Shark Tree

Medium-Size Plant
Hit Dice:	6d8+12 (39hp)
Initiative:	+2 (Dex)
Speed:	50ft.
Armor Class:	15 (+2 Dex, +3 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple:	0
Attack:	0
Full Attack:	Bite +7 melee, 4 slams +2 melee
Space/Reach:	5ft. by 5ft./5ft.
Special Attacks:	Improved grab, constrict, mimicry
Special Qualities:	Cold immunity, fire resistance 20, lightning vulnerability
Saves:	Fort +7, Ref +4 , Will +2
Abilities:	Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 5, Wis 11, Cha 9
Skills:	Hide +4*, Listen +4, Move Silently +4
Feats:	None
Environment:	Cold forest, marsh and plains; Stygia.
Organization:	Solitary, pair or pack (3-6)
Challenge Rating:	4
Treasure:	1/10th coins; 50% goods; 50% items
Alignment:	Lawful Evil
Advancement:	7-9 HD (Medium-size); 10-18 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment:	0

“- Say, Avarbis... didya hear something? - Nah, Fertep. Ya’re impressed by that bubber’s screed. Flying carnivorous plant, bah! - That snow moved! - What? By Horus, Fertep shut up! See, just because we’re marooned in Stygia when we should find Set’s realm, with snow to our knees, doesn’t mean we’re not gonna make it! - Avarbis, something caught my feet... - Oh, stop it Fertep! I’m bored to death with this. All that shark-trees under the snow, blood red, with a wicked large mouth like a giant venus plant and four tentacles whirling all over its spiky body and running after you thing it’s just the rotgut talking, not real chant. See? In this edition of the Planes of Disease, Dr. Hikelliam say we should beware getting a delayed flu and... Fertep? Fertep, where are you? It’s not time to sit idle in the snow! Fertep!! *thump*” CombatThey pretend to be just large piles of snow that the more paranoid would say “they are following us”. The large piles of snow suddenly sprout four tendrils and a spiky body can be seen below. Each attack inflicts a lashing, followed by a bite, with a wide, grinning mouth.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the rodsmerte must hit an opponent of up to Large size with two tendril attacks. If it gets a hold, it can constrict.

Constrict (Ex): A rodsmerte deals 2d4+2 points of damage with a successful grapple check against Large or smaller creatures.

Mimicry (Ex): Rodsmerte can imitate the sounds of almost any creature it has already met. Sometimes they use this with a loud female-like scream, attracting unwary travelers to a good place for an ambush.

Plant: Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, and polymorphing. Not subject to critical hits.

Eletricity Vulnerability (Ex): These plants take double damage from electrical attacks unless a save is allowed for half damage. A successful save halves the damage and a failure doubles it.

Skills: Rodsmerte receive a +4 racial bonus to Hide, Listen and Move Silently checks. *They receive a +12 bonus to Hide checks when in a snowy area.

Habitat/SocietyThey hunt in packs going near the Styx bogs to reproduce in certain seasons and back to their common hunting grounds again. A rodsmerte’s hunting ground is large spanning many kilometers and eternal, the carnivore plant lives in it to starvation or death by age. A single one could be the reason for stories of flesh-eating witches in the forest and dark rituals with skinned corpses. EcologyIt always seems to be grinning, so it became a common expression in Baator and beyond, like “with the grin of a rodsmerte” or “he smiles like a rodsmerte”. In the cold wastes of Stygia, the plant might make up for a good meal, it’s tasty and hearty, once cooked. Some more sagacious cutters might say to watch out what you eat, as the rodsmerte is a known flesh-eater and thus, it’s not unlike eating sentient beings.

One can find excellent dishes made with the plant in the restaurants of Dis and some specific bars in Sigil.