Iron Rain

Iron rain is an exceedingly rare phenomenon caused by the unstable magic in the world after the Great Cataclysm. It's immediately recognizable from a distance due to the orange-red clouds of iron and other metals that precedes it. As these clouds lose stability, the metal separates from the air and collects in solid or molten chunks that fall from the sky. When solid shards form, they are extremely sharp, and can rip through soft materials, especially flesh, as they fall. Molten pieces, on the other hand, are round, like ordinary raindrops, but they often lose enough heat during the fall to solidify into somewhat squashed balls of iron.

To the unprepared, iron rain is extremely dangerous. If someone is unlucky enough to be caught outside during a storm, their chances of survival are extremely low. Whether they're pierced and sliced by sharp fragments, bludgeoned by hard balls, or burnt by molten droplets, the result is the same. To those who can find proper shelter, however, an iron rain storm poses relatively little danger. The pieces of iron that form are too small to destroy a well-built structure, and the sharp pieces are brittle enough that even wood can be enough to stop them. However, a building built from wood or another flammable material, especially one with a thatched roof or similarly dry and light parts, can easily catch fire if even a single piece of molten metal land on them. In this way, the destructiveness of the storm is largely dependent on the materials a society builds with.

Regarding the storm's effect on nature, forest and grass fires are nearly guaranteed to be started wherever the rain hits. This loss of shelter combined with the dangerous falling metal means that a very large number of the local wildlife will die. Like any disaster, the habitat can recover from this, but nearby societies will struggle to find food, as prey is scarce and crop fields will have been destroyed by the fire. In the years after one of these storms, however, the iron left scattered on the ground can be a valuable resource.

Type

Metaphysical, Elemental