Scythe tree

Scythe tree

(Creature)

Common

CE

Huge

Plant

Level

6

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 235

Type

Plant

CR

6

Environment

Temperate forests

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Source: Rivers Run Red, pg(s). 21–22

Scythe trees are sapient, cruel, carnivorous trees that patiently wait to dice up passers-by with their scything branches and then feed on the gore.

Appearance

Scythe trees look like dead or dying deciduous trees but have evergreen rusty brown leaves that could give them away when out of season. They have dark-brown bark that becomes nearly black towards the bottom of the trunk and twisted long branches ending in scythes. Their wood is knotted and twisted, with pockets of bone and teeth from old meals within the growth rings. They possess mouths that look like a jagged gash, which they usually keep closed. They have rough and deep voices.

Abilities

Scythe trees can see in low levels of light, and can sense life close by. They are resilient to physical attacks, except from slashing weapons, and are particularly vulnerable to axes, like many other tree-like creatures.

Ecology & habitat

Scythe trees live in deep forest paths. They live off the consumption of flesh, blood, and bone of sapient creatures instead of light and soil. They enjoy the screams and whimpers of their prey, which adds additional flavor to their meal. Scythe trees are naturally solitary and they rarely need to compete with other carnivorous plants, given their size and power. Scythe trees can uproot themselves and move around, albeit it quite slowly so, if sources of prey dry up in an area, a tree is then able to move to a new hunting ground. A scythe tree hunts like an ambush predator, pretending to be a dead tree before rushing toward unsuspecting prey and slashing it with its branches. After many months or years, scythe trees may leave behind bark and roots in the blood-fed soil and, from these remnants, a new scythe tree may grow but, by then, the original tree has likely moved on to hunt in a new area.

Scythe trees can speak Aklo, Arboreal, and Sylvan and, when they speak, they usually adopt a mocking style. They despise most genuine attempts to redeem the tree from its cruel and malicious ways. All scythe trees find arboreals insufferable, and consider that they should all be hacked apart.

Scythewood

While difficult to collect and process, the wood from the tree, known as scythewood, is in demand from necromancers, as the wood from a scythe tree is an important component in strong necromantic wands and staves. A typical scythe tree yields about 150 gold pieces worth of scythewood.

The branches and roots of a scythe tree can be used to craft a bloodgorger scythe. The wielder of this magical scythe can embed fragments from the weapon into a struck victim. These wooden fragments feed on the victim's blood and quickly grow into a scythe tree sapling under the bloodgorger scythe wielder's control that can strike the victim alongside the wielder.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.