Scythe tree

Scythe tree

(Creature)

2E1E

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 originally appeared in The Tome of Horrors Complete 528 and were based on material by Scott Greene. The temperate forests environment is listed in this source.

Ⅱ

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

A scythe tree resembles a dead or dying deciduous tree, but has 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 a mouth that looks like a jagged gash, which they usually keep closed, and have rough and deep voices.

Abilities

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

Ecology and habitat

Scythe trees live in deep forest paths and subsist by consuming the flesh, blood, and bone of sapient creatures, instead of light and soil as other plants typically do. The screams and whimpers of their prey add an enjoyable flavor to their meals. Scythe trees are naturally solitary, and given their size and power they rarely need to compete with other carnivorous plants.

Scythe trees can uproot themselves and move, albeit quite slowly; if sources of prey decline in an area, a scythe tree can relocate to a new hunting ground. A scythe tree hunts like an ambush predator by pretending to be a dead tree before rushing toward unsuspecting prey and slashing it with its branches. After many months or years, scythe trees can leave behind bark and roots in the blood-fed soil, and a new scythe tree can grow from these remnants. By then, the original tree has likely moved on to hunt in a new area.

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

Scythewood

While difficult to collect and process, necromancers keep the wood from a scythe tree—known as scythewood—in high demand, since scythewood 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 that feed on the victim's blood and quickly grow into a scythe tree sapling, which acts under the bloodgorger scythe wielder's control and can strike the victim alongside the wielder.

References

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