[Because sometimes you just need a giant poison tree.]
Upas This large tree has grayish bark,
oblate leaves and small red fruits. Holes in its trunk appear stained, as if
with some resinous chemical leaking from within.
The upas,
sometimes called the poison tree or death tree, is a carnivorous
plant that feeds itself on poisoned carcasses. It resembles an ordinary tree in
nearly all respects, but its roots often extend upwards like the knees of
spidery legs—which is how it walks when on the move. Its main way of killing
its victims is by emitting a toxic vapor from holes in its bark—these leak
greenish slime which evaporates on contact with the air and spreads in a wide
cloud of deadly droplets. Creatures that survive the initial poisoning but are
not quick to flee are beaten to a pulp by the upas’ mobile branches.
An upas
frequently travels, making an ambling path through their forest homes in order
to create new sources of dead bodies on which to feed. They feed slowly by
absorbing nutrition through their roots, and these massacre sites may have the
treasures of their victims. An upas is of a barely animal intelligence, and
they are just sensible enough to flee from an opponent capable of resisting
their poison and damaging them with fire or magical slashing weapons.
An upas stands
up to 60 feet tall and grows to maturity rapidly, within 20 years of being
planted. They can live for hundreds of years as poisonous predators. A slain
upas tree’s resin can be used to create black lotus extract—removing the
extract requires a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check and extracts an additional dose
for every 5 by which the DC is exceeded. Unless preserved using alchemical
reagents worth 2,200 gp per dose, this extract loses its potency in 1 week.
Shores of Swords 