Basilisk

Also known as a "cockatrice" for some reason the Basilisk is a Large reptile with the body of a lizard, the tail being the body of a snake, and the head of an alligator

Culture

the basilisk has similar abilities to the medusa but its far more roaming of a creature. they are most common in the realm of war but can be found roaming the world like any other animal.

while the basilisk can petrify like a medusa its gaze is alot more persistent then the medusa's. a medusa can not petrify somone looking at it via a mirror but a basilisk can. the downside however is that if one where to force a basilisk to look at its own reflection it too can be petrified.

that said a basilisk will instinctively avoid its own reflection and if somone tries to show it its own reflection, even if it fails, the basilisk will immediately retreat

a basilisk constantly produces a cloud of poison from its mouth covering its teeth with said poison, in addition it can use that to breath poison onto you but it must keep its mouth open for a turn to build up the gases before it can do that. the tail of a basilisk is the entire body of a snake because of which it can be moved with great precision allowing it to use its tail to coil around creatures that are 4' or smaller grappling them and allowing them to constrict tiny creatures.

a trained basilisk is a very loyal pet, and these powerful pets make for great protectors of treasure, any such basilisk likely has an enchantment to make the basilisk unable to see its own eyes making any would be thieves have to think of another way to get by it

finally the basilisk is a very calm creature, that will take it time to make sure anything it fights is dead before approaching and being cautious near corners. because of which it is only surprised in the most extreme of cases

History

the basilisk is another creature that had been twisted by the passive influence of sartek. before it is assumed that they were regular lizards though some rumors say they may have once been a common chicken