Day Twenty-six -- Cycadian

Towards the end of the stretch, and today's monster is a plant monster. A roll of 10 gives us a basic form of "broad leaves", and a second roll of 49 tell us that it is mobile. In addition to fighting with limbs (Table 2-74) it has a pulling attack *and* an augmenting attack, both from Table 2-61.

For movement the result is a 9, meaning that it glides or flies using wing-like growths. For pulling attacks we get a 56 (organ, functioning as a gaze attack, with those affected moving towards the plant) and augmented we get a 77 (substance, coated on the body, that causes targets to become "plant zombies". Finally, for limb attacks we find that it uses a wing buffet. So, that goes well with its mode of action.

Cycadian
# Enc.: 0 (1d8)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 30' (10')
AC: 3
HD: 6
Attacks: 2 leaf buffet + gaze
Damage: 1d6/1d6 + special
Save: F6
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: None (see below)
XP: 570

Millennia old, from an age when the world was new and much hotter and humid than it is to day, the mysterious Cycadians ruled the lands. Now their numbers are much reduced, with many of the surviving numbers lolling in a stupor of lethargy. Those awake Cycadians haunt the tropical zones of the world, floating menacingly through the forests in search of prey, as their leaf fronds ripple slowly, propelling them forwards, roots trailed behind above the ground. They stand between around eight feet tall.

When confronted with sentient beings the Cycadian fronds part, revealing a large, pupiless eye. All those meeting the gaze of the eye must Save v. Spells or be affected as per the Spell Charm Monster, and feel a deep-seated desire to advance towards the Cycadian without caution. Once within range the victims are pressed to the creature's trunk and implanted with seeds into their brain. They will lose 1 point of Intelligence per day afterwards, unless the seeds are removed via a Cure Diesease spell. When the victim reaches 0 Intelligence they are rendered immobile and do nothing but drool, and the newly formed Cycadian saplings sprout from its body. Unfortunately for the Cycadians, the centuries have rendered most of their seeds inviable, and only 5% ever sprout. Those victims infected with inviable seeds die after 1d6 days of insensate drooling.

Occasionally, rather than implant a victim with seeds the Cycadian chooses to feed upon a charmed creature, and will send their roots into their chest, doing one point of damage per hour until they are sucked dry of nutrients. Charmed victims will not resist this feeding. Cycadians can also buffett a nearby target twice per round with their fronds, but they must be on the ground in order to do so and cannot move while buffetting.

Cycadian communicate via a strange rustling and susurrus of the leaves, a mode of communication lost to Man, although it is rumored there are some elves who still understand the language. Cycadians are immune to all Charm and Hold spells. The timber that can be milled from a felled Cycadian is rare and valuable, worth 100 gp per hit point the creature originally had.