Hangman's tree

Out of the creatures that can bear the protective Glow of The Tree, the plant-like creatures which are often called hangman's trees are one of the scarier ones.

Basic Information

Anatomy

From the outside and when not moving, hangman's trees look like giant trees with massive trunks and with extensive "net" of branches and roots. They never grow leaves, flowers, or fruits. They are covered with dark brown (sometimes purplish) bark. But that is where the similarities end.
The impaling trees are capable of moving their branches and roots by pneumatically pumping water into them, similar to how spiders do it (that is also why if one of them dies, they curl up). Some of those branches and roots have sharp hollow points at their ends, similar to syringes. Those branches are used to feed on their prey.
Additionally, there are a few eye-like structures on their trunks that move and "see".

Growth Rate & Stages

It is unknown where they exactly come from or how they reproduce, but hangman's trees start their lives as small saplings. At that stage, they usually have one long but sharp root they use to feed on anything that passes by them. Within a month of constant feeding, they reach the size of a normal tree, and within 2 years without the "dry seasons", they reach their full size.

Dietary Needs and Habits

While they get some nutrition from the ground, enough to just keep them alive (though they might lose some of their mass over long periods of time), impaling trees need the liquids of animals to prosper. Once they manage to capture their prey with one of their roots or branches, they pull it towards their main body. Once they do, they impale their prey and start to suck out its blood and other liquids.
Once they feed completely, they drop the dried-up husk to the ground, so it rots and fertilizes the ground.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

While they do possess eye-like structures on their trunks, vampire trees rarely use them to see, and even then, their eyesight seems to be really bad, reacting mostly to movement. Instead, they are able to sense the vibrations of the ground through their roots. On certain soils, they are even capable of sensing and pinpointing the location of a beating heart.

Other names:
Impaling trees, vampire trees

Lifespan

Unknown

Average Height

Up to 10 meters.

Average Length

Their roots can reach even a few kilometers, while their branches spread out at most 50 meters from their trunk.

Geographic Distribution

• The Pit

Trees and redcaps

Sometimes redcaps decide to live close and feed the impaling trees as it lets them feed on the blood the trees sometimes spill, though some of the redcaps quickly learn that moving too close to the tree that is hungry is a very bad idea.