| Class: | Traditional Myth |
| Hab: | Any |
| Fre: | Rare |
| Num: |
LESSER: 1-6 adults + 2-12 young GREATER: 1 or pair with 1-6 young |
| Lair: | 80% |
| Size: |
LESSER: 10-20 lb., chicken or goose size GREATER: 200 lb.; pony size |
| Move: | Slow, + brief charge = horse (very rarely winged) |
| Def: | Crocodile-tough hide = plate armor |
| Att: |
LESSER: Mastiff-strong bite GREATER: Crocodile-strong bite |
| Int: | Dull-witted beast |
| Spec: | Ossification, by Gaze OR Breath OR Spit |
| Posns: | Innumerable statues, some of high quality; parts useful for alchemy. |
The Basilisk, meaning "Little King," the "king of lizards," is famed for is powers of gaze-projected ossification; meeting a basilisk's gaze can turn any ordinary, fleshy creature to stone. However, some have their ossification power concentrated in either their breath or in their saliva. The "lesser basilisk" may be only the size of a hen, but it is little less deadly than the horse-sized "greater basilisk."
Basilisks are slow moving lizards, looking something like a cross between a monitor lizard and an alligator. Key to identification are the "crown" of short, ornamental horns (or cock-comb) on its head and its three to five pairs of legs. Some also have several short, parallel back crests or combs or a single "sail." There are high-bodied land-dwelling and wide-bodies amphibious versions. There are said to be very rare winged varieties; these, no doubt, are the result of basilisk-cockatrice crossbreeding.
The basilisk may breed normally, or be spontaneously generated should a rooster or a cock-lizard (for "lesser") or bull-crocodile (for "greater") lay an egg which survives seven years, such as by being buried in a warm dung heap. (Alternatively, "lesser" or "greater" may be determined by how long the egg incubates undisturbed - an encouragement to stable-hands to get those manure heaps turned regularly, lest a basilisk egg mature.)
The realm of the gazing-basilisk can be identified by the scattering of statues - both of animals and Folk - which "decorate" it.
Where the ossification has not been limited to fleshy subjects, the "breathing-basilisk" has been found, for its breath-ossification ability is not limited to affecting flesh; it will have "stoned" patches of random objects, whether fleshy or woody, brickwork or metallic, soil or fabric. It is able to vent its breath sideways by slitting its nostrils and so does not ossify any object with it may wish to eat. Alternatively, it may actually enjoy crunching down on stonework, for its draconian jaws are most powerful - and its stomach equally so.
The "spitting basilisk" is, in some respects, the most dangerous of all. It is able to project its ossifying spit up to ten times its own length. It is famed for the strength of its poison; a "spitting basilisk" dwelling by a spring can pollute a steam, rendering it simply noxious for a dozen miles, sickening both plant and beast, and give the nearer mile of the stream a milder ossification power; it might only ossify the roots of nearby plants, and the feet of creatures crossing or lips, throats, and stomachs of creatures drinking, but this "lesser" ossification is no less deadly.
The power of the basilisk is so great that, should a knight pierce the "king of lizards" with a spear, and the blood of the basilisk tough the spear, the venom will rise through the spear shaft, killing (presumably by ossification) both rider and horse.
SEE also Cockatrice; the two hybridize readily, as they are both immune to ossification; SEE Cockatrix for an example hybrid.
SEE also Basilisk Frog for a sample of what happens downstream of a Basilisk.
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