Psychometabolism: Sciences - complete healing; Devotions - body control, body equilibrium, catfall, chameleon power

The barbed constrictor is a variant of snake which thrives in the jungles of the Forest Ridge. The creature looks like many other Athasian constrictor breeds, with a nondescript gray-green body coated with a thick, armoured hide. The only way to truly distinguish a barbed constrictor from say, an Athasian anaconda, is by the long pair of ivory horns which sweep back from its head, and by its barbs.

Combat: The barbed constrictor prefers to hunt from the treetops, dropping down on prospective meals from above, but have been sighted swimming in lakes and moving on the forest floor. The snakes are extremely confident in their own combat ability, attacking skullbunnies, halflings and sloth alike and with equal preference.

A barbed constrictor attacks with a poison bite and a constriction attack. Those struck with the bite must save vs poison or be paralysed for 2d6 rounds (onset of 1-4 rounds). Those struck with the constriction attack are held automatically. The following round they discover the deadly nature of the barbed constrictor as the snake sprouts hundreds of bony spines down the length of its body. Every round of constriction a victim takes 2d4 damage, plus 6d4 additional damage from the impaling spines.

Attacks against a barbed constrictor have a 25% chance of striking its constricted victim instead. Area of effect spells affect the constrictor and victim, but target-specific spells like magic missile and charm person can be used without fear of harming the victim. 60 Strength points are required to free the constricted victim. This does not include the victim’s Strength, as the spines prevent him from struggling too much.

Habitat/Society: The barbed constrictor will attack any forest creature without hesitation. They are immune to many natural poisons, and are able to swallow surprisingly large creatures whole. Some halflings report constrictors devouring sloths and then dying from massive blockage. Some halflings also report entire hunting parties wiped out by barbed constrictors.

Barbed constrictors socialise only when mating, and the pair splits up again after conception. A female lays 3d4 eggs once a year. She buries the eggs in a shallow ditch, and when they hatch it is up to the fledgling constrictors to dig themselves up and make their way in the forest. They have spines from birth, which at least protects them from predators.

Ecology: The barbed constrictor actually has two ‘skins’: an interior body of muscular tissue surrounded by a flexible chitinous shell. The spines remain concealed until the constrictor tightens its grip, whereupon its interior muscles expand and push the spines through the outer hide. Removal of the spines is extremely difficult and hardly worthwhile (erdlu claws make better balanced daggers, and are easier to obtain). The constrictor’s poison glands are protected by a thick bone shell in the top of its skull, between its horns. They are impossible to retrieve without careful dissection of the head, which can only be accomplished by a properly trained individual with the right tools.

The constrictor, unlike most snakes, never sheds. It is born without a shell, and this carapace grows over the course of its natural life. Assume a constrictor starts its life with AC 10 and 1 HD, gaining one AC point and one hit die every six months until it attains maximum. Thus a barbed constrictor develops a noticeable shell at six months of age, and takes 4 years to reach full growth. They can live to fifty years, but most never make it that far.

The barbed constrictor favours avian flesh above any other. Thus they sometimes climb quite high in the trees while hunting. Their catfall ability is used to minimise damage if they miss their target during a drop.