Cockatrice

Class	Magical
Rarity	?
Size	~91 cm; Small
Stats	? HP 12 Strength 8 Defense 14 Agility 10 Intelligence

A Cockatrice is essentially a two-legged dragon or serpent-like creature with the head of a rooster. The creature is about the size of a large goose or turkey; an average height of 0.91 meters (3 ft), and weighs 11 kilograms (25 pounds). The creature has the head and body of a cock, with two bat-like wings and the long tail of a lizard tipped with a few feathers. Its feathers are shades of golden brown, its beak yellow, its tail green, and its wings gray. The creature’s wattles and comb are bright red, with its eyes the color of bright yellow. Females, which are much rarer than males, only differ because they have no wattles or comb.

The animal can be seen with various layers of feathers or scales depending on the climate of the creature's habitat. Because of this, the feathers and scales come in a variety of color shades too. The Cockatrice is but a scarce creature; the creature was the product of an egg laid by a cock (a male chicken) and incubated by a snake. A Basilisk is often confused with the Cockatrice, but the Basilisk is born from a chicken's egg hatched beneath a toad, while the Cockatrice is hatched by a cocks’ egg incubated by a serpent.

Habitat

The Cockatrices' habitat differs from the cold environment of the mountain hills to the deepest and wet-climate forests. The animal was first spotted in the jungles of the far south but recently has made its appearance in the mountain forests of Hadriana and the Northern plains. The creature’s diet usually consists of insects, small lizards, and the like. With its nest made up out of the bones of its prey, twigs, dirt, and down feathers. The animals usually live in harems, with the head of this harem being a female, the rarest among the kind. Male Cockatrice fight over dominance, over who gets to be the first mate of the female. Even though the creature lives in nature, there are sporadic cases where a Cockatrice enters suburban areas to find prey.

Behaviour

The behaviour of a Cockatrice can best be matched with that of a Swan. The Cockatrice can both be neutral and also fierce. A Cockatrice avoids contact with animals, or humanoid races yet has been shown to attack when provoked or when their nest is in danger. When provoked, the creature lets out cries similar to a hen, followed by spreading his wings and trying to make himself a threat to his enemy. Both female and male variants are always on the hunt for a mate. This is due to their kind being scarce and survival and reproducing are their number one goals.

Abilities

The Cockatrice has the reputed ability to kill people by looking at them, and this has been dubbed as "The Cockatrice Death Stare". During observation, the bite of the animal turns the victim's skin into stone, which causes tremendous amounts of pain and trauma on both animal and humanoid. This magical ability of the creature is yet to be studied. The Cockatrice also has the ability to fly short distances with its bat-like wings.

The eyes of the Cockatrice glow yellow in the dark, making himself a scary presence to intruders in the night, and giving it the ability to see more clearly. From further studies and observations of both eyewitnesses and biologists, the animal has a quick healing ability. The only way of killing a Cockatrice is by its natural enemy, the weasel.

The weasel is the only animal that is immune to its glance. It was also thought that a Cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a rooster crow, but this is but a rumor, and according to legend, if the creature looks at itself in a mirror is one of the few sure-fire ways to kill it.