Basilisk
A basilisk is a Monstrosity most famous for its ability to turn living creatures to stone with its gaze. In the wild, they are feared hunters that feature in many fairy tales and horror stories, as a meeting with a basilisk spells certain death unless you are particularly lucky or well-trained. Some wizards, alchemists and hedge-witches have an affinity for basilisks, though, and keep them as a sort of guard dog to ward away prying eyes from their towers and laboratories.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Basilisks look like a cross between an alligator and a snake, half-slithering and half-crawling along the ground on their eight low-slung legs. They have extraordinarily powerful jaws with sharp, jagged teeth that drip with venom. The basilisk has two sets of eyes, one right behind the other; when both eyes are open, a single glance from them can petrify a creature, slowly turning them into stone while they remain fully awake and aware.
Genetics and Reproduction
Basilisks hatch from eggs identical to chickens' eggs. They do not give off enough heat to grow and incubate their own young, though, so they rely on the environment or on other creatures to hatch their offspring. Many basilisks make their nests near geothermal vents or atop rocks that draw heat. Semi-domesticated basilisks rely on the witch or wizard who raised them to sneak these eggs into a chicken coup—whether their own or that of an unsuspecting villager.
Upon hatching, a basilisk is roughly four inches long, but immediately able to crawl, bite, and use their venom. Their first meal is often the unlucky hen that incubated them. Within seven to ten days, they have grown to roughly a foot long and developed their petrifying gaze. Basilisks continue to grow throughout their lifetime; ancient basilisks have been found deep within geothermal vents in the Lands of Ash that are nearly thirty feet long.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Basilisks are obligate carnivores that can eat nearly any creature, though all but the largest and most vicious seem to prefer fowl over humanoid flesh. The strength of their jaws and particular shape of their teeth allow them to chew through stone, and the venom in their stomachs reverses the petrification effect of their gaze.
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