Basilisk

A basilisk is a lizard-like, bird-headed creature first mentioned by the ancient Qamehr people in their writings. Long belived to be myths, basilisks became important parts of certain pre-colonitzation cultures, and are still part of a quantity of legends. Basilisks are notorious due to their gaze. which has a bliding effect, and due to their poisonous nature.

Biology
Basilisks possess characteristics from different already known species. They have a chicken head, usually surrounded by a variety of colored feathers, horns, scales and membranes. Its beak is pointy and has a diverse range of sharp parts of the structure that serve as teeth, primarily to cut. They usually have two tongues, which are coated in the basilisk's deadly saliva, which contains a poison capable of killing an adult human male in less than a minute. Although the coloring of a basilisk's head varies from specimen to specimen, all share a common, key characteristic: their bright, red eyes. The mechanism that the creature uses to blind people with its eyes is unknown, and is often attributed to magic, necromancy, alchemy, and other forms of pseudo-sciences, and therefore, the claims can not be validated.

Basilisks have a pair of bat-like wings, that resemble those of a dragon. They are membranous, and light, to allow for flight. Basilisks have a strong set of muscles, as well as hollow bones, to allow them to fly even though they are moderately big creatures. They have three tails, with pointy, poison-coated ends. Where basilisks have no feathers, they usually have toad skin, which is humid to the touch, due to the constant secretion of a poisonous substance.

Basilisks are born when a chicken egg is hatched by a serpent or a toad. A basilisk egg is not different from a regular chicken egg. When the basilisk is born, it looks apparently identical to any other hatchling, but it is rumored to have a horrible odor surrounding it. Hatchlings only take 3 weeks to grow to adulthood, making them one of the fastest-growing creatures in the whole of Eldham.

Poison and disease
Basilisks produce an extreme amount of deadly substances with in its body. Most of the poisons it has can kill a human being in less than a minute. Basilisks also carry a deadly disease of unknown origin, which causes, among many other things, the appearance of a scaled texture in human skin, as well as high fevers and nausea.

Behaviour
Basilisks are unpredictable creatures, but are known to follow certain patterns of behavior when faced with certain complex situations, which indicates that basilisks do not possess a higher level of intelligence, but that they resort to basic primal instincts.

Basilisks are independent creatures, that hunt alone, and not very frequently, due to their small caloric needs. When hunting, they will slowly approach their prey, and fly high to then fall on top of their victim, before injecting them with poison. Then, it uses its internal acids to process the food before actually eating it. When not hunting, they often sleep. They are deeply territorial creatures. They are known to leave trails of poisonous, smelling substances around their territory. When encountering other basilisks, they are most likely to fight, until the weakest opponent is killed. This has no relation to natural selection, because basilisks do not reproduce.

When in a situation with a bad outcome for them, they tend to stay still, and open their wings to assert their dominance. When in these situations, the basilisk won't move, and won't think of a way to escape, leaving it an easy target for ranged weaponry, even though it will still attack anything that enters its vicinity.

Origins
The creature's origins are unknown, but historical references and a deep look at certain kinds of magic can reveal a feasible hypothesis for their origin.

Old manuscripts from ancient times speak of a creature similar to the basilisk. They refer to the creature as both chicken-snake and creature of the magic pond. It is probable that "magic pond" refers actually to alchemy, the magic discipline of using beverages with different properties to create reactions. It is then likely that the creature was created artificially by a rogue alchemist. This is supported by the difficulty of placing the basilisk in an evolutionary tree, suggesting its artificial origins.

History
Not much is known about the basilisk's origins, other than it became apparently extinct before the discovery of Eldham.

Old legends tell the story of the invention of the ballista to kill the basilisk. Some myths mention that the basilisk is weak to healing beverages, and others say that the basilisk can be killed by taking its eye out, though this is questionable due to the nature of the basilisk's eyes, and would certainly prove a difficult endeavor.