, should a traveler cross paths with them, they will study the humans closely, often following them or gradually approaching in the manner of a hunter stalking prey, or at other times simply watching from a distance. Should the bird get close enough they are apt to actually attack humans, employing their talons and viscous beaks in ways that can do great harm. Such attacks show an unnerving degree of intelligence, planning and even evident malice. Pholyan thaumatologist Yran Qobryod had trouble with the birds plundering his baggage and once observed a pair enter one of the tents in his campsite and emerge carrying the swaddled baby of one of his bearers between them in their beaks, then attempt to make a run for it; it was possibly only because the baby's father had his bow to hand, and was able to shoot one of the birds, that the infant was saved. Later on the same expedition Qobryod himself would suffer painful tearing injuries to one shoulder when he rose from an excavation trench and found a bird silently waiting for him. Although the injury healed he reported that it continued to hurt for some years afterwards.
Explorers have found clutches of three to four leathery, pear-sized eggs in the desert which are widely supposed to be the eggs of the Corpse Cormorant. These eggs have thick fibrous shells and a black interior medium said to smell strongly like human corpses.
There is no recorded instance of the discovery of a dead Corpse Cormorant which died of natural causes.

In human culture

Humans and Corpse Cormorants seldom actually interact because few humans see any need to venture into the bird's desert habitat. Those who do report an instinctive loathing for the creatures, whose baleful aspect and disagreeable habits are routinely listed as among the most trying aspects of travel in the Empty Quarter. The matter is exacerbated by the fact that the birds seem to congregate near or in the ruins in the Quarter, the investigation of which is almost the only reason anybody ventures into the region. If an expedition does not cross paths with the birds on their way to one of these ruins they will almost certainly be waiting, often in frightening numbers, in the regions the traveler hopes to investigate.
This affinity for human ruins is interestingly anticipated by the ruins themselves. One of the foremost experts on the ruins of the Quarter, Elpalozian thaumatologist Hazwaj Karnaphan, took expensive notes on the bas-reliefs and carvings he found therein, in which he notes that these artifacts frequently depict large birds with long, serrated beaks strikingly reminiscent of those of a Corpse Cormorant. He also notes, however, that many of these depictions show the birds flying on long, symmetrical wings, often in the process of hunting (frequently eating what appear to be human children), so he stops short of conclusively stating that these birds are indeed Corpse Cormorants, though he comments explicitly on the possibility. His discussion on the matter comes in one of the unfinished chapters of his defective book Antiquities of Dust, the notes for which still exist in the archives of the Temple of Krezzan at Elpaloz, where he deposited them in the days before his untimely death from Wizard Rot.
Stories of Corpse Cormorants encroaching on coastal farming areas abound
The parents of Dechray Jorya, a prominent current member of the Bruised Ones of Chogyos recently paid a seemingly disproportionate sum of money for a taxidermized Corpse Cormorant. Jorya is said to keep the ornament on an end table beside her bed.