Basilisk
Basilisks are large eight-legged reptilian monsters that can petrify other creatures with their gaze.
While sightings of this creature are rare in the Fourth Age, in 114 PR a group of adventurers encountered one such creature while exploring the Tomb of the Djeti.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Outwardly, basilisks resemble other desert-dwelling lizards with the exception of possessing eight limbs. Their bodies measure between 5 to 7 feet in length, and their muscular tails are just as long.
Ecology and Habitats
The prefered habitat for basilisks are warm deserts, in which they will make their lairs in the natural caves and tunnels in the sides of mesas, valleys, and dry riverbeds.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Basilisks are carnivorous hunters and prefer warm-blooded prey. When prey is scarce, they will turn to scavenging in order to find carrion and offal to consume.
When hunting, a basilisk will use its gaze to petrify its prey before using its powerful jaws to crush and consume pieces of stone that return to flesh as a result of certain chemical compounds present in its digestive fluids. These same compounds are highly valued by alchemists who use them to produce potions that reverse magical petrification.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Basilisks are solitary creatures and only interact with one another once every other millenia during a mating decades-long mating season.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
During the Third Age, basilisks were used by the Apophians of the Djeti Empire as guard animals and war-beasts.
