Stone Snake [Variant]

This serpent's body is built of stony segments resembling granite, giving it an exceptionally good Armor Class. Colors run from eggshell to rosy pink, streaked with mauve or black like most granites.

A stone snake strikes with a blindingly fast jab of its blunt snout for 2d10 bludgeoning damage, or bites for 1d8 and injects venom. The bitten victim saves vs. petrification at -6 or slowly turns to stone over 5 rounds. Its hard body shrugs off most blows, and edged or piercing weapons deal only a quarter damage.

Stone snakes live alone or in mated pairs. In early fall the female lays 1-6 eggs, 16 to 18 inches long and colored like the adults, and guards them while the male forages for both. Hatchlings are white and develop camouflage colors over six months, after which they are driven off to fend for themselves. A yearling runs 10 to 12 feet, has a weaker venom (save penalty only -2), and hunts small game like giant rats and beetles.

Some gems pass through undigested, so diamonds, garnets, tanzanite, and zircons turn up in the lair's refuse, along with anything a victim had not tucked securely away, such as a dropped shield or weapon.

Its usual food is scavenged minerals, typically in caverns rich in crystal, but its favorite meal is a creature it has petrified. It hauls the statue home and swallows it whole, taking several days to digest depending on size. During that time it lies torpid and much easier to kill. Sages pay well for its egg yolk, a key component of the ink for scribing stoneskin onto a scroll.