Bloodthorn

A bloodthorn is a tough, stringy briar that spreads in dense thickets. Its stems are a dull black and look dried out, but it carries rich tufts of tiny blade-shaped leaves and plump reddish berries. In the barren wastes of the lower planes it looks like a gift, and seasoned travelers know that anything that tempting out there is a trap. Starving wanderers still fall for it. A close look shows long, wicked thorns pressed flat along the stems, yet the plant stays perfectly still until someone is nearly on top of it.

When a creature comes within 10 feet, the briar lashes out with 3-8 thorny stems whose 3-inch thorns spring fully erect, turning each into a razor whip. A vine that hits by 4 or more than the number needed wraps its target and sinks its thorns in. Each following round, the captive loses hit points equal to that first hit's damage: a 4-point slash means 4 points drained per round until he dies or escapes.

The plant is weak but its stems are fiendishly tough, and the barbs snag on one another when a vine loops a body or legs. Pulling free by brute strength takes a successful bend bars/lift gates roll. A whole patch rarely weighs more than 200-360 pounds, so a strong fighter who simply heaves may drag the entire briar with him.

Cutting works better, but only with a slashing (Type S) weapon. Each vine is AC 3 and is severed by 8 points of damage. Even cut, its thorns keep drinking until someone spends a full round carefully unwinding it. The single weak point is a dense root bulb buried under the thicket; it is hard to reach, and killing it does not halt drains already under way, though unattached stems go limp. Mindless, the plant fights until it or its prey dies. It shies away from open flame, and any stem that is burned lets go at once and curls back under the bush.

Bloodthorns grow across the stretches of the neutral planes closest to the Abyss and in the planes next door. Most travelers mistake one for a common bramble and are caught off guard. People who try planting them as hedges against intruders tend to be disappointed, since the plant relocates itself to better hunting grounds. A telltale sign is that it thrives where nothing else grows. Thickets of several plants are common in barren places and especially deadly, as a victim may be snagged by multiple bushes racing to empty him first.

It feeds mostly on small animals and birds and owes little to sun or rain. Native beasts have learned to avoid it, but it keeps creeping into new parts of the neutral planes where wildlife and careless travelers have not. The berries are pure bait: anyone stubborn enough to gather them finds them bland and flavorless.