World: Any
Diet: Stones
Height: 14’3″
Lifespan: Unlimited
Habitat: Scrubland
Activity Cycle: Nocturnal
Born from sand and stone and desert plants infused with chaos, cycasaurs are an entire walking hill, equal parts living and unliving matter. Their bodies are studded with stones for protection, and their implanted tree grows into their body to form wooden bones. During the day, herds bury themselves in the sand, an entire forest of dunes. The vast majority of their energy comes from photosynthesis, allowing them to spend their nights on more draconic activities.
Unusually for dragons, cycasaurs are highly social, and form groups between 20 and 300 individuals strong. Under their guardianship, entire swaths of the desert become their treasure hoards in the form of a garden. Herds will spend years digging irrigation channels, uprooting and replanting, and even arranging stones for maximum visual impact. These gardens are beautiful, but hostile to any life that the cycasaurs don’t feel belongs. Herbivores who come for the rich vegetation are often driven off or killed, and if they are determined a good fit for the garden, predators that come to hunt them share the same deadly fate. Their favored weapon is their breath weapon, a cloud of pollen that ignites an allergic reaction in anything that breathes it in. Blinded and choking as their throat swells shut, enemies that don’t die directly are easily finished off.
