Wandering Wasteland: Corpse Cactus

corpse cactus (reduced)Corpse Cactus

DC 20 Knowledge (nature) to recognize “the Dead Man’s Rest”
This plant closely resembles its cousin, the firebloom cactus, but though it has a similar size and shape as well as brown skin, short hairs, and an odor of honey, it offers anything but safe respite. Once a creature touches the trunk and brushes up against the hairs of this desert flora, spines shoot out from inside the trunk (Atk +2, 1d2 points of piercing damage + DC 15 Fortitude save or paralyzed and 1d3 Constitution drain per round). Once injected into the victim the spines inject a paralytic poison that traps the creature in place while the tree siphons all nutrients and when its prey is unconscious or dead, the overgrowth on the tree opens and vine like tendrils grab the body, slowly pulling it up and placing it prone on top of the corpse cactus. Here the plant sucks the victim bone dry, adding the remaining bulk to its “sun shield”.

[The Corpse Cactus is one of many exotic flora by writer Lance Keppner! Art by Sara Shijo!]

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