| Class: | Vegimal, traditional North African legend |
| Hab: | Any arid region |
| Fre: | Rare |
| Num: | 1-20 |
| Lair: | Sessile; 100% |
| Size: | 5'-50' wide thicket, 10-20' tall |
| Move: | Sessile; none |
| Def: | Tough skin, agile limbs, very deeply buried vitals |
| Att: | Spine-fringed snapping jaws on dexterous limbs |
| Int: | Minimal or alien sapience; it is unclear |
| Spec: | May have hypnotic abilities (olfactory and visual) |
| Posns: | Incidental, sap: water horde + alchemical value |
Venus-in-the-desert looks rather like a prickly pear cactus, growing as a large shrub or thicket, 5-50' across. Each mature pad is split, hinged, and edged with vicious hook-like thorns, looking rather like a Venus flytrap turned pudgy, prickly - and evil. To sand-schooner sailors, obviously far too long away from "friendly company," are said to think the snapping pads, gaping open to reveal ruddy, fleshy interiors, look like a Venus dentate, obscenely alluring while clearly deadly. The scent is similarly at once repulsive and entrancing.
Venus usually is very still as she waits for prey to come within reach. Once a pad-maw grasps hold of prey, it clamps down, forming a tight seal so its burning digestive secretions can digest the flesh without spilling a single succulent drop.
Liquor distilled form Venus-in-the-desert flower stalk sap is a highly valued aphrodisiac.
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